HD

[Davecobweb]

Hi,
I was reading on a microsoft site that if I wanted to connect my PC to my LCD TV to play HD stuff, the processor I would require for optimum playback would need to be 3.0 Ghz or 2.4 Ghz for a minimum requirement.
Not being very computer orientated, I was wondering if someone could advise me on what to do.
I currently run XP, and I believe my current processor is an Athlon XP 2000 +. (this is from memory as I'm writing this at work).
Any help with this matter would be extremely appreciated.
Finaly, money is a little tight!

[Danno]

3ghz seems a lot, at home i have a P4 2.4ghz with 1.5gb RAM and that play's back HD video fine.

to get an idea what other people recommend i have just had a look on http://www.cyberlink.com at the specs needed for PowerDVD 7. PowerDVD is video playback software and the latest version 7 supports HD playback. http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/main_1_ENU.html

the system requirements for this are,


Operating System
* Windows MCE, XP, 2000, ME

Screen Resolution
* 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024

Screen Ratio
* 4:3 or widescreen

Processor
* Minimum: Intel Pentium III 866 MHz or AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz or above (see note below)
* Recommended: Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 2.8 GHz

Memory
* 256 MB RAM

Hard Disk Space
* 90 MB

Graphics Card
* AGP or PCI Express graphic accelerator with DirectDraw Overly Support

Sound Card
* PCI sound card or on-board audio

Optical Drive
* DVD-ROM, DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo, DVD-R/RW, DVD+RW or DVD-RAM drive with 1394, ATAPI, SCSI, USB 2.0 or Card Bus interface.

Note: PowerDVD optimizes performance by selecting the appropriate video deinterlacing algorithm for the available processing power. PowerDVD maintains its support for processors below 733 MHz by ensuring that CLEV-2 technology will be turned off by default. PowerDVD's advanced audio and video technologies function better when used with processors above 2 GHz.

the athlon xp2000 in your system runs at 1.67ghz so its below what they recommend but well above the minimus spec needed.

[Taxation]

it says AMD athlon 2.8ghz, we dont all have fx62's :mrgreen:

[Nox]

Just try it out on your regular screen, see how well it copes with decoding.

Nox

[Davecobweb]

I've got myself PowerDVD 7 and it seems to play fine on my machine. Trouble is I'm using a crt as a monitor! So I guess I need to connect this to me LCD TV now to really appreciate it.
Can anyone advise me on what type of lead I need to purchase please?
I'm sure I've read somewhere that I can plug the cable into my graphics card (Nvidia GEforce Ti 4800 SE) Is this correct?

[Taxation]

on the back of your tv ,what connectors are there??

[Nox]

I've got myself PowerDVD 7 and it seems to play fine on my machine. Trouble is I'm using a crt as a monitor! So I guess I need to connect this to me LCD TV now to really appreciate it.
Can anyone advise me on what type of lead I need to purchase please?
I'm sure I've read somewhere that I can plug the cable into my graphics card (Nvidia GEforce Ti 4800 SE) Is this correct?

That card *probably* has an svideo connector, one of my old geforce3's did (the other didn't) so you will have to have a physical look - it will depend on the manufacturer and exact model of the card.

svideo out can go into a scart socket without much trouble if i remember correctly - you will need the right cable though.

If it plays fine on your CRT, it will be at around, what 1280x1024 resolution? A regular TV runs much lower than this, so I don't see why it wont be fine.

Nox

[Davecobweb]

The tv is the 37" Atec brought from Novatech.
My current monitor is plugged into my graphics card which has a spare identical slot adjacent to it (squarish with lots of little holes).
Would a lead plug into that and then into my TV?
My Pinnacle tv card has a normal tv point and S-video.

[Davecobweb]

I think I've sussed it.
The TV has a DVi-D slot which is exactly the same as the slot on the back of my pc.
I guess I need a DVI to DVI cable. A dual link cable would be better for quality and the distance required to travel (8m approx).

So, If I connect with the above, use PowerDVD 7, the quality of image, and maybe sound, would be better than playing DVDs through a scart lead from a stand alone DVD player?

[tommo123]

when it comes to playing back HD content, its not just about the CPU but the GPU as well

with an update from microsoft, some graphics cards could assist decoding WMV in hardware so lowering the requirements on the CPU.

this is only valid for WMV and mpeg-2 and for some nvidia/ati cards, they aid in decoding H264

my 7800GT does this and is very useful for decoding some HD material like the BBCs