New user with a few questions (1 Viewer)

[mva5580]

Hi everybody, new user of Media Portal here who is putting together an HTPC. I guess I'll name the specs of it first to get that out of the way:

- x2 4800
- 2gb ddr2 800 ram
- radeon 2600 pro 512mb
- HT Omega Striker 7.1 card using SPDIF optical for sound
- 1 80gb hard drive for windows/programs, 1 400gb hard drive for media
- LG Blu-Ray/HD-DVD combo drive
- Hauppage PVR 1600 TV Tuner
- Silverstone LC17 case

I'm pretty much capable of setting up the great majority of this myself (music, movies on the HD, TV tuner, emulators, etc.,) but this is my question. I've done some searches on the forum and read bits and pieces, but haven't located a definitive answer.

What will be the optimal setup for me to watch DVD's/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD's with Media Portal? I'm obviously using PowerDVD Ultra for Hi-Def movies considering that's pretty much the only option right now, and I see that this isn't a feature of Media Portal as of yet. I also hear that TheaterTek with proper FFDShow configuration is probably the way to go for SD-DVD. How do people set this up? Is it possible for TheaterTek to start when an SD-DVD is played, but then PowerDVD for only Blu/HD-DVD? And I'm assuming PowerDVD would just run on top of Media Portal, will this be ok in terms of system resources? It won't slow down the movie/sound or anything?

I know it's kind of jumbled, but viewing the movies is really the only question I have in terms of getting everything setup. I can more or less handle the rest. If there's anyone else here who is running a setup like this to watch SD-DVD's/HD-DVD's, I would appreciate the knowledge on how you do it. Thanks!

 

[milhouse]

Last I checked, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray weren't supported in MP due to all the DRM stuff. Not exactly open source friendly. I thought I had read some posts about getting external players to work marginally from MP.

Here's a summary of the problem:
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/hd_dvd_and_blu_ray_support-t23759.html

Here's someone working on a plugin to embed PowerDVD in MP:
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/showthread.php?t=32268&highlight=blu-ray

I don't have the answer to your specific questions, though. I think you'll have to just keep an eye on the forums for a "good" solution. (Or rip the HD content to hard drive...)

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Or rip the HD content to hard drive

Just to say, latest version of PowerDVD 7.3 has had play "Bluray\HD disk files from HDD" support removed, 7.2 has no problems.

Worth upgrading, my opinion, no.