Your Home Theater

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 25 May 2007, 07:14

that's my major stumbling block with the big lcd's and plasmas - my 80cm crt hasn't got the fab picture quality of these suckers, but there's perfect black, and no noise, and these two things really bug me .... hoping SED can sort this one out, then I'll lash out on one of those

Angelspit · Unread postby **Angelspit** » 11 Jun 2007, 14:21

I took a picture of my TV with a game of Heroes V on. I'll post it as a POTD as soon as the picture is transferred to my PC.

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 12 Jun 2007, 03:12

groovy, though I'm looking forward more to seeing the TV than HV

Corribus · Unread postby **Corribus** » 20 Jun 2007, 01:49

AS your POTD inspired me. I had been meaning to interface my PC with my HDTV for a while, but the thought of playing HoMMV on 50 inches was too much to resist any longer. Groovy.... I'm still working on the audio hookup. But the video is gorgeous.

Angelspit · Unread postby **Angelspit** » 20 Jun 2007, 02:08

Take a picture as well !

Kalah · Unread postby **Kalah** » 20 Jun 2007, 04:19

Use the TV as a PC screen, now there's a thought... how, exactly? I'd need a TV-out video card, correct? And what kind of cable?

Corribus · Unread postby **Corribus** » 20 Jun 2007, 13:38

From what I understand, the best way to do it is HDMI, as it is a digital feed and carries sound. But I don't think there are many (if any) video cards that have HDMI out. Mine has a DVI out so I would need a converter.

But I didn't want to blow 100 dollars on cables just yet, so I just stole a 15 pin VGA cable from work, put one end in the computer and one end in the TV's PC connection slot (older TVs may not have a VGA slot, if that's the case see below) and set the computer's resolution to the TV's native resolution (basically, 720p), and voila: instant second monitor. You may have to tweak the refresh rate - 60 Hz is about optimal I believe. Actually I had mine set up last night as an extended rather than mirrored screen, meaning my PC monitor and TV screen together form one enormous desktop. I set my TV screen to the primary so that when I played HoMM, the game showed up on the TV. I believe - but haven't verified - that then I could access internet/email etc. on the secondary (laptop) screen. Overall it looked very good. The colors were a bit off and I had a touch of overscan at the bottom of the screen, but it wasn't bad for not doing any adjusting. Since I have a bluetooth keyboard and remote mouse, I was able to do everything from about 7 foot viewing distance. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is the sound, and I was unable to really play a strong source through my TV, but I may just need to find a better audio cable. Still my laptop's speakers are actually pretty powerful so for game playing it wasn't too bad.

HoMM5 is, as advertised by AS, quite impressive on a big screen. The resolution wasn't quite what I was used to because my laptop screen is 1080p and my TV is "only" 720p, but it still looked pretty nice. It's really true that you don't need console games anymore. A laptop can be a gaming console. Next I will try MMVI.

I will take a picture maybe tonight when I get home and post it here if I have time.

Also, if your TV does not have a VGA input, you have another analog option in component, but you do need to purchase a VGA-component converter. Otherwise I believe everything is the same.

Angelspit · Unread postby **Angelspit** » 20 Jun 2007, 13:44

Corribus wrote:I just stole a 15 pin VGA cable from work

I did the very same thing...

Corribus · Unread postby **Corribus** » 20 Jun 2007, 14:20

Angelspit wrote:
Corribus wrote:I just stole a 15 pin VGA cable from work
I did the very same thing...

I tried to go to the bookstore here and buy one, but they didn't sell one, so I figured who was gonig to miss it from my work computer?

Btw did you connect sound, and if so, how?

ThunderTitan · Unread postby **ThunderTitan** » 20 Jun 2007, 15:02

Angelspit wrote:
Corribus wrote:I just stole a 15 pin VGA cable from work
I did the very same thing...

Krimals...

Angelspit · Unread postby **Angelspit** » 20 Jun 2007, 15:58

I haven't taken a serious look at sound yet. My sound card is at least five years old, so my connectivity options are probably minimal. I don't want to spend too much money on that anyway, since my next gaming platform might be a console.

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 21 Jun 2007, 01:13

the console statement is prolly a tad premature, controllers and game type being the prevalent reason, but that is all subject to change

and I was just looking at the 46" Sony Bravia X Series LCD .... got a payout coming, so thinking about it .... it's such a great panel

Angelspit · Unread postby **Angelspit** » 09 Jul 2007, 19:50

My next step is the A/V receiver. I'm curious about the video upconversion (up to 1080p) features of the latest models. Does that mean I can stick to my old non-upconverting DVD player and spend my money on a good receiver instead? Will the SD TV channels from my sattelite box be upconverted as well?

I want a receiver with two HDMI inputs (3 would be best), good upconversion features, great sound for movies (I can live with average performance for music), and possibly a wireless USB to stream music from my PC. Any recommandation?

Corribus · Unread postby **Corribus** » 09 Jul 2007, 20:03

I'm not really up on the latest in receivers. I use mine mostly for music, so my older receiver is fine. I don't run my video through it. A lot depends on how many speakers you have, and how much power you need (i.e., how loud to you want it). The louder you want to go, the better a receiver and speaker set you'll need for good fidelity. Make sure if you invest in an expensive receiver, that you have acceptible (expensive) speakers, otherwise you'll just be wasting your money. Invest in a good brand - Onkyo or Denon are great and have some nice less-expensive models, at least for audio. Be aware that different companies report their power per channel in different ways, so be careful with direct comparisons.

A good place to go for this sort of stuff (I don't know if I mentioned this before) is AVSforum.com. You can get a lot of good advice there, but it's also information overload sometimes.

Angelspit · Unread postby **Angelspit** » 24 Jul 2007, 14:15

Here is what I'm about to purchase:

Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver
http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/on ... prod.txt.2

Paradigm Cinema 110 CT 5.1 Surround Speakers
http://reviews.cnet.com/surround-speake ... prod.txt.3

I discarded the Pioneer receivers (their power output of +110W didn't fit the CT suggested power range) and the Denon (too expensive) and chose Onkyo's mid-range HDMI receiver instead. Anyone can find any drawback to such a combo?

Corribus · Unread postby **Corribus** » 24 Jul 2007, 14:20

Onkyo makes fabulous stuff. I've owned one for about 12 years and it still sounds excellent. You won't be disappointed.

Kalah · Unread postby **Kalah** » 27 Jul 2007, 15:51

Dad just bought this for the house:

Panasonic TH42PX74E - 42" plasma screen.

Corribus · Unread postby **Corribus** » 27 Jul 2007, 15:59

nice.

Pol · Unread postby **Pol** » 24 Sep 2007, 13:19

This isn't so much related to a home theatre exactly. But it could. I seen it (as it was donated to author of Notepad++ after his cat and notebook accident) and I show, workstation.

It impressed me, this is even better than computer of my dreams, hmm, till yet, as you see I'm very adaptable.

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 26 Sep 2007, 04:44

very cool indeed, reminds me a little of the setup in Swordfish

The Heroes Round Table

Your Home Theater

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