Questions on RealMagic Hollywood + hardware DVD Decoder

[2Whyzzi]

Thoughts/Experiences anyone would like to share? I've been thinking about going DVD for awhile, and can't decide if I should get a dedicated hardware player or go PC based.

I was leaning toward PC based, because I have aging hardware I want to put to use, + the fact that the decoder is cheap.

Some questions I have are:
How do the features/picture-quality compare to those of dedicated DVD players?
Can it output 'All of the time' to a TV right from bootup?
How many IRQs does it use?
Can it replace the sound card in a pc?
If the answer is NO like I think it is, whats the best way to set up the amplifier so it can listen to MP3s/game sound?

Thanks in advance!
PeterV

[SteveC]

Hi Peter,

I installed a HW+ in my brother's machine a while back so he could watch DVDs:

1) Picture quality isn't bad at all! I was quite suprised how good it was infact.

2) It will only output a DVD when you switch their software to TV mode - you can't get windows or DOS or your BIOS onto your TV, only the DVD.

3) I believe it does use an IRQ - but only 1

4) It has its own sound output for when you watch DVDs. It also has a digital output if you have a digital amplifier and want DD5.1 surround sound.

4b) You will still need a sound card for non-DVD sounds.

The way I did it for my brother was to run the output from the HW+ decoder card to the line input of his sound card - then you just have one output to plug into your stereo.

Hope this helps!

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[spazm_1999]

Originally posted by 2Whyzzi:
Can it replace the sound card in a pc?
If the answer is NO like I think it is, whats the best way to set up the amplifier so it can listen to MP3s/game sound?

No it can't remplace a sound card in a PC. There's a cable (that come with the HW+) that you plug in the line-in of the sound card to be able to use both at the same time without changing cables or setting. By doing this you'll have to plus the lineout of your soundcard to you amp. A thing that you might want to consider is that the HW+ can be updated if bugs are found and you can buy the remote control (sold separetely) if you want.... with that it looks a lot more like a dedicated DVD player.

Spazm

[This message has been edited by spazm_1999 (edited 22 November 2000).]

[spazm_1999]

Hi,

sorry to come back like this but I forgot to ask you if you were thinking about listening to DVD on you computer monitor and what kind of DVDs?

The reason for this is that I own a HW+ with a Pioneer 16X DVD drive with animes and I wanted a HW+ because it has the best picture quality for animes (some like cinemaster 2000 for movies but definitively a HW+ for animes). The problem is that HW+ doesn't deinterlace all frames on monitors, but that problem isn't present if you watch it on a TV.

Don't worry about the HW+ IRQ it takes only one and it can be shared.

If you wan't more details send me your questions to spazm@gmx.net

Spazm

[2Whyzzi]

Well, what I was really hoping to do was place the pc beside the tv, and use the tv as the monitor. I still like the idea of doing this with the HW+, but without a monitor (which I refuse to add) I wouldn't be able to interact with windows to start the movie. Unless someone knows of a way around this?? (I do not have any video cards with TVout - I have lots of video cards, but none with TVout)

The amp I got is the cheap'ncheasy Kenwood RV?-209 (I don't pay much attention to model numbers) DTS digital amplifier. The SVHS cable would go directly to the TV, and the Digital sound would go into the amp. I'm not too sure how I'd record (bah! macrovision) because the AMP does NOT have a SVHSin (but the Samsung 4:3 tv does).

In a way, I am almost tempted to try and buy the G200 hardware dvd decoder, and use my diamond MX400 digital out... the two problems with that is only the Zoran soft?DVD player is the only player that has been encoded to provide the DTS out on the MX400(as far as I am aware...). The other problem is that I do not have a credit card, and do not know how I would aquire the hardware dvd module from the matrox store. BTW, does the G200 Hardware DVD decoder support windows gui to TVout?? Does the G200 DVD module even have TVout?? If it doesn't, that shots that idea...

I do have a SH G400 I could add the DH module too, but I want to keep that card as the gaming card (until maybe the G-Wait-00 hits store shelves).

Thanks for the info, guys

------------------
Abit BH6 r1.01
Celeron2-566 o/c to 850MHz+Slotket!!! 1.8v
256 Megs PC-133 Cas3
Matrox G400 SH OEM (not oc'd) rev=03h
Diamond Monster Sound MX400

[spazm_1999]

Hi,

The HW+ you don't need a second monitor because it has it has a loop back to display the image on the monitor you already have. If you don't want to watch the movie on your PC the HW+ also has a TV out (the TV even support up to 768p HDTV). About macrovision.... well there's 2-3 software that are able to remove the HW+ macrovision.

