Toshiba 65inch DLP and HTPC's

[ironape2]

I just bought The toshiba 65in dlp 1080p rear projection tv and I wanted to feed movies to it through my homebuilt HTPC running Media Center OS.

Do I need to do anything special when I rip the dvd and encode it to have it display as arifact free as possible? Space is not really a concern because I have 3 500GB drives in that pc but i would still like to get the overall GB per movie as low as it can get without having artifacts.

The PC is connected to the TV through the VGA port at the moment but I believe i also have the option of using Component Inputs.

If I encoded the movies at 100% quality at 720xXXX will the output be displayed on the TV as 720i/p? or will it try and stretch it to 1080i/p causing allot of artifacts.

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum or that this is a really newbish question. I appreciate any incite you guys may offer.

Thanks

[edDV]

I just bought The toshiba 65in dlp 1080p rear projection tv and I wanted to feed movies to it through my homebuilt HTPC running Media Center OS.

Do I need to do anything special when I rip the dvd and encode it to have it display as arifact free as possible? Space is not really a concern because I have 3 500GB drives in that pc but i would still like to get the overall GB per movie as low as it can get without having artifacts.

The PC is connected to the TV through the VGA port at the moment but I believe i also have the option of using Component Inputs.

If I encoded the movies at 100% quality at 720xXXX will the output be displayed on the TV as 720i/p? or will it try and stretch it to 1080i/p causing allot of artifacts.

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum or that this is a really newbish question. I appreciate any incite you guys may offer.

Thanks

What does the TV accept as inputs? Give us a link to the product specifications.

What display card are you using.

Analog component should be set to 1080i. The TV would then deinterlace to 1080p. DVI-D to HDMI may support 1080p or at least 720p. This depends on your display card and the TV specs.

There is no reason to encode a standard DVD at over normal 720x480i/480p. The TV or the display card will handle the upscale. Are you saying you have HD source material? Explain.

[ironape2]

Here is the spec sheet for the tv.

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/televisions/product.asp?model=65hm167

The PC has a Nvidia 6600gt as the video card because i dont currently use it for recording but I plan to upgrade to have that ability in the near future. Any suggestions?

I connect the TV to the PC through the VGA PC port on the TV but i could buy a dvi to HDMI cable also. I guess what im confused about is how the TV will display a ripped full quality uncompressed dvd through the VGA/HDMI port and what settings should i set the desktop reolution too for the best effect.


Sorry I am really new to the HDTV stuff.

[MJA]

try this software to check your pc if it's HD ready.

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/support/bdhd_support/diagnosis.jsp

for cables.check http://www.monoprice.com/home/?CartID=40217397620061128&style=

[ironape2]

Thanks for links but im not really trying to play HD content from the PC. That app will be usefull if i decide to record HD content when i upgrade my video with a HDTV card though.

[edDV]

Here is the spec sheet for the tv.

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/televisions/product.asp?model=65hm167

The PC has a Nvidia 6600gt as the video card because i dont currently use it for recording but I plan to upgrade to have that ability in the near future. Any suggestions?

I connect the TV to the PC through the VGA PC port on the TV. I guess what im confused about is how the TV will display a ripped full quality uncompressed dvd through the VGA port. Will it use the HTPC's desktop resolution of 1920x1200 or the dvd's 720x480? Will the TV upsize it to 1080i/p and have artifacts?

Sorry I am really new to the HDTV stuff.

Calls for some experimentation

As for VGA, what resolutions does the manual say are supported? VGA by definition is progressive. The quality of normal 480i source video relies on the display card for deinterlace. Same with interlace DVD.

Display cards usually have two modes for display: desktop clone or "theater" (Nvidia calls it something else).

Desktop resolution sets media resolution in the first mode. If you use 1280x720p for the desktop, a 720x480p DVD will play as a window in the desktop. "full screen" will upscale that in the display card to 1280x720p. That will go to the TV over VGA (or HDMI) as 1280x720. The TV will then upscale that to 1920x1080p. Your set probably supports 1920x1080p over DVI to HDMI . Problem is this path will overscan. If you stick to MCE windows this isn't a problem. Normal desktop will lose the top, bottom, left and right sides. In 1920x1080p mode, the deinterlace and full upscale load falls to the display card.

"Theater mode" is used in two monitor configurations where a normal computer monitor can be used for #1 and media playback can be directed to the second monitor at a specified resolution. That works.

In most cases, a quality stand alone DVD player (like an Oppo or close) will make better pictures than a display card. Likewise, the TV set's own ATSC tuner will make a better picture than an internal HD tuner in the computer especially for 1080i input.

[ironape2]

I just wanted to let you know what I ended up doing and maybe this will help someone else in my shoes with the same TV.

I ended up not using the DVI to VGA port and ended up buying a cable and using the DVI to HDMI port. The TV supports a resoultion of 720x480, 1280x720, and 1920x1080 using the HDMI Port. Overscan was not an issue after I used the Nvidia Control Panel to adjust the desktop. I ended up going with 1280x720 resolution on the HTPC.

Now the question on my mind is... If you output a 720x480p DVD and play it fullscreen on a 1280x720 desktop, will the output to the TV be 1280x720? The videocard will upscale the dvd to fit the desktop or will it output at 720x480 and the TV will upscale it to 1280x720?

If either of those are correct would I gain anything by encoding the orginal 720x480 dvd to 1280x720,3kbps which I know to look good on the TV or will the TV/Videocard upscale provide similar quality?

[edDV]

Now the question on my mind is... If you output a 720x480p DVD and play it fullscreen on a 1280x720 desktop, will the output to the TV be 1280x720?

Yes the card will upscale to 1280x720p. Then the HDTV will upscale that to 1920x1080p

If you sent 720x480p, the HDTV would upscale that to 1920x1080p

If either of those are correct would I gain anything by encoding the orginal 720x480 dvd to 1280x720,3kbps which I know to look good on the TV or will the TV/Videocard upscale provide similar quality?

No. 3kbps? That is marginal for SD material. Typical DVD uses 3000-7000kbps VBR MPeg2. MPeg4 should be encoded about half that for the same quality.

If you have a true high def source file, a reasonable 1080i bit rate is 14000-25000kbps MPeg2 or half that for MPeg4. Anything less will be degraded for 1080p display.

[ironape2]

Im not using hi def stock, just regular uncompressed dvd. Its only 3-4kbps and I honestly have a sharp picture with no artifacts. With this file I dont think the TV is upscaling it to 1080i though and just displaying it as 1280x720. I dont think the video card is upscaling it either as it was encoded to be 1280x720. Of course it took like 12 hours to complete though.

This is my first Full Highdef TV and maybe it just looks really good to me because im used to real crap by comparason.

Im running a test to see what a movie at 720 looks like compared to the 1280 using the same process at the same bitrate

[edDV]

It may be possible for a DLP to scan in other than native resolution but this would be very rare. Also I think you must mean 3-4 Mb/s.

[ironape2]

Your right I made a typo. I encoded some videos to WMV at 720x480 and the output displayed on the TV at 1280x720 with black bars on all sides. Im guessing here but doesnt that mean the videocard and TV are not upscaling the output? It doesnt matter anyhow since I decided to encode at 1280x720/4mbps because it looks good to me and I cant stand the black bars on all sides. It may take allot longer per video but atleast i can use windows media batch encoder to automate allot of it.

Thanks for all your help

[edDV]

So you are saying the card doesn't upscale? Use Theater mode or "Full Screen". This is a player issue / display card issue.

Next send it as 480p or 480i to the HDTV. The HDTV will upscale it.