Standalone Blu Ray Player Vs Blu Ray Drive in HTPC

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mssridhar

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OK guys! Am nearing the completion of assembling my HTPC. What I have is this:-
AMD Phenom X6 1055T/Gigabyte 890GX MoBo/Gskill Performance RAM 12800 8GB/MSI N460 GTX 1MB/ Silverstone LaScala 17/2 X 1TB Seagate 7200.12. (Overkill for HTPC but decent for gaming!:D)This is coupled to Bravia 40BX400 through Denon 1911 and rather basic Yamaha NS-110 5.1 Speakers. The HTPC runs on Win 7 ->XBMC combo. Now, I have noticed a large number of you with a standalone Blu Ray Player. At the moment, I feel that a Blu Ray Writer (Sony 12X) would be a better buy for me. So, the question is:-
In what way is a standalone blu ray player a better bet than an internal Blu Ray Drive for my set up? :confused: Am I missing something here? So, be the Devil's Advocate!!My primary aim is, of course, to watch Blu Rays and maybe, rip one odd occasionally. Cost wise, the Blu Ray Writer is Rs.10999 (on ebay) and a Sony BDP-370S is Rs.9999 or so! So, not much of a difference there.
Thks
 
Before you purchase, evaluate capability of your:

1. Hardware
2. Media players (XBMC would ultimately depend on codecs installed on system)

To pass HD Audio to Denon 1911 over HDMI. You can do that by downloading HD Audio clips from demo world.

If system can not do that, you would be missing out on HD Audio.

In proper setup, AVR should show "DTS HD MA" or "Dolby True HD" if HD audio clips are played.
 
The comparison cannot be without some assumptions and conditions.

1. Audio processing. This depends a lot on the player and AVR. If you have a high end AVR, the best will be to bit-stream all audio to the AVR and get the AVR to process the audio. If you have a low end AVR, you have to look at processing the audio at the player level. In this situation, a player such as Oppo can never be beaten. PCM or LPCM from an HTPC sucks big time.

2. Video Processing. If you are looking at FullHD and a high end projector, obviously you want a good upscaling engine. If you get a good GPU and a player such as PowerDVD, it will be far better than most players other than maybe something like the BD-83, BD-93, or BD-95. Again it is important to ensure that your AVR is capable of video pass through.

3. Networking, BD Live etc. In this case, obviously the HTPC has far better capabilities.

4. Usability. A BD Player will beat any HTPC hands down when it comes to usability. With an HTPC, computer knowledge is essential irrespective of what software you use. though remote controls are available, you will be forced to use a mouse and a keyboard now and then.

5. Cost. I would say they are about equal IF you are building a decent HTPC with a good GPU, CPU, RAM, and an HTPC cabinet.

6. Longevity and Maintenance. An HTPC will beat a player hands down here. You can always re-install the OS and start again. If the drive goes bad, you get new BD Drives for 100$. And an HTPC can be repaired by you friendly neighbourhood PC repair shop.

Cheers

Cheers
 
Thanks for your replies....Just in time input to hold me back from clicking the online order submit button!!
NetFreak said:
Before you purchase, evaluate capability of your:
1. Hardware
Click to expand...
My system, as I see it, should be OK with that...
NetFreak said:
2. Media players (XBMC would ultimately depend on codecs installed on system)
Click to expand...
No additional codecs installed....whatever came stock with XBMC and VLC....any suggestions would be welcome
sabarirjpm said:
Blu Ray Player streams DTS MA and True HD but your HTPC won't.
Click to expand...
Mine is supposed to since GeForce 460 GTX now supports HD audio bitstreaming over HDMI. However, thats on paper. Physically, I have an issue like the one highlighted in this link http://en.expreview.com/2010/09/13/geforce-gtx460gts450-still-fail-to-deliver-bitstreaming-support/9660.html
So, even with the latest drivers (260.99) installed and playing Dolby TrueHD clip through power DVD, I only get a downmixed "Dolby D" light up on my Denon 1911. Anyway, I am now going to try out HD bitstreaming using ffdshow. Let me see if and how that works....it may be an Nvidia OR a Power DVD trouble!!
venkatcr said:
1. Audio processing. This depends a lot on the player and AVR. If you have a high end AVR, the best will be to bit-stream all audio to the AVR and get the AVR to process the audio. If you have a low end AVR, you have to look at processing the audio at the player level. In this situation, a player such as Oppo can never be beaten. PCM or LPCM from an HTPC sucks big time.
Click to expand...
Certainly...could see the difference between Dolby D 5.1 output as a PCM by my HTPC vs same track bitstreamed and decoded by my Denon...... Well, that is not to say that a Denon 1911 is a high end AVR but even I could perceive tangible differences despite being quite new at this Home Theatre thing.
venkatcr said:
6. Longevity and Maintenance. An HTPC ........And an HTPC can be repaired by you friendly neighbourhood PC repair shop.
Click to expand...
Well, thats me...since I built it. :D

OK, some more questions...
1. Will a Sony BDP-370s bitstream HD audio over HDMI?
2. A good Media Center software / player - I like XBMC but are there better alternates, especially for playing HD audio and Blu Ray discs?
3. Codec suggestions!
(Sorry, the second and third questions may take this a little OT...maybe someone can take the trouble of PMing me or post a link!)
Thanks for getting me thinking again.....
 
OK...the latest...managed to get DTS HD and Dolby True HD bitstreamed over HDMI of my Geforce 460 GTX card using MPC-HC and ffdshow, with demo clips (.m2ts) downloaded from Demo World! It was bliss seeing the DTS HD and Dolby HD light up on my Denon! So, nvidia is vindicated and I need to upgrade my Power DVD!!
 
Yes, my HTPC (ie GPU 460 GTX) supports HDMI 1.4a and so does my AVR....The only change that I would need is a 3D enabled display...but, that upgrade is still a good amount of time away!!
 
mssridhar said:
Yes, my HTPC (ie GPU 460 GTX) supports HDMI 1.4a and so does my AVR....The only change that I would need is a 3D enabled display...but, that upgrade is still a good amount of time away!!
Click to expand...

GPU 460 GTX-
GeForce GTX 460
Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 1 GB Graphics Card Review. Page 9 - X-bit labs
MSI GeForce GTX 460 Cyclone OC 1024MB review
NVIDIAs GeForce GTX 460: The $200 King - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

It supports hardware decoding of MPEG2, MPEG4, MPEG4-AVC/H.264, MPEG4-MVC, VC-1, WMV-HD, and Adobe Flash 10.1
 
Last edited:
spirovious said:
GPU 460 GTX-
GeForce GTX 460
Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 1 GB Graphics Card Review. Page 9 - X-bit labs
MSI GeForce GTX 460 Cyclone OC 1024MB review
NVIDIAs GeForce GTX 460: The $200 King - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

It supports hardware decoding of MPEG2, MPEG4, MPEG4-AVC/H.264, MPEG4-MVC, VC-1, WMV-HD, and Adobe Flash 10.1
Click to expand...

Thank you, Spirovious, for those links, especially the MSI 460 GTX Cyclone (thats the one that I have!). That link led me to another interesting link about Accelerating x.264 1080p movies over the GPU.
 
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