HTPC: Newbie Questions

So you want one HTPC to output to 3 different TVs?

I know you can output to two monitors via most video cards, then if you are using say a Crescendo Systems 2200 model transcoder with VGA pass through you can get a third...


One consideration you will have to face is the resolution/distance/quality relationship- generally, the higher quality the signal, and the farther the distance, the better the cables you will need to cover distance. And even DVI will lose quality and not be able to hold its signal over long enough distances- EG I think 1080i can only go something like 50ft over DVI, where 720p can go a bit farther- either way, you lose quality over distance- so consider which one you want to be your primary monitor, and put your HTPC as close to possible (and use the shortest cable) to that one.


And just a couple pointers-

A lot of people here are very 'techy'. If you have not the time or patience for months of install/research/configuration- I would go ATI with the componant dongle adapter for a plug and play experience with fluid (non-skipping!) video. A 9800 pro is a great value choice if gaming isn't your primary concern...


Also, I would go DVI or componant if you care about quality and are outputting to an HDTV - don't even think about composite or s-video.


And for software I'd go MCE2005.


If you are a 'techie' type and enjoy the research/hoby aspects and don't need it to be a one-weekend install and will enjoy playing with it and tuning it for (possibly months!) consider an Nvidia card and players like TheaterTek or Zoom Player with FFdshow. Again, you will have to do some research and work here to overcome some obstacles, but IMHO well worth it in the end.


Hope this helps get you started.


Good luck-


AC

I figure if I'm going to get involved in this, why not have whole house distributed video as well as audio? I could live with 2 TV transmission though. My primary viewing area is an HD PJ and my secondary viewing area is a rather cheap SD TV (with TiVo).


I would like to have the highest quality video with my PJ and just passable video with my SD TV. My PJ is currently hooked up via component cables (mainly a limitation as my cable box does not support DVI or HDMI). I have a Zenith DVB318 for a DVD player and would like to hook up my modded XBox for XBMC via component [which brings up another issue that my receiver only takes 2 component input, so I either need a switch or a new receiver. My current receiver is a Pioneer Elite VSX35TX.


I certainly have the time and patience for months of research and have just begun. My first purchase for portable video was a TVix ( http://www.tvixusa.com ) which has performed very well with a 160GB drive in it. My second purchase for audio was a squeezebox ( http://www.slimdevices.com ) as I didn't want to have to turn my PJ on to listen to music.


Both of the above devices got me to thinking that I should have a central location for all my media [mainly pictures, DVD backups and lossless audio]. Hence, I'm now researching a media center.


I'll begin by checking out those video cards that you recommended and attempt to figure out exactly which case I'd like [I've heard a lot of good things about Silverstone], which processor, memory, etc. I can definitely see having a terrabyte of storage give my DVD/audio collection -- which then gets me into the realm of redundant storage as I'd probably cry if my hard drive crashed and I lost everything!.


The search is more than half the fun, I think.


I'm also thinking of home automation, maybe something like homeseer but I'm not sure how good their MCE2005 plugin is. [I was thinking of Z-wave instead of X10, anyway, I digress....]


Thanks for the pointers.

I've ripped 20 DVDs as ISOs right now [mainly playing through TViX]. I like the single file format but hope it's not limiting me in anyway.


I've used DVD shrink for backing up though I have found an occasional disc which required DVD Decrypter and then I used DVD shrink on that. I don't compress the movie at all as I want everything it's full glory.


DVD Shrink is nice as it takes out the layer pause. I just love having 20 DVDs available via TViX so I can watch pieces of my favorite movies. [Yes, if I just got up off the couch, I could have the same thing... ha]



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