Laptop as mediacenter

[realrisk2]

I'm tired. Tired of discs, cables, adapters, video editors/converters, etc etc.
First I had to learn my way - I'm quite old - with elpees, tape recorders, tuner/amplifiers and cassette recorders. Then the digital world exploded in my face. I learned my way with converting/editing/burning cd's, then dvd's and now... hd?
And what to do with the old media? All the elpees, video- and audio cassettes - which I tried to convert to cd's and dvd's which have become obsolete as well with the introduction of hd. (And I even haven't started with the conversion of my old analog tapes from my now non existent tape recorder...)
Sigh.
Okay, let me get to the point:
*I have a Sony HDSR camera and I record on the highest 1920x1080 mode. Yet, my computer lists the m2ts files as 1440x1080. Why is that?
**I have a Toshiba p200 core2duo laptop with a nvidia geforce 7600 videocard which should give an HD output. But there is no HDMI-port...My screen resolution is 1400x900. I also have a Samsung LCD tv with lots of ports, including HDMI. Optimum screen resolution is 1366x768. Finally I have a Panasonic projector, HD ready, with s-video, hdmi-port, pc-in, etc. and a screen resolution of 1280x720.
***Tired of converting, editing and burning media (besides, most people don't appreciate the time and effort you've spent) I just want to stick at watching my video's and to store (and join with tsmuxer) them lossless. That's why I want to use my laptop to view the m2ts-video's (with powerdvd) with the best possible resolution on the tv and with the projector. I think an ordinary vga-cable will not be sufficient? Are there any converters besides the vga to dvi converter? Or do I have to put a new video card with hdmi port in my laptop? And is this possible? Or buy a more powerful laptop as a mediacenter?

[Soopafresh]

*I have a Sony HDSR camera and I record on the highest 1920x1080 mode. Yet, my computer lists the m2ts files as 1440x1080. Why is that?

It's called pixel aspect ratio vs display aspect ratio. Simply stated, the video player stretches out the 1440 to 1920 during playback.


Consider getting a WD HD Media player so you can have HDMI on the cheap

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD-Media-Player/dp/B001JZFQU4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kI_POrIqVs&feature=related

[edDV]

**I have a Toshiba p200 core2duo laptop with a nvidia geforce 7600 videocard which should give an HD output. But there is no HDMI-port...My screen resolution is 1400x900. I also have a Samsung LCD tv with lots of ports, including HDMI. Optimum screen resolution is 1366x768. Finally I have a Panasonic projector, HD ready, with s-video, hdmi-port, pc-in, etc. and a screen resolution of 1280x720.

According to this link, the P200 has s-video and VGA out only
http://www.cnet.com.au/toshiba-satellite-p200_specs-339276024.htm

VGA (set to 1366x768) to the TV will work but will require a deinterlace of your HDV source video in the display card or software player resulting in as you say, less than optimal playback.

The WD player will play the *.mts out through HDMI so looks like a good solution that will allow use of the laptop separate from TV display.

***Tired of converting, editing and burning media (besides, most people don't appreciate the time and effort you've spent) I just want to stick at watching my video's and to store (and join with tsmuxer) them lossless. That's why I want to use my laptop to view the m2ts-video's (with powerdvd) with the best possible resolution on the tv and with the projector. I think an ordinary vga-cable will not be sufficient? Are there any converters besides the vga to dvi converter? Or do I have to put a new video card with hdmi port in my laptop? And is this possible? Or buy a more powerful laptop as a mediacenter?

You could buy a USB2 to HDMI display device but for similar cost, the self contained WD player makes more sense to me.

[realrisk2]

Thanks guys. I will check out - sigh - this new toy, the WD player... Somewhere else somebody advised a vga-hdmi converter. Any thoughts on this?

[edDV]

Thanks guys. I will check out - sigh - this new toy, the WD player... Somewhere else somebody advised a vga-hdmi converter. Any thoughts on this?

