HTPCs are getting popular.
HTPCs are getting popular.
HTPC (Home Theather PC) is no longer just for the geeks, with companies like Ahanix HTPCs are getting more attention from the general computer users.
Ahanix develops special PC cases which look like a high-end receiver or DVD player. With integrated VFD displays and brushed aliminum casing, they look very professional. Click here to see some models from Ahanix.
Also read this article about how to create an HTPC yourself.
I personally tried to build one with the case model D.Vine 4 from Ahanix. My choice for graphics card was ATI 9800 All-in-wonder-PRO because it had built in Component Output for HDTV quality viewing pleasure.
The sound card is Sound Blaster® Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro. I chose this card because it has an external connection box and makes your life much easier for cabling. According to Creative Labs. this model is also the only PC platform to deliver Advanced Resolution 24-bit DVD-Audio playback in pristine 108dB SNR clarity across all channels.
Don’t believe that yet though, I tried the DVD Audio player and was shocked with a stupid limitation. The player refuses to play if you connect this to a high end receiver with digital input (SPDIF) because of copyright limitations. I ask to Creative Labs. “If your system is capable of playing 108dB SNR, why are you limiting it to only analog connections?”
Another ceveat about this card is that you can not play multi channel audio if you are using SPDIF connection to your high-end receiver. If you are playing a DVD there is not problem, because you can choose the option not to decode it via the card but pass it to your receiver so it can decode it to you.
But when you try to get 5.1 sound via any Windows application, there is no luck. The reason of this limitation is there is no up-mixing or real-time AC3 encoding engine on this card. If there was such a feature, you could on the fly encode any multi channel sound into Dolby Digital (AC3) and pass it to your receiver so it can decode it. Creative Labs. claims that solution is not optimal because it would create delays in the sound. You can read their FAQ about this here.
So if you want to experience the Terminator 2 DVD in high definition (there is a new version of this DVD which has a Windows Media 9 compatible high definition version on the second DVD), you can get great picture but only 2 channel sound.
There is also an important tool you will need and here is why. There is a limitation again because of copyright issues. ATI All-in-wonder-PRO won’t let you use it’s Component Output to display a regular DVD in high definition (this is not related to the Terminator 2 special edition, that works around this problem with a licencing system). This is again because Macrovision copyright protection on the DVD. The idea behind that is also simple but stupid. In theory, you can output the video at very high definition, you can record the result yourself in digital form and thus create a copy of the DVD.
This shows us 2 things;
1. The video recorded on DVDs are better than 480p standard which is generally the highest the DVD players would display.
2. These people who created this protection system is not aware of free software which can already copy DVDs.
Anyway, if you want to bypass this problem and output regular DVDs as high definition video you need Remote Selector.
This tool supports many software DVD players (I recommend PowerDVD 5) and it can disable the protection system. It also can disable region limitations on the DVDs. Which means you can play DVDs from Europe or any other region. Which brings us to the conclusion that the DVD region system is not a limitation because of PAL or NTCS it’s just another stupid idea to make life more difficult for us the consumers. If you buy a DVD in North America, you can not watch it in Europe, I wonder which idiot tought of this sytem.
After all, you are trying to watch a DVD you legally own!
The last tool I want to mention is DVD Decrypter. This is a freeware and it creates a bit-accurate copy of your legally owned! DVD on your hard drive. After that you can play the DVD with PowerDVD and still have all the features like subtitles, alternative sound tracks, etc. With this techology you can create a storage system connected to your HTPC (that’s another project!), and copy all of your DVDs so you don’t have to get up from your couch to change DVDs!
I will tell you more about that another time.
