getting drive soon... what else do I need?

[z-factor]

Hi all,

Sorry this post is long - I'm a newbie.
I've got an order for an LG GGC-H20L and it should be coming tomorrow. My motherboard has integrated video, but no HDCP support, so I'm looking into using AnyDVD HD. Right now, I'm just interested in playback, not copying to HD. According to the datasheet, I'll get PowerDVD with the drive. Is there anything that I'm missing besides AnyDVD HD?

BTW, the drive is from Nowdirect, they're selling it for $170, with free shipping (though I had to remind them to give me free shipping). http://www.nowdirect.com/exec/partInfo/part_detail.tsb?prcpart=LGOGGC-H20L
I'll mention my satisfaction levelin a subsequent post once I get the drive.

I want to use it in my new HTPC (Intel E6550 + NVidia 7100 motherboard). It doesn't have hardware assisted decode, but I'm hoping it's got enough horsepower to decrypt for 720p display (it handles decryption of 720p and 1080p HD clips from apple's movie trailer site using only 1 of the 2 cores). Does this sound reasonable?

And if I want to play HD-DVD's off the hard drive, I either need to get version 3319a of powerdvd ultra or a tool that will remount the files on HDD as a dvd?

Thanks,

 

[roog]

Hi Z,

Your CPU looks fine you just need a better video card. Be wary of the 2000 series ATI cards because they don't like motherboards with built-in graphics. I haven't tried any of the ATI 3000 series cards though so I can't comment. If you plan to use Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra (not great but the best solution at this time) go to http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/require_112_ENU.html and read the video card requirements. Since you're a newbie I recommend that you try out a video card that you can buy locally, where you can return it, then buy the one you're happy with online.

 

[z-factor]

Thanks for the tips, Roog.
Hmmm, so it seems like PowerDVD requires hardware support for h.264? Darn, I was hoping to get away cheap there and let the CPU do the work. Oh well.

Out of curiousity, the cyberlink website mentions 1024x768 and 1280x1024 resolutions. Can it also output to 1280x720 for true 720p or 1368x768 (my TV's native resolution)?

 

[roog]

Thanks for the tips, Roog.
Hmmm, so it seems like PowerDVD requires hardware support for h.264? Darn, I was hoping to get away cheap there and let the CPU do the work. Oh well.

Out of curiousity, the cyberlink website mentions 1024x768 and 1280x1024 resolutions. Can it also output to 1280x720 for true 720p or 1368x768 (my TV's native resolution)?

That's the minimum resolution, it supports 720p and 1080 i/p.

Also, the Cyberlink specs are out-of-date, newer and better CPUs and video cards work as well.

I don't see the h.264 hardware requirement under the specs.

 

[z-factor]

Good to know about the resolution. I was a bit worried about that.

When I mentioned the h.264 support, I meant that it seems that powerdvd seems to be requiring a hardware assist on decode of the HD datastream. I was under the impression that the many/most HD-DVD's and Blu-Rays are compressed using h.264. It seems like the cards that are mentioned by Cyberlink are those Purevideo HD support (which I think is that decompression offload, among other things).

Thanks,