Thinking of upgrading my HTPC (BluRay and Windows 7)

Skeeter · 14 Mar 2010 at 17:52

Hi

Im thinking of upgrading my HTPC from its current DVD/Vista setup to Windows 7 and Blu Ray.

Firstly, does Windows 7 have proper BluRay functionality either inbuilt in Media Centre, or is there some software available that can plug in properly? Most drives seem to come with software...

Which leads me onto my second question, Which BDROM drive would you recomend? I dont need to burn, just to play DVDs and BDROMs.

Thirdly, My HDTV is actually a monitor, meaning while it is 1920x1080 resolution, the HDMI mode isnt that special when connected to my HTPC, so I use DVI or VGA instead. Does BluRay work over DVI/VGA? Or does it need HDMI to work?

Finally, do you think my C2D E4600 (2.4Ghz), 2GB DDR2 and ATI HD3450 will be up to it?

Cheers

Grimley · 14 Mar 2010 at 18:01

I dipped my toe into the HTPC waters a while ago, there are others on here that know a lot more than me so I can give you a couple of pointers.
Arcsoft Total media Centre will integrate into W7 media centre, as W7 does not have blu-ray playback built-in (It may do one day but not right now)
for blu-ray playback, both your monitor & need to be compatible, this progamme will tell you
http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/bd-support/diagnosis.do

if not try using anydvd hd.

TBH for the price of a BD-rom & the software required, you can buy a standalone blu-ray player, I went down that route in the end as the HTPC didnt playback blu-rays that well, I used Cyberlinks software which has been unstable in all builds I've used.

Skeeter · 14 Mar 2010 at 21:26

Wow, when did BluRay players get so cheap? £120 buys you a half decent sony with some bundled disks!

I might not bother then as it does look like getting BluRay on Media Centre is a bit of a faff. Still going to upgrade to Windows 7 though as my Media PC is my TV/PVR unit and used for a lot of ripped DVDs and music and other stuff. BD Rom playing will go to another device. If only Microsoft had done it properly

Grimley · 14 Mar 2010 at 21:36

AFAIK Microsoft were backing HD-DVD when it was around. No idea if MS will incorporate native bluray playback into W7 with service packs or future OS's like they did with DVD. probably due to all the DRM/HDCP & other anti-piracy measures that the hollywood studios demand these days.

Skilid · 14 Mar 2010 at 23:46

I wouldn't personally bother with blu ray on a computer. I always found with all the ones i've used, every second or so there is a judder from somewhere on the screen. It does it everytime the hard drive ticks or something.

I've tried 4 different setups with different screens etc and they all have done the same. Get a seperate blu ray player imo.

Skeeter · 15 Mar 2010 at 22:31

Cheers. Ive decided a seperate device is the best bet. I (stupidly) thought that by now Microsoft would have proper BluRay support in Windows... but alas it appears no.

Still got Win7 comming as Vista is annoying me and I got it cheap. Ill look for a seperate BR player.

Cheers.

Skilid · 21 Mar 2010 at 17:53

I recommend the Sony BDP-S360 as a budget player. I'm very happy with it.

Pawnless Endgame · 21 Mar 2010 at 19:08

I've been semi successful with a PC set-up:

I ordered the Verso Avenger from OcUK, which is a Shuttle case with Phenom II 550, 4GB RAM, terabyte HD, an ATI HD 4850, an LG blu-ray drive, loaded with Windows 7 HP 64-bit. Windows 7 already has a codec for DVD so it picked up my DVDs fine. I tried it with a blu-ray disc, which didn't work, so I assumed that I needed to shell out for some software. I needed something fast, so I went into town (Stafford), and all I could find was Win DVD. It cost a bomb too... £50!! So I bought it, installed it, popped in a BD disc, and to my dismay, it threw up the following error "your display environment does not support protected content playback". After a bit of Google, it turned out that my monitor was wrong, at 1600x1200 4:3. I guess it was my fault for not realising, but I still feel that I should have been warned at some point when attempting blu-ray playback.

After more Google, I opted to install a trial of Anydvd HD, and that worked a charm, using Media Player Classic as my front-end. The beauty of it is, that even though my monitor is 1600x1200, I can print screen (using F5) at 1920x1080, so it's obviously capturing the hardware level rather than software. Unfortunately, my Anydvd HD trial has ended and I'm not going to pay €80 (effectively £80) to register it, especially when the license only runs for 2 years. I'm instead going to eventually buy a 1920x1080 monitor and use my £50 Win DVD, and the damn thing better work this time lol

Btw, my HD 4850 only has 2xDVI outs (coloured red instead of white). Will this be ok, or am I snookered?

Grimley · 21 Mar 2010 at 19:45

Your HD4850 should be OK. When you buy your new monitor check the specs of it 1st to see if it is HDCP ready or compatible. All links in the chain must be compatible for the HDCP to lift its restrictions (Even the monitor cable can be at fault!). If you clicked on the link in my 1st post in this thread, the downloaded programme will tell you. Apologies If you've this already.

Pawnless Endgame · 21 Mar 2010 at 21:28

Thanks a lot Grimley. If my HD4850 only has DVI-out, is there a converter cable that can convert DVI to HDMI so that I can link it to an HDCP-ready monitor? Thanks again.

Banny · 21 Mar 2010 at 21:35

Didn't your ATI card come with one, thought they all did.

Grimley · 21 Mar 2010 at 21:48

Monserrat said:
Thanks a lot Grimley. If my HD4850 only has DVI-out, is there a converter cable that can convert DVI to HDMI so that I can link it to an HDCP-ready monitor? Thanks again.

You want one of these if you did not get one with your card. If you bought a retail card. pic in the link below

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/HD_2900_XT/2.html

That & a HDMI cable.

Pawnless Endgame · 21 Mar 2010 at 21:58

Grimley & Banny, no I didn't get the converter included, but thanks for the link. I've just taken these photos for you to show you what I did get with my HD4850:

▼ This is the box. As you can see, it's the XFX version.

▼ Here are the cables. The little one at the top is actually a DVI-to-VGA converter only! On the left is a 2x molex-to-4pin converter and on the right, I'm not sure what it is but I think it's used for projectors?

Grimley · 21 Mar 2010 at 22:19

Hmm. Looking at the XFX site it does not say if your card comes with the adaptor I said. It may tell you on the box or the instructions. There's 5 versions of your card on the site, so there's no way of knowing. The adaptor isn't that expensive, just search for ati dvi to hdmi adapter.

dlthorpe · 21 Mar 2010 at 22:56

For codecs i recommend this...

SAF