kidrawk Posted August 30, 2007 Posted August 30, 2007 Hi guys, i need some help to set up a HTPC. What i have: A new Samsung R81 LCD Tv A samsung Theatre system that comes with it. New PC with HDMI port. how should i connect them? i no nuts about HTPC systems. where to connect my speakers to? i would love to play music files from my pc on my HT system without switching on my tv. how can i achieve that? please help thanks!
Melvinho77 Posted August 30, 2007 Posted August 30, 2007 Hi, just sharing my exp in setting up a low cost HTPC. You would need a graphics card that support HDMI so that you are able to play HD content in 1080p. There are some motherboard that comes with onboard graphics which support component output in 1080i. Onboard graphics also makes the HTPC less noisy without extra fans. You would need a good CPU and at least 1 GB of RAM to play HD contents as well as a large enought(250GB) HDD to store the contents. For sound, onboard sound is good enought to support 5.1 channels but the wiring can be messy. A good solution would be to get a soundcard with optical output. This way, u just have to connect a optical cable from the PC to your Samsung theather system. To play the musics files, you need to turn on the TV cause the TV acts as the monitor. You would have to play the files first than turn off the TV. Alternatively, if you have another PC, you can VNC or remote into the HTPC to control the playback. If you just wanna play music files, another idea is to get a PS3 or XBMC to stream your MP3 from another PC or you can rip the MP3 directly into the console's harddisk.
Quest88 Posted August 30, 2007 Posted August 30, 2007 R81 is a 1366x768 display right? Correct me if I am wrong. If that's so.. what I recall is that Samsung TVs can't take in that resolution via HDMI. Instead you have to use 720i or 1080i or something and let the TV scale it, which tend to look distorted if you plan to use it as a PC monitor. Suggest to keep it simple and just use VGA cable. This is what I'm doing with my N71 and picture is v sharp. For audio just see whatever can be plug in from the PC whether its hdmi or coaxial or optical.
kidrawk Posted August 30, 2007 Author Posted August 30, 2007 hi quest and melvin, thanks for enlightening. im thinking of getting a hdmi cable to solve the video and audio cable problems. but is there a huge difference if i buy a $50 and a $200 HDMI cable? i am not seriously picky with them but if $50 is not worth to get. i shall stick with my component cables. So its component vs $50 HDMI vs $200 HDMI. Also, im using mio tv currently, i can upscale it to 1080i but the SD channels are not full screen. i thnik they are at 4:3 .. how can i acheive the full 16:9? the HD channels are at 16:9 tho. will the HDMI cable do some magic to it? lastly, do i really need all these AV receivers, amps, preamps or wadever? wad do they do and which one is important to have? ive tried reading at the threads below.. but its not layman enuff for me =( guess the things you guys discussed are too in depth already.
ddhinakaran Posted August 30, 2007 Posted August 30, 2007 kidrawk, What are you planning to do with HTPC? The Samsung Home Theater which u have, is preliminarily a basic HT... It includes the AV Receiver, Preamp and Amp for u..... If you are not satisfied with it, you can plan to get seperate Amp, Pream.... It all depends on what you are expecting.......
Quest88 Posted August 30, 2007 Posted August 30, 2007 read my post again about why i suggested vga instead of hdmi. component is fine. even if u want to do hdmi, i dun think $200 hdmi worth it for u at this pt cos your sound system, etc is probably unable to discern the differences. most PC iteriations of HDMI currently are just video card with a plug from soundcard, so might as well do a direct from the soundcard, unless yours is otherwise. whether 4:3 or 16:9 depends on the source and not the equipment. standard tv is 4:3.
petetherock Posted August 30, 2007 Posted August 30, 2007 Hey Q How is this as a solution for music and movies, without a PC: ( I am referring to the hard disc with a remote and av connections - 359 for 500 gb in the corner on the lower left side) http://imagehost.yourfirstcreditcard.com/v/comex07/bizgram-comex-2007-page2.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1
Melvinho77 Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 Yeah.. get a HDD player if you just wanna play mp3 or movies files. Lots of these players at COMEX now. If you want to be able to surf the net, msn chat, video chat, play HD media files, download BT files, play games using your LCD TV as monitor, than you will need a HTPC. In this case, there is no motherboard now that support video and audio in a single HDMI output that I know of. You would need seperate cables for video and audio. I would recommend using components for video. This will free up the HDMI input on your TV for other stuff like PS3, Xbox360 elite or HD DVD player next time u strike toto.
Quest88 Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 pete, personally I don't like any of these things. when you pay a low price, usually you get lower features in terms of interface, video quality, sound quality. its probably good for watching some divx videos, mp3 and screening thru pictures i guess. can treat it as a portable harddisk with slightly more features. :P as theres no details, im not sure if it can handle more complex things like reading stored dvds, hd content, h264, etc, which may or may not be an issue to you.
petetherock Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 Thanks actually I just want a big HD which can play my music lossless without the PC
rahul Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 Hi pete I am also looking at a similar Hard Disk solution. Will be very convenient if I can rip all my CDs and store on HDD. Planning to use my PS3 as the media player. Hopefully with lossless ripping, quality wont be compromised much.. One solution is the NAS drives like http://reviews.cnet.com/external-hard-drives/western-digital-mybook-world/4505-3190_7-32401221.html?tag=pop: http://reviews.cnet.com/external-hard-drives/western-digital-mybook-world/4505-3190_7-32401221.html?tag=pop Can connect those to your router and they will be accessible via your PC(normal Win Vista one) as well as PS3. Not sure of the actual technical implementations though. Possibly someone here who is actual using such a setup can advise.
rahul Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/computers-games-htpc-digital-devices/5363-ps3-video-server-media-server-preliminary-setup-tests.html This is a good link. Explains lots of stuff.
