Not Yet
toddb

I HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND a HTPC to process your projector video.
The difference is HUGE. I just recently hooked up a $250 Shuttle 2Ghz 256k RAM PC and adjusted the gamma to 1.1 and used WinDVD's viedeo enhancements (cinema enhancement at about 25%, contrast knocked back 1-2 nothches, brightness back about 15%, and sharpness at about 90%. Keep in mind those settings are only good for a CMV LCD and likely the video card in the Shuttle. The video quality increased dramitically over an N6 or my Mac 17" powerbook with adjusted gamma.
I understand that having an HTPC is a couple hudred more bucks(tack on a few more hundred if you wan 1080 compatibility), but it is well worth it. Throw a capture card in there and ou can tune TV and input your gaming system. The one bummer is that it will cost at lest 5-6 hundred bucks to input HD sources into the HTPC.
I am definitely setting up a dedicated HTPC.

I'll have to agree with the htpc part. It'll supposedly do the work of video transcoders/upconverters/scalers that cost hundreds more. I've seen in person what an htpc with fddshow can do for an old school barco crt projector and the results were nothing short of amazing.

I'll def be using my htpc/file server in combo with my projector but TV boxes certainly have their place for some. They especially make the projector easier for the fiancee to use (wife factor).

Has anyone spec'd this tv box?

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=2026&sku=40227

Waaaaaaay too expensive for not having component input...

LL member Hayden posted this in the hot deal thread: http://www.acevio.com/webstore/nfoscomm/ca...f724135e472fcd6

"Pro Video Scaler/Switcher + XGA TV tuner", with component input. An interesting snippet in the product description: Built-in scanline doubler with special de-interlacing technology for Progressive scan outputs with flicker- free viewing experience (?)


It only goes up to 1024 x 768 xga but thats all a 15" lcd needs. The remote looks like a chore but i can easily live with it if the product is worthy enough. Has anyone here ever seen or used this product before? I'm very tempted to buy it and it might make my short list, going to try and google for some product reviews. Will link any reviews i find in this same post.

i wonder what that product is like and would we be able to use it here in Australia ?? sounds tto good to be true doesnt it
Would i be better off just getting the avermedia tvbox 9 locally for $170 + $15 (postage)Australian.

Swiftden

I am an Aussie using the Aver TVBox 9 and I couldn't be happier. Works with AV, SVideo and Component to VGA and works out cheaper than a PC and all setup is done on screen with the remote.

joewerb what are the specs of the htpc you got and did you put it togther or buy buy it as from somewhere. Seems like a good deal for the specs any info would be nice thanks

Would this work? has anyone tried this?
http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=...e8b456eac0b7c1e

Not much more specs than I can tell you than that. Shuttle mainboards are small format and are big on HQ built in audio and video. It is popular for video and gamers. The one I have wouldn't do full HD 1080, but does 720 OK. Most of you guys are just upscanning your DVD. This PC was sold by a friend on eBay for $250 and the guy didn't pay. The basic and major thing I get out of this is: fast enough to play DVD (small feat most PC's can do), monitor calibration/gamma adjustment via the Adobe Gamma control panel (I think something that comes from a Photoshop installation - any PC can do), and further video enhncements via WinDVD6.

You could put together a lesser PC for a similar/smaller price and get the same results. I'll bet a bargain shopper and PC builder could put together a PC cheaper than a higher buck TVBOX that will far outperform a TVBOX.

If anyyone saw the difference they would forget about a TVbox forever.

doesn't have component inputs, may not be a big deal to some but it's the highest quality input/output most dvd players have to offer...why cripple your image from the get-go?

Evidently nobody has found the "perfect" inexpensive solution yet. Brain posted this bargain in the review forum: http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3036 but the jury is still out on it. A safe attitude to take in my opinion is "don't expect too much" and you won't be disappointed, but keep the merchant's cust service # handy in case the product doesn't live up to its claims...

