How do a make a media center pc?
- Thread starter Mikoyan
- Start date
Mikoyan said:Thanks for input guys....
I have a card that can output DVI but I dont get what you mean by a player??
Ideally I would just want to play everything from the drive...do i need a HDDVD drive
You need a hd-dvd drive to play hd-dvd disks yes. Your graphics card needs to support hdcp if you want to use dvi, you can output through vga fine though.
Mikoyan said:Ideally I would just want to play everything from the drive...do i need a HDDVD drive
How else would you get the content onto the drive in the first place? and more importantly you will run out of space very quickly if storing HD-DVD movies!
if you fancy an open source htpc application that sits on top of xp then check out mediaportal and pick up a media centre remote up from the bay for about £15. i've been using it for months now and it's great! im also using a profigold cable that takes tv-out and sound from my pc and converts it directly to scart. i know your interested in hd content but this may still be useful.
Any PC can be a HTPC, just require HTPC front end and remote control and IR receiver. I prefer Media Portal over Media Centre.
As for HD-DVD, you'll need videocard with HDMI out, HDCP support. But any videocard with S-Video, VGA or DVI will be fine for SD and HD (excluding any HDCP material) unless you strip HDCP protection of course, then don't need HDMI/HDCP capable videocard/monitor...which should be allowed because no way in hell buying a new TFT to play HD.
As for HD-DVD, you'll need videocard with HDMI out, HDCP support. But any videocard with S-Video, VGA or DVI will be fine for SD and HD (excluding any HDCP material) unless you strip HDCP protection of course, then don't need HDMI/HDCP capable videocard/monitor...which should be allowed because no way in hell buying a new TFT to play HD.
