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What's the Point of Building a Home Theater PC?
An anonymous reader writes "FiringSquad has written Building a Basic HTPC. They discuss why Building a HTPC only makes sense if it can do something better than any other commercially available solution, as well as why HTPC should integrate act like a component not a computer. They also go into upsampling of DVDs to HDTV."
The point, Taco, is price. Why should I pay $2000 when I can have it for $200 in parts. Plus, there are plenty to people who get more enjoyment out of building something themselves.
If you have the computer experience, why not build a Home Theater PC? It's fun to do (if that sort of thing is fun to you), and it *can* cost less than a commercial model with the same features, especially if you equip a lot of features into the system. Besides, if the PC can also serve as a PVR or other cool functions, then it's a doubly-good deal.
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What's the point? 480P is converted to either 540P or 1080i in most HDTVs anyway.
I do it for the challenges.
Things like:
"Build a HTPC into a VCR, and keep the original funcionality of the VCR"
"Build a HTPC in my receiver, and make sure everything works" (Side note: That one was only sort of successful - had to remove the amp and use an external one, to much EMI)
I do it because I like having choices, I do it because I like to be able to stream show X to TV Y or burn it to DVD.
I do it because I'm a geek and a tinkerer, and it's in my nature.
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
Most of the DVR units out there come as part of a Satellite system or come with a subscription fee.
.MOV files well and are vary limited.
You can make your own system with an on-screen guide, time shifting and the ability to play DIVX movies and games for rather cheap now.
The retail units still don't play DIVX or Apple
EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
wHY install Linux on an x-Box?
WHY install Linux on a toaster?
WHY make a cell phone so small that only an ant can use it?
"Why" is such a great question, but unfortunately the only answer here seems to be "Because I can". Didn't science have a purpose once upon a time?
Socialism: A feeling of discontent and resentment caused by a desire for the possessions or qualities of another.
Why? Obviously, if one has the know-how to build such a system, they probably won't find it inconvenient to use it like a computer. I know that I'm like the fact that me "HTPC" doesn't act like a component -- and I appreciate the flexibility that a computer offers me. Anybody who needs their "HTPC" to act like a component is probably better off saving time and money by just buying a component in the first place.
-Turkey
Perhaps they didn't mean for this to be spotlighted on
Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform
Seems your average user doesn't care about any of this integrated pc stuff.
They want their tivo, their dvd player, their vcr, etc.
But the biggest problem, imo, (which some will say these pcs address cause of upgradeability) is that once you buy a combo setup system--tivo/dvd player/vcr/whathaveyou, you're "locked in" to that system for a while....people (such as myself) don't want to spend a gang of money constantly upgrading, or sitting there wondering how quickly the entertainment center will become obsolete.
Once the tech gets figured out, I think integrated all in one systems will take off....anyway, my $.00000000000019
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- HTPC should integrate act like a component not a computer.
I don't understand this. You have a fully functional computer. Why not use it like one?The attraction of a HTPC for me is that it can do a reasonably good job playing DVDs and recording TV (replacing a dedicated DVD player and TiVo) and also function as a full computer, allowing me to browse the web, read e-mail, work, and play games. In particular, playing PC games on a huge 80" projection screen with a surround sound system is pretty sweet.
Are you going to watch DVDs on a 17" monitor?
Are you going to use your $50 3-piece Altecs as a sound system?
The fact remains that the components of a home theatre that CAN'T be integrated into an affordable PC are going to be the majority of the system's cost anyway. So then the question remains: Why?
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
Yes
Say you have some high freq hiss on a cassette. You can use an equalizer to turn down the highest freq band a bit and now the hiss is a lot less objectionable
of course, now the cymbals just dont have that same crisp sound - you've lost some signal along with the noise you've filtered out.
if the noise was in a totally separate band from the signal you want, it'd be trivial to filter out and there'd be no issue.
"If I have a computer, why would I care about television?"
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
It may cost a bit more, but I haven't yet seen a tivo that'll support more than two tuners (and that's only for DTV), scale to HD resolutions, allow for archiving to CD/DVD, Play DVDs, allow me to surf the web, read email, etc.
An HTPC does a LOT more than a TiVo for only a LITTLE more in cost.
The article is a good primer on why to use an HTPC. I just finished putting together a Home Theater mainly for watching DVDs. The PC is outputting to a Sanyo Z1 projector which is 960x540 native to a 95" diag screen. With an HTPC I can make sure that the PCs output is EXACTLY the right resolution and refresh rate, completely bypassing any resolution scaling that the Projector will do. With anamorphic DVDs and using Powerstrip, Zoomplayer and FFDShow (under Windows, sorry *nix guys!), I can upsample DVDs to play in 960x540 and tweak the image so that my HTPC outputs a picture that will rival $2000 pro-level DVD players. An HTPC will also allow for outputting true 1080p (mainly through WM9, ugh...). Its not trivial to set up, so a complete newbie may be better served with a nice set top DVD player. But if you want excellent output for cheap, go HTPC!
BTW, I'd love to do this under Linux, but havn't found a player that has the crazed level of customization that Zoomplayer/FFDShow has. Any suggestions?
1. - you probably mean features more advanced than bookmarking. It really depends on what firmware is on your dvd player. Mine gives the option to set 5 bookmarks until i eject the dvd. Not the most ideal, but it works.
:)
3. - 1 stero cable from your computer to your stero system solves this w/o building a seperate dedicated machine. heck, it's the same thing w/ the difference of which machine does the work.