The more i see of these sub-$250 scan converters/scalers/transcoders the more i'm disappointed. There seems to always be a major drawback or two to all of them. I may go 100% HTPC and forget a tvbox altogether (dam the wife acceptance factor). As joe mentions above, an acceptable htpc can be built fairly cheap. And i fully believe everyone with an htpc ought to try it with a free proggie called fddshow, which is constantly being updated and enhanced.

Fire away if you have any htpc building questions (i recommend pm'ing me or starting a new thread since this is slightly off-topic). I also have tons of deal links to make the cost as painless as possible

Hmm, apparently a WebTV box can be used as well (?)

I think i'll have to dig mine out of the attic and try it out.

The good: You can either use grandma's old one or pick it up at a garage sale.

The bad: No component input & undetermined results.

Ebay ad: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...5138158223&rd=1

I have an old 500 Mhz computer with DVD drive and power DVD software. Can a person modify this computer and get good results or is it underpowered? I haven't a clue about its video cards or ect. I sure it was whatever was standard at that time.

Hi,

read all the post. Great thread!

Still debating whether to use a HTPC or an upscaling DVD player.
If I go with the DVD player- I require it has Divx playback- which I have not found in one DVD player yet. . Do any DVD players have both upscaling & Divx playback?

I plan on compressing DVDs using Dr Divx, & storing movies either on my PC's HDD, or burning 5 (or more) Divx movies onto a single DVD-R (if I use a DVD player with Divx).

Divx compresses DVD video by 10X, without noticable losses (or very little anyhow), at the same resolution.

anyone?

Patrick

here's one i've seen recommended several times, Be sure to read the user-reviews for it.
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-5...asin=B000204SWE
or amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...ronics&n=507846

This place has interesting ones but now that i notice, none claim divx support. http://www.220-electronics.com

you probably will notice a lack in quality with the divx compression .... on our projectors ... the tolerance is much less on compression than it was watching it on your 480i home tv or computer monitor ..... the sharpness will get to ya.

Ive even noticed a lack of quality when coming from a compressed DVD9 to DVD5.

Patrick,

Do a Google search for Philips DVP642 . It has the Divx capability that you are looking for.

Mike

OOOOHHH CRA*****!

I just tossed two or three webTV boxes since I really thought I had no use for them at all. Now I find out I could have used them for a Svideo or composite to VGA converter. These things can be found at garage sales for $5 usually.

Does anyone actually have one set up for use?

I have a question for those who are actually using the AverMedia TVBox9 or Viewsonic N6.

Do you experience any problems with sound not being in sync with the video?

If so, is there any way to compensate for it?

I would prefer to take digital optical from my source (HTPC,DVD,etc) directly to my receiver since either of these boxes do not take optical.

With the video being processed through one of these scaler boxes you would think the sound would be slightly out of sync...unless the sound can be delayed for the same time taken to do the video processing.

Anyone have any experience with this?

Jason

I'm using an N6 and have have seen no noticeable sound delay from either digital or analog sound sources, and I can usually see any differential between sound and video pretty easily.

This is after plenty of TV, DVDs and video games.

BTM

Same here.

if we were using a converter box from 1970 then there would probably be a delay in processing ..... but with todays technology the delay is in the nanoseconds (probably smaller) and there is no video phase shift.

Also keep in mind, there are audio processing done at the reciever, so any said delay in video processing would also take place with audio processing.

Hi,
Thinking bout buying this as i'm in ireland, and want a compatiPAL scaler (excuse the pun ). Any coments on the product? (want it for xbox high def and television viewing)
http://www.converters.tv/products/converte...erters/104.html

Hello,

I'm new here and awaiting delivery of Lumenlab lenses. In the mean time I am testing out the compatibility of my other components.

I have a slight problem with compatibility. My CMV CT-529A LCD monitor does not read a signal from my Viewsonic VB50HRTV video converter. I know both units are working since my LCD monitor works fine on the computer and the VB50HRTV works fine if I connect a CRT monitor to it.

Has anyone else had problems similar to this. I wrote customer support from Viewsonic, but I am not holding my breath. I understand that there are several people here using a CT-529A and an Viewsonic N6 successfully, maybe even a VB50HRTV successfully with a CT-529A. I looked up the output specs to the N6 and it is the same as the VR50HRTV.

