[DigitalAV]

I'm wondering what the best way would be to make my HTPC digitally feed 480i/576i signals from NTSC/PAL videos (both from DVD and stored on HDD) via DVI to an external scaler?


Basically, I want my HTPC to act kinda like an SDI DVD player (only with DVI-out instead of SDI-out).


I already have the scaler, fed with other sources, so I don't need the HTPC to deinterlace or scale. I just need the HTPC to have good MPEG2/DivX/XviD decoding and be able to serve my movies.


I was thinking of getting an Xcard PDI combo that has DVI-out...does such a combo exist?


Or, would there be a better way for me to do this?


TIA!!

 

[dstroot]

you can't output 480i/576i over DVI - the spec doesn't really support it. 480p is as low as you can go.


as far as i know...

 

[DigitalAV]

hmm...good call. damn, I guess the only way to have faroudja-quality deinterlacing is to get an H3DII and output via HDAux DVI at 480p to the scaler...


I was hoping for a more cost-effective, less redundant solution (w/o having to buy an H3DII/HDAux combo at all)...


Where are those HDMI-out video cards??

 

[DigitalAV]

on a side note, how does dscaler compare to faroudja's deinterlacing these days?

 

[dstroot]

Does your scaler have SDI in? I was thinking of something similar where my HTPC is sort of a DVD jukebox - but since all the software configuration and tweaking for good DVD playback on a HTPC is still a PITA it would be cool if the HTPC could simply play a rip and output via SDI to an external deinterlacer/scaler. I know the silk and H3DI & II have SDI *in*, but can either do SDI *out* (or any other card)?

 

[DigitalAV]

I was thinking about that as well, but have yet to find an SDI-out card...


it seems like there's _got_ to be a good way to have our cake (dvd/hdd movie jukebox) and eat it too (high-end deinterlacing/scaling)!

 

[DigitalAV]

I suppose I don't need to purchase the HD-Aux card and just have the Holo3DII/Xcard output via my Radeon's DVI-out @ 480p...then use my external scaler to scale to the display's native rate (thus avoiding both the inferior Radeon's 4-tap and FLI2300's 12-tap scaling engines). This would save a little bit of scratch, anyway.


Anyone want to either second or crush this thought?

 

[George Montemayor]

I'm quite happy with my XCard and wish it had an SDI output so it can be connected to an external deinterlacer/scalar with an SDI input that can deal with CUE. I was looking at PMS Video's SDI converter kit and wondered if its pin assignments can be modified to be connected to the XCard's parallel interface. The pin setup here does not say much as to exactly what information goes out from each pin. Does anyone have anymore information about the XCard's pin assignments?


Some of you are probably wondering why not just buy a Holo3D-I card instead. I already have one but I have been thinking of getting a terribly quiet 60W Mini-ITX with an XCard+SDI output installed and hook it up to an equally quiet and lower wattage deinterlacer/scalar like one of Lumagen's or DVDO's offering. It might be cheaper to get a modded Panasonic RP82 but the Mini-ITX route can also function as a music player for audio files encoded in APE or FLAC.

 

[dstroot]

Anyone ever get SDI out from a HTPC yet? I have my DVD collection moved to Hard Drive storage now and I would love to use my HTPC as a video jukebox but have the deinterlacing and scaling done by my DVDO iScan HD.

 

[vpopovic]

Quote:

Originally posted by DigitalAV I suppose I don't need to purchase the HD-Aux card and just have the Holo3DII/Xcard output via my Radeon's DVI-out @ 480p...then use my external scaler to scale to the display's native rate (thus avoiding both the inferior Radeon's 4-tap and FLI2300's 12-tap scaling engines). This would save a little bit of scratch, anyway. Anyone want to either second or crush this thought?

Radeon's have much more under the hood than just 4-tap and FLI2300 is also a nice chip. What scaler are you planning to use if you are dismissing these options so easily?


Hi-end Nvidia Quadro video cards should have SDI output, but I don't think you'll like the price.

 

[RTK]

Quote:

Originally posted by George Montemayor I'm quite happy with my XCard and wish it had an SDI output so it can be connected to an external deinterlacer/scalar with an SDI input that can deal with CUE. I was looking at PMS Video's SDI converter kit and wondered if its pin assignments can be modified to be connected to the XCard's parallel interface. The pin setup here does not say much as to exactly what information goes out from each pin. Does anyone have anymore information about the XCard's pin assignments?

PMS does have a deluxe PDI card which will interace with the parallel input on the Xcard. While not often talked about, there is a header on the PDI deluxe card which was designed for adding SDI input. If you are interested and willing to DIY, I don't think adding an SDI input to the Deluxe card would be too diffucult.

 

[WT-46809]

have you checked out winnov's cards?

http://www.winnov.com/products/captu...I.htm#Features
http://www.premierelect.co.uk/winovbroadcastersdi.html


not sure if you could get these cards to do what you want but if you could, there are some videum broadcaster ll cards going for cheap on ebay (bin $19.95) which can be paired with an sdi module (as opposed to the other linked card which has the sdi connections built in and which is probably a little $$$).