Blu-Ray?

[koga73]

OK, so I just finished building a new computer, and plan on putting a blu-ray drive into it. I have a few questions!

First of all, let me tell you what I got running:

MOBO - nForce 780i SLI
PSU - xion 600w
CPU - intel core2 Quad Q6700 (OC to 3.3 ghz) (with freezone watercool)
HDD - maxtor 500GB SATA
RAM - corsair xms ddr2-800
GPU - 6800 GT
NIC - DLINK Xtreme N PCIe
dvd drive, dvd burner, floppy

So, heres what I plan on doing! I'd like to get two 8800 GT (SLI'd), Sony Blu-Ray burner, mayb 2 more GB of ram, and last... a nice audio card (x-fi probably).

Right now I have my computer hooked to my:
Sony 26" KDL-26S2010 LCD via VGA.

Heres the question... Im not really sure what HDCP does (i know it has to do with protecting material, and blu-ray), but the 8800GT is HDCP capable, but I dont think my TV is (not sure tho). The sound card will be last, and will run into my receiver.

1. Does my TV need to be HDCP compatible to watch a blu-ray in hd (720p)?
2. Do i need any software to watch a blu-ray dvd?
3. What output should I use? (VGA, Component (from videocard), DVI > HDMI convert > HDMI on TV)
4. Do i need a sound card? my mobo has an optical out.
5. My tv supports 16:9 (1366:768) and my monitor is set to 1360:768. Will this deliver the picture in HD?

Im sure I may have some more questions, but thats all I can think of now. All help is appricated!

 

[bash007]

1) No, your graphics card will take care of the HDCP decoding.
2) Probably (not sure about this one).
3) HDMI to HDMI if possible, if not then DVI to HDMI.
4) No, but a good soundcard will give out higher quality audio (if you can tell the difference.. I know I can't). If you connect the card through HDMI you won't need to connect the audio by itself, as HDMI carries video as well as audio.
5) You may need to make a custom resolution to fit the screen on your TV.
I never used my PC on an HDTV, so someone who has will give you a better answer.

Don't know if this interests you, but there is a good LG Blu-Ray and HD-DVD player going on newegg for $300. Personally I think it's better than getting a Blu-Ray player only.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133

 

[IndigoMoss]

For number four, HDMI will not carry over sound on a Nvidia card using a HDMI to DVI cable. You will need to have some sort of sound card in your computer, whether it be onboard or a stand-alone card is up to you. As far as software is concerned, they come with OEM PowerDVD HD.

Also, depending on your TV, hooking up an 8800GT or any Nvidia card might result in an overscan issue. If this is the case, you'll have to use the "Resize my Desktop" feature found in Nview or adjust your v and h size if available.

If you have any more questions just ask, I've had my HDTV as my primary display for about 1.5 years, with both Nvidia and ATI cards.

 

[pchoi04]

An 8800GT would be just find for what your doing. Only downside is there isn't an 8800GT with HDMI but that can easily be fixed with an DVI-HDMI connection, you just wouldnt get the sound portion of it.

Also software absolutely matters. Not all versions of WinDVD and PowerDVD will give you proper playback and Dolby Digital options. People have complained about the LG drive that it wont play newer bluray movies but this could also be because of software and improper use of the drives. Sound card may also be advantageous as well. Auzentech X-Fi Prelude would probably be a good choice for it also offers optical outputs as well as digital coax.

 

[tonyp12]

Use DVI-HDMI for best possible picture, if it works.
monoprice.com sells those cables.


If you use (15pin) Analog VGA port, HDCP capable screen/TV is not needed yet.
But the 'flag' on the dics could be turned on a near future.

 

[roadrunner197069]

Your TV "WILL" need to be HDCP compliant to watch HD. Only one work around for it is to use Any DVD HD if your monitor isnt compliant. So either way no worrys. I would go with the LG combo drive as well.

 

[BustedSony]

One important point is that HDCP won't work with crossfire/SLI enabled. You'll have to drop to single card mode, but either output on either card will then work for Blu-ray playback to a compliant monitor.

Only ATI cards, such as the HD3870, have audio included with the HDMI output, and they're better multimedia cards than the 8x00's anyway since they support output mirroring, which the Nvidias don't.

That LG HD player can be had much cheaper than $300, more like $239, such as at Ncix. Also the Pioneer player, while only doing Blu-ray, in my experience is a better DVD burner than the LG.

 

[cleeve]

1) No, your graphics card will take care of the HDCP decoding.

Not really.

If you want to watch through a digital connection - HDMI or DVI - then BOTH the TV and videocard must be HDCP compliant.

