[John ODonnell]

I am a little confused in this respect. Is an HTPC merely used as a AV component (such as a DVD player)? Or, do you pass all video signals thru the HTPC to take advantage of such things as DScaler?


Let me ask my question another way...


Do I make a video connection from my HTPC to my AV receiver via the AUX1 video connex on the AV receiver? Or does the HTPC sit in front of my CRT and pass all video signals it receives onto the CRT (I assume this requires a video capture card???)?


Thanks for the help!


John

 

[Brian Hampton]

Hi,


It can function either way.


However, unless your receiver accepts RGBVH, I don't think anyone runs the video out of a HTPC into a AVreceiver. Well, some people do but you aren't getting the best of a HTPC unless you're using RGBVH for video.


It's typical for a HTPC to have a capture card. Then many video sources can be switched by a AVR and all sent into the HTPC for processing.


-B

 

[John ODonnell]

Thanks for the reply Brian! I think I have a better understanding. The missing piece of the puzzel was the capture card. I have already bought:


Radeon 7500 64mb DDR

M-Audio Dio 2496


I guess a capture card should be the next purchase! Here is what I have planned...please look it over at your leisure and let me know if I have all the bases covered...


Denon 4802 monitor out --> component/5 BNC cable --> transcoder --> VGA cable --> capture card


HTPC Radeon 7500 --> 15 pin VGA/5 BNC cable --> Sony VPH-1272Q projector


All other AV components (VCR, SAT, etc) would be connected to their respective inputs on the AV receiver. This way, the AV receiver continues to handle all video switching.


If my logic checks out, one last question...would the video bandwidth of teh Denon 4802 be an issue. It is rated at 50hz and from reading other threads, it seems that it would be adequate.


Thanks,


John

 

[Arnax]

John,


Most capture cards have only composite and/or svideo inputs (along with the antenna connector of course). I don't know of any having vga or component inputs.

I don't know if your Denon receiver has an svideo monitor out, but IMO it would be the way to go.

This way you could have the receiver doing the video switching, and the HTPC/Dscaler doing the deinterlace/scaling.


Arnaud.

 

[Karnis]

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian Hampton However, unless your receiver accepts RGBVH, I don't think anyone runs the video out of a HTPC into a AVreceiver. Well, some people do but you aren't getting the best of a HTPC unless you're using RGBVH for video.

______I disagree. My HTPC is run thru a Key Digital VTCA-2 transcoder and into my Yamaha RX-V1 (~100MHz bandwidth) component inputs. I don't use the RGBHV inputs on my Mits specifically because I want to treat it just like an AV component....I switch between HTPC, DTC-100 and RP-91 progressive scan DVD video-audio player. I have compared the two (transcoder & RGBHV) and see no signal degradation using the high quality KD transcoder.

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian Hampton It's typical for a HTPC to have a capture card. Then many video sources can be switched by a AVR and all sent into the HTPC for processing.

_______I don't have a typical capture card/dscaler but I do have a Video Blaster Digital VCR card that acts like a VCR/Tivo device. I simply run the RF cable (for ease of use) out of my DTC 100 to the VB card.


_______50MHz bandwidth for HD signal switching is generally considered acceptable....there have been many debates about this, however.

 

[Brian Hampton]

Hey,


Your are right, I neglected to think that some AVR's do switching of component video. What I meant to say is if you are outputting S-Video from you HTPC you are not getting all the benifits of HTPC.


I would tend to think the HTPC should be connected directly to the video display component since all other video sources can be managed externally (like by an AVR) and then fed into the HTPC (via S-Vid) for processing.


However, Karnis, you have multiple HD sources (must be nice) and a high quality video switcher built into your receiver so not running the HTPC directly to the projector makes total sense.


There's no one answer though. There are many ways to get it done.


-Brian

 

[Karnis]

S-Video? Eeewwww...what's that? Oh yeah, NTSC video. Ugh...didn't the government turn that off back in May 2002?!

 

[John ODonnell]

Quote:

Originally posted by Arnax John, Most capture cards have only composite and/or svideo inputs (along with the antenna connector of course). I don't know of any having vga or component inputs. I don't know if your Denon receiver has an svideo monitor out, but IMO it would be the way to go. This way you could have the receiver doing the video switching, and the HTPC/Dscaler doing the deinterlace/scaling. Arnaud.

Thanks Arnaud. I have one question that needs clarification though. Am I losing video signal quality since the capture card is limited to an S-Video connection? What if (and this is just a hypothetical) I had a progressive scan set-top DVD player that utilized the component video switching of the Denon. Wouldn't I be losing PQ by passing that signal along to my HTPC (capture card) via S-Video?


BTW...the Denon 4802 switches component, S-Video and composite across the board (all inputs and monitor out).


Quote:

Originally posted by Karnis ______I disagree. My HTPC is run thru a Key Digital VTCA-2 transcoder and into my Yamaha RX-V1 (~100MHz bandwidth) component inputs. I don't use the RGBHV inputs on my Mits specifically because I want to treat it just like an AV component....I switch between HTPC, DTC-100 and RP-91 progressive scan DVD video-audio player. I have compared the two (transcoder & RGBHV) and see no signal degradation using the high quality KD transcoder.

