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Please take into consideration I have never gone the HTPC route before and I am unfamiliar with the hardware and software.
I basically have it figured out what would be best for me if I go the HTPC route, but need to find out how to deal with the MyHD card and a Radeon Card. For software I was going to go the Theatertek route and Cinemar products such as DVDLobby, CDLobby, Main Lobby: I feel this combo after previous opinions would give me basic functionality out of the box without having to invest the time necessary for zoomplayer, and netremote.
Then there is the Mike Parker MP-1 modification, which I'm wondering if it is worthwhile. I know there are some people here who know whether it is worth it or it is not and I'd love private email [email protected]
It is a simple modification that seems like nothing much more than a line driver by adding op amps and perhaps optimizing the output resistance/impedance to 75 ohms. Hard to believe it would make any visible difference unless you had a 50+ foot run of RGBHV cable in which case it would be mostly due to adding gain. On that note I will be using 40-50 feet of cable.
So you have a Radeon Card output and then there is the MyHD card output. I only have one RGBHV input for the Dwin HD700 with a 13M (about 40 feet) run of RGBHV cable possibly 50 feet if I need to extend further.
While you could take the output of the Radeon and loop it thru the MyHD card, it would have been much more appealing to loop the MyHD card output thru the Radeon. I'm concerned about taking the Radeon output and using the pass-thru on the MyHD card. I'm also assuming there is no problem connecting my monitor to one RGBHV output and then connecting the second to the pass-thru on the MYHD card that goes to the projector...??
Apparently there is a 1.3 Mike Parker modification which is on the website which describes essentially the MP-1 mod which can be done to any card with an RGBHV output. Likely that means they could perform the MP-1 modification to the MyHD card. Mike Parker is almost impossible to get a hold of and I have not yet been able to contact him for over 6 days now.
Has anybody done an MP-1 mod of their MyHD card? It is quite possible I could modify both the Radeon and the MyHD card and just use the pass-thru on the MyHD card. Again, I only have one RGBHV input on my Dwin HD700 CRT projector.
One could say: "Well just buy a high quality switcher, like an EXTRON" Sure, but they are like $1,000... and maybe the pass thru on the MyHD card is just as good?
I would also assume that Mike Parker takes the high frequency filters off the Radeon card while he is in there... ???
The other big question is that I assume I can use both my monitor as well as my projector from the Radeon card. I need to know that I can use my PC and work on it normally and still use it as an ideal HTPC.
I could easily live within the capabilities of a HTPC for the next couple years because I have too many trees to care about sattelite, so all I need is DVD, CD, OTA-HD and I'm fine. I could always add a capture card or Sage TV if I wanted to display/record my cable correct??
Then I would just rely on Theatertek, Powerstrip, and Mario's Cinemar Suite with Main Lobby, DVD Lobby, and Music Lobby and use a pocket PC for control, waiting for the Main Lobby version of Pocket PC to come out in beta in a month or two. J Rivers Media Center and Music Lobby will take care of the music.
The trickiest part would be how to control MyHD, which would likely require main lobby and guirt. I heard MyHD can be controlled by IR, but I'd be out of range and would likely just wait for main lobby pocket PC version. The who plan is to have the HTPC in the bedroom 40 feet away and one/two walls separation from the HT doing everything.
Anyway, off to get this figured out on whether to pull the trigger, or simply do a music server only and live with a Zenith STB, and Cinematrix for another 2-2.5 years. I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has insight into this. Right now I'm already not in an ideal situation because I have a zenith STB as well as the moddified Sony 7700 Cinematrix player which both have 5 BNC outs on the back... so I have to manually disconnect the cable going to the projector.
I would really appreciate opinions, answers, corrections, or better ways to accomplish what I'm trying to do, etc.
Thanks,
Chris
I basically have it figured out what would be best for me if I go the HTPC route, but need to find out how to deal with the MyHD card and a Radeon Card. For software I was going to go the Theatertek route and Cinemar products such as DVDLobby, CDLobby, Main Lobby: I feel this combo after previous opinions would give me basic functionality out of the box without having to invest the time necessary for zoomplayer, and netremote.
Then there is the Mike Parker MP-1 modification, which I'm wondering if it is worthwhile. I know there are some people here who know whether it is worth it or it is not and I'd love private email [email protected]
It is a simple modification that seems like nothing much more than a line driver by adding op amps and perhaps optimizing the output resistance/impedance to 75 ohms. Hard to believe it would make any visible difference unless you had a 50+ foot run of RGBHV cable in which case it would be mostly due to adding gain. On that note I will be using 40-50 feet of cable.
So you have a Radeon Card output and then there is the MyHD card output. I only have one RGBHV input for the Dwin HD700 with a 13M (about 40 feet) run of RGBHV cable possibly 50 feet if I need to extend further.
While you could take the output of the Radeon and loop it thru the MyHD card, it would have been much more appealing to loop the MyHD card output thru the Radeon. I'm concerned about taking the Radeon output and using the pass-thru on the MyHD card. I'm also assuming there is no problem connecting my monitor to one RGBHV output and then connecting the second to the pass-thru on the MYHD card that goes to the projector...??
Apparently there is a 1.3 Mike Parker modification which is on the website which describes essentially the MP-1 mod which can be done to any card with an RGBHV output. Likely that means they could perform the MP-1 modification to the MyHD card. Mike Parker is almost impossible to get a hold of and I have not yet been able to contact him for over 6 days now.
Has anybody done an MP-1 mod of their MyHD card? It is quite possible I could modify both the Radeon and the MyHD card and just use the pass-thru on the MyHD card. Again, I only have one RGBHV input on my Dwin HD700 CRT projector.
One could say: "Well just buy a high quality switcher, like an EXTRON" Sure, but they are like $1,000... and maybe the pass thru on the MyHD card is just as good?
I would also assume that Mike Parker takes the high frequency filters off the Radeon card while he is in there... ???
The other big question is that I assume I can use both my monitor as well as my projector from the Radeon card. I need to know that I can use my PC and work on it normally and still use it as an ideal HTPC.
I could easily live within the capabilities of a HTPC for the next couple years because I have too many trees to care about sattelite, so all I need is DVD, CD, OTA-HD and I'm fine. I could always add a capture card or Sage TV if I wanted to display/record my cable correct??
Then I would just rely on Theatertek, Powerstrip, and Mario's Cinemar Suite with Main Lobby, DVD Lobby, and Music Lobby and use a pocket PC for control, waiting for the Main Lobby version of Pocket PC to come out in beta in a month or two. J Rivers Media Center and Music Lobby will take care of the music.
The trickiest part would be how to control MyHD, which would likely require main lobby and guirt. I heard MyHD can be controlled by IR, but I'd be out of range and would likely just wait for main lobby pocket PC version. The who plan is to have the HTPC in the bedroom 40 feet away and one/two walls separation from the HT doing everything.
Anyway, off to get this figured out on whether to pull the trigger, or simply do a music server only and live with a Zenith STB, and Cinematrix for another 2-2.5 years. I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has insight into this. Right now I'm already not in an ideal situation because I have a zenith STB as well as the moddified Sony 7700 Cinematrix player which both have 5 BNC outs on the back... so I have to manually disconnect the cable going to the projector.
I would really appreciate opinions, answers, corrections, or better ways to accomplish what I'm trying to do, etc.
Thanks,
Chris