Computer as strictly a DVD Player for Home Theater

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,726
45
91
here is my situation - i have quite a large dvd collection and some of the discs are scratched. i have purchase numerous dvd players over the years, but feel a computer dvd player works better as i am able to watch the scratched movies on my pc fine where my home dvd players won't play and stutter quite a bit.

i have enough hardware - ti4200 w/svhs out, audio card with digital out, enough ram, hdd. m/b and cpu and optical drives to mess around with it.

what i want is some type of os/program that will play dvds and let a computer be the dvd player for the ht. i have put machines up where you had to go through the regular xp/win2k desktop and they made me literally sick because of refresh rates and resolutions, the tv is a 55" 480i only, so svhs is all it needs or since my video card has dvi out, i could get a dvi to component video adapter, but i don't want to spend any money if possible.

i am not going to use it to surf the web or have a capture card in to record movies, it will be strictly a dvd player.

what software/os would you recommend to turn a computer into just a ht dvd player?
 

Drakkon

Diamond Member
Aug 14, 2001
8,401
1
0
I really like the combo of windows MCE and Dameon Tools...lets me load up 4 (virtual)+1 (actual) dvd's and have a whole cycle going in the MCE center. I have a 205GB HD so i just backup all dvd's to isos on that and i have a whole non-scratched dvd library on hand whenever i want :)
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,726
45
91
how does windows mce look on a regular 480i t.v.? also, what version of mce do you have?
 

Drakkon

Diamond Member
Aug 14, 2001
8,401
1
0
i have mce 2005...on a regular tv it looks ohkay...i have it setup for 4:3 resolutions and it seems to adjust movies ohkay...the only downside i can see is that theres no good way (I've found) to turn widescreen movies full screen...
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,726
45
91
Originally posted by: Drakkon
i have mce 2005...on a regular tv it looks ohkay...i have it setup for 4:3 resolutions and it seems to adjust movies ohkay...the only downside i can see is that theres no good way (I've found) to turn widescreen movies full screen...

with the tv being 55", that is ok. are you just using svhs video connection? also, i am assuming the interface is designed for the low resolution of a tv? can you get mce2k5 as oem?
 

Drakkon

Diamond Member
Aug 14, 2001
8,401
1
0
Originally posted by: bob4432
Originally posted by: Drakkon
i have mce 2005...on a regular tv it looks ohkay...i have it setup for 4:3 resolutions and it seems to adjust movies ohkay...the only downside i can see is that theres no good way (I've found) to turn widescreen movies full screen...

with the tv being 55", that is ok. are you just using svhs video connection? also, i am assuming the interface is designed for the low resolution of a tv? can you get mce2k5 as oem?
I'm using SVideo yeah, but when you setup the system it checks your TV and sets resolution automatically. I've hooked it up to my 2001FP via DVI and it likes that better i think and adjusts the interface for the wider aspect of it.
mce is availible from newegg as oem...its like cheaper than xp pro too, which for all practical purposes mce is ;)

 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,726
45
91
Originally posted by: Drakkon
Originally posted by: bob4432
Originally posted by: Drakkon
i have mce 2005...on a regular tv it looks ohkay...i have it setup for 4:3 resolutions and it seems to adjust movies ohkay...the only downside i can see is that theres no good way (I've found) to turn widescreen movies full screen...

with the tv being 55", that is ok. are you just using svhs video connection? also, i am assuming the interface is designed for the low resolution of a tv? can you get mce2k5 as oem?
I'm using SVideo yeah, but when you setup the system it checks your TV and sets resolution automatically. I've hooked it up to my 2001FP via DVI and it likes that better i think and adjusts the interface for the wider aspect of it.
mce is availible from newegg as oem...its like cheaper than xp pro too, which for all practical purposes mce is ;)

thanks :)