[xcel]

Hi All:


___The initial Immersive TheaterTek DVD Player thread is fast becoming a monster so I am locking it with this new thread to take its place. Please, keep the bantering in this thread down to a minimum and your posts to the point. If you have a legitimate question, please feel free to add to the thread as you would any other. If you want to create a post in regards to its cost, please don’t post because it is not going to change anytime soon. From my discussions in regards to the new player, new features will be added as newer features and more stable code become available.


___The big addition is in regards to SW DD/DTS decoding capabilities from the TheaterTek player itself. I believe there is a back door that can be exploited in the way the player is coded but I cannot say if it will work for all 5.1/7.1 cards just yet. Give this some time to develop for those that must use the analog outputs of their 5.1/7/1 cards as needed. Please also remember that if you are using a poor quality DAC based card like almost all AC97 spec’ed cards to date, do not expect the sound to be nearly that of a std. S/PDIF output via COAX/TosLink to your DD/DTS receiver of choice. I have seen a few posts in regards to this w/ very misleading information in terms of sound quality alone.


___Someone asked about the poor ATI 4.0/4.1 player rendering under Windows 2000. This player does not exhibit the posterization artifacts in dark scenes like the ATI player under Windows 2000 that I have seen so far and it does give you all the adjustment capability you could want under Windows 2000/XP as no other player can to date.


___Finally, I have not had time to test the absolute latest RC made available to me due to time constraints but I did want to make a statement that the player acts slightly different under XP than it does under 98 SE/Millennium. This is not a display quality difference but I wanted to note that the player is slightly degraded in terms of HW performance and the ability to switch resolutions on the fly vs. the older consumer based Win 98 SE/Millennium OS’s. This is definitely because of ATI’s latest and only publicly released 6.13.3276 XP based drivers but they do not effect the players PQ nor the ability to control it under normal uses.


___Good Luck


___Wayne R. Gerdes

___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.

___ [email protected]

 

[Mark Hunter]

HI Wayne,


If this is going to be the new TT thread (and likely remain near the top of the forum), can you unlock the other thread from it's "locked at the top" position?

 

[Chris Williams]

Hmmm...as I was one of the last few posters, the closing feels a bit personal. I just want a SW DVD player that aims a bit higher, rather than just one that fulfills pre-existing expectations. One that will be ready for the future, when most AV functions will be integrated into the HTPC (vis: the folks feeding their sound card directly into their amps).


Did any of the beta testers NOT have a Pronto as their primary interface device? Isn't anyone interested in using their PC as the controller for the rest of their AV equipment, rather than slaving it to something as fragile and flaky as an IR controller?


Maybe I'm odd, but posts saying "oh, yes, this is exactly what I was looking for! It's perfect!" are the pointless and redundant ones. Ones that criticize the player (a bit hard to do well in the absence of screen shots) are the ones that will prove useful in the long run.

 

[Craig Crane]

I dont think the following is off topic, as it has been mentioned throughout the now locked thread.


I hope I won't have to sift through another 12 pages in order to see screenshots that should of been posted from the get go. Sorry, but I am rapidly changing my mind over this player if I can't see any screen shots. Nothing elaborate, just an indication as to what we can look forward to. $70 is a lot to spend on a near blind purchase. Go on, convince me visually that your DVD player deserves to be bought!


screenshots, screenshots, screenshots

 

[JeffY]

I have a couple of questions that I hope you can answer, sorry if they have been answered in the previous thread.


I have never been able to get DD/DTS passthrough with any Direcstshow player on any OS, a lot of people have the same problem, how does TheaterTek help with this?


Does the TheaterTek player come with overlay controls (brightness, saturation,gamma,Hue,Contrast) and is it preconfigured to the Digital Connections 0IRE settings? If TheaterTek does come with these controls are they OS dependant?



Thanks,


Jeff

 

[xcel]

Hi Mark H: The top posted position was setup by the admin’s and not myself so we will have to wait on that question.


___Chris: Yes, some of the beta testers were using Pronto’s and most if not all functions can be hot-keyed.


___Craig: I do not know where or when Andrew will post SS’s but he will from my understanding.


___JeffY: We have all achieved DD/DTS from the TheaterTek player although we are mostly using std. HTPC setups (M-audio’s/Live’s). Andrew is the one with about 5 or 6 other sound cards trying to make sure they do the same. All controls are available under Win98 SE – Win XP.


___Good Luck


___Wayne R. Gerdes

___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.

___ [email protected]

 

[JeffY]

Quote:

Originally posted by xcel ___JeffY: We have all achieved DD/DTS from the TheaterTek player although we are mostly using std. HTPC setups (M-audio’s/Live’s). Andrew is the one with about 5 or 6 other sound cards trying to make sure they do the same. All controls are available under Win98 SE – Win XP.

Did anyone who had problems before give this a try, someone who couldn't get DD passthru with the ATI player?


Jeff

 

[Chivs]

To answer definitively some of the questions.


Chris:

There is a context menu available by right-clicking the mouse to control the features of the player. All the functions are available from the keyboard so a remote control is not a pre-requisite. However, by designing the player to work off hotkeys, which are just keyboard commands, you can easily program a remote to control it, and not have to resort to a keyboard/mouse on the lap.


Sound cards:

Most of the testing was done using M-Audio cards and SBLive cards under all OS's. I also personally tested yesterday the Hercules Fortissimo II under Win2k, and previously used the Game Theatre XP under Millenium.


Screenshots:

I took a bunch of pictures yesterday of both the screen and in my own make-shift theater. The quality of the pics varies so I'm trying to get a few together that do the interface justice.

 

[Eric van Ballegoie]

First of all, I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to the people who develloped this player which seems to be geared exactly to our needs. People who complain that it's too expensive need to re-check the totall cost of their theater I think.


