Thinking about putting DVD capabilities in new box...

[chevelle396]

I'm making a new comp, and I'm thinking about getting a vid card with a TV out and a DVD-ROM. Does anyone use their comp to play DVD's on a TV? if so, what kind of sound card do you have and how does it sound, if you're hooked up to a reciever, or non-pc type speakers.

edit: I should be more clear. what's a decent dvd setup, including vid card, dvd-rom, and sound card.

 

[GTaudiophile]

If the goal is to output to a TV, I'd do the following:

Install DVD-ROM. Be sure to use the two-pin digital cable running from the DVD-ROM to a soundcard that has an input for the two-pin digital cable, such as a retail SB Live! soundcard (I'm sure the nicer cards from Hercules and Philips have this too.)

Install a hardware DVD decoder in addition to your videocard. (This would not be necessary if you just wanted to output to the monitor. In that case, I'd recommend an ATI Radeon 64DDR VIVO and WinDVD.) Software DVD players just don't have as good a TV-out as the hardware decoders. The Creative Dxr3 and RealMagic Hollywood Plus are the two most popular hardware DVD decoders. I'd probably get the H+ DVD decoder as they offer better drivers than Creative.

At this point, all you'd need to do is set the options in your hardware DVD decoder to 1) output the video signal to your TV, and 2) output the digital audio through the S/PDIF output of your soundcard (you'd connect that to a DolbyDigial 5.1/DTS-capable receiver.) You'd of course want to have a good 5.1 speaker setup connected to that receiver to really enjoy the experience.

 

[Duvie]

I agree...I had both and the dvd picture looked much better going out from dvd decoder card...maybe that has changed in the last 2 years, I dunno. PLus out of the dvd decoder which you can pick up rather cheap you can get ac3 out and send it to a receiver capable of playing it...I did this for a year and a half until I bought a standalone...

 

[chevelle396]

ok sounds good, but do i need a radeon vivo if i'm gonna be outputtin through the decoder card? can't i go with a cheaper card?

 

[GTaudiophile]

You can go with a cheaper card. If you're not into gaming, get a Matrox G450/550 or a ATI Radeon LE or a GeForce2 MX.

 

[Renob]

I have seen a few of my friend running dvd to their TV one with a dvd card the other with out.. I did not think they looked very good compared to my stand alone dvd player for my home theater system. So from what I have seen get a stand alone dvd player.. and one for your computer they are very cheap now...

 

[chevelle396]

yea this one won't be used for gaming, so i'll probably go with an MX. I think I'll at least try the decoder card before getting a standalone.

 

[chevelle396]

so i'll go with the hollywood plus decoder, which dvd drive do ya'll recommend? pioneers look smooth...

 

[iluvdeal]

If I were you I'd get a standalone player if you just want to watch dvds on your tv. I have a Hollywood Plus right now and the tv out is good, however I don't use it for output to my monitor at all since the pass through cable degrades your video quality.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Crap I was thinking about doing something like that but I want to use a video card with tv out so I can also watch crap like divx movies but if quality isn't that great I don't know if I will bother.


I have a 16x slot loader pioneer that works great though its kinda loud but I dought you could hear it over a movie. I was just planning to get some older, quite, cheaper but decent quality =<10x speed drive since all mine would be for is playing dvds speed wouldn't matter to much. That slot loader is pretty slick though

 

[chevelle396]

need more opinions
what's your experience with tv-out dvd quality

 

[777joee]

I bulit a P2 350 with a Maxtor G200 and a 4X Toshiba DVD drive over two years ago. Still works O.K. on my 27&quot; TV the only complaint is NO remote.

 

[Jokeram]

the quality is pretty good actually.. but off late my machine freezes up half way through a DVD.. have to figure out what is wrong. I use a sound blaster live card..

 

[chevelle396]

i'll be staying away from the sblive's, ever since my trouble with the kt133a/sblive, i've tried to avoid that card.

 

[chevelle396]

so what would be a good soundcard to use here, moderately priced.

 

[MrBond]

Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (cheapest option at around $70) or the Hercules Game Theator XP (no idea on the price). Both are superior cards to the SB Live series.

 

[chevelle396]

yea i've got a SC in my main box, was kinda looking for something a little cheaper for this one, but that may have to do...

 

[chevelle396]

any other sound card proposals? somethin good for dvd, needs s/pdif output on card...

 

[thedarkwolf]

AOPEN AW744PRO

How bout that one for $26 from www.mwave.com. It has the YAMAHA744 CHIPSET that I hear is pretty good.

 

[chevelle396]

thanks for the suggestion, anyone have experience with this card?

hmm, doesn't say anything about win2k on the spec sheet, i'll check aopen

edit: aopen says it has win2k support, this looks like a good deal for 25 bucks, as long as it sounds good...