Home Built HTPC and Video Quality

Texun

Platinum Member
Oct 21, 2001
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Yep - tons of threads on HTPC but not one about video quality on an analog set. I am thinking about adding one of those Shuttle Shoe-Box SFF type computers to my entertainment center to record and burn content from my cable box to DVD and have a question:


Using composite video, since that or Coax is all I can use, how is the video quality for movies when played back from a RADEON 9250 to an old 4:3 TV set? Does the content look the same as it would with a cable or retail PVR box?


I haven't made the move to HD yet so composite is the best option I have. I know Windows will look crappy on a TV but I'm not sure about movies. I have my hands on a Happauge 250 card that I believe does hardware decoding, so getting the video shouldn't be a problem - it's getting it back to the TV that I am curious about.

Thanks
 

Tigerstyle

Junior Member
Nov 6, 2005
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It will look good if not better depending on the DVD decoder you use. NVIDIA is by far the best... even if you have an ATI card.
 

Texun

Platinum Member
Oct 21, 2001
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I'm not up on what the best decoders are but the ATI is all I have.

So if I am understanding this correctly, movies or recorded programs will display just fine even though the Windows desktop will be FUBAR - correct? I don't care about Windows but clean video on my old set is really all I am after. Thanks
 

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
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If you are recording or timeshifting SD content, it will look just fine (as long as the bitrate is decent). I basically can't tell a difference between watching my cable box and watching my cable box through my HTPC (there are subtle compression artifacts on channels that aren't already super-compressed to hell and back by Comcast, but you have to look for it).

The desktop is fine at 640x480. But at 800x600 or higher, the TV just doesn't have enough pixels, and text rapidly becomes unreadable.

Also, if you have cable, you can usually get a cable box with S-Video out these days. This will look slightly better than composite.
 

imported_ST

Senior member
Oct 10, 2004
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...question...why?

old analog sets will be interlaced...the costs associated with an htpc just to watch tv is high. you're better off buying a dvd player / tivo or at least upgrading your old crt to have progressive capabilities, because u wont take full advantage of htpc playback capabilites (scaling/post processing/etc.)

 

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
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Originally posted by: ST
...question...why?

old analog sets will be interlaced...the costs associated with an htpc just to watch tv is high. you're better off buying a dvd player / tivo or at least upgrading your old crt to have progressive capabilities, because u wont take full advantage of htpc playback capabilites (scaling/post processing/etc.)

Well, an HTPC with a video capture card and a DVD burner can do a lot of things a TiVo can't, and is much cheaper/easier to upgrade to multiple tuners or with more storage capacity. It's more expensive if all you want is basic record-and-play-back-TV functionality, though, and certainly a lot more complex.

Also, it makes a very nice upscaling DVD player if you do someday have an HDTV.
 

imported_ST

Senior member
Oct 10, 2004
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Originally posted by: Matthias99
Originally posted by: ST
...question...why?

old analog sets will be interlaced...the costs associated with an htpc just to watch tv is high. you're better off buying a dvd player / tivo or at least upgrading your old crt to have progressive capabilities, because u wont take full advantage of htpc playback capabilites (scaling/post processing/etc.)

Well, an HTPC with a video capture card and a DVD burner can do a lot of things a TiVo can't, and is much cheaper/easier to upgrade to multiple tuners or with more storage capacity. It's more expensive if all you want is basic record-and-play-back-TV functionality, though, and certainly a lot more complex.

Also, it makes a very nice upscaling DVD player if you do someday have an HDTV.


Umm, that was a rhetorical question. He has an old 4:3 CRT display that doesnt take progressive inputs, thus its use is very/very limited and value very low. For reference sake, please look at my sig for my rig (HTPC setup) or find me on HTPCNEWS.COM or AVSFORUMS.COM.

 

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
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Originally posted by: ST
Umm, that was a rhetorical question. He has an old 4:3 CRT display that doesnt take progressive inputs, thus its use is very/very limited and value very low. For reference sake, please look at my sig for my rig (HTPC setup) or find me on HTPCNEWS.COM or AVSFORUMS.COM.

I've found my HTPC worthwhile even without an HDTV, but to each his own (to be fair, I also use mine as a networked file server).

Like I said, if you just want to record and play back SD TV, get a TiVo.

 

Texun

Platinum Member
Oct 21, 2001
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I could just by a DVD recorder I guess but I already have a DVR box from the cable company and it is filled with shows from "The Shield" that I wans to keep, and I need to off load them so I can record more \ other content. I also want to record other shows and content as well as move my VHS tapes to DVD. I figured some form of HT would be the most versital path to go with. I could store and dump them later if I wanted to, or for burn the good ones.
 

v8envy

Platinum Member
Sep 7, 2002
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There are two things which determine video quality on your homebrew DVR, when you factor in recording. One is the quality of the TV tuner, the other is amount of filtering/hardware toys for your playback.

I have a Hauppage 150MCE (hardware mpeg2 card with one of the best TV tuners) based MythTV box, and I was blown away by the picture. It was perceptibly *BETTER* than the tuner on the Sylvania 32" TV I had it on. And it's a really really nice picture in the first place.

The output is a GeForce 4200ti, using the nvidia playback acceleration in all programs (myth, mplayer, etc). Apparently a 440MX or fx5200 would have been better, but I still play windows games on this machine. =)

As far as the OS, 1024x768 was absolutely usable with that TV. I could browse the web, read logs, do whatever I needed to do at that resolution without wishing I had a monitor.

The other advantage of a homebrew set vs. TiVo is you save $15/month on the program guide, automatic commercial tagging, and no need for a land line. The disadvantage is you need a PC you'll dedicate to the purpose, and unless you go the Myth route there's the Microsoft tax.