I do however hope that the product can be shipped from Europe for customers in Europe. Not only will it speed up the delivery, but it will also save as an extra 20% in import taxes.


One question remains however. In the original 14 pages I've seen several questions about PAL disc playback and detection of badly flagged PAL discs, but NO ASWERS HAS BEEN GIVEN !! ???

Please comment on compatibility with PAL discs!!!!

 

[rbmcgee]

I want to be able to program and use the TT player as soon as it arrives (think salivating), but I want to make sure I can program my Pronto easily.

However, by designing the player to work off hotkeys, which are just keyboard commands, you can easily program a remote to control it..(Chivs)

I have a logitech RF keyboard and getting it controlled by the keyboard hotkeys doesn't get closer to control via pronto. BTW, I do have Irman and Girder.


What is my best (think easiest) way to do this?


A) Someone will agree to post a complete Pronto CCF (include open/close) for this player - soon is good.


B) Buy an Airboard, 'learn' to control the player via the Airboard (include open/close) and then program the Pronto via Airboard


C) As currently with WDVD and PDVD - use extra remotes to control the player (via Irman software) and then program the Pronto via the remotes.


I have really tried to understand Girder and have given up. Too complicated for me. I would really like to avoid Girder and as a result I cannot open or close the players (this must be done with the mouse).


Will I be able to open/close without using Girder?


I, for one, am looking forward to complete control via Pronto.


Thanx for your patience

 

[MikeM]

I'd just like to say these are exciting times for HTPC'ers. You have this Theater Tek coming out and Power DVD 4.0 XP that has incredibly advanced features beyond what any of us dreamed of, both at the same time.

 

[Chivs]

We are in the process of creating Pronto and Girder files for use with the ITT player. This should help people out who want to use these devices.


I would just like to ask people to keep an open mind about the TT player until it is in the hands of end users, and not just testers. It is difficult to describe the 'feel' of a player in words, and the screenshots don't really do it justice IMHO.


Speaking of which, since the forum changed over to new software, posting pictures is not quite as easy as it used to be. We're working on it.

 

[JeffY]

My question about the overlay controls should have been an easy yes/no answer, I take it that the answer is no then. I can't believe that after all the hype about 0IRE and gamma control that all of a sudden it isn't important anymore.

 

[Tom Strade]

...taken from Andrew's announcement post.

"- Full control of the video settings is presented through graphical on-screen sliders. Depending on graphic hardware, Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation and Gamma can be controlled directly within the player. Video settings are even associated with each DVD, so for example gamma compensation for dark movies will be re-applied whenever the movie is played.


- Taking the video settings one step further, optimum scope calibrated settings for the ATI Radeon card are built into the player by default. These are thanks to the gratious generosity of Cliff Watson."

 

[Neil Jenkins]

I'm partularly interested in how the TT Player can stop combing occurring in Video based material DVDs. A good example is Sex and The City Opening Credits which has always featured combing on Sarah Jessica Parker. This doesnt occur on my Arcam/Rock+ combo but does opccur on ATI Player, WinDVD and PowerDVD?


Regards Neil.

 

[Mac]

Will the Immersive TheaterTek DVD Player work with the MPact media player that I have in my Cassini? Does it simply take the place of my current software (Entertainment Center)? Or will I need new hardware as well?


thanks,

Mac

 

[adzan]

Hi all,


I've signed up, hence when it will be delivered? The form mentioning 10 days, its 10 days from when?


From the description I've read from the discussion this is exciting!! The last time I was so excited was when I pick-up the NEC XG135LC at DHL


The timing is also perfect, I'll upgrade the OS to WinXP and bye bye ATI player


regards,

adzan

 

[Chris Williams]

Quote:

Originally posted by Chivs Chris: There is a context menu available by right-clicking the mouse to control the features of the player. All the functions are available from the keyboard so a remote control is not a pre-requisite. However, by designing the player to work off hotkeys, which are just keyboard commands, you can easily program a remote to control it, and not have to resort to a keyboard/mouse on the lap.

"Right-click to control, the features of the player"? Does this mean that the disc playback features are not even available via the right-click menu? "Resort to a keyboard/mouse"? A mouse is my preferred control device, not an item of last resort. Again, the the Pronto and all programmable control devices lack several important features:

• On-screen interactivity - you have to look at a Pronto to use it.
• No shuttle - there is no device that offers fine-grained control for accessing a particular frame.
• No feedback - IR controls are one-way, and the player cannot see the state of the control device. Mouse and RS-232 is far more useful for accurate control.

This player is getting less and less interesting looking all the time.

Quote:

Xcel posted: ___Chris: Yes, some of the beta testers were using Pronto’s and most if not all functions can be hot-keyed.

Thanks for the answer, but it was not the answer to the question I asked. I asked did any of the beta testers NOT have a Pronto. Possibly the answer to my question can be inferred from your answer, but possibly not. Did anyone who prefers using a mouse test it? I mean, it looks like the testing was limited to a group that already agreed with the designer's pre-conceptions. That's a shame for a product that is trying to be the ultimate HTPC DVD player.

 

[Chivs]

Chris,

I honestly don't know what else to say to you.


You persistently keep asking the same question, and either I'm missing your point, or you don't understand my answer.


In personally testing this, I use Windows 2000 with my keyboard and mouse. Not a Pronto in sight. Having a contextual menu available via right-clicking gives you access to all the features with a MOUSE. The Aspect Ratio controller is useable with a MOUSE.


What it does NOT have, is a fake looking graphic of a DVD player with tiny buttons.

 

[Chivs]

Adzan,

Estimated availability was 10 days from the annoucement post of last Wednesday. We're hoping to have CD's back by Friday of this week, which means it should ship the beginning of next week.