New HTPC. So many issues

[usually_quiet]

All I know I about home theater equipment I learned from this forum, Google and Wikipedia, plus reading the downloaded manuals for other people's stuff. LOL

Actually I have been thinking about the Ceton or another CableCARD tuner card for quite a while. I built my current PC with the idea of turning it into a modest dedicated HTPC someday, although a surround sound system isn't part of my future plans.

[jagabo]

I have been thinking about the Ceton or another CableCARD tuner card for quite a while.

I started looking into it lately too. I'm tired of paying nearly $20 a month for the cable company's DVR. Have you heard about the new Hauppauge and SiliconDust devices? Hauppauge has a dual tuner USB device that you can get for about $125. SiliconDust has a three tuner ethernet device for about $200. The nice thing about the SiliconDust unit is that any computer (with Win7 Media Center) on the network can access the cable channels.

http://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-WinTV-DCR-2650-Tuner-Cable/dp/B005FPT38A/
http://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHR3-CC-HDHomeRun-CableCARD-Television/dp/B004HKIB6E/

Unfortunately, all the DRM crap makes them less useful than they might otherwise be.

I'll check on adapters tomorrow...

That would be easiest. Hopefully the component cables in the wall are good enough for HD. If you want to be really cheap -- buy just one and hook up the green cable (luma and sync). That will be enough to see if it's going to work. You'll get a grayscale picture. Example:

http://www.amazon.com/BNC-Male-RCA-Female-Adaptor/dp/B000I94HNO/
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104082

[usually_quiet]

I have been thinking about the Ceton or another CableCARD tuner card for quite a while.

I started looking into it lately too. I'm tired of paying nearly $20 a month for the cable company's DVR. Have you heard about the new Hauppauge and SiliconDust devices? Hauppauge has a dual tuner USB device that you can get for about $125. SiliconDust has a three tuner ethernet device for about $200. The nice thing about the SiliconDust unit is that any computer (with Win7 Media Center) on the network can access the cable channels.

http://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-WinTV-DCR-2650-Tuner-Cable/dp/B005FPT38A/
http://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHR3-CC-HDHomeRun-CableCARD-Television/dp/B004HKIB6E/

Unfortunately, all the DRM crap makes them less useful than they might otherwise be.

Yes, I do know about the SiliconDust and Hauppauge CableCARD tuners. The dual-tuner Hauppauge might actually be good enough for me, but Ceton has the best support, and so far Comcast only mentions Ceton on its website. http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/ceton-infinitv4/

It seems likely that getting an M-Card for the Ceton to do a self-install (so I don't need to pay Comcast for work I will likely end up doing myself anyway) would be easier.

...but the truth is that too many other things have to be addressed before I can get to the point of picking a tuner: a new TV, a new PC, and a wireless router for guide service.

[jagabo]

The dual-tuner Hauppauge might actually be good enough for me, but Ceton has the best support

Yeah, Hauppauge has been terrible in that regard the last several years. Bad software and firmware updates. I don't know about SiliconDust. At least the Hauppauge is just a rebadged SiliconDist device -- so maybe drivers and updates will be better.

[NoLegalMoves]

Ok.. I am thoroughly discouraged...
I bought the RCA to BNC adapters plugged the cables to the HD component... Now my picture on both the bluray and computer are dark... I put the resolution at 720 p on the bluray player and the computer...
The video is still choppy as hell (looks like I m missing halft the frames), and the sound is choppy as well even with regular mp3s stereo...

[usually_quiet]

Ok.. I am thoroughly discouraged...
I bought the RCA to BNC adapters plugged the cables to the HD component... Now my picture on both the bluray and computer are dark... I put the resolution at 720 p on the bluray player and the computer...
The video is still choppy as hell (looks like I m missing halft the frames), and the sound is choppy as well even with regular mp3s stereo...

Did you select the correct source for the new connections using your remote, "COMP 2 (HD Component)"?

[jagabo]

Run a short cable directly from the computer or Blu-ray player to the projector. How's the picture? Ie, simplify the setup so you can rule out problems with the Anthem processor, the long cable, etc.

[NoLegalMoves]

yeah.. I'll try that when I have a moment.

What I did notice is that the picture brightness varies with the resolutions I choose. at certain 1080i the picture is bright whereas at other 1080 i resolutions the picture becomes way dark. I think this is linked the the frequency which I guess is the refresh rate of the picture. This frequency is dependent upon the resolution I choose (I do not understand why but I guess it does not help solve the problem). The main issue is that although I find some High def resolutions that are suitable as to the brightness of the image, they tend to be either blurry or slightly flickering around the lines and sharp edges of the picture.
By the way, I did select the correct source Comp 2 HD
And I still have not solved the problem with the video and audio playback being choppy and out of sync.. I think I am ready to call in some professional help on site..

[usually_quiet]

yeah.. I'll try that when I have a moment.

What I did notice is that the picture brightness varies with the resolutions I choose. at certain 1080i the picture is bright whereas at other 1080 i resolutions the picture becomes way dark. I think this is linked the the frequency which I guess is the refresh rate of the picture. This frequency is dependent upon the resolution I choose (I do not understand why but I guess it does not help solve the problem). The main issue is that although I find some High def resolutions that are suitable as to the brightness of the image, they tend to be either blurry or slightly flickering around the lines and sharp edges of the picture.
By the way, I did select the correct source Comp 2 HD
And I still have not solved the problem with the video and audio playback being choppy and out of sync.. I think I am ready to call in some professional help on site..