I have tried different resolutions and refresh rates on the VB50HRTV but to no avail. Are there certain settings anyone has used that will work? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advanced, and thanks for all of the forum help so far. Although this is my first question, I have been able to find answers to all of my other questions in the forum without writing. When I start my project, I hope to contribute for future DIY'ers.

While connected to the CRT, make sure your converter is at a refresh rate your LCD can accept. Your LCD probably accepts a 75hz signal only, and if the converter is set to 60hz, then it would not display...

Thanks for the reply OKFlyboy. Unfortunately, I tried 75HZ and 60Hz refresh rates at all of the available resolutions on the VB50HRTV. Nothing seemed to work. I am using cable input. Don't know if that matters or not?

I guesse I am hoping to find someone out there that is using a viewsonic converter with a CMV CT-529A monitor. If so, could they tell me what their inputs are and their settings are.

Thanks.

I'm also useing the 529a monitor with a n5 and have found no problems...I have found that the only button i need to find a sig. is the imput button on the remote, and then from there change the settings via n5...It seems that when I power up the n5 every time it reverts back to the default settings...in witch it's no big deal since the only thing I need to change is the input setting...Have you tried every imput ie: s-video, vga, and so on???I have also noticed the remote is very touchy if pressed to hard and it has a slight delay when switching from input to input so sometimes it skips through or over one once in a while...if you have tried everything, see if you can return it and go get a n5 or n6 that way you can have the use of component video...You can pick up a n5 for about $15-$20 more...Btw I tried 2 other boxes to find out that they were not compatible with my monitor...

good luck,
lesko

Lesko,

I would think that there is a way to change the default settings in the converter, probably with the remote. I think when I was fooling with the VB50HRTV converter I was able to change the default settings.

I got the VB50HRTV converter for only $25 (used from half.com), so it will not be a big loss if I can't use it for the LCd monitor. I can always connect it to my main computer (CRT monitor) and get another converter for the projector. I was just hoping it would work with the projector to save about $100 or so dollars.

Hoped everyone had a good christmass.

I'm looking for a TV Tuner that I can use with my DIY Projector.
I'm going to use a 7" Lilliput, so the ratio of the tuner should be 16:9.
But I don't want to use a PC for this.
What I'm looking for is a 16:9 TV but without the screen.
And as I'm use a Lilliput it has to have composite out.

Does someone know if this exists.

Regards

has anyone tried this, they insisted that it was equal to the tvbox9 or the n6.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...me=STRK:MEWA:IT

No component input and no true HD resolution input.

Any tuner will due. Even a VCR as the Lilliput has it's own internal converter thru composite.

Wether it is 16:9 will depend on the source material. But then even it will have black bars on the top and bottom unless the Lilliput has a stretch mode.

True 16:9 resolutions can not travel over composite cables only over component, vga or hdmi/dvi cables as there is not enough bandwidth.


peace

For those of you interested in the AVerMedia TV Box 9, If you run your DVD Player through S-video, your projection will cause Light to Dark contrast shift, as if it were a copied DVD from a copyrighted DVD. One way to fix this problem is to run the S-video through an RF Modulator, but the best fix is to use the the component inputs on the TV Box. The constrast shift doesn't happen when using component. This is also good because you get the best picture via component inputs.

I have an AverTVBox 9 and I am running a Sony DVD player through SVideo and have no problems what-so-ever and do not get any contrast shift and the picture is no different when running it through component connection.

I think the AverTVBox 9 is an incredible little box and I also get a fantastic picture when running free to air TV and Pay TV through the RF connection.

I emailed AVerMedia about the issue with the S-Video and they said that that was a problem that they could not resolve. I assumed that that is the case for all models. Maybe mine really is defective. I doesn't matter at this point. Running Satellite through S-video and no problems. Component to DVD player and no problems.

Their exact words:

"This is not a known issue nor can anything be done on the AVerTV Box 9 to prevent the color from dark to light. This must be on the DVD disc copyright protection which the unit have no control over.

