Professor.Ham.Slap Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Hey guys, Does anyone on the board have any experience with video processors? I'm helping a friend build a home theater, and as things stand right now he wants all McIntosh pre/pro and amps and I was thinking about tying in a video processor. We've pretty much decided on a Sony Pearl projector and we're going to have HD DVD and Blu-Ray running on the system. HDTV will be a must of course but is a processor really going to help in that situation? Basically I'm looking for opinions from everyone as I have about $2500 budgeted for a processor and just wanted opinions from everyone with experience with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 There is no reason to upscale HDTV, BluRay or HD DVD. If you were running standard DVDs, then yes, a processor is a must, especially on a projector. Do a HTPC if you do a processor. Low cost and works great. TheaterTek combined with FFDshow works the best. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor.Ham.Slap Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 Good idea with the HTPC actually... any video card suggestions for that type of application? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjnif Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Over on Audiokarma.org their is big talk about www.lumagen.com. Check out the thread for: Best video processor I have ever seen. Its about $2,000. It is either in The Mcintosh section or Home theatre, probably the Mac section...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 so another toy to buy. if one has HD from either a sat signal or HD DVD, and sends such signal to an HD screen, this lumagen box will do what if anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcott Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Hey guys, Does anyone on the board have any experience with video processors? I'm helping a friend build a home theater, and as things stand right now he wants all McIntosh pre/pro and amps and I was thinking about tying in a video processor. We've pretty much decided on a Sony Pearl projector and we're going to have HD DVD and Blu-Ray running on the system. HDTV will be a must of course but is a processor really going to help in that situation? Basically I'm looking for opinions from everyone as I have about $2500 budgeted for a processor and just wanted opinions from everyone with experience with them. Not to be arguementative, but HTPC video processors are not real good for DVD playing. Silicon Optix's Realta and Reon processors are falling in price and are some of the most highly regarded in their price range. I think DVDO is starting to use them and I know the top tier Denon's are using them. Teranex makes them and their sister processors once sold for $26,000+ just a few years ago. I suggest you go to Secrets of Home Theater Benchmark to get a better idea of video processor performance. You will find Denon consistently at the top of the heap using these processors. HTPC scores are not there yet. Anchor Bay Technologies is also well regarded. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all Lots of good information on video at this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCOOTERDOG Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 lumigen is a great processor as is the DVD O iscan VP50. I use to run a prroocessor until I went the HTPC way, no way I would go back. For a video card make sure you go with one that is HDCP compliant. The nvidia 7950 some of the 7600 & 7800 and of course the 8800 line.go over to www.avsforum.com and go to the home theater computer thread. you will learn a lot. scooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 "http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all" "Lots of good information on video at this site." Ok, so I went to the site and my 3 year old DVD player list listed. Almost everything was in the pass colum, with only one item failing, and another moderate. So does that mean the magic box won't do anything for my DVD player? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcott Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 "http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all" "Lots of good information on video at this site." Ok, so I went to the site and my 3 year old DVD player list listed. Almost everything was in the pass colum, with only one item failing, and another moderate. So does that mean the magic box won't do anything for my DVD player? Not sure what DVD player you have but it sounds like you made a good choice, based on your response. Hard to find DVD players that will pass all of these grueling tests at Secrets. The magic box is not going to improve on the level of performance it sounds like you are getting now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor.Ham.Slap Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 There's some good stuff on that site. Thanks for the heads up. From what I've seen I think the DVDO VP30 is the way I'd go. Now I just need to find a DVD player with good 480i output ability to run though the scaler. Also, from one of the threads I've been looking over, it would seem that the HD DVD and Blu-Ray players perform better when they output 1080i and an external processor takes care of the de-interlacing to 1080p (which I find curious, but there is a lot of data to back it up). Then all I'd need to do is add the SD daughterboard for SDTV and things would be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcott Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 There's some good stuff on that site. Thanks for the heads up. From what I've seen I think the DVDO VP30 is the way I'd go. Now I just need to find a DVD player with good 480i output ability to run though the scaler. Also, from one of the threads I've been looking over, it would seem that the HD DVD and Blu-Ray players perform better when they output 1080i and an external processor takes care of the de-interlacing to 1080p (which I find curious, but there is a lot of data to back it up). Then all I'd need to do is add the SD daughterboard for SDTV and things would be good to go. I am glad you found this source helpful. I find it very thorough and objective in its testing methods. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Looking at that Home Theater Hifi page, No wonder you think HTPCs won't play DVDs well. PowerDVD and WinDVD and Windows Media Player. Come on.. That it too funny. That is the crap that comes with your PC. It is like comparing Notepad to Word. The only real HTPC software on the market is TheaterTEK and Zoom. Snap in FFDshow and you have endless possibilities. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcott Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Looking at that Home Theater Hifi page, No wonder you think HTPCs won't play DVDs well. PowerDVD and WinDVD and Windows Media Player. Come on.. That it too funny. That is the crap that comes with your PC. It is like comparing Notepad to Word. The only real HTPC software on the market is TheaterTEK and Zoom. Snap in FFDshow and you have endless possibilities. JM Secrets is so busy testing new DVD players, it seems the video cards get left behind, which is a shame. Even computer sites do not put much priority in proper reviews, which is also a shame since there is so much interest in HTPC's. Here is a review of ATI and nVidia cards using the Silicon Optix Benchmark. nVidia was lagging behind considerably. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2691&p=1 HD video faired even worse. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2798&p=1 http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2923&p=4 For the money both video card companies are charging for their products, I feel they should be providing better performance. If you take into account the processor power, power supplies, and cooling solutions needed to accompany these high end video cards and cpu's, you are into some serious money. We are seeing a shift in priorities, but I think the video companies could be working harder on making DVD and HD performance a more important aspect of design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCOOTERDOG Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Looking at that Home Theater Hifi page, No wonder you think HTPCs won't play DVDs well. PowerDVD and WinDVD and Windows Media Player. Come on.. That it too funny. That is the crap that comes with your PC. It is like comparing Notepad to Word. The only real HTPC software on the market is TheaterTEK and Zoom. Snap in FFDshow and you have endless possibilities. JM I'll 2nd the above. If you want outstanding playback and one that outperforms your stand alone dvd player then Theatertek or Zoom Player with FFDshow is the way to go. My standard dvd's are output at 1080i with theatertek w/ FFDshow and the picture rivals my hd broadcast from direct tv. It makes me wonder why I should invest into BD or HDDVD at this time. If you really want to learn a lot about HTPC's then cruise over to the avs forum and visit the home theater computer section. scooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiles Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Lumagen is fantastic (trade show demos have been top shelf and I've good feed back from end users) but I have never used it myself. The new unit, Radiance, is coming but very late to market (15+ months) since the changed from Realta to Genum. I use a Key Digital HD Leeza and love it. Denon DV5900 output to 480i then scaled to native resoluion of projector (Dwin TV3+) via RGB/HV. Comcast Sci. Atlanta outputs to 720P and it is "passed through" via HD Component out. The HDL also drives my Samsung DLP RPTV via DVI (note PJ and TV cannot be on at the same time, which they are not). Recently I installed a McIntosh MX-135 (excellent for movie, Dolby ProLogic IIx mainly and two channel is awesome!) and MC-207 (outstanding), sold my demo "Mac Stack" waiting on new stuff... Regards, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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