Beginners questions..pls help (1 Viewer)

[virgoan]

I am a beginner to the HTPC world. Please be patient if you find my questions silly.

I would like to know the following:

1) How is the PC with Media Portal connected to the TV, is it using the VGA connector?
2) Will the FloppyDTV-CI-DVB-S card work here in United States? If not what should I be using
to receive HDTV(I have a cable connection from local cable provider).
3) Can I use this PC just for normal internet browsing using my keyboard and mouse.
4) Can I play music/movies using Media Portal that is on a other computer on the same LAN
over a wireless connection.


Any help in answering my questions will be greatly appreciated...

Thanks in advance....

 

[FLY]

I can give you short answers. for detail, you will have to read the menuals, forums etc on how to set it up.

1. yes
2. read the manual/specs of the card ( i am not familier with that card)
3. yes
4.yes

 

[and-81]

Just on one of those questions ... (1)

Most Video cards will have an S-Video (sometime called SVHS) or a Component break-out cable supplied.

The order of quality (starting with the worst):

1. Composite (this is the ubiquitous yellow, red and white cables. The red and white are left & right audio, the video is on the yellow connector)
2. S-Video (This is a four-pinned round connector sometimes called SVHS, this provides a sharper image than composite)
3. Component (this divides the signal into three cables, usually coloured red, green and blue. Most new video cards have a break out cable that supports component)
4. PC VGA (15-pin D-Sub connector for an analog computer monitor, it's quality is comparable to component but it's not as common on TVs)
5. DVI-D / HDMI (These are digital connections, all previous were analog which means these are the best quality but also the rarest, though they are becoming much more common on modern televisions)

If you've got an analog TV with a Composite, S-Video, or Component connection then you will want to run the PC screen resolution at 720x480 @ 60hz (which is the NTSC standard).

If you've got a digital display (Rear-Projection, Front Projector, LCD or Plasma) with VGA, DVI or HDMI connections you will want to use the displays native resolution. Your manual should list the Native Resolution in it's specifications. Anything other than the native resolution will have to be resized inside the TV (causes quality loss).

good luck,