To scale or not?

[AngelEyes]

Hi,

I am looking at getting a Sony Pearl shortly.

My sources are:

Sky+ via RGB Scart
HK DVD25 (SD Prog) via Component or RGB Scart
HD HTPC via Component, VGA or DVI

I am a PJ virgin but would like to get things right first time if possible

I guess what I am asking is:

Should I rely on the PJs upscaler and just by a switch for my various sources? or...
Should I upgrade my DVD player to an upscaling DVD player with HDMI out? or...
Should I get a dedicated upscaler for all my sources and if so what would you recommend?

Lots of questions ... Thanks

[Liam @ Prog AV]

You could add an RGB input to the PC for Sky, and use the DVD on the PC. This way the PC does all the processing (better than projector for sure).

Otherwise dedicated processing for all sources would be my recommendation.

[AngelEyes]

Thanks Liam,

I was under the impression that PC hardware is crap for AV, relatively speaking. Are you saying that I will get a better picture using my PC to upscale SD DVDs?

Will my audio be compromised at all?

What software will I need to perform the upscaling?

Sorry, HTPC is all new to me, I just use a spare PC atm, not specific HT harware...

Thanks.

[tryingtimes]

If it were me, I'd get the pearl - live with it for a while and then see what annoys me about it the most.
Then see what products will improve those things.

There are a lot of people using the ruby/pearl without other processing and they're perfectly happy.

Liam's point about making the HTPC the hub of your system makes sense as you then only need one lead to your pj and you haven't spent much money.

Of course dedicated processing will do better in every regard, but at a price (Optoma HD3000 [based on Liam's observations], VP50 [based on Stoomonster's review] or Crystalio II [based on my own demos]).

Considering the cost of the pj, I'm just not sure that it should be done from the outset.

[tryingtimes]

Originally Posted by AngelEyes

I was under the impression that PC hardware is crap for AV, relatively speaking. Are you saying that I will get a better picture using my PC to upscale SD DVDs?

Will my audio be compromised at all?

What software will I need to perform the upscaling?

It depends what you've got.
You could probably make do with the spdif output you've already got and see what it's like.
Other than that you could just add a SweetSpot RGB card and Dscaler(free), some DVD playing software like TheaterTek and away you go!

(as long as you've got a spare PCI slot for the SweetSpot card)

If you like what you see, then adding an audiophile soundcard isn't expensive as long as you've got a spare slot. The performance can be very acceptable indeed.

More specific advice can probably be had over in the Entertainment PC section of the forums.

[Liam @ Prog AV]

You want to get over to a HTPC forum. Ideally you want decent cooling, graphics and sound card. Low signal to noise ratio on the digital out for audio, decent video processing in the graphics card for video etc etc. I don't know quite how in depth you can get, but the only thing that bothers me with HTPCs is they are never quite as plug-n-play as they should be whereas a processor will just sit and do its job.

[AngelEyes]

tryingtimes,

Thanks for the feedback.

I think you are right about waiting, £2k for upscaling is more than I have to spend at the moment but a HTPC hub sounds intertesing. I build my own PCs so it certainly looks like a simple enough job.

I have used Theatretek but found it won't display Vid on some 'sources' I have aquired and I end up using Windows Media Player as much as TT.

The sound card is a Creative labs Audigy 2 ZS or something like that and the GFX cart is an AGP ATI X800 XT PE I believe on a Gigabyte MB and a Pentium 4 3.2 HT processor.

What sort of Sound card would be a significant improvement on what I have?

I just checked out the sweetspot, looks interesting. Is it possible to set things up so that sources are automatically output to the PJ?

Thanks

Adam

[tryingtimes]

I'm out of date with current hardware - best check out the PC section, but I would try what you've got first - the ATI will be great - sound card could be perfectly acceptable.
SweetSpot and DScaler isn't the most automated setup in the world, and you may find the PJ does as good a job, some experimentation needed perhaps.

The only thing that the PC can't do is scaling external HD sources, so just send those direct to the PJ if you get any.

I think you've probably reached the limit of my knowledge as I haven't looked at HTPCs for a year or so now.

Cheers
tt

[AngelEyes]

Thanks chaps, i'll find some dedicated forums for HTPCs

[Avi]

Originally Posted by AngelEyes

Hi,

I am looking at getting a Sony Pearl shortly.

My sources are:

Sky+ via RGB Scart
HK DVD25 (SD Prog) via Component or RGB Scart
HD HTPC via Component, VGA or DVI

I am a PJ virgin but would like to get things right first time if possible

I guess what I am asking is:

Should I rely on the PJs upscaler and just by a switch for my various sources? or...
Should I upgrade my DVD player to an upscaling DVD player with HDMI out? or...
Should I get a dedicated upscaler for all my sources and if so what would you recommend?

Lots of questions ... Thanks

Some things to consider-

I read that the Pearl remote does not allow direct source select without going into a menu first. This may become a pain.

At the Pearl demo DVD from an Arcam direct via component to Pearl looked very good.

If you are considering HD DVD (a real must with a 1080 pj) a scaler should be able to output in mutiples of 24hz and will elliminate judder on 24p encoded disc.

A scaler will allow you to tweak all input sources way beyond what the Pearl offers and also has the potential for a single HDMI cable run to the PJ. This makes life a lot easier.


AVI

[tryingtimes]

good points
btw
HTPCs can also output 48Hz (that's what I do) using Powerstrip and reclock.

[Avi]

Originally Posted by tryingtimes

good points
btw
HTPCs can also output 48Hz (that's what I do) using Powerstrip and reclock.

Sorry I'm not that familiar with HTPC. I know there are a few laptops that can handle HD disc formats is this easy to do with a HTPC today ?

AVI

[DewAsmara]

Hi there,
Upscaling or not depends do you need it or not If you think worth in every penny, then better make your own PC-Multimedia, an Intel i965 Motherboard with on board X3000 VGA card and onboard Sound Card have a true HD Capabilities, it have full 7.1 channel, DTS HD, Upscale up to 1080i and also HDMI port. Use it with Core2 Processor and you will suprise

[tryingtimes]

Originally Posted by Avi

Sorry I'm not that familiar with HTPC. I know there are a few laptops that can handle HD disc formats is this easy to do with a HTPC today ?

AVI

Sorry - I don't know either - I was referring to plain old DVD and other NTSC film-based material.

[Barend]

I think matching the video processor's output to the display's native resolution makes sense, as you bypass lossy calculations.