Building my own SVCD/VCD player

[ShocWave]

This may seem stupid, but I want to try.
I know that this is possible, so does anyone know where I can get a guide with wiring diagram, schmatics, parts list, etc?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ShocWave on 2001-10-13 04:05:51 ]</font>

[djstealth]

I am sure that it is possible. However, it will be very likely that you will end up paying more money for the individual electronic components than if you were to buy a commercial player. And if something were to go wrong with your "home made" player, you probably don't have the expensive testing equipment to figure where the problem is. But with a commercial player, you at least have the comfort of having a warranty.

[ShocWave]

Still, I heard mpg2 encoder chips were dirt cheap, and it'll be fun trying to make a player myself.

[jeex]

hell if you're gonna do that, you may aswell try and make an mpeg4 player (i.e. divx , and i think it would be legal for you to use the v.4 codec, which is backwards compatible with v.3. and if you were able to build a successful machine, lisence it to a major corporation for manufacture and distribution. it could be our all-in-one playing solution, and we would wipe svcd & vcd off the face of the earth once a divx stand-alone player came about. you'd be a bajillionaire. get to work spunky, destiny awaits you..

-----
how do you sleep at night?
jay sherman

on a big pile of money, with many many beautiful women.
-mcbain/ rainier wolfcastle
------

this will be you, once you build our dream machine.

dont listen to my icon.. got some time on your hands? build a standalone divx player.

[ShocWave]

That'll be REALLY hard to do, since DivX is complicated.

[shochan]

What i am doing is:
I built a case for a p266 out of oak, put it in it, stuck a old ati card with tv-out and a realmagic hollywood plus in it, put a 1gig hard drive in it 32mb of ram and im waiting for a new dvd drive which im going to get either today or tomorrow and a remote for the realmagic card.

I plan to leave it on all the time and I have the tvout card hooked to my video in 1 on my tv and the reammagic to the video in 2. and the realmagic software and card does not even need a sound card so it is pretty much bare bones. I scrounged around for all the parts and payed 30 for the realmagic card and the rest was free. oh and plus the realmagic hollywood plus can ply divix movies out to your tv with another program. so for about 90 dollars total I will build a machine that can play anything you give it ad will barley look like a computer. oh and also I have a mouse dangling from the back I use when I need to. But like I said Its not done yet but when I finish I will post pics up and plans.

Hope this might hlp you on your quest.

[ShocWave]

But the realmagic card is expensive, and I already have a computer with TV out, I'm just too lazy to lug it out to the living room.

Besides, there is quailty loss when doing VGA - TV conversion, right?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ShocWave on 2001-10-13 21:51:05 ]</font>

[SatStorm]

Yes, you do...
Only Matrox VGA cards has exceptable tv out. Then comes hollywood+

I made a PC for multimedia terminal porpuses. It is
1. mp3 player (also mp2, wav, etc and dj mixer...)
2. DVD/VCD/SVCD/CVD/Divx, etc player
3. Emulation center (arcade emulators, micro emulators, conslole emulators... playstation games included)
4. Satellite receiver (hauppauge win tv nova card)
5. Dolby digital amplifier

I control it with a wireless keyboard and it is connect always on TV with the cheapest tv out card. It is a small and very handy. I made it like suitcase and I can carry it everywhere. Hollydays, friends houses, parties....
BUT: video out is crap. DVD standalones are far better.
The cheapest standalone, is the best PC TV out...
My point is: PC multimedia terminals are fun. But in picture, ain't yet better than DVD standalones.

[ShocWave]

I've looked up information on the APEX 600a, and it seems that it's no more then a board connect with a ide cable to a ordinary dvd rom that'll work on a computer.

I've also found the block diagrams for the apex board, if I find the parts, I might be able to reconstruct it, the since this is a retail player, it might cost more for me because they buy in bulk...

[shochan]

The real magic is svideo and rca out not vga. It has no loss and I know my system is far superior to the average dvd player. the tv out card is just there for checking on the os or to load the divix files. Nothing has the realmagic for quality out, It is a league of its own. It can play anything. it is 43 dollars on pricewatch right now. so i dont consider that to expensive at all.

The realmagic is not really a tv out card at allit is basicaly the same thing as the back of a dvd player it shows nothing else but the video.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: shochan on 2001-10-14 18:02:41 ]</font>

[ShocWave]

Yes, but since it's really a computer, and you leave it on, it's going to make noise, and there's a chance of crashes every once in awhile.

Besides, the cost of a pentium 2+ and the motherboard is well over a hundred dollers, and I got to buy the realmagic card, case, hard drive, etc....

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ShocWave on 2001-10-15 00:33:06 ]</font>

[sracer]

All fascinating ideas posted already. I took a different route. I went on ebay, and bought an IBM ThinkPad 760XL for around $200. It included a CDROM drive, 120MB RAM, 2 GB harddrive, and a beautifully sharp LCD. Put Win98 on it, VCD player software, WinAmp, etc. And you can setup CD Autoplay to automatically play VCDs when they are inserted.

Now I have a portable VCD player. The benefits of this are obvious, but also, I can suspend the thinkpad rather than turn it off. Resume is only about 5 seconds. (no lengthy boot up times).

This particular mode of the 760 doesn't have video-out, there are plenty of ThinkPads that do. They may run a little higher than the $200, but then you can run it out to the TV...with pretty decent quality. (as with most notebook PCs, you can keep the lcd turned off, keep it unit turned on even though the screen is closed, etc.)

Just another idea.

[SingSing]

Subject : Wisdom on using laptop as VCD player

I used to record Children Video on 8mm and let the kid wtahc video on the viewcam during long trip.

The last trip down I let the kid watch VCD on the laptop during the trip. Guess what ? She rather play game than watch VCD. There is also true with kids on airline that has the video/computer LCD screen on board.

[ShocWave]

I don't think that labtop is good enough to handle SVCDs though.

[sracer]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-10-15 18:55:09, ShocWave wrote:
I don't think that labtop is good enough to handle SVCDs though.
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You're right ShocWave, it isn't. It adequately handles VCDs, but SVCDs require too much horsepower for it.

The basic premise though (using a notebook PC as a VCD/SVCD player) is something worth considering.

[Hateslife]

For a hundred bucks you can buy a VCD player the size of a normal cd-player... in combination with one of those tiny 100$ portable tv's and a pair of headphones... That's the future baby, yeah.

Besides, think of all the envious looks you would get with such a *snort* futuristic getup. Futuristic, as in using NTSC(fifty years old) CD(twenty years old) and VCD(ten years old)

[ShocWave]

Portable VCD players don't support svcd yet, only the really expensivce portable DVD players do