Best Projector for Sky+?

[MrCoopz]

I am looking to upgrade from a PTAE100 and was wondering which would be the best projecter for use with Sky+?

At the moment im using a ProV with S-Video but i imagine scart would be alot better quality and the newer models all have scart sockets.

Or maybe i can make the AE100 picture better, can u buy Scart convertors and if so is the quality better than Prov and S-video?

Im thinking about the AE200 or 300 or any other PJ around the £800 mark thats has good picture quality.

Thanks

 

[David PluggedIn]

Hi MrCoopz

If you are prepared to run a HTPC then you will get an improvement on the picture using Dscaler and a capture card. SVideo is ok out of Sky+, and you can pick up an SVideo only capture card for £30. Of course spend more and the quality improves, we recently set up a customer AE100 with our solution and the quality of Sky via RGB through his PC (with 1:1 pixel mapping) was very good.
good luck!

 

[chic]

i have the a300 and i connect ton my sky+box via svideo and i ham very happy with the picture, the bonus is with both the 300 &200 you cna connect the digi box to the pj via rgb scart for a much better picture, i was thinking about connecting an rgb scart from my sky+ to the pj but i dont have a 10m scart cable and as i use my amp for switching i used svideo, however i am happy with the picture, its not perfect but its far better than the picture i had with my a100

 

[MrCoopz]

Originally posted by David PluggedIn
Hi MrCoopz

If you are prepared to run a HTPC then you will get an improvement on the picture using Dscaler and a capture card. SVideo is ok out of Sky+, and you can pick up an SVideo only capture card for £30. Of course spend more and the quality improves, we recently set up a customer AE100 with our solution and the quality of Sky via RGB through his PC (with 1:1 pixel mapping) was very good.
good luck!

Im a little unsure when it comes to HTPCs can i still watch Sky TV on the projector while surfing the net on the PC?

 

[MisterBig]

I have an Sky+ running though RGB SCART on an AE300 and it looks great.

 

[calibos]

I have NTL digital via RGB scart to my AE300 and it looks the biz to me. I wonder when people say that TV looks lousy on their PJ are they talking about analogue. I used to have analogue cable hooked up to my old ae100 and agree, it was barely watchable. When I finally got digital cable in and hooked it straight up with RGB I was very pleasantly surprised. The fact that some movies and programmes look almost dvd quality means that there is nothing majorly wrong with the digital platform imo or my connections. So when something doesn't look too hot its probably down to old analogue master tape, bad NTSC->Pal conversion, too much compression on that particular channel at the time...rather than anything wrong with my STB, RGB scart cable or PJ.

 

[Kramer]

Scart RGB to PJ is the best option this side of a capture card/Dscaler/HCPC.

Personally I couldn't watch TV on a PJ via either composite or s-video. Can't comment on scart RGB as my HS10 isn't scart enabled.

HCPCs can be troublesome to setup etc. but scart RGB to Sweetspot/Dscaler/HCPC provides the best result.

 

[MrCoopz]

Kramer can u use the PC and watch TV on the PJ at the same time?

I have heard about the TV-100 but i cant find it anywhere but thats S-Video only isnt it? How would i connect Sky+ to the sweetspot card and how much is it?

 

[MrCoopz]

i have just seen the price of £199

is it worth an extra £150 over the TV-100?

 

[Kramer]

Hi Mr. Coopz.

I'm assuming you're talking PJ & PC monitor both connected via VGA/DVI? I haven't tried that as I usually just change output from VGA (PC monitor) to DVI (projector). IIRC, using the dual monitor setup, the desktop is useable on the PC while the PJ can show a DVD/Dscaler etc... Worth a search in the HCPC forum to confirm.

Is the Sweetspot worth the extra? It depends I suppose on how much TV you watch on your PJ & how highly one values having the best possible PQ while doing so.

I've used a Pinnacle PCTV Rave, have a PB-TV100 (try your nearest PC World) & currently have a Sweetspot for evaluation/review purposes. The PB-TV100 is undoubtedly an excellent entry level capture card but can only accept composite or s-video.

From my (thusfar) limited testing of the Sweetspot capture card, it clearly produces the best PQ. Its s-video capture is better than the PB-TV100 & RGB capture is considerably better. The best I've ever seen Sky on the projector.

Obviously this route isn't as easy as a direct scart connection to PJ but I use my HCPC for just about everything - DVD, TV capture (Sky etc.) & DVB-S (Euro 1080 hidef).

Entirely up to you but if you're a HCPC man (or woman for that matter ) & watch a lot of TV (football, movies etc.), I'd suggest either the PB-TV100 on a budget or the Sweetspot to maximise your PQ.

A few threads in the HCPC forum about the Sweetspot & I'll hopefully post a review this week.

HTH.

 

[MrCoopz]

Thanks Kramer

I use my PJ for watching Sky TV every night but dont think i can part with £200 so im gonna try out the TV-100, do u know anywhere online that i can get it from because i dont have a PC world near me or a car for that matter

at the moment im connected by a VGA lead and when u say dual monitor setup do u mean like with a Dual head video card or just a program u run which allows you to have the desktop useable on the PC while the PJ can show a DVD/Dscaler like u said?

I did a search and it just came up with Dual Cards

 

[Kramer]

Yep, I meant if you were running a PC monitor & PJ both off the same PC/graphics card.

Either way, web surfing etc. isn't a problem.

PC World deliver too although atfer my recent experience, I'd never order from them on-line again. I can't post a direct link to the card on their site - bloody sessions. Just search for PB here & it should find it.

Best of luck

Edit: actually in their sale at the mo so easy enough to find now

 

[MrCoopz]

"Sorry but our website found no matches for the search term 'TV100'."

I tried earlier as well and it came up with nothing.

I dont wanna annoy u by asking loads of questions but how can i get my PC and PJ running off 1 card while both of them are doing different things?

EDIT: Search on PC world came up with nothing but browsing manually found the TV100

 

[Kramer]

No problem

If you graphics card (ATI preferably) has 2 outputs (VGA/VGA or more likely VGA/DVI), you'll have options under "desktop properties" (right click on desktop).

This has been asked/answered in the HCPC forum. If you've any problems finding relevent threads, I'll do a search for you later

Once you've rec'd you capture card you can always open a new thread in there for advice/assistance.

 

[MrCoopz]

are u selling ur TV100

I dont wanna really pay £40 and it turns out that i have problems with my setup.

What i really wanna do is a test to see how much better it is but u cant return anything to PC world.

I only have 1 output on my card so at the moment so im just using a splitter and the PC is on the PJ and Monitor at the same time. But being as the PC is gonna be taken up be Sky im in a Little predicament regarding surfing and watch TV at the same time.

I think i made that a little more understandable

 

[MrCoopz]

actually scrap that i have 3 things at the back

S-Video, VGA and DVI

 

[MrCoopz]

Hello again peeps

Today i bought a DVI cable and am running my PJ and Monitor at the same time.

My new Question is How can i make it so 1 screen watches movies ect whiles the other is just a common PC screen?

at the moment i can only Clone or Span the image

Also this topic might need to be renamed and moved becuase its going offtopic alot

 

[MrCoopz]

OK i have figured that out as well

Now i have a new problem, how can i load things up onto my new desktop?

They always load up onto my monitor and when im using programs like WMP and choose full screen it moves back to my Monitor and put its full screen on there