Newbie Question About DVD TV-out cards

[dullmoment]

I am wondering about what setup would be best. I want to build a sageTV box. I am wondering how to get DVD playback onto the TV since you can't do it with sage TV and a 350 which is what I wanted to buy at first. If I get a video card that does DVD playback will I also have my UI on the TV or will i need to have a monitor connected? If I get a vid card then the 500 would be a good choice right? Well sorry for the confusing post. I am just trying to create a PVR that the IU is on the TV (no monitor needed) and i can also watch DVDs.

Any hardware suggestion would be great.

[Crashless]

I currently use both.

I use a pvr 350 as a dedicated TV output.

And I use Zoom Player for DVDs on my GFX output.

Edit: sorry, that wasn't very helpful or descriptive -

Either way works, and it depends how simple or complex you want to make it. SageTV can play DVDs, but not through the pvr350 (as you know), but if you go with the 500, and use the GFX card out - you CAN play DVDs with sage.

BUT, if you want to ever use a program like Meedio to organize your DVDs (this is what I do), you can get away with using both the 350 and the gfx card on different inputs in your television.

If you're making a TV-ONLY box, then go with the 500s - but if you plan on doing lots of multi-tasking with your HTPC, go with the 350, BUT BEWARE!

The 350 currently is a crap shoot of a card - some have no problems, but many have BIG problems. Mine crashes when it reaches the end of a program about 50% of the time, if you aren't paying attention and don't pause before the end of the file - it'll crash the system. People are currently working to fix this, but it does happen to a lot of people. Search for '350 EOF' or '350 end of file' and do some research before going this route.

[dullmoment]

Thanks so much for the info. Are there any issues using gfx cards and IU on the TV. I really want to have it setup so that i can control the box through the TV and remote. I think i am going to go with a gfx card and 500 (starting) more to come later. If what i gather through your info this is the best way to have it setup to have DVDs and TV IU.


PS are there any quality issues using a gfx card as the main TV output and not a 350? Thanks again.

[Crashless]

No issues per se - just preference. If you use the GFX card, you'll have to use a software decoder, and there are millions of threads on getting the best PQ (picture quality) using different decoders and settings. AFAIK, the forum favorite right now seems to be NVidia's DVD decoder, so if you don't have a GFX card yet, choose one that will has the video post processor on it (basically a 6600 [plain, or gt], or 6800NU[non ultra/gt]) those cards have the chip that speeds along video decoding.

The main advantage the 350 has in PQ is only for TV signals b/c it can display an interlaced signal, the GFX card cannot. For DVDs this is good, for TV it has to deinterlace the signal, which can either look good, or bad to you and also depends on what you're watching it on. An LCD TV for instance, would look great with a software decoder, and I would actually recommend it for all HDTV displays. The 350 excells on SDTVs.

So yeah - to simplify - using the GFX card sound like a good option for you. But do some searching around to be sure you understand the differences I've pointed out above. Most people that use Sage, use the GFX card output.

[korben_dallas]

The 6200 has the PureVideo functions also.. and there are a few AGP models around. This would be a fine card if you don't play any games (ever) and are on a budget.

[dullmoment]

Thanks for the info everyone. I went and got a great deal on a PVR 350 and will look into getting a gfx card. Thanks for all the great info. I will just have to keep using my dvd player for a little while longer.