VGA is analog RGBHV. To get to HDMI you have a heavy conversion (A/D and resize) penalty resulting in much lower picture quality. It won't be cheap either.

[realrisk2]

I checked out the WD player and the Popcorn A110. Nice! But still..., why do I need them if my laptop plays everything, from VOB till FLOP, and I just want to see my video's on the larger screen of my television or - better yet - with my projector?
If WD or Popcorn is the only solution for my problem, then I'll have to go with the Popcorn (according to some reviews).

[edDV]

I checked out the WD player and the Popcorn A110. Nice! But still..., why do I need them if my laptop plays everything, from VOB till FLOP, and I just want to see my video's on the larger screen of my television or - better yet - with my projector?
If WD or Popcorn is the only solution for my problem, then I'll have to go with the Popcorn (according to some reviews).

You haven't informed us whether your TV has a VGA input or if it does why you are unhappy. Most Samsungs have a VGA input. VGA would be a very good connection but would still degrade an HDSR source. Plus it would require use of a deinterlacing video player like PowerDVD or VLC. You asked for best possible and VGA is second or third best possible. S-Video would be about 10th best possible and would result in upscaled SD.

[realrisk2]

Both, projector and tv, have a vga input. The projector even has a serial port for pc input and a vga port (pc in). But the resolution I get on screen and on tv with the vga cable is very bad compared with my laptop.
Now, I consider my laptop is some sort of HDMI (at least, the geforce 7600 videocard is stated as such) in view of the laptop's max resolution of 1400x900 and the tv manual's advice to synchronize the laptop's resolution to that of the tv (1366x768).
I saw the impressive demonstration of the WD player on Youtube and - sigh - I think I can miss another 100 bucks.
So with the WD player I can use my tv or projectorscreen as monitors for my laptop and play everything on tv or the screen in the best resolution my laptop offers without a distorted stretched picture?
All in all I'm very gratefull to you and Soopafresh for the tremendous help.

[creamyhorror]

Both, projector and tv, have a vga input. The projector even has a serial port for pc input and a vga port (pc in). But the resolution I get on screen and on tv with the vga cable is very bad compared with my laptop.

Have you configured the resolution to match the TV's native resolution? It shouldn't be looking anywhere that bad.

Now, I consider my laptop is some sort of HDMI (at least, the geforce 7600 videocard is stated as such)

HDMI is a type of connection. If your laptop has no HDMI port, then you can't use HDMI. VGA will handle HD resolutions fine, though with slight analog degradation.

in view of the laptop's max resolution of 1400x900 and the tv manual's advice to synchronize the laptop's resolution to that of the tv (1366x768).

Yes, you need to do this. You know how to, right? In Windows' display properties?

So with the WD player I can use my tv or projectorscreen as monitors for my laptop

No, the WDTV is a standalone player. It's like a DVD player - it connects to your TV and plays things from any external HD connected to it. It does not connect to your laptop AFAIK. It will play videos of up to 1920x1080 resolution, much higher than what your laptop allows.

[realrisk2]

I synchronized the laptop's resolution with the tv's. No problem with that. But the difference in picture quality of the vga cable compared with the s-video cable is significant! And that's a shame because of the high quality of the mts-files that I store on an external hard disk.
And if WDTV can't solve this problem for me I better start looking for a laptop upgrade, with a better video card and with a hdmi port. I think this is the only (sore) sure solution for this problem?

[edDV]

I synchronized the laptop's resolution with the tv's. No problem with that. But the difference in picture quality of the vga cable compared with the s-video cable is significant! And that's a shame because of the high quality of the mts-files that I store on an external hard disk.

If by that you mean S-Video looks better than VGA @1366x768 60Hz then something is wrong. The VGA connection should look much better. Provide more details on the display card settings and what differences you are seeing.

BTW, I'm using a 1680x1050 main monitor here and am looking at VGA 1366x768 on a side LCD-TV and the difference is small. Even small text is readable. For video playback the difference is even less.