If you use analog to output the signal - such as component video - then HDCP compliance doesn't matter.

 

[bash007]

Hmmm... I was under the (apparently wrong) impression that as long as you had something to take care of HDCP, it didn't matter whether your monitor was HDCP compliant or not.

Well, thanks for correcting me.

 

[TeraMedia]

*edited to reflect intent of OP*

1. You may eventually need an HDCP compatible HDTV. This means either DVI or HDMI. VGA cannot support HDCP. Some future Blu-Ray disks may require a complete end-to-end HDCP connection (incl. a compatible GPU, connection and display) or will not play. Bash007, this is what you need to keep in mind. Specific disks may require analog output to be downgraded to 540p, or not shown at all, at the whim of the publisher.
2. Yes, but it might come with the BR drive. Check out Cyberlink PowerDVD HD. Note that none are perfect w.r.t. interactive material, and they do not integrate all that well with MCE features.
3. DVI(-D, not -A) or HDMI if at all possible. Electrically these are the same and therefore neither will cause signal degradation when transferring to the other, but DVI will have issues with the audio (if you care - if you send your HDMI cable thru a decoding receiver), and will likely not include HDCP support unless explicitly indicated with your product. (the 8800s do support it; the 6800 probably does not)

4. The latest-and-greatest HD audio formats for movies (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio) don't appear to be supported by much if any audio cards yet - or receivers, for that matter. If anyone knows otherwise, I'd be happy to hear of it! Furthermore, HDMI is and HDCP may be required for these so you may need either the up-and-coming HDMI sound integrator card (by audigy? not sure) that has an HDMI in and an HDMI out with the sound getting "injected" into the signal in the middle, or an integrated audio/video card such as the ATi HD2600 (though currently none of the ATi HD cards support either of the two full HD audio formats anyway). ATi GPU cards e.g. HD2600XT support mid-grade digital audio in the HDCP-protected signal so shd be able to play those. Anything coming out of your SP/DIF connector is considered unprotected and might get blocked by the BR drive's drivers; if not blocked, they can usually provide a down-sampled Dolby Digital EX or DTS-ES version of the HD sound. Analog, however, shd be allowed to pass so you might be able to use the analog L/R/C/S/SL/SR/SBL/SBR connectors on your Mobo to connect to your receiver to at least deliver 6.1 Dolby Digital EX or DTS-ES. Check your Mobo's audio output support for more info.

5. Your GPU should automatically scale the video image to the monitor resolution (1360x768). It sounds like your TV will then need to scale or pad that out to 1366 columns. If your TV has a "dot-by-dot" mode or some other means to display the image as-is without scaling, use that. You'll have blank lines 3-pixels wide on each side of your image, which is too narrow to even see. If your TV stretches the image, it will blur all of the vertical lines slightly, which you don't want.

The scaler in your GPU (even the 6800 series) is probably better than most scalers in your A/V hardware, including cable boxes, the TV itself, and your receiver. So the fact that you'll be scaling from 1080p to 768p in your GPU should be much better than doing the same in a standalone Blu-Ray player or your TV.

Note: I do not have a HD disk player yet. The info above is based on my research of the subject only.

 

[pchoi04]

These days almost all TVs and Video cards support HDCP. If your worried about it just check your TV manual.

 

[skittle]

Yes you need 3rd software to play BluRay content.

Honestly I would stay away from BlurRay, Its the most anticonsumer format that has been released in a while.

 

[gpippas]

For the price it will cost you to buy soundcard, drive, software etc it is actually cheaper to just buy a standalone player which has none of the above issues. Also factor in the time it will take to get everything working. You will also get better picture quality from a standalone player.

 

[IndigoMoss]

You won't get better IQ quality from a stand-alone player and he also has the ability to burn Blu-ray discs with the LG combo.

 

[skittle]

The only issue with standalone players is that the BR spec isnt finished yet. So your brand new standalone profile 2.0 player wont play newer movies that have a spec revision. This is already the case with 1.0 and 1.1 devices not being able to play newer 2.0 movies.

 

[gpippas]

The only issue with standalone players is that the BR spec isnt finished yet. So your brand new standalone profile 2.0 player wont play newer movies that have a spec revision. This is already the case with 1.0 and 1.1 devices not being able to play newer 2.0 movies.

A lot of the newer players are BR 2.0 spec. TBH I really don't like BR at all. It is so user unfriendly and just feels like a half arsed job. The IQ has no disnerable differences between HD DVD either. I think its a shame that HD DVD might die off because as a product I prefer it.

