[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

....But while playing movies, video driver will downgrade the resolution since VGA is not equipped with copy protection.

Will this be the case even when playing MKVs or other re-encoded data? (ie not directly from a blu-ray disc)???

cya
R

[kb100]

Am downloading a 720p 7GB MKV file ! - it has taken me almost two days to get it all down!

Please recommend a player for this. How and where can one find the necessary player/codecs.

[Shashank.A]

Play it in VLC player bro.

as of now only played 720P content, and I was really impressed. The only problem is there is no solid source for the Media, you never know if its genuine or unscaled or what else they have done with it.

Sizes of 1080p are insane, somehow I cannot get around to download 11GB of data and then finfing out that its upscaled thingy.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Will this be the case even when playing MKVs or other re-encoded data? (ie not directly from a blu-ray disc)???

cya
R

I don't think downsampling happens to content that is not encrypted. But not really sure about it.

[akbaree]

Last weekend I was trying to burn a DVD (essentially a slide show) from the pictures taken. I noticed that Picasa 3 allows you to create this slide show with following dimensions



My questions...

1. If I chose to burn the DVD with the last option (1080p), will essentially mean authoring HD content?
2. What does it mean with for pictures which have a original resolution of 3264x2448 - they would be scaled down, correct? Are my pictures even more HD then what the Full HD LCD available in the market?

I am completely novice in this and so please bear with me if my questions are stupid?

P.S.: An unrelated question: how I convert .Mov file (with exactly same picture quality) to .AVI or .MP4? I have couple of free softwares but they produce awefully bad video quality files.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by akbaree

Last weekend I was trying to burn a DVD (essentially a slide show) from the pictures taken.

Is that a Data DVD (to be used on a computer), or a DVD to be played on a typical DVD player?

Originally Posted by akbaree

My questions...[list=1][*]If I chose to burn the DVD with the last option (1080p), will essentially mean authoring HD content?

Yes, but only on a data DVD.

If you are burning it as a standard DVD movie, it will be downscaled to standard DVD resolution (720x480 -- ie 480p) if im not mistaken.

Originally Posted by akbaree

[*]What does it mean with for pictures which have a original resolution of 3264x2448 - they would be scaled down, correct?

Yes. If burned on data DVD, it will be burned at that high-res, and then the downscaling will happen when you play it on your computer.

If burning onto a standard DVD movie format, or VCD etc - it will be downscaled to suit that format before burning.

cya
R

[tsk1979]

There are a lot of threads concerning HD, but I think this will be the most appropriate.

I have recently got a Panasonic FZ-35 which does 720p in AVCHD lite format.
MY antiquated laptop struggles to play these. I can use avidemux to convert to AVI, but that is also very slow, and even then my laptop is not really capable of playing these without issue.

Hence I am thinking of a media center kind of box.
I need
1. Something with 500GB or 1TB HDD
2. Can play AVCHD lite format

Any ideas about cost? and availability?

[ampere]

Best solution though a bit costly: Mac Min + extra hard disk as per your need.
Only negative aspect is that it does not have blue ray drive.

[Ponmayilal]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

...I am thinking of a media center kind of box.
I need
1. Something with 500GB or 1TB HDD
2. Can play AVCHD lite format

Any ideas about cost? and availability?

Originally Posted by ampere

Best solution though a bit costly: Mac Min + extra hard disk as per your need.
Only negative aspect is that it does not have blue ray drive.

Instead of Mac Mini, get a Zotac Zbox HD-ID11 (see preview in another thread here), stuff it with your choice HDD, 2GB DDR-2 800, install Windows 7 Home Premium and nothing else other than Shark 007 Windows 7 Codecs and play any format HD Video-mkv included) on Windows Media Player/Windows Media center. Add an external USB BD-rom drive ( Sony-NEC Optiarc available in e-bay.in -Price Rs 11700), you have a full-fledged Mini (but potent and powerful) HTPC next to your TV and finally remember me in your will.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

There are a lot of threads concerning HD, but I think this will be the most appropriate.

I have recently got a Panasonic FZ-35 which does 720p in AVCHD lite format.
MY antiquated laptop struggles to play these. I can use avidemux to convert to AVI, but that is also very slow, and even then my laptop is not really capable of playing these without issue.

