Do htpcs give a better picture than dvd players?

Caged said:
What makes you say that? It depends what DVD player you have obviously.
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I have not tried all DVD players but...

HTPC can probably provide a better picture than most DVD players thx to post processing etc if displaying on HDTV.

DVD players can upscale and are simpler but you would be hard pushed to beat a HTPC properly setup using ffdshow etc

I am sure there are some £1000 DVD players out there that are better than most PCs.
 
I was also concerned about the connectivity, a good DVD player will probably provide a closer output to the TV as to what is actually on the DVD, but I agree some filters really can make the picture look superb. Speaking TV connections only, would the S-Video offered on a graphics card match a component connection?
 
Caged said:
Speaking TV connections only, would the S-Video offered on a graphics card match a component connection?
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Doubtful. I'd (personally) only use a HTPC for displays that can take a d-sub VGA or DVI connection.
 
Not sure about dvd players but have to say that my media centre machine using DVI -> HDMI (via 9800SE AIW) looks great using the latest version of Theatertek or WinDVD.

Having never actually owned a standalone DVD player I'm not sure how they really look but I can't wait till HD DVD players are out.
 
Caged said:
Speaking TV connections only, would the S-Video offered on a graphics card match a component connection?
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Nope, its god awful in comparison to component regardless of the card you use (tried about 4 different cards when I set up my XP MCE box a while back).
Like has already been said unless your telly is an LCD/Plasma/PJ then I wouldn't expect great things hooked up via svideo.
 
It's generally considered that the only thing that beats a properly configured HTPC is a dvd player + scaler, the difference obvisouly with dedicated hardware scaling as opposed to software based.
 
Id appreciate if some of you looked and gave thoughts in THIS thread as it concerns this topic very much too.

HTPCs may have more than just quality as an advantage depending on your HDTV display.
 
Goatboy said:
It's generally considered that the only thing that beats a properly configured HTPC is a dvd player + scaler, the difference obvisouly with dedicated hardware scaling as opposed to software based.
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I would 2nd this.

My mate runs a SDI modded Philips via a Crystalio (soon to be 2) and its draw dropping.

PC scaling is pretty good but not a patch on a good hardware scaler and this is where the differnce kicks in.

If you have a half decent pc and your screen will take dvi/vga you can get stunning results from a pc.
 
Tinders said:
In what way is a hardware/software scalar better, surely the output can only be as good as the source?
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Nope the point of a scaler is to take an image of say 720x576 pixels and turn it into an image of say 1920x1080 pixels, it has to add the necessary detail to produce a good image at the end of it and not one that looks like it's been blown up, the better the scaler at 'guessing' how to fill the extra detail the better the end image.
 
In general i think HTPC owners should start considering HD-DVD.
Standard DVD is going to look a tad unimpressive soon.

FFWD 6 MONTHS >>>
Throw on "Windows Vista" add your HDCP compatible GFX card with nice new HD-DVDrom drive and start ripping your shiny new HD-DVD movies to your Media Centre but do ensure you have a HDCP compatible monitor (very doubtfull) or a DVI/HDMI connectable HDTV.

PS before Davey Closes this thread regards ripping, it will be perfectly legal/permitted with HD-DVD because of HDCP
 
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It's going to take more than six months for this kind of stuff to be affordable, HD-DVD burners are $500 at the moment.
 
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