Your equipment offers a lot more options than garden-variety consumer electronics do, so it is not easy to figure out what to do. If you are getting overly frustrated with this, calling in some professional help is not a bad idea, assuming you can find and pay for qualified help.

[NoLegalMoves]

Okay.. I called a professional and he could not figure out this dark picture thing. He said there might be something wrong with the scaler.
I am done trying to deal with this set up. I decided to upgrade the projector to a JVC DLA RS65u and changing the preamp to a Marantz AV7005.
I'll let you know how it goes when I have everything installed.

[usually_quiet]

Okay.. I called a professional and he could not figure out this dark picture thing. He said there might be something wrong with the scaler.
I am done trying to deal with this set up. I decided to upgrade the projector to a JVC DLA RS65u and changing the preamp to a Marantz AV7005.
I'll let you know how it goes when I have everything installed.

Sorry to hear that in-person help from a pro did not resolve your problems. We'll all be hoping that the high-end upgrades to your setup will make a big difference.

[NoLegalMoves]

I got the projector installed today. It works well with the PC and bluray player.. The image out of the box is very nice, perhaps a touch dark, but great definition , contrast and shadow details. Up close I see there are a few details on the image that will need adjusting, but that will come later as I am bringing some help for professional calibration. Also, the unit is incredibly silent compared to my old Vidikron. I really don't notice it at all during movies
With the Marantz AV7005, the sound set up was a breeze, the unit is even recognized by Windows in the control panel. Amazingly easy set up with Audissey.
I still have a couple of issues to settle in my set up.
1 : bluetooth keyboard and mouse are difficult to set up and settings need to be redone after each use. I think the built in bluetooth of the motherboard is conflicting with the Class I Dongle I bought. (The built in bluetooth does not have enough range). Is there a way to permanently uninstall the built in bluetooth? I keep disabling it and uninstalling it but it reinstalls itself after reboot.
2 : I plugged the 3D emitter to the projector and I verified it worked with 2D to 3D conversion of 2D programs. However, I tried a 3D bluray (Despicable Me) and it refused to play in 3D saying I was not set up for 3D. So apparently I cannot view 3D bluray movies. Any idea?

[lacywest]

The dual-tuner Hauppauge might actually be good enough for me, but Ceton has the best support

Yeah, Hauppauge has been terrible in that regard the last several years. Bad software and firmware updates. I don't know about SiliconDust. At least the Hauppauge is just a rebadged SiliconDist device -- so maybe drivers and updates will be better.

Hey Jagabo ... is this the one your referring to >> http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr2250.html

That would be cool to record two shows at once

[jagabo]

The dual-tuner Hauppauge might actually be good enough for me, but Ceton has the best support

Yeah, Hauppauge has been terrible in that regard the last several years. Bad software and firmware updates. I don't know about SiliconDust. At least the Hauppauge is just a rebadged SiliconDist device -- so maybe drivers and updates will be better.

Hey Jagabo ... is this the one your referring to >> http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr2250.html

That would be cool to record two shows at once

No. I was talking about the cablecard device:

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_dcr2650.html

That will allow tuning all the encrypted cable channels, not just the clear QAM channels. The other devices we were discussing:

http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun/prime/
http://cetoncorp.com/products/infinitv-4-pcie/

[usually_quiet]

I got the projector installed today. It works well with the PC and bluray player.. The image out of the box is very nice, perhaps a touch dark, but great definition , contrast and shadow details. Up close I see there are a few details on the image that will need adjusting, but that will come later as I am bringing some help for professional calibration. Also, the unit is incredibly silent compared to my old Vidikron. I really don't notice it at all during movies
With the Marantz AV7005, the sound set up was a breeze, the unit is even recognized by Windows in the control panel. Amazingly easy set up with Audissey.
I still have a couple of issues to settle in my set up.
1 : bluetooth keyboard and mouse are difficult to set up and settings need to be redone after each use. I think the built in bluetooth of the motherboard is conflicting with the Class I Dongle I bought. (The built in bluetooth does not have enough range). Is there a way to permanently uninstall the built in bluetooth? I keep disabling it and uninstalling it but it reinstalls itself after reboot.
2 : I plugged the 3D emitter to the projector and I verified it worked with 2D to 3D conversion of 2D programs. However, I tried a 3D bluray (Despicable Me) and it refused to play in 3D saying I was not set up for 3D. So apparently I cannot view 3D bluray movies. Any idea?

1. You need to use a BIOS setting to disable your motherboard's on-board bluetooth. I downloaded the PDF version of your motherboard's manual. The setting you need to change is in the BIOS "Onboard Devices Configuration" screen, covered in the manual on page 24 of chapter 3.

2. I don't know much about 3D. I guess I would start by checking to make sure the Blu-Ray player and other equipment between it and the projector, as well as the HDMI cables are all 3D-capable (high-speed HDMI cables are needed for 3D). If they were, then I would check to see if the player and other equipment has settings for 3D that need to be changed.

[NoLegalMoves]

I disabled the bluetooth in the BIOS but my dongle still failed.. I bought another one (the 3rd I tried) and finally managed to make it work..
FYI I gt a Belking class I Dongle that was very easy to install and in fact self installed automatically right away...

I'll leave my 3D issue for the calibration guy to deal with

Thanks for all your help