Thanks Wayne. It seems we are trying to accomplish the same thing. Right now my only HD source with be the HTPC dvd playback. I plan on getting a DTC-100 in the very near future (little afraid of climbing up on the roof ). Would you please be son kind as to give me a little more detail about your connections? My main goal in all of this is to allow the AV receiver to continue to do ALL of the switching. This should make for a higher WAF (although just a GF right now) since I will not need to "re-educate" her!


Thanks,


John

 

[Karnis]

Very simple....HTPC and DTC-100 via 2 KD VTCA-2 transcoders, and progressive scan RP-91 (all 3-wire component), input into Yamaha RX-V1 (it does have 3 wideband component inputs), and component video out from the Yamaha to Mits HDTV component input. All audio connections are digital...HTPC & DTC 100 via optical, DVD player is coaxial. More details and pictures are available in the links on my sig.

 

[John ODonnell]

Thanks again Wayne! I guess this brings me back to one of my original questions: Are you not taking advantage of the HTPC's functionality by NOT running every video source thru it? I thouht that I read in other threads that doing so will help "clean up" regular OTA signals. If this is not the case, your solution would work the best for me!


Thanks,


John

 

[Karnis]

Now why on earth would I want to use an s-video connection from my HD STB or progressive scan DVD player? It's not going to magically turn it into HD. Garbage in, garbage out!

 

[John ODonnell]

Wayne,


Exactly what I was thinking! Thanks for the clarification!


I think a part of my confusion (at least for your equipment) is that I did not know that the DTC-100 has only VGA and composite video outputs...no component. When you mentioned you had 2 transcoders...that kinda threw me off!


John

 

[Karnis]

Don't get me wrong, a capture card/dscaler combo is good for inputting sources like VCR, cable box or interlaced DVD player, then outputting to a projector,etc but for my setup it wouldn't make any sense.

 

[John ODonnell]

Mine also! Thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction!

 

[Arnax]

Wayne is absolutely right, a capture card in a HTPC is only useful for interlaced sources.

I wonder though why you would want a HTPC if you already have a HDTV STB and a progressive scan DVD ?

 

[John ODonnell]

MP3 jukebox, DiVX, web browse...just to name a few.


I don't have a Progressive scan player (well...a Pioneer DV434...and we all know their definition of progressive scan). Once I get the HTPC up and running...the Pioneer is being sold to a friend.


As for HD DirecTV...that is a few months away for me. I have already spent enough $$$ and my GF is starting to get a little tight.

 

[Arnax]

So go for a Tvcard with svideo input and a bt878 chip, have all your interlaced sources routed through the Denon to the svideo input of the card, and only plug the vga out of the HTPC to the PJ. As you already have the HTPC, this is a really small investment, good for GF

So you can have Dscaler deinterlace and scale your ntsc sources (VCR, cable/satellite,...), and whatever player you want play the DVDs and DivXs, along with regular PC use.

That's exactly what I'm doing, and it's pretty convenient. But remember, gabarge in garbage out, don't expect top notch quality from your VCR ! Digital cable or satellite should look pretty good though.

 

[Karnis]

Quote:

Originally posted by Arnax I wonder though why you would want a HTPC if you already have a HDTV STB and a progressive scan DVD ?

HTPC:

(1) Has a slightly better picture than RP-91 due to much less ringing and less overscan, can scale to 1440x960i for better resolution, plus superior aspect ratio control and HTPC/TheaterTek player is actually easier to use, with excellent "set movie start" feature.

(2) Upsample all CDs to 24/96 for superior sound quality and Winamp playlist/jukebox with 3D visualization.

(3) Poor mans' TIVO with Video Blaster digital PVR, plus ability to archive to VCD

(4) Big screen browsing, girls think it's cool.

RP-91:

(1) DVD Audio playback

(2) Fallback for difficult DVDs (like recent animated Batman movies) that comb really bad on HTPC.

(3) Looks good on the shelf.

 

[John ODonnell]

What he said!

 

[John ODonnell]

Quote:

Originally posted by Arnax So go for a Tvcard with svideo input and a bt878 chip, have all your interlaced sources routed through the Denon to the svideo input of the card, and only plug the vga out of the HTPC to the PJ. As you already have the HTPC, this is a really small investment, good for GF So you can have Dscaler deinterlace and scale your ntsc sources (VCR, cable/satellite,...), and whatever player you want play the DVDs and DivXs, along with regular PC use. That's exactly what I'm doing, and it's pretty convenient. But remember, gabarge in garbage out, don't expect top notch quality from your VCR ! Digital cable or satellite should look pretty good though.

It's probably worth it for me to just wait until I get my HD STB for DirecTV (maybe a month or two down the road). The only thing the VCR is used for is so my GF can do her Taebo workout Other than that, it is just another dust machine sitting in the rack.