Is TV-out as good as, say, XBMC?

[absinthecarolinas]

I'm going to be doing some major computer hardware upgrades in the next couple of months, and one of the things I'm considering is buying an XBOX and modding it for the purpose of making it an "Xbox Media Center."

I'll also be building a whole new computer, and I'm thinking of adding a vid card with a good TV-out. Now what I want to know is: How exactly does TV-out work? What I mean is: is the signal sent from the video card essentially the same as the video signal sent from a DVD player? Or does it just try to 'mimic' what's on the computer screen, acting as sort of a 'monitor?' I mean, what if I use the video card to watch something like a Windows Media Video file, or QuickTime video?

Further, would a TV-out card be capable of delivering a high-def signal to a 16x9 TV? (don't have one, but I'm thinking of the future here)

Am I making sense? In other words, I'm trying to figure out if a good TV-out would be essentially as good as, say, an Xbox Media Center.

As a side question, does anyone know if there's such a thing as a sound card with two separate line-outs, so as to keep one hooked to computer speakers and one to a stereo, with the ability to switch between them or switch them on/off?

Thanks,

-abs

[edDV]

No time to fully answer your questions but read this background info and come back with more specific questions.

"What I mean is: is the signal sent from the video card essentially the same as the video signal sent from a DVD player?" No

"Or does it just try to 'mimic' what's on the computer screen, acting as sort of a 'monitor?" It outputs a portion of the framebuffer that is defined as video.

"Further, would a TV-out card be capable of delivering a high-def signal to a 16x9 TV? (don't have one, but I'm thinking of the future here) " possible but not via the normal video outputs.

The following whitepaper is a good layman's introduction to DirectX VGA video playback.
http://www.sonic.com/products/cineplayer/technology/acceleration.asp
>expanded version http://www.sonic.com/products/cineplayer/technology/independence.asp

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/3dgraphics.htm
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/agp.htm

[absinthecarolinas]

Thanks, edDV. I'll try to give these a read over the weekend.

-abs

[BigSteel]

absinthecarolinas, I have had both a TV-out card and XBMC. I am not a technical expert to tell you exactly how TV-out works, but I can tell you that I am much happier with XBMC. For one, you don't have to have your computer near your TV, or long cords. The picture quality was definetly better using XBMC, plus it has HD support. The ability to use the remote with XBMC is a big bonus as well. I use XMBC all the time and absolutly love it. If you need any advice on modding an xbox, I can help you with that.

[absinthecarolinas]

Thanks BigSteel, I definitely have some questions on the XBMC. Such as:

-How much is/where do you get the mod chip(s)?
-Is it much trouble to put in? I've read they're "solderless."
-Did you replace the CD/DVD drive? (I've heard the one that comes in it is likely to not play some burnable/rewritable media).
-Did you install a new hard drive?
-How much $$$ do you have sunk in this thing? :P Seems like by the time you pay for the actual Xbox, plus a modded chip, plus a hard drive and/or a CD/DVD drive, it makes for an awfully expensive machine.

-Lastly, is "installing" the actual XBMC software much trouble? I was browsing their website recently, and from the explanation provided I gathered that it was "illegal" for them to distribute a compiled executable; that you would have to download the source code and compile it yourself with a registered copy of some Microsoft compiler or other.

Feel free to PM me. Thanks!

-abs

[absinthecarolinas]

Hey, anyone know what's going on with Xboxmediacenter.com/.de? It's been unaccessible the last several times I've tried, and I mean over the course of a few weeks.

M$ hasn't shut it down, or some such, have they?

-abs