hi-def avis on HDTV

[spurty]

Hello just bought a 32" hi-def tv and am quite happy with it (panasonic, sdtv is perfectly watchable) but now I want to see some high-definition!

In the UK your only real option is to stump up big money to Sky (for a handful of hd transmissions, most of which are of little interest to me) or remortgage your house to buy a HD-DVD / Blu-Ray player and a few outrageously overpriced disks. But I have recently seen a few high-def avi files, they look great but will only play on my pc. Neither of my divx dvd players will entertain them as they are wider than 700 odd pixels. Is there any way to get them onto my tv?

An XBox360 seemed like an option (to stream wirelessly) but it only does WMVs (which is outrageous even for microsoft imho)...I have seen external hard-disks which can connect via component cables and function as a media-playing device to some extent would that be an option? Or would a separate pc (desktop or laptop) next to the tv, so using the tv as a giant monitor, be my best / only option?

Thanks for any help, as you can tell I am pretty new to this HD lark. Almost makes me wish I hailed from the USA you are bombarded with HD stuff over there..........

[jman98]

There are very very few stanalone DVD players that support Divx that will play anything in HD. I've seen a few that claim to be able to support WMV HD.

Using the TV as a giant monitor is probably the easiest/cheapest option. Even if you bought a standalone DVD player that supports HD Divx and let's say also WMV HD, depending on how your encodes were made, the player could have problems with them. Certain encode options might be problematic.

[kevo777]

The means exist to create "pseudo" high-def files from your current collection of DVD's using upscaling and resizing filters for AVISynth. While it's possible to accomplish this with completely free software, the learning curve is considerable. Everything you need to know to get started is at the Doom9 forums (http://forum.doom9.org/).

I agree with jman98. Use your HDTV as a PC monitor and let your already-capable PC handle playback of any HD files you may come across or eventually create yourself. Do yourself a favor and make sure your PC's video card and system processor can handle solid HD playback. Good luck!

[Krispy Kritter]

You could also get a unit such as this: http://www.airlinktek.com/english/prod_mg350.htm

[spurty]

Hi thanks for the advice guys.

So there aren't any hd divx capable players around at the moment, looks like I'll have to wait until the technology I'm after actually comes onto the market! Thanks for the link, but the mediagate device looks beyond my slightly limited funds, great piece of kit though.

May be able to get a free pc for the lounge (I work at a uni, they give away old pcs every summer) hopefully the 3 yr old spec will be able to decode the divx files I'm currently seeing. Not sure if it would be powerful enough for H.264 but will tide me over for a while and for zero outlay I can afford that...still means yet another plug for my lounge, I have enough kit in there to fly to mars...

Bizarre the number of people in the UK that have shelled out for a HD ready TV, but then have absolutely no high def stuff to play on it, that's why my main priority was a set that would display sdtv well enough to live with. when are sky going to get some competition over here?!?!

[jman98]

So there aren't any hd divx capable players around at the moment, looks like I'll have to wait until the technology I'm after actually comes onto the market!

That's NOT what I said. How did you come to equate "very very few" with "there aren't any"? If there were none, as in zero, I would have said so. Very very few = less than 10 but more than 0.
Here is one such player:
http://www.helios-labs.com/us/products/X5000/x5000_overview.shtml

You can always connect your PC to the HD TV and use the HD TV as a monitor and playback things like H.264 encodes that are problematic for current DVD players.