Alan

Thanks for using the help desk, if you have any further difficulties or are required to respond to your request, please login to the help desk"

How about this for a DVI scaler?

http://www.scancom.ltd.uk/products/cypress/cm-348.htm

it's pretty inexpensive as far as DVI capable scalers go, not very many inputs though

any (better) ideas?

--J

On my DVD i can select 16:9 or 4:3 as output and it has only composite out.
When I connect it to the lilliput the image is stretched if I select 4:3 and when I change it to 16:9 the image is correct.

And as far as I know the lilliput isn't capable of stretching the image.

...

I have a related question to this thread.

Which software DVD package (WinDVD, PowerDVD, etc.) is the best? They seem to all be around $60. You can use the version included with your PC but it seems to be limited (no Dolby digital etc.). Plus I lost my CD :-(

In any case, assuming I need to buy one, which would be the best?

Thanks
-Glenn

neither. use the zoom player with ffdshow.

These two packages together are really free?? How can they do that when the MPEG decoder costs licensing $$?

Are they as good as PowerDVD or WinDVD?

Zoom player is not free, but ffdshow is. It's much better than powerdvd or windvd. Checkout avsforum.com.

I have read a little about ffdshow and a lot about zoomplayer. I downloaded zoomplayer, but havent tried it yet. I don't think they are compareable applications. I believe ffdshow is more about postprocessing filters etc where as zoomplayer is a player with tons of adjustments and features. Again, I know little of FFDshow. I read that zoomplayer is not very user friendly to the "layuser" or maybe it is just the crazy adjustments and featyres arent. I really like the cinema enhancement filter that WinDVD has and it sounds like zoomplayer can utilize it.

For the best in monitor calibration and tweaking it sounds like Powerstrip is the way to go. It will do all that the Adobe control panel does and WAY WAY more including customs resolutions etc.

Basically we want to calibrate the monitor, crank gamma, and use some video filters/tweaks to add the additional punch.

Zoom Player is just a font end - ei it doesn't do the actual decoding of anything. it just takes what you prefer to use, and makes everything work together.

you can use whatever decoder you whish (WinDVD, PDVD, etc) and your own audio decoder. THEN, you can use ffdshow to postprocess as it is decoded, all still running within Zoom player. It is HIGHLY configurable. and if you want to play DVDs, the free version wont work, you have to go Pro to play DVD contect.

Sorry if this came up long ago... I was wondering if there is anything wrong with the NextVision N4? I've seen them go for $50 on eBay. I plan on building my projector @ 1024x768 and trying to do it as cheap and clean as possible. I want S-Video and a TV-Tuner and I figure this is just what I'm looking for. Is there some fatal flaw I'm missing here?

http://store.viewsonic.com/html/ibeCCtpItm...0131&item=61023

Once again, sorry if this has been covered in another thread (or even this one!) the forums don't let me search "N4" due to it being too few characters. I did put forth an effort trying to find the answer via a search for "nextvision," and a half hour later gave up and posted this

would it be possible/practical to mount the avermedia tvbox 9 inside the projector? the dimensions will fit in my projector (mounted sideways)
my concern was the special svideo-like to component cable.

About the N4 - when I built my projector, I was thinking the same way - biggest bang for the least buck. I figured I would be happy with s-video and a tuner so I opted for the K-World V-Stream TVBox which is similar to the N4 in capabilities.

Then, I upgraded my cable to HDTV about five months later. Next thing I know I'm upgrading to the N6 for the component inputs ($129 in auction on U-Bid for refurbished, 90 day warranty).

Add it all up, I probably should have sprung for the N6 right up front and saved myself $70.

If s-video is all you think you'll ever want you'll probably be happy - but if you plan upgrading you'll have to decide to eat the cost of your original purchase when you upgrade or save up to get the upgraded equipment right up front.

P.S. - HDTV is fantastic on the projector

Did anyone end up trying this? I have a Panasonic DVD-A7, which is not progressive scan, so this could be a great deal for me.