Does the SPDIF output on a hollywood plus board work in Win2k?

[Noriaki]

I know Win2k does not support SPDIF "passthrough" output with software DVD players and a Sound Card.

But this isn't really SPDIF "passthrough" becuase the hardware decodes the DVD and then outputs it...it's not software decoding and then passing it off to various hardware devices for output. Or so I hope...

But anyways, what I hope or think doesn't really count for much , bottom line: does the SPDIF output work on a Hollywood Plus DVD decoder in Win2000Pro?

 

[superbaby]

If it does I'm buying one.

 

[Noriaki]

<< If it does I'm buying one. >>

My thoughts exactly

 

[luv2chill]

Yes it does... like a charm...

However, I just decided to buy a standalone DVD player for my TV. The Hollywood Plus uses a passthru cable which makes resolutions higher than 1024 x 768 look really crappy on your monitor. I guess you could hook up the passthru cable only when you want to watch movies, but that requires a reboot. Lame...

It's good to output to a TV, but when you can get a standalone for $75 bucks, why bother with DVD-ROM at all?

l2c

 

[Noriaki]

You bring up good points, and if I used my monitor in 1024x768 I'd be worried about it.
But I don't, I use my monitor in 800x600 for desktop, and I might use it in 1024x768 for movies. (I've got very poor vision so I don't use high res desktops)

I want to have TV-out, but I usually watch DVDs on my monitor, main thing I want is SPDIF output in win2000. I won't use the TV that much, if you know a better way please suggest it.

Thanks though for the warning, I already new about the 2D quality issue, but I appreciate the warning nonetheless

 

[luv2chill]

Noriaki--you'll be fine then... As I understand lower resolutions look just fine--it's just that the real high resolutions look awful (and I can personally vouch for that... I run 1600 x 1200 on my 19&quot;... it was god-awful).

But that limitation aside, the Hollywood Plus is an excellent product. They're pretty good about driver updates, the player is stable (for me anyway) and they even offer a cool $20 serial IR remote that will control the player (which is finally Win2k compliant I might add). Not to mention the picture quality is superb, and it frees your processor to do other things.

I don't care what anyone else says--the quality of the picture on the H+ is superior to any software player I've seen--plus the TV output looks just like that of a standalone player. And you get working Dolby Digital in Win2k to boot.

That said, wanna buy my now-unneeded H+??

l2c

 

[samgau]

I have the old H+ , i hear that sigma designs were replacing them with a similar card but without the heat issues...but i have not been able to confirm that..
I agree with luv2chill...the tv-out of the H+ is better than all the software dvd decoders I have seen till now...now if only my sound card (mx300) could accept the digital out of the H+ and convert it to 4 point surround, i'd be in heaven...

 

[Noriaki]

What do you want to sell it for L2C? I might be willing to take it.

I live in Canada so the shipping might be a bit pricey...

 

[superbaby]

Do set-top DVD boxes have outputs for monitors? Because that's the only monitor I have right now, no TV...


Edit: Do you think you could get a VGA switch box for the H+? Like, use passthrough only when playing movies and normal when not. I run high resolutions as well and I need all the quality I can get!

 

[Noriaki]

hey samgau, have you tried the 4 channel downmix option for the H+ in DVD genie?

It's mainly for SBLive!s but it says it might work with other cards.

 

[samgau]

DVD genie?? no i have not used it..actually can you give me a little more info on it...
I have only used the dvd software that came with the H+...btw I have a 6&quot; fan attached to my H+ cause of the heat issue...

Thanks

Sam

 

[Noriaki]

DVD genie is a little program that contains tweaks for various DVD players. Run other region DVDs, unlock sound options (like OEM WinDVD's sometimes have some sound options disabled, you can unlock them with WinDVD), tweak video options...all sorts of stuff like that.

The creative DXR3 can &quot;downmix&quot; a 5.1 channel dolby digital stream to 4.0 channel analog. This works great for speakers like the BA-4800s, FPS2000, ACS54,56...anything that has two mini-stereo jacks to connect to a sound card.

Anyhow, the Creative DXR3 is uses the same Decoder chip (if not the whole board) as the Hollywood Plus, different drivers and maybe a differnt BIOS. Because of a licensing deal with Creative, Sigma isn't allowed to include the downmix feature in their drivers for their self-branded board, but because it's the same hardware the Hollywood Plus is capable of the 4 channel downmix.

So in DVD Genie, there is an option to enable the 4 channel downmix for the H+ Creative and Sigma designed it together specifically for the SBLive! for creative. My friend with an H+ and an SBlive! says it works great, but I don't know anyone that's tested it with a non-SBLive!
It says in DVD Genie that it may work with other soundcards, so I figure it's worth a shot. DVD Genie is free, and you can't hurt anything.

Edit: here's a link DVD Genie 3.8 download

 

[samgau]

Awesome....thanks a lot Noriaki, i'll be testing it tonight...and see if it'll work with the mx300...too bad my sblive is on my other machine [gaming rig]

 

[luv2chill]

Noriaki

YGPM

l2c