Re: how to connect computer to tv's?

thanks for your quick informative response.

you didnt answer, are you running media center OS on each? or just XP?

also what format are you storing your video in?
there are a lot of formats, and i've been experimenting, but i want to keep my videos in a format that will work in most situations going forward... and with good compression.
right now, i'm holding everything as mpg's in std def at about 2gb per hour. it's too much room for each and want to convert them down, but dont want to do anything permanent until i know for sure the final format i will use.


i also like the intel gma950 video, excellent... i'm so sad that they did away with them in all new computers.

thanks again.
jay


Tom Scales wrote:
I'm going to insert my replies inline as I think that will be more
clear. I'll also answer based on MY experience with BeyondTV and my
understanding of MCE. I'll also try to discuss what I used to do with
Standard Def TVs and what I do now (I only have HDTVs)>
Tom,
how do you connect each computer to each tv?
1. vga to tv capable of vga?
2. dvi to hdmi-based tv?
3. svideo to composite jacks?

This is an 'it depends' answer. On a standard Def TV, the best quality
is s-video out from the video card to s-video in on the TV. If the TV
doesn't support S-video, then you can use composite, but the quality is
visibly poorer.

On an HDTV, it depends on the TV. Some do better, surprisingly, with
VGA. For example, my Vizios and my 1080P Samsung do best with VGA. One
advantage of VGA is that the desktop fits properly on the screen. With
DVI/HDMI, for reasons lost in history, the normal resolution overscans,
cutting off some of the screen. Better nVidia and ATI cards allow you
to correct this, but integrated Intel and lower end cards don't.
Surprisingly, the Intel GMA950 is OUTSTANDING for HDTV, better than low
to middle ATI and nVidia cards.

On my TVs where VGA isn't best, I use DVI->HDMI. The ONLY reason I have
found to do this is for my LG 42" LCD. Some idiot designer at LG
decided that even though the panel resolution is 1366x768, they would
ONLY allow 1024x768 through VGA. It's ugly and poorly shaped as it
isn't the native resolution and not even the same dimensions.

So, in a nutshell, I usually use VGA.

do you have a dedicated tv out card, like hauppauge 350, or just the
regular svideo out (tv out) found on better video cards?

The 350 is pretty old technology. BTV doesn't even support it (although
I think SAGE does). Video card output of any reasonably modern card is
better.

do you have a mouse and keyboard on each of those tv pc's, along with
a
separate monitor to control them?
which operating system are you running on each of those computers?
media
center, or XP?


None have a separate monitor. All are just the TV. I've always done it
this way because just about every TV application virtually requires the
TV to be primary. Some machines have a keyboard and separate mouse (my
kids TVs as they like to MySpace with their friends on the big screen).
Some have combo keyboards (integrated trackball or trackpad), some have
no keyboard or mouse.

All have a remote control. I prefer the Snapstream Firefly, but the MCE
remote works OK.

i've done a lot of possible combinations and still looking for the
ideal
way to do it, without buying a separate media player box.

not everyone is as tech saavy as me, so trying to keep it simple.

for those people who have a regular computer next to a tv, its easier
to
control it with a regular keyboard and mouse while looking at a
separate
monitor, and then start up a mpg and drag the window over to the
"extended" svideo window.... this works, but is not ideal.

i have not used the BTVlink product. but will look into it.

i have used the dlink DSM series products and they work great, but
less
control over playback functions (pause, ffwd, etc).

i dont want to have a separate computer screen next to each tv, and
unless each tv was capable of vga, dvi, or hdmi, the resolution is
not
conducive to working with the tv as a pc monitor.

This is absolutely true. One of the reasons I'm all HD. The other is
I'm a geek.


i'm even experimenting with many ways of working with my nice new
46inch
sony bravia.
my favorite is to actually use a laptop to remote control to the XP
dekstop that is connected to the tv so i can control stuff. sick, i
know. i keep a laptop on the coffee table as a remote control!!

I've done this too. Worse, I bought a Tablet PC to use as a remote!
The remote works best anyway.

i find that the range of a wireless keyboard and mouse is not more
than
6 feet or so. so this does not work for me.


Not a good RF keyboard. Check out the Belkin Mediapilot. It's my
favorite.

would love to hear more details about your configs.
thanks jay



Bottom line, I use either an Optiplex GX620 USFF (my preferred PC) or an
older PC (D4550) on each TV.

Feel free to ask questions. BTV has a free trial.

.

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