Looking for a decent media player

[kaworuchan]

My HDTV does not have HDMI inputs, sadly (it is a first generation HDTV, before HDMI came around), so I need a player that has component outputs so that I could at least get a 1080i picture out of it.

Basically, I am looking for a HD video player that I can hook up to my LCD screen and watch the anime that I DL on - because watching anime on a 30" LCD screen is an improvement over the 17" monitor that my PC is connected to.

Any suggestions on what to look for and what to avoid?

Thanks in advance.

I used to burn the anime to DVD video, but I am growing weary of having to convert all of the subtitles in order to get them to work.  Better to get one of the file players and stop bothering with that - hell, I probably will even save money on blank DVDs when I do that.

[relic2279]

Why don't you just get a component cable and run it to your HDTV from your computer? I have a 35 foot cable that I ran from my computer in my bedroom to my bigscreen in my living room. Or does your video card not have two outputs?

[macros74]

Why don't you just get a component cable and run it to your HDTV from your computer? I have a 35 foot cable that I ran from my computer in my bedroom to my bigscreen in my living room. Or does your video card not have two outputs?

That's what I use also. But not every desktop/notebook has a tv-out. And I have to admit that in my case the cable will be not be used if there are visitors,because I used the shortest route possible, which is not always the most practical one...

[kaworuchan]

Why don't you just get a component cable and run it to your HDTV from your computer? I have a 35 foot cable that I ran from my computer in my bedroom to my bigscreen in my living room. Or does your video card not have two outputs?

My video card does not have component outputs, sadly.  I am using the standard video output that came with my cheap motherboard, because I am a cheap person.  :-P

Would getting a better video card be a better idea than picking up a stand-alone media player?

[relic2279]

Would getting a better video card be a better idea than picking up a stand-alone media player?

Depends on your computer. If it's relatively new, then it should be fine playing HD files. There are cables that start out as DVI, SVIDEO, HDMI and at the other end, are something completely different. Like component. You can buy a DVI/VGA to Componenmt cable etc... If your computer doesn't play HD files well now, it won't play them well hooked to your TV.

[Jarudin]

If your HDTV supports DVI (white) or VGA (blue) then you could try those, the picture quality should be a lot better than component cables.
Also, videocards don't have component outputs, they have 'TVout' which is a black round connector with 6 pins I think, that splits into the yellow/red/black cables.

Correct me if I'm wrong but component cables use a resolution of max 800x600. DVI, VGA and HDMI can go as high as your TV supports.

I bought my own LCD-TV recently the HDMI connection to my computer is a real asset, the picture quality is just amazing.

--

I'm not sure what you mean by an HD video player but probably anything that device can do your computer can do as well.

--Jarudin--

[relic2279]

Yeah you're probably right. I have an HDMI cable for computer to TV. But use component for my xbox. Didn't occur to me that there would be a resolution drop as a result. Doh.

[Jarudin]

Yeah you're probably right. I have an HDMI cable for computer to TV. But use component for my xbox. Didn't occur to me that there would be a resolution drop as a result. Doh.

I used component for a short while (HDMI cables hadn't arrived yet) and I was quite horrified at the picture quality. With HDMI everything is super sharp, you can even see aliasing.

--Jarudin--

[vuzedome]

Component cables can go up to 1024x768 max.

[fuddle36767]

Here's an interesting item from Newegg.com for a reasonable price that I'm interested in myself.  It supports a lot of common video formats, and you can use an USB flash drive as the input.  It also has both HDMI and composite outputs.

[Mag-X]

If you have a PS3 or X360, you could try using TVersity.

[ToiletHanako]

My HDTV does not have HDMI inputs, sadly (it is a first generation HDTV, before HDMI came around), so I need a player that has component outputs so that I could at least get a 1080i picture out of it.

Does your TV have DVI inputs? If so, you might want to get the Western Digital WD TV HD media player.

Here's an interesting item from Newegg.com for a reasonable price that I'm interested in myself.  It supports a lot of common video formats, and you can use an USB flash drive as the input.  It also has both HDMI and composite outputs.

I have that and use it to play all my download anime on the HDTV in my room. The subtitle support is great so no need to hardsub. From SD, to 720p, or 1080p, plays all the anime I've downloaded flawlessly. It doesn't play .ogg audio in matroska though, so you need to convert the audio to ac3, aac, or mp3 which would take no more than 5 minutes. I'm hoping they add .ogg suport in matroska in the next firmware update.

Great little gadget. I highly recommend it for anime watching.

[MarchHare]

moving this to a discussion forum