Re: RGB to.....?

["David Anumudu" <david.anumudu@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi James
It is important (as bigredfrog stated in his post) that you have a graphics
card that supports the native resolution of your projector. The favourite
amongst HTPC'ers is the ATI Radeon range, in particular the 9600. For HTPC
use it doesnt need to be super fast, you can use an old Radeon 7500 and it
will still be perfect for DVD and HTPC use.
The Radeons are supported by PowerStrip - which lets you create custom
display resolutions and timings so that you can match your display
perfectly.

XCard has VGA outputs, but in the configuration that our customers use they
dont use the VGA, instead the video is passed out of the XCard across the
digital PDI connector, in to the SweetSpot card, which runs an application
called DScaler. This is then run full screen, and the image is displayed by
your graphics card (say the Radeon) via DVI to your display. The XCard is
nice as it also has far better Svideo quality for driving regular TV sets
at
the same time.

hope that helps - if you need any more info then let me know.

cheers
David
pluggedin.tv

----- Original Message -----
From: "James Mitchelmore" <james@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 7:34 PM
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] RGB to.....?


On the matter of theatre PCs, I have a sanyo PLV-Z2 with a DVI input
that I am intending to feed from a PC for DVD playback, etc. I have been
looking at basing it on this barebone system
http://www.asus.com/products/desktop/pundit/overview.htm
but now having
seen the x card site, wonder what this may be lacking?  Does the x card
have a DVI out connector, or does it require the sweetspot card aswell?
Will the asus system, with a Intel Celeron® 320 - 256 Cache 533FSB
processor, produce a fine output? Or will I be disappointed?

Any thoughts/pointers with regards to media PCs would be much
appreciated.

TIA

James

-----Original Message-----
From: david.anumudu@xxxxxxx [mailto:david.anumudu@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 23 September 2004 18:37
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] RGB to.....?

Hi Tony

There are as you can imagine a whole bunch of variables involved. The
performance that you get at the end is dependent on the various pieces
in
the chain, but the overall rule is to use the best connection methods as
far
as you can from source to display (the effects of a compromised
connection
are far worse the nearer to the source they are)

The JS converters are great at what they do (we also sell them :)) , but
you
are then dependent on the quality of the video processing within the
projector or plasma, as all they are doing is changing the delivery
mechanism of the video signal, they aren't actually doing anything else
with
the signal itself.
The internal video processing on many plasma displays tend to be built
to a
tight budget, so improvements can often be made by purchasing the
business
versions of the display (i.e. without the media box / TV tuner), and
instead
having what is essentially a big monitor. The saving can then be used
towards purchasing a video processor, which takes all of your various
video
sources, and because it knows the exact characteristics of your display
(how
many pixels wide, high etc) it optimises the picture to suit.
Standalone video processors offer instant-on ease of use, but for HA
enthusiasts there is a lot of benefit in going down the media PC route,
as
the plasma can then take on a whole range of other PC driven functions
(including DVD playback better than 99% of standalone DVD players)

Finally, if you can provide the video processor/PC with a digital video
signal then all the better as this removes a whole layer of noise etc
that
is created by the D-A conversion , and then again at the other end going
A-D
in the display.

oh, and finally finally, the pioneer/panasonic war rages on , they both
have
loyal supporters that swear theirs is the best. I would recommend that
you
go to a proper AV dealer to see them both side by side, and choose the
one
that you like the look of.

all the best

David
pluggedin.tv

----- Original Message -----
From: <lists@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 3:47 PM
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] RGB to.....?


> Hi,
>>
>> The RGB to VGA will probably just shade for performance. If you
are
>
> hmmm... I had an rgb to vga converter for a projector, but it didn't
quite
> match the resolutions/aspect rations I wanted.
> But you think it's better than component?
>
> What about feeding component direct into the plasma from the video
source?
>
>> *really*
>> serious about getting the best out of your plasma then you should
look at
>> video processors, which take the inbound video and map them to
your
>> display
>> on a per pixel basis. You can either do that with PC based cards
or
with
>
> interesting.... however I am looking at maybe the pioneer pdp-435 with
> hdmi so if I went for that I may well sneak in a hdmi dvd player so
for
> "serious" viewing it's not a problem...
> Only want the RGB to ...something for sky/TiVo output.
>
> Since I've mentioned the plasma, do people still hold great store by
> pannys, or have these new pio's caught up?
> A thinner, lighter display (in start contrast to myself!), is very
> appealling (also in start contrast to myself ;/ )
>
> cheers,
>
> tony