Discussion Forums > Technology
TV Quality vs. PC Quality
N.Maniac 64:
I'm not sure about the flicker issue, but that may be related to the frame-rate not being divisible by 60 like 24fps movies. I know that's one reason behind 120hz LCDs - 24fps goes into 120 perfectly.
As for HD stuff on the GPU, it CAN, but only through post-processing. As for general playback, it just accelerates it (but it's that acceleration that gives you head room to do post-processing).
misachaos:
Ah kay, too bad I know nothing about changing that stuff in the tv. lol
Im going to try that, because running FullScreen 1080 raw's lags my pc.
pparker:
--- Quote from: xtras on August 20, 2009, 05:43:58 PM ---...how do I set up that PC + GPU upscaling thing. Currently I just play all my videos on WMP 12 with CCCP. My CPU is a Q6600 and my GPU is a Radeon HD 2600XT
It appears to me as if, so long as you have upscaling somewhere in the mix, whether with your PC or your Blu-Ray player, then you get crisp video anyway, am I correct. Just don't leave the TV to do the upscaling and it will work right
--- End quote ---
It's really not that clear-cut, IMHO, having just been through this. I bought a custom-built PC from my local guru shop specifically for HD video and gaming on a 1080p TV. These guys have a lot of expertise behind the configuration they gave me, and it works great. I do think the video card is key, though, in the upscaling success, assuming a fast processor and at least 4GB RAM that doesn't bottleneck the card. The Blu-ray drive is nothing fancy, an LG, and works fine. I was out the door for $1,400 including a nice gaming keyboard. I could have spent $3,000, and I don't think it would have improved much.
To give you an example, I bought a copy of Arcsoft Total Media Theater Platinum for playing BD's/DVD's. They sell an add-on upscaler, which I decided to buy and compare against the card's upscaling. Worse quality as soon as I turned the plug-in on, and obvious. Pixelation immediately. I was watching the last few eps of Outlaw Star on R1 DVD at the time. If any show is a challenge, it's those older shows on R1. Even on the card, I get some pixelation, but it's minor enough that I forget about it quick.
To be honest, I haven't even tried setting different resolutions on the card to see what happens if the receiver or the TV does the upscaling. I've watched the entire 720p Thora Macross Frontier and the first two seasons of Aria on R1 DVD, and they were virtually perfect.
Another reason for needing raw power is the size/bitrate of 720p and 1080p files. My 4 year old computer just wouldn't play them at all, even with upgrading to an ATI 3850 and adding RAM. The CPU was the bottleneck. The game Crysis could be played, but only the very lowest settings, and even then I got frame rates dipping below 15. So if you have the money to spend as you say, don't be conservative on the PC. I'm still using XP because my guru hates Vista (has to deal with all the problems, of course). But I'll upgrade to Win7 64-bit, and I have room to upgrade my system as needed.
Fast hard drive, fast CPU, the ATI HD card with HDMI output, and you should be fine. I have HDMI from the PC to receiver, and just one HDMI from receiver to TV, since all audio goes into the receiver for the surround system. The new Pioneer was only $500 even at BestBuy, and it's all HDMI/HDCP. Which is one thing to be careful about... make sure every component is HDCP, or you'll be screwed for playing BD discs. If you're a gamer and have or want a PS3, it's still the consensus that it's the best DVD upscaling hardware component on the market in addition to being a great BD player, but I have no proof of that personally. So that's also an option.
If you want to take the time to research, go to www.avsforum.com and dive into the forums. Lots of real hardcore video/audio geeks there with decades of experience. That's how I found the TV and later verified the receiver. Just don't listen to what anyone at BestBuy or on Amazon.com says... :) (Newegg is not too bad for computer components, but I leave it to the pros)
Takeshi:
TV quality ftw.
I use a VGA cabel and a sound cabel to connect my computer to the TV, and I WAS able to play emulators (PS1) on the TV, however, since I upgraded my ATI drivers it doesn't work, now, but the flicker that's vivisble when I play anime is gone.
I don't get why people want the trouble with burning to DVDs and then watching through DVD players.
Xtras:
--- Quote from: Takeshi on August 22, 2009, 01:29:33 PM ---TV quality ftw.
I use a VGA cabel and a sound cabel to connect my computer to the TV, and I WAS able to play emulators (PS1) on the TV, however, since I upgraded my ATI drivers it doesn't work, now, but the flicker that's vivisble when I play anime is gone.
I don't get why people want the trouble with burning to DVDs and then watching through DVD players.
--- End quote ---
Unless you have a pretty high end graphics card, you will not get the same results if you connected your computer to the tv as if you connected a Blu-Ray player to the TV. Most graphics cards these days focus on the gaming side of things, while the GPU's in the Blu-Ray players focus on the upscaling to 1080p. (At least this was what I read in other forums)
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