Note that if you watch the movie on the TV, the menus will be displayed on the PC. If you wan't to be able to use the menus on the TV without the need to open your PC monitor you'll need the remote control.

If I were you I'd keep the G400SH.... and go for the HW+ with remote control (about 30$).

Spazm

[This message has been edited by spazm_1999 (edited 23 November 2000).]

[2Whyzzi]

The remote is actually not an issue (Theres actually a store in Edmonton that advertises it).

What I mean to say is I do not wish to have a monitor connected to the PC playing the dvds, period. I want to be able to sit the pc beside the home entertainment centre and do everything from my couch, including interacting with the windows GUI on the tv, using a cordless keyboard/mouse combo.

I guess RealMagic didn't want to make their card a cheap tvout. Too bad though, it could have been a great selling point. I refuse to fight with the potential incompatiblities of a software decoder working to provide both dts out and tvout. I won't settle for anything less then SVHS out and DTS out on my limited budget.

Although, the ATi Rage128 Pro VIVO (Video In/Video Out) is certainly within my price range and has a certian appeal -the idea being to make small resolution mpg1 video clips...

Thanks for all your help. I'll begin focusing on which DVD player I'd be best purchasing.

PeterV

[spazm_1999]

Okay, I think I was a little lost last time I readed you post, maybe I didn't understand it well. I didn't ever thought using my HW+ in that way, but it may be possible with a G400. You'll have to send your G400 monitor out to you HW+ and then plug the G400 converter to the HW+ to plug your TV on the HW+. But it would be much esayer to buy a dedicated DVD on that side.

If you go for a dedicated version I don't recommand a pioneer DVD player I've heard that some people had problems with them. Sony's one are great but they may not fit in your budget.... for reviews go to <a href="http://www.audioreview.com/reviews/DVD/">www.audioreview.com</a>

And by the way, the HW+ do have a DTS out.

Spazm

[birdy]

You can do it without a monitor as long as you dont mind sticking to one region.

Set the HW+ up using a monitor and TV. Set the remote program and the dvd program in the startup folder so they always run when the machine is started. you should then be able to do everything from the remote. There is a program that removes the macromedia aswell that can be left to run in the startup folder so you can run your composite output and analogue sound directly to the video and record from DVD, although this is a bit illegal :-). As for shutting the computer down i would just press ALT F4, enter until it turns itself off. Or leave it on of course. Or you could just switch it off, as long as you have scandisk disabled on bad shutdown you'll be fine.

The picture quality of the H+ is damn fine. I have since replaced mine with a dedicated Pioneer player. The picture is better but that could be more to do with a shorter cable run and rgb output than the H+ card deficiencies (dee-fish-N-sees ??)

[2Whyzzi]

Yah Birdy, I thought about that. I suppose I could get used to it, but it seems like more hassel than it is worth. It seems a waste to have all that power just sitting there, waiting for a DVD when it could be doing stuff like playing MP3s.

I also thought, if I picked up a cheap ATi/SiS/nvidia/S3 card with tvout, I could run video card into into the AMP, the H+ into the TV. Since my TV supports 2 line in modes (SVHS and Composite), when I was ready to watch a dvd all I would have to do is switch line inputs on my TV. Problem is I don't really want to shell out more money an another videocard.

Its just so damn expensive to find a dvd player that plays MP3s. The only player I had seen that was a reasonable price was the APEX AD600A? was sold in Canada for under $300, but I can no longer find it in any Canadian retail stores. That perticular model easily defeated regoin coding and macrovision. If you are interested, I did notice that BestBuy has it now for $179us, but like I said - I don't have a credit card.
ZDnet even has a review - you can check it out here:
http://equip.zdnet.com/theater/dvd/4943/index.html

------------------
Abit BH6 r1.01
Celeron2-566 o/c to 850MHz+Slotket!!! 1.8v
256 Megs PC-133 Cas3
Matrox G400 SH OEM (not oc'd) rev=03h
Diamond Monster Sound MX400

[Himself]

As for remote's there are seveal hardware projects for making a generic PC interface for IR, you can use any remote with it then.

Here's an early one I made. http://www3.nf.sympatico.ca/byronm/files/IR.zip