Feasability of home theater computer...

[SemperFitz]

Hey guys, I've been lurking for years, but never really had a question before. And I definately don't have the knowledge to answer most of the questions out there. I have built a few computers a while back, and I'm thinking about doing it again.

I'm wondering if anyone has built a computer for the express purpose of playing HD movies. I want to build a computer with an HD-DVD drive, copying my movies onto the hard drive and then replay them as desired on an HD-TV. I'm guessing this will take a ton of processor power, a great video card and massive storage space. I'm wondering if it's even a good idea.

pros: all movies backed up and easily accessed.

cons: worried about playback being jumpy if hard drive gets bogged.

Has anyone built a similar setup? Is this a good idea or a waste of money? How much storage space is a 90 minute HD movie going to use?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

http://www.avsforum.com/

i definately suggest holding off on committing to an hd format. wait 'til the format war has stabilized a bit. hd movies are 20 to 50gb. the output picture from a pc is always overscanned by the hdtv, so there are additional settings issues and pq hits. oh, and ripping an hddvd or bluray disc is nothing like ripping a dvd. good luck finding a program that works.

hardware:
cpu- some flavor of c2d
ram - 2gb for xp/mce, as much as possible for vista
mobo- lga775 with passive cooling
video- nvidia 7600gt / ati equivalent or better, hdcp support and passive cooling
sound- depends on your audio setup
storage- samsung hdd's are super quiet, $150 for 500gb
a fully-functional remote control

software (here's where things get shaky)-
os- xp, mce, vista home premium, vista ultimate (none of these include a dvd/hd decoder)
ripper- ?????
player- wmp/mce, mpc, vlc, nero showtime

 

[mshan]

For High Definition DVDs, I think you might quickly run into problems because of the requirements of HDCP protection.

For regular DVDs, an HTPC works great as a dvd server.

 

[Ruptga]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2890&p=5

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2886&p=5

The first is about HD-DVD, the second about Blu-ray, they should tell you all you want to know about hardware requirements.

Edit: well, requirements for the CPU/GPU anyway. But since they're speculating about 45Mbps one day, don't worry about your HDD keeping up.

 

[Slammy1]

You'll be OK with HDCP until 2010 if you can run through an analog output, otherwise you need an HDCP compliant display and video card . Only the digital outputs (DVI/hdmi) are protected right now. I'd definitely start reading the sticky on avs' htpc forums, give you an idea of hardware.

 

[ric1287]

is there a streamlined way to rip dvd's? i want to have a similar setup but dont want to sit in front of my computer to rip 100+ dvds

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: ric1287
is there a streamlined way to rip dvd's? i want to have a similar setup but dont want to sit in front of my computer to rip 100+ dvds

err, don't rip them? Is it so much work to get up and grab the dvd off the shelf and stick it in the drive?

 

[McManCSU]

I want to do something similar to what you want, but I have a slightly different approach:
Getting this (or something like it): http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2909&p=2

Then building a 1.5TB+ server, store all my DVDs, etc. and stream it to the box on my TV. You can do TiVO type stuff if you have a tuner card on another computer (maybe your server ). I think this is the best way to go right now.

It does HD too!

 

[DaveSimmons]

I just rent from netflix, they rent HD-DVD and blu-ray now, no extra charge. Why pay $1,000+ to store 25-50 GB per HD movie when you can always just rent them again?

For cable, I'll be upgrading to HD and renting their HD DVR once I get around to scheduling it. SD cable looks surprisingly good on my 50" Samsung DLP so I haven't been in a big hurry.