And if WDTV can't solve this problem for me I better start looking for a laptop upgrade, with a better video card and with a hdmi port. I think this is the only (sore) sure solution for this problem?

The advantage of the WD player is it can play your camcorder interlace 1080i MPeg2 to the TV over HDMI where your laptop can't. That gets you a bit more quality and you said quality is important to you. A new laptop with HDMI out and a good display chipset will cost you an order of magnitude more.

A side benefit of the WD player is it frees your laptop for other use while you are playing files to the TV.

[realrisk2]

I called my wife to check on the difference between the vga and s-video. She immediately agreed that the vga-picture was dull, lifeless and less sharp than the s-video picture.
Details on the display card settings?
It's in fact 1360x768 (which is strange, because the tv manual advised 1366...), the laptop screen goes blank for a split second and my laptop is on the tv screen, highest color bit (32). If I change the resolution to 1366, the tv screen goes blank and I get the message: not supported mode. By using FN-F5 repeatedly my tv automatically captures the 1360 mode...

[realrisk2]

I want to use my laptop as a mediacenter, store my original mts files on an external drive - which I aready do - and not play them directly from the camcorder. I want to group, date, join and cut the mts files first, lossless of course, and then watch them and store them.
WD player is a fine toy and I agree, it's worth its price and I'll probably buy it. But it won't solve my problem. It's strange indeed, this vga thing, I'm watching it on the tv screen right now. What is dark grey on my laptop - the sidebars of this website - is very light on the tv screen.

[realrisk2]

Did I thank you for the amount of time spent with my problem?
I'm getting tired now, sitting on the ground in front of he tv with my laptop hooked up with this short vga cable I grabbed from my pc monitor.

[realrisk2]

A last comment on the display:
1. (Multiple monitors) on NVidia GeForce Go 7600 (1360x768)
2. Plug and Play Monitor on NVidia GeForce Go 7600 (1440x900)

My display is set on 1.

[realrisk2]

Is a tv to pc converter something?
http://sewelldirect.com/PC-to-TV-Converter.asp

[edDV]

I've got a laptop that supports only 1360x768. Not a big issue. Just a small aspect ratio change.

I want to use my laptop as a mediacenter, store my original mts files on an external drive - which I aready do - and not play them directly from the camcorder. I want to group, date, join and cut the mts files first, lossless of course, and then watch them and store them.
WD player is a fine toy and I agree, it's worth its price and I'll probably buy it. But it won't solve my problem. It's strange indeed, this vga thing, I'm watching it on the tv screen right now. What is dark grey on my laptop - the sidebars of this website - is very light on the tv screen.

VGA is lossy because it is progressive (i.e deinterlaced) and converted to analog RGB. That said the loss on my system is small. Your problem appears to be display chipset driver calibration. Each chipset menu differs but NVidia has an adequate menu to adjust black level (most important), white level and gamma. Many Samsung HDTV sets have these adjustments on an input by input basis. If yours doesn't, don't try to correct at the TV.

I and others have suggested you forget using this laptop as a media center but try the WD player instead. You can connect the HDD to the WDD and play from there. A new laptop with adequate features will cost far more.

[realrisk2]

1. I'll play around with the nvidia picture settings of my laptop
2. Which type of WD player, and is the WD player better than Popcorn?

[MysticE]

I've got a laptop that supports only 1360x768. Not a big issue. Just a small aspect ratio change.

I want to use my laptop as a mediacenter, store my original mts files on an external drive - which I aready do - and not play them directly from the camcorder. I want to group, date, join and cut the mts files first, lossless of course, and then watch them and store them.
WD player is a fine toy and I agree, it's worth its price and I'll probably buy it. But it won't solve my problem. It's strange indeed, this vga thing, I'm watching it on the tv screen right now. What is dark grey on my laptop - the sidebars of this website - is very light on the tv screen.

