PS3 - (Most) Perfect HTPC?

[Bril]

Recently I've been toying with the idea of building/buying a HTPC to connect to the HDTV. The HD aspect of it is a bit tricky though, The only computer solution I have found that has both HD audio AND HD video on 1 HDMI output from the device is the PS3. If you are looking for a "true" HD experience (using HDMI alone instead of say, HDMI video & optical audio from a traditional PC).

If you have an entertainment center with multiple HD devices interconnected such as say, a cable/satellite/fios TV receiver connected HDMI to an A/V receiver with the 7.1 speaker setup wired HDMI to a 1080P HDTV, you cant really incorporate the HTPC to this setup because most (all?) HD receivers use a single HDMI and nothing else for their HD I/O.

Thoughts?

 

[scotty]

You're right, PC support for proper HDMI Audio is still lacking. There are, however, some products coming out that are supposed to help/fix this (Asus Xonar AV1 sound card - basically a pass through card which you plug your HDMI video into from your video card and it will properly encorporate 5/7.1 audio into an outgoing HDMI feed).

But yes, building a truly proper HTPC is still a little tricky. For me, I've done a few and it's never really been an issue as I just dont worry about having audio and video both run over HDMI. Reciever support is still a little sketchy as you mention, but if you're willing to accept HDMI + SPDIF Coax, most of the woes go away pretty quickly. SPDIF is widely supported so rarely are there issues.

A PS3 is a good start though.

 

[Brandon]

I've played with many differnt ideas when it comes to HTPC. Everything from MythTV, to using an all out file server. Finally, after a lonngg run, I decided on my PS3. I use it for everything. the HDMI feeds directly into my reciever. I'm able to watch my digital movie collection via TVersity and it's media browser, not to mention Blu-Rays!

I love my PS3, I even play a game on it every so often..

 

[scotty]

Out of curiosity, what codec and container have you ripped your movies into? I tried tversity with .mp4's and the PS3 was rather picky what it would play. I can get things to play, but man it's picky.

I generally lean towards the HTPC route, either XBMC or MythTv, purely from the perspective that it's generally easier to get content to/from it, and it the most futureproof, from the perspective that it'll play just about anything you can throw a codec pack at.

 

[Brandon]

I really dislike .mp4 movies, which was a plus for me. I generally rip my DVD's to Xvid, with AC3 audio. On older movies, I will generally use Divx, as it takes out more of the whites.

I use DVD Decrypter to convert most DVD's into VOB Files, then I use AutoGK to convert those into a single movie file. I normally bring them down to a single GB each. Takes around an hour a movie on a fast PC, but it's worth it.

TVersity can also convert movies for you, but it seems like more of a pain than it's worth. Also, movies bigger than 1.5-2gb tend to get chppy over gigabit LAN's, something else to keep in mind.

 

[Brandon]

If you have an entertainment center with multiple HD devices interconnected such as say, a cable/satellite/fios TV receiver connected HDMI to an A/V receiver with the 7.1 speaker setup wired HDMI to a 1080P HDTV, you cant really incorporate the HTPC to this setup because most (all?) HD receivers use a single HDMI and nothing else for their HD I/O.

Thoughts?

I just reread this. My reciever does both Componant and HDMI input for HD, as well as S-Vidio and the evil yellow input, both of which are upconverted to 1080p. As for audio, most PC audio outputs these days have an optical digital out, which almost all AV Recivers can accept. My reciever lets you bind an audio input with a video input. So my PS3 uses both an HDMI, and an Optical. Xbox 360 uses Componant and a coax. PC uses HDMI and optical, so on.

I'm just realllly addicted to the PS3's remote. You don't have to worry about line of sight on the IR port.

 

[vnangia]

I'm just realllly addicted to the PS3's remote. You don't have to worry about line of sight on the IR port.

Ugh, clearly you don't have a kitty that likes to step on the remotes during the day when you're out.

The only other problem I have with my PS3 (and it maybe a problem with the TV, really) is that with our slightly unusual setup (everything connects to the TV, which then uses an optical connection to the receiver), the PS3 does not let the audio pass through. Net result? Everything EXCEPT the PS3 connects to the TV and gives us the two TV speakers in addition to the 5.1, whilst the PS3 connects via a special optical cable to the receiver, and the TV stays muted.

 

[urville]

Doesnt the original xbox allow HDMI through modding of the software, the component cable and digital audio cable, but the 360's have an HDMI cable? The elite version comes with it. I thought they did output both audio and video through it, unlike the pc's...

 

[valentin]

Gigabyte GA-MA78G-S2H mainboard has HDMI port and supports HDMI audio and I use it with Ubuntu 8.04. I was unable to make it work with Ubuntu 8.10.
________
(AUTOMOBILE)

 

[Brandon]

Ugh, clearly you don't have a kitty that likes to step on the remotes during the day when you're out.

The only other problem I have with my PS3 (and it maybe a problem with the TV, really) is that with our slightly unusual setup (everything connects to the TV, which then uses an optical connection to the receiver), the PS3 does not let the audio pass through. Net result? Everything EXCEPT the PS3 connects to the TV and gives us the two TV speakers in addition to the 5.1, whilst the PS3 connects via a special optical cable to the receiver, and the TV stays muted.

You can output audio via the HDMI, then pass it from the TV to the reciever. I personally don't use the speakers on my TV. My TV has a Digital Coax output for surround sound to the reciever.

 

[vnangia]

You can output audio via the HDMI, then pass it from the TV to the reciever. I personally don't use the speakers on my TV. My TV has a Digital Coax output for surround sound to the reciever.

HDMI 1.3 shuts that down, alas. We tried it - and there were no problems until the 1.80 update or thereabouts. Killed sound out from the TV dead.