Hence I am thinking of a media center kind of box.
I need
1. Something with 500GB or 1TB HDD
2. Can play AVCHD lite format

Any ideas about cost? and availability?

how about something like this
FreeAgent Theater+ HD Media Player | Seagate

i have this in my house and i find it pretty useful. all my downloaded torrents etc are saved on a hard drive which is plugged into this.

[Ponmayilal]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

how about something like this
FreeAgent Theater+ HD Media Player | Seagate ....

As I understand, one of the major issues with the above is that one cannot connect an external CD/DVD/BD ROM drive to it. So if one has content on burned CD/DVD/BD media that cannot be accessed.

One has to be aware of it and take this into consideration before deciding on the system most suitable for his needs. ( Personally I would prefer an all-capable setup that will eliminate the need for redundant stand-alone DVD/BD players with all connectivity issues such as inadequate input/output ports in a multiple equipment set-up.)

[ampere]

The only reason I mentioned mini was its a well oiled ecosystem and works like a charm. Yes you may get more power full and performance oriented hardware, but I am not sure of the support.

Also softwares should be available in plenty for MAC also.
PLUS the usual MAC versus WIN stability pitch

[Fillmore]

Check this thread, It has a lot of suggestions and opinions.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...ontent-tv.html

[Ponmayilal]

Originally Posted by ampere

The only reason I mentioned mini was its a well oiled ecosystem and works like a charm. Yes you may get more power full and performance oriented hardware, but I am not sure of the support.

Also softwares should be available in plenty for MAC also.
PLUS the usual MAC versus WIN stability pitch

No doubt Mac Mini set the standards for a mini-PC and is a superior and premium product. Only the just released 2nd Generation Mac Mini (Rs.44.9K) in a beautiful all-aluminium box has the HDMI port. Apple (India) - Press Releases - Apple Unveils All New Mac mini

The base model has a 320 GB HDD and one can opt for a 500GB at an additional cost. I am not sure whether there is an option to get one with a BD ROM drive. Most likely not. That immediately kills it as a Media Center PC. As it is, it can be an ideal desktop at a price.

That said, unless someone who has a Mac Mini confirms whether it can play .mkv files natively or with suitable additional codecs installed, it is not going to resolve tsk1979's requirement.

(It will be a long story if I venture to write how Mac mini was in my wish list ever since it was introduced and why I have not put my pie into it to this day but that is going to be irrelevant here.)

On the other hand, with Shark codecs installed I have played .mkv movies with 5.1 digital audio from my existing Win7 MCPC. ( I have since withdrawn it from the living room to replace my Windows XP Primary PC which conked off a month ago - a faulty AGP card, but I can still use MCPC to stream and play through my PS3 in the living room. PS3 cannot natively play .mkv media.)

Originally Posted by Fillmore

Check this thread, It has a lot of suggestions and opinions.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...ontent-tv.html

That is indeed a very informative thread and in fact the Mods may merge both these threads.

Unlike the Betamax vs VHS and HDDVD vs BD battles where one got vanquished and the other triumphed, there is no war between HTPC and Media servers/HDD media players and these two streams coexist to this day and will continue to. (An Intel-US friend who saw my Windows XP Media Center years ago before the advent of the other kind, had opined that HTPCs will be a thing of the past once the media servers/HDD HD players hit the market but that hasn't happened and on the other hand Graphics Processors are continuously evolving with HD Video and Audio content in mind and hence my statement above)

My own perception is that the PC-savvy will go the HTPC way and the non-type will go the way of Media extenders/servers/HDD players - call it by whatever name you like.

Finally it is one's pick.

[smsrini]

My gear:

Sony EX710 Full HD tv.
Pioneer 1080p DVD Player
Yamaha RX V661 receiver.

I connected the DVD to the Yamaha and the output of the yamaha to the Sony HDMI input.

When I play a DVD, I get sound via the amp, but no picture on the TV.

However when i connect the DVD directly via HDMI to the TV it works.

Currently I have connected the DVD to the Sony via HDMI, and the DVD to the Yamaha via the optical output.

Is this due to HDMI version compatibility between the TV and the Yamaha ?

2) Does the Tata Sky HD STB have a HDMI output ? If yes will it work with the Yamaha ? any compatibility issues known ?

Sorry if this is a wrong thread.

thanks
Srini