VGA is lossy because it is progressive (i.e deinterlaced) and converted to analog RGB. That said the loss on my system is small. Your problem appears to be display chipset driver calibration. Each chipset menu differs but NVidia has an adequate menu to adjust black level (most important), white level and gamma. Many Samsung HDTV sets have these adjustments on an input by input basis. If yours doesn't, don't try to correct at the TV.

I and others have suggested you forget using this laptop as a media center but try the WD player instead. You can connect the HDD to the WDD and play from there. A new laptop with adequate features will cost far more.

Maybe a little more. I too went round and round about the WD. Add the price of an HDD and consider the lack of any network/wireless connectivity and the need to occasionally fiddle with formats I chose this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9370441&type=product&id=1218093004316

The ATI Radeon HD 3200 vid (HDMI out complete with audio) plays everything I throw at it effortlessly using software players I'm used to. The Digital Media Card Reader is also great for photo viewing. Plus when needed I have a mobile computing solution.

[realrisk2]

IT ARE THE NVIDIA SETTINGS!!
They change my tv picture settings automatically to default when the vga cable is connected. And the default (50% for everything) tv setting is terrible. In the nvidia panel I can restore these tv settings to optimum.
With the s-video cable the tv picture settings are not changed but the picture is automatically stretched. Only at 1020x768, the picture is realistic. Other settings stretch the picture or are not accepted by the tv.
THANKS FOR YOUR PERSISTENT REPLIES on my obnoxious questions!!!

[realrisk2]

There are some things left unanswered.
Why the 4:3 ratio for the s-video to get this nice 16:9 picture on my lcd tv (although with horizontal bars)? Is it because no matter what, the picture is stretched on my tv so I have to 'correct' this from te beginning with a 4:3 ratio on my laptop?
But the avi files from my old camera (4:3) are also shown correct on the tv and not stretched to 16:9...

[realrisk2]

You must have noticed I have been more busy with the s-video. That's because for the perfect vga configuration I need a longer vga cable. I get too tired sitting close to the tv on the ground, stretching my neck all the time. Tomorrow I'll get a longer vga cable to play extensively with these nvidia settings.

[edDV]

There are some things left unanswered.
Why the 4:3 ratio for the s-video to get this nice 16:9 picture on my lcd tv (although with horizontal bars)? Is it because no matter what, the picture is stretched on my tv so I have to 'correct' this from te beginning with a 4:3 ratio on my laptop?
But the avi files from my old camera (4:3) are also shown correct on the tv and not stretched to 16:9...

S-Video is standard definition analog NTSC or PAL and is always 4:3. Equivalent resolution is always sub 640x480 (768x576 for PAL). When you set screen resolution for S-Video you are setting the square pixel size of the desktop before downsize and D/A. When you squeeze a wide desktop into 4:3 analog, the TV must stretch it back out to fill the screen.

When you use 1360x768 VGA, you are exporting near square pixel 1360x768 as analog RGB at full resolution. You should be seeing huge differences for text and HD video detail vs. S-Video.

[realrisk2]

Sorry edDV. I bought the longer vga cable today and played around with the nvidia video settings for my tv: picture now looks about the same as with the s-video cable. So no huge differences... Something really must be wrong.
Anyhow, I will buy the HD mediacenter (WD Mediaplayer, Popcorn or Xtreamer, any suggestions?)
Funny thing though: when I just change the extension of .mts to .mpg, PowerDVD plays the same file with a much crispier, richer picture.

[edDV]

Sorry edDV. I bought the longer vga cable today and played around with the nvidia video settings for my tv: picture now looks about the same as with the s-video cable. So no huge differences... Something really must be wrong.
Anyhow, I will buy the HD mediacenter (WD Mediaplayer, Popcorn or Xtreamer, any suggestions?)
Funny thing though: when I just change the extension of .mts to .mpg, PowerDVD plays the same file with a much crispier, richer picture.

You should be seeing the difference with text or graphics on the computer desktop. Yes the video player should make a huge difference. PowerDVD deinterlaces in default mode. Other players may need set up. For VLC you set the deinterlace default in video properties.

[edDV]

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