You won't get better IQ quality from a stand-alone player and he also has the ability to burn Blu-ray discs with the LG combo.

Any AV enthusiast will tell you that you get a better picture from a standalone player. Probably not noticable to the average person. It will be much closer with budget players but move up the market a little and there is a difference. Having the ability to burn BR discs is almost useless. As has already been said there compatability issues already which will be worse with homemade discs. Secondly becuase off all the copyright junk involved with BR I'm not even sure if the drive will be able to make copies.

 

[skittle]

Yeah, burning BR is pretty useless, but ripping them into x264 isnt.

 

[gpippas]

^^^Agreed but x264 burning is still of very limited usefulness.

 

[koga73]

Hey, thanks for all the quick responses! If it wasnt for the hdcp/future issues (like not being able to play future movies possibly) id get one... but i guess id be better off buying a stand alone. idk, mayb ill do both.

One more question... I know blu-ray and hddvd players both use blue lasers, so can the software read hd-dvd AND blu-ray from a blu-ray player? If so, this might be the way to go.

 

[bydesign]

Until the price comes down on media it's a waste of money. Also the copy protection can be removed with AnyDVD HD. I would assume this also negates the need for HDCP requirements.

 

[skittle]

What? x264 is open source, cross platform and is supported on major media devices (read PS3, 360, ipod)... not to mention my HTPC. Plus I dont have to worry about scratching my expensive disks.
Sorry, but that is quite useful.

 

[cleeve]

*edited to reflect intent of OP*

1. You may eventually need an HDCP compatible HDTV. This means either DVI or HDMI. VGA cannot support HDCP. Some future Blu-Ray disks may require a complete end-to-end HDCP connection (incl. a compatible GPU, connection and display) or will not play. Bash007, this is what you need to keep in mind. Specific disks may require analog output to be downgraded to 540p, or not shown at all, at the whim of the publisher.

This isn't quite right either:

- You need an HDCP compatible TV and Videocard to play digital HD TODAY. All HD-DVD and Blu-ray disks released by movie companies require this RIGHT NOW.

If you're laying through a digital connection to your TV - HDMI or DVI - and it works, your TV is HDCP compatible.

You don't need HDCP to play through an analog connection, however... through component cables or a VGA cable.


What future Blu-ray disks might do is 1. reduce the resolution shown on ANALOG connection and 2. shut off analog connections entirely, meaning you have to watch digitally (and therefore with HDCP compatible videocard and display).

 

[leon2006]

1) Video Card(Or any Video player) and TV must be HDCP compliant to display 1080P for Blue Ray or HD-DVD
2) PowerDVD from Cyberlink is what I'm using to play HD-DVD and Blue-Ray on my PC. Caution about new Video cards (e.g. 8800gt); Cyberlink is ~ 2.5 months late. It does not recognize 8800gt and latest driver from nvdia. They sent me patch to get buy. So I'm waiting for another software update from cyberlink.

Cyberlink process both Video and 5.1 or 6.1 Audio(whatever comes with the disc)
3) The Video output; i use DVI to HDMI. My sound is through optical-link going to my receiver (Not TV).

4) I use the NVIDIA control-panel to adjust my HD display settings. My current setting is 1080P.

5) My mobo has a built in audio 7.1. For now i'm using it, optical link to my receiver. So far its working fine.


Heres my setup:
CPU: Q6600
Mobo: Asus Maximus Formula
Memory: 4 gByte
Video: BFG 8800GT OC 512
PS: Antec Quatro 850
Display : 70 Inch HD TV (JVC)/// 2 HDMI
Optical Drive: LG HL-DT-ST-BD-RE GGW-H20L // Blue Ray Writer player/ HD-DVD Player; SATA Interface; No issue with this drive

Sound: I use my receiver and home speakers for the sound. I pick the signal from the optical link from the motherboard.

 

[koga73]

Ok... so let me get this straight. My lcd has 1 hdmi input which is currently in use by an upconverting dvd player (which i can switch to component). Since the tv has an hdmi, it is hdcp compatible?

So, I can throw in a blu-ray burner and use my optical out on my mobo into my receiver and use a dvi > hdmi converter into my lcd through an 8800 GT? will this work?

Also, can the software read hddvd's off of a blu-ray drive?

 

[cleeve]

1) Video Card(Or any Video player) and TV must be HDCP compliant to display 1080P for Blue Ray or HD-DVD

Only if you use digital HDMI or DVI.

Not if you use analog component or analog VGA to output. With analog, the display doesn't have to be HDCP compliant.