Andrew Van Til

[babgvant]

I’m pretty sure that the 360 doesn’t support any non-WMA lossless audio formats, so to get multi-channel audio there you will need to create/maintain a DD track in the file.  Hopefully someone with a 360 can chime in with the specifics since I’m not that familiar with the nuances.

[babgvant]

Yes, uncompressed PCM is the result of a decoded compressed audio track, usually the lossless one.  What format/tools are you planning on going with?

[babgvant]

[quote=nilsga]

Is the source code for LCDWriter available for download? The only option seems to display something else than mediatime and tracktime for Live TV.

[/quote]

no

[babgvant]

[quote=GeoffBQ]

Does anyone have any comments on this, I would like to order in the next couple of days and was hoping someone has some advice.

Thanks,

Geoff

[/quote]

The problem with offering advice on a system like this is that w/o messing with it there is no way to say how reliable or appliance like it will be.  On paper it looks capable, but I think it’s pricey for what you’re getting and how it looks.

[babgvant]

[quote=Mike Garcen]

Obviously you’ll save a little on AMD, but both have their pros and cons.

[/quote]

It isn’t obvious anymore.  Intel has been really aggressive w/ SNB pricing. 

[babgvant]

If the ports don’t work outside of the OS I think you should contact support.  You will probably need to replace it.

[babgvant]

[quote=RehabMan]

You gotta wonder what kind of screwed up spec HDMI is, that short cables cause problems.  Longish cables are generally what give troubles with interconnects, not short ones.

Crazy stuff.

// Dean (As you guessed, not a fan of HDMI)

[/quote]

It’s actually not that surprising given that HDMI is based on Ethernet, which also has issues with short cables.

[babgvant]

Use a longer HDMI cable.  12-15′ should do it.

[babgvant]

The metadata displayed for items in the MC UI.

[babgvant]

I’m pretty sure that MSAS indirectly pulls the metadata from the file.  Can you check what it has in MC?

[babgvant]

Looks like it’s not getting good metadata.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen this problem before.

[babgvant]

[quote=nilsga]

I’ve been trying, but just get an error message at startup when using the filebased writer. Don’t remember exactly, but something like “the target could not initiate….something….”.

I’ll try to re-install the English version tonight to see if that helps.

[/quote]

Even after giving your user account modify (or full) permission to the install folder?

[babgvant]

[quote=nilsga]

Ok, I have re-installed Win7 several times, always with the same result, so I assume that there must be something wrong in my end… A long shot, but maybe I should try installing the English version of Win7 instead of the Norwegian…

[/quote]

Hmm Norwegian… Why don’t you try the filebased writer first.  It’s possible that there is a localization issue on my end.

[babgvant]

[quote=SJMaye]

I am curious to hear your comments on HTPC case displays such as this one. 

On my first HTPC I was convinced i wanted a big display so I bought the OrigenAE S21t.  After a few years I realize I never use it.  On my second build I opted for a VFD similar to the one in this thread.  Since I could not read it at any distance it was still sort of useless.

Would you mind giving me your thoughts on where they can be helpful to you?

[/quote]

There are a couple places where I think a VFD adds significant value, and a few where it just a nice to have.

1) Recording status – this is my favorite one, I know at-a-glance why it’s not in standby.

2) CE polish – makes the HTPC look more like a CE device (BD, STB, etc). Very few CE devices have now status information available.

3) Adds a clock

4) I know w/o showing the scrub bar where my kids are at in a show so I know whether to postpone dinner for 2 min while they finish up or make them pickup where they left off later.

There are more use cases, but the gist is the same.  A VFD adds polish and provides non-obvious information w/o having to interact with the PC.

[babgvant]

[quote=nilsga]

Playing DVDs show progress and duration, as expected. So, assuming it is MSAS that is the culprit, how can I fix it?

[/quote]

The only way I’ve been able to “fix” it is to reinstall.

I tested it here w/ TV last night and it does push the right values so I’m not sure there’s anything else I can do.

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