[jcarlsony2k]

Ok. Well, after lurking for like, 2+ years

I'm finally doing the nasty and assembling my HTPC later this month.



Studying the finer points of HTPC craftsmanship has consisted mainly of :


--> Lurking on these forums (I love AVS)


--> Reading home theater mags


--> Helping my buds to non-htpc home theater installs


and


--> Really just thinking about all of the issues.



With all of this time, I've had alot of opportunity to really plan out what my HT and the HTPC will be all about. This is why I'm here - to get final suggestions and help in the final phase before I plunk down the coin and buy the stuff. So, I'm asking for review and criticism, or praise and accolades where permissable! To start, I've included a jpeg (original is visio) of my home theater overall design. Using this picture as a reference, here are my basic requirements.



First Requirement : View and record all of the following content/media to my HTPC hard drive array for archival and later viewing. (Note that I realize recording any type of content will fill up my hdd's quick.)


\t1. SDTV (ota through antenna into tv tuner card)

\t2. HDTV (ota through directv lnb input)

\t3. HDTV (subscription through directv)

\t4. PLAIN OLE' DIRECTV (through directv, lol)

\t5. SVHS/VHS tapes inserted into SVHS unit

\t6. LASERDISCS through laserdisc player

\t7. AUDIO cassettes (please don't laugh)

\t8. DIRECTV Radio stations

\t9. XBOX and/or PS2 game sessions


Second Requirement : Be reasonably stable. I prefer Win2K Pro as an OS, but this is negotiable only for the sake of meeting objectives. I prefer to run a true 32bit multitasking OS where possible.


Third Requirement : The HTPC should be controllable as a SERVER by another unit (such as a tablet PC) -- so that we have a quasi-'client/server' thing going here. I know of quite a few packages that are aspiring to do this, including MainLobby. What do you folks think?


General Requirements : Where possible, the HTPC should be able to perform the following functions...


\t1. descaler functions (deinterlacing of interlaced program material, e.g. vhs, ld, ota)

\t2. directX gaming (pc games) and sound output

\t3. audiophile sound output from PC (high bit rate & sample freq media)

\t4. one media player for everything (zoom player?)

\t5. ir control of any / all units

\t6. client/server architecture (HTPC controlled by laptop/tablet pc)

\t7. complete control in user friendly gui of every function



Here's what I'm really confused about:


--> First, using the HTPC as a gaming machine; vid cards and sound cards confuse me here because of the tv tuner/vid capture/directx/hdtv issues. E.G. How many darn video cards should I have? Same goes for sound. With the REVO being out now, is this the single sound card that everyone needs?


--> Second, using the HTPC to record; loopbacks and pass-through of signals. Recording everything and yet watching it while you record. Maybe I'm overthinking this issue.





Thanks to all who take the effort to answer. Much appreciated!



Jeff

 

[tycoon]

Why use dscaler on your htpc and than use the tv-out to sent the signal to your reciever? This doesn't make much sense to me. I think you can better sent the output of your reciever to the capture card on your htpc and than connect your htpc to your projector.

 

[jcarlsony2k]

This would require a specification of a certain video card with the component output section.


Do you have any recommendations?

 

[tycoon]

Check this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=300343

 

[jcarlsony2k]

Thanks for the advice.


My questions are still daunting - I guess what I'm really after is an 'update' to the HTPC FAQ (and recommended hardware) along with some point answers to my narrrowed-down questions.


I'll keep hoping that I can find out more...I'm not even buying a case until I figure out how many cards I'm going to need!

 

[Puwaha]

Quote:

Originally posted by jcarlsony2k --> First, using the HTPC as a gaming machine; vid cards and sound cards confuse me here because of the tv tuner/vid capture/directx/hdtv issues. E.G. How many darn video cards should I have? Same goes for sound. With the REVO being out now, is this the single sound card that everyone needs?

Well, you have only one video card. The purpose of a video card is to output video from the computer to your display device. You can have a video-capture card which does the exact opposite of what your vido card does. It inputs video to your computer.


And for sound... well, unless you have a specific purpose for having more than one soundcard, you would only need one. Just pick the card that has the features you want and there you go. For a vast majority of people, the built-in sound on most modern motherboards is all you will need.


Quote:

Second, using the HTPC to record; loopbacks and pass-through of signals. Recording everything and yet watching it while you record. Maybe I'm overthinking this issue.

I'm not sure what the question is here. Your soundcard will have at least one analog input... usually a 1/8" mini-din recepticle... the tiny plug that you see on walkman headphones. You would just hook up your tape player directly to this input, and you would use your favorite recording software to capture this audio.


The software will allow you to "watch" it while you record as well.


I agree... you are overthinking this particular issue.

 

[jdwk]

I haven't been on the board in a while. Did I miss some product that now will take a 1080i signal (component/VGA) from a HD DirectTV box into a computer for time-shifting / recording? Besides being insanely expensive, I thought the content providers were very very much against this.

 

[jcarlsony2k]

I'm quite amazed that I don't have more information on this type of stuff.