| leadbelly |
This is a newbie question as I rarely look at this forum, so please forgive anything silly. I did a bit of searching but couldn't really find something close.
With all the DVB cards and free-to-air satellites happening, I am considering trying something with my HDTV compatible rear projection TV. It has composite, S-VHS, and digital video inputs.
If I want to make myself an HTPC to deliver the best quality video to the TV from the DVB sat card, what should I be looking at for a PC video output card in terms of connection media, and are there great differences in price/performance for different media? |
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| hassler |
Hi leadbelly,
I've got myself a visionplus DVB-T and it delivers HDTV fine through a composite lead.
S-video provides a better signal than composite and DVI better again.
Make sure you're meeting the recommended specs for the card, not the minimum specs.
I use an AMD XP 1800+ with 512Mb PC3200 RAM and a Ti4200 vid card with 128Mb onboard RAM, the occasional stutter I get is due to low signal strength from my antenna.
In terms of different media flavours, I assume you mean NVidia or ATI.
I think this comes down to a personal choice similar to "do you like vanilla or chocolate better?"
I have always used a Nvidia card and have had no problems, others will swear by ATI. My advice is to get the cheapest card that has DVI out and meets the recommended specs.
You will be happy whichever way you go. |
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| leadbelly |
Thanks for the reply.
I guess my post was pretty vague as I was brainstorming out loud. When I brought up HDTV it was more as a way to describe what I see as a way to get best picture quality out of the TV than actually grabbing HDTV from to free-to-air channels. Unlike what I think there is overseas, the free-to-air HDTV content in North America is negligeable.
What I was really getting at was something along the lines of whether a DVB card in the PC grabbing the raw digital info, processed through some software like Descaler or whatever it takes, and output through a HDTV compatible video card would have some really sharp picture quality, something really superior to what a commercial satellite receiver gives.
And by media I meant if cabling would be a big issue with regards to picture quality. Ideally I would like to avoid putting a PC near my TV, so would long (say 30 ft) cable runs negate the improved picture? |
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| hassler |
I cannot make a direct comparison between a pc equipped with a DVB card and a stand alone sat receiver, as I only have the DVB card.
From what I have read on other forums
http://robdvd.radfiles.net/index.php
(DVB-T i know but its similar to DVB-S) the quality is the same between the set top box and the DVB card.
A set top box will give you ease of use and little trouble.
A PC card will allow you to fiddle with things and get things just the way you want.
My composite lead is 5 metres long and I can see no visual defects. I don't think 10 metres will give you any trouble, especially if you use the DVI format (digital being closer to lossless than analog).
If you decide to get a HDTV receiver make sure your tv can actually display a picture at proper HDTV resolution. Just because it will accept a HDTV input doesn't mean it will display it properly.
(gotta love those liars....I mean marketing people) |
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