Aaron Ledger
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swoon
What’s the error message?
Yes. I have owned Denon receivers for the past 11 years. I recently bought the Denon AVR-2112 and am happily satisfied with it.
[quote=NitDawg]
I’m far from an AVR guru, but is there a general formula for the amount of power/channel needed for a given room size? Is more always better (I know you can always turn in down) but more along the lines of dynamic range (or are speakers a big part of that equation).
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Speakers play a big role in the equation. The more sensitive they are, the less amperage is needed to drive them to the same volume as less sensitive speakers.
When it comes to AVRs, any wattage claims should be examined closely if comparing. You must make sure that wattage ratings are taken at same resistance e.g., 8 ohms, at the same frequency, etc. Even with everything the same, if you’re only talking about 10 or 20 watts difference between receivers, it will mean almost nothing in terms of volume level that can be achieved (you need double the watts to achieve a 3dB volume increase). All things being equal, more is always better, it’s just not hugely important and when it is, it is probably a situation where the room is gigantic, the speakers are 4 ohm or less, etc. In those cases, it might be advisable to go for separate amps.
In short, speaker resistance and sensitivity play a much larger role in clean volume output than an AVR’s power rating. Also, using a powered sub and setting speakers to “small” should help quite a bit to free up power on the AVR since it takes a lot more power to move the lower frequencies.
I saw this system and thought of your post. It’s a bit more than you originally specified in your budget, but I think it’s a better value in the important areas.
Regarding your question regarding QuickSync and transcoding:
QuickSync is dedicated logic in the Core i-series Sandy Bridge processors. It is specifically targeted towards transcoding content (decoding (which was already present in Clarkdale) + encoding). Basically, applications that target the QuickSync feature such as CyberLink Media Espresso and ArcSoft MediaConverter will be able to transcode video at a much faster rate than is possible with CPU encoding (or even other vendors’ GPU encoding). In doing so, the system will also consume much less power performing the operation. Sounds great, right?
Well, the cost is that the transcoding quality will not be at the same level as what you might expect from something done with software + CPU. Personally, the only use I have for transcoding is if I am going to place the content on a small screen portable device so I think the tradeoffs of using QuickSync for that application are worthwhile.
[quote=SpacemanSpiff2000]
And just to throw another option out there for you, have you considered Windows Home Server 2011? Yes, it would mean paying MS, but the price is now only $50-$60 and it can offer a lot more functionality such as taking care of your backup strategy, housing an InfiniTV (which I know you’re looking to get) to share amongst multiple HTPCs, file server duties, remote access to all your PCs, audio and video serving and transcoding on the fly when you are away from home, etc.
I’m still considering, yes. Does that make things like the above (that I want) so much easier than a free option?
Also, I never considered putting the Ceton in the NAS, so far away from the TV, but (as it happens) a lot closer to the router. I just assumed it had to be in my HTPC right by the TV. Any other considerations to account for there?
Though if it does what my HTPC now does, that makes me feel like it negates the $700 I just spent on the HTPC, reducing it to an extender and disc player, and I should have just bought a standalone Bluray player. 🙁
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WHS2011 can act as a file server + more. If you want a RAID under WHS, you can do that. It also gives you benefits as I mentioned before. It should be fast considering it is essentially a special version of Server 2008 R2. If you are more comfortable configuring and working with Windows, then it probably could be considered easier to use.
The primary reason you might want to house the InfiniTV in a WHS box other than your HTPC being SFF (which I know your chassis is not) is because it will likely be always on and if you want to have multiple HTPCs accessing the tuners, you can configure that and let your HTPCs sleep without adding any additional delays to the startup process. It’s certainly not a requirement to network the InfiniTV. It also doesn’t make your HTPC an extender. Content is still recorded to the HTPC( s ).
That’s interesting. It is usually difficult to plug in the USB cable into the header incorrectly because the cable is typically “keyed.” If the port was working under Windows, it was probably plugged in ok, but it is worth double-checking.
You really figured this one out on your own. I just provided a few diversions for you :).
Also now available at Newegg, but they ran out of stock. I imagine Logitech will have them stocked in no time since they are apparently bursting at the seams with them.
Can you verify another display works when using HDMI port? Can you try using the DVI port to your display via DVI>HDMI adapter to see if that works?
Did it work with your 8600 GT? Does it work with your VGA monitor that was used to verify VGA was functional? If so, perhaps try using a DVI>HDMI adapter to see if it will work.
The aspect ratio settings are only applicable to SD content. During my testing, I found it best to set the aspect ratio manually to 16:9 and keep the auto box unchecked. In this mode, the STB should be set to send 4:3 SD content with side bars.
When outputting video into ArcSoft ShowBiz, the application will automatically detect the incoming video and display the resolution e.g., 1280 x 720 for 720p video.
Using ArcSoft ShowBiz and the Hauppauge Colossus, you can record 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. For the review, I tested 480i, 720p and 1080i from a cable STB.
As far as the ArcSoft ShowBiz container support, you can capture to TS, M2TS and MP4. I had no problems playing back TS files in Windows Media Player.
I have no experience with Sony Vegas Platinum so I have no idea why it is not able to successfully import the TS file you created. TS are pretty standard and just about anything can play them back. Perhaps Sony support will be able to help with this import issue.
Interesting. I’ve used the Windows 7 system image method for machines with same motherboard which works flawlessly though I wouldn’t recommend for some cases like if system image was created for HDD and system drive is now SSD.
How did the Sysprep method work for you?
They must have since the vendor includes a DVI to VGA adapter. Do you have anything else with a VGA input you can test against?
What is the exact model of 5670? It is possible that the vendor did not implement analog on the DVI port. If that were the case, no VGA. There are also cards that come in a low-profile form factor where VGA is brought out to a separate connector via a header and ribbon cable only for full-profile.
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