Quest88 Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 pete, your solution is the simplest really. just dunno if it can support your chosen lossless format (better double check cos I own one streamer which doesn't) and how decent is the output. if audio quality is questionable, IMO its easier to carry a high capacity mp3 player as it defeats the purpose of carrying lossless? unless you just want to keep everything in that format. rahul: didn't click on ur links. for windows PCs, its easy. if your PS3 accesses the external HDD like a computer via folders, then it should be ok also (never tried), but if it does it like a streamer (which usually needs a reference catalog) then you may hit some issues. i suppose on the PC you can use some sort of program to catalog your collection which will be beneficial (e.g. surf by genre, artist, etc). of course if they are all-in-one devices like that posted by pete, its all self contained.
petetherock Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 Thanks Q I use an Ipod now, and I like the itunes interface, plus the SQ is good. But my IPOD only has 40gb hence I want a HD based solution hooked up either via optical or coxial to my hi fi for the best sound. Movies are a bonus. I also want remote control to skip tracks. Right now I dread adding a Mac in my hi fi room as I have no space :D
Quest88 Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 pete, i believe there are accessories to get your ipod a remote. hmm.. but unfortunately the limitation of 40gb is hard to solve. maybe they will launch something new on 5 Sept? :) i suppose there are some media streamers that come with harddisks which should give decent output. may need to pay abit more though. i'm not familiar with those so need to shop around. :)
petetherock Posted August 31, 2007 Posted August 31, 2007 Hi The Ipod is too expensive for the same price I can get 10 times the HD size and the internal battery is not a good idea, I don't need it to be portable I have a remote now actually Thanks P
weibchen Posted September 1, 2007 Posted September 1, 2007 DVI also can, as long as the gcard is HDCP capable. the sound part, if you got AVR, use optical out from your motherboard straight to AVR.
kidrawk Posted September 3, 2007 Author Posted September 3, 2007 Hi guys, i just got 2 HDMI cables from the Comex show. I cant buy any $200 plus HDMI cables so i settled with .... 1 is a better quality HDMI cable which cost me about $70 2.5m and the other is a $29 5m Koropok brank HDMI cable. As my new Mobo does come wif a HDMI port for my video and audio solution i thot its quite nice to have it fixed that way. But its really a wrong choice as the quality the koropok HDMI gave me is really bad. Lousier than VGA output This is how i set up my HTPC system. since my dvd player is a kuku A/V receiver as well. i have no choice but to see wad i can do with it. Please advise how can i hook them more efficiently. HTPC: 5m koropok HDMI cable to LCD Tv. 3.5mm to RCA jack to DVD Player cum A/V Receiver Mio HD STB: 1.5m HDMI cable to LCD Tv.. if need to watch with Theatre speakers, then i will plug out the HTPC Aux and plug in the audio RCA from Mio TV DVD Player/ A/V receiver: Component Cable to LCD Tv. Result: PQ for my HTPC on the LCD tv is really lousy, maybe its due to the koropok HDMI wire or maybe the settings. i am currently on 1280 X 720 resolution as it fits perfectly on my screen. anithing higher will be bigger than my screen already. how can i solve this problem? also, does it mean that the longer the HDMI cable the more the difference between the Better Quality HDMI cable and Low end HDMI cables? Lastly, should i stick to component cables for my Mio STB since it can only support til 1080i?
louco73 Posted September 3, 2007 Posted September 3, 2007 PQ for my HTPC on the LCD tv is really lousy, maybe its due to the koropok HDMI wire or maybe the settings. i am currently on 1280 X 720 resolution as it fits perfectly on my screen. anithing higher will be bigger than my screen already. how can i solve this problem? also, does it mean that the longer the HDMI cable the more the difference between the Better Quality HDMI cable and Low end HDMI cables? Lastly, should i stick to component cables for my Mio STB since it can only support til 1080i? Did you try the koropok HDMI cable with the MIO STB and the other HDMI cable with the PC? That would answer your question on the cable very quickly. :) At 5m I wouldn't expect any problems with HDMI from what I've read and been told. However you can always be the first! ;) It's really your choice to stick with component or HDMI. If one is better than the other then go with what works for you.
Quest88 Posted September 4, 2007 Posted September 4, 2007 kidrawk, I asked earlier on and I ask again: What is the NATIVE RESOLUTION of your screen. If it is 1366x768, then the reason why it is blur via your HDMI is because the TV is upscaling from 1280x720 to 1366x768 where it would definitely be more blur than 1:1 pixel matching. As what I said 2 times earlier, I believe that your Samsung cannot take 1366x768 via HDMI, which is why I suggested VGA/Component!
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