5. - i post on slashdot already
-
ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only
1) Time-shifting rented DVD's is nice (I don't always watch them right away).
2) Time-shifting TV is the ONLY way to go.
3) Music ripper/jukebox with fancy visuals is nice.
4) Mplayer compatible video player works out great for viewing new episodes of Red vs. Blue.
5) Web browsing.
6) DVD burning.
7) Expandable.
8) Upgradeable.
9) Skinnable.
There are certainly a couple of trade-offs, like those times you realize xmltv needs to be upgraded AFTER you've missed recording your favorite program. But if your a Slashdot geek these problems should be right up your alley. Anyone belly aching about the cost or convenience of a HTPC is probably not up for it. But for those of us who are, the additional features and flexibility will trump any store bought PVR any day (and if it doesn't, well just write the extra software!).
Note to potential HTPC do-it-yourself article writers: Use either Mandrake, Gentoo or Debian (if your new to Linux or don't like configuring things yourself: Mandrake). You'll save a lot of time because you can install all the neccisary packages to run MythTV from a single command (ie 'urpmi MythTV' if you've set up PLF or Thacs rpm archive). Its REALLY not that difficult, but if you don't enjoy this sort of project (challenge?) why waste your time. Btw, Hauppauge's WinTV-250 is the way to go (at least for the MythTV project).
Quack, quack.
The number one reason for me to build my own Linux-based PVR is privacy.
Did you know that Tivo tracks not only what shows you watch, but exaclty what parts of shows you replay or skip over?
Now, I know it's *supposed* to be anonymous. And I do believe them when they say they aren't selling the data *at the moment*.
I also know they have systems in place to anonymize the data.
But can you (or Tivo) guarentee that they will *never* be bought out be someone less ethical?
Can you guarentee that Tivo won't get a new CEO who decides selling your viewing habits to direct mail advertisers is more lucrative? (Imagine if Darl McBride went to Tivo instead of SCO).
That's my biggest reason for me to put together my own PVR.
Of course, there's also flexibility. I get to decide exactly what capabilities I want, not the marketing department of a profit-motivated company.
Plain and simple, tuning and recording HDTV is still freaking expensive. A $500 computer and $200 HD tuner card gets you all the functionality of:
1. HD tuner (standalone cost, $300+)
2. HD recorder/PVR (standalone cost, $400+)
3. 1080i/720p DVD player (standalone cost, $250)
4. PC games in HD on big screen (closest comparison is an XBox with an HD kit-- $200)
5. A high-end scaler/filter box for HD video. ($500+)
An HTPC does a LOT more than a TiVo for only a LITTLE more in cost.
That is, if you value your free time at $0.
Yes, I can build a HTPC that does everything you said, and more, for only a bit more than a TiVo, but will it be as reliable? Will it be as user friendly (and not just to me! If my wife can't use it then it's worthless. If my visiting relatives/friends can't use it then it decreases in value somewhat)? How much time will I have to spend tweaking it? All just so that I can have it do everything?
For some people this isn't an issue, because that's what they want to spend their free time on. Odds are they don't also do their own housework (both cleaning and repairing/improving), vehicle maintainence, etc. -- everyone picks and chooses what to spend their time and money on. This is no different.
And can you even get HD satellite tuners for your PC? Seriously.
not having to pay the monthly Tivo fee
This is an important point. While the out-of-pocket costs may or may not be less, the freedom from monthly fees is a significant incentive.
I despise recurring fees. When given the choice between a lower-cost porduct with a recurring charge or a higher-cost one-time purchase, I will invariably choose the latter alternative. Why rent when you can own? Even if the cost to build it yourself is significantly more than the cost of a similarly-featured commercial solution, how many months of subscription fees will you have to pay before the actual cost swings the other way?
There must be a law that says people only mirror or post the text of articles on sites that aren't being slashdotted.
Douglas P. Price
HDTV is still very new here are some major problems.
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1) HDTV's are pricey when compared to a standard TV and most of them do not come with tuners in them. They are monitors only so you have to buy other components to use it.
2) Tivo does not have it yet http://www.tivo.com/5.3.1.1.asp?article=195
3) ReplayTV says they can out put to a HD ready TV but that is it.
Another choice is to build a standard TV DVR box. You could get away a lot cheaper by getting a tuner card that does MPEG2 encoding and cutting back on CPU, power supply, memory etc... Then later upgrade it with PC parts that today are good but in 2 years are someone?s junk.
Sample: 1.3ghz, MB, 256meg, costs less than $150 or get someone?s old desktop PC
Tuner card: $50-150 depending on quality
The standard open source choices are
http://www.mythtv.org/
with Knoppmyth making it easy
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html
http://freevo.sourceforge.net/
Some Pay options are
http://www.freytechnologies.com/sagetv.html
First there are the physical aspects such as display contrast, fan noise and the noise given off by most DVD drives. These can be fixed but only if you spend more money on parts.
Then there are the software related problems such as the virus scanner kicking in or windows update needing attention or performance problems caused by heap fragmentation etc... this always happens at a crucial point in the drama. You can disable all this auto updating but then all the routine houskeeping has to be added to the list of inconveniences compared to traditional AV gear
I also have a half baked theory that the PC architecture is not capable of properly synchronizing sound and video due to the sound card and video card being seperately clocked. Hence the little glitches that occur in both when watching AV material on a PC. Maybe somebody with more technical knowledge of PC internals can enlighten me on this.
That's very perceptive of you Mr Stapleton and rather unexpected in a G Major