# HTPC Components and Myths, Terms, and Definitions



## superon

Good info- I was wondering whether or not there was a free player yet for blu-ray... but you could just rip it to your HDD and play it with MPC right?


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## stumped

Quote:


Originally Posted by *superon* 
Good info- I was wondering whether or not there was a free player yet for blu-ray... but you could just rip it to your HDD and play it with MPC right?

that involves a complicated process and also breaking the law along with , at this point in time, loosing chapter skip and many times audio along with loss of audio formats.


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## superon

Quote:


Originally Posted by *stumped* 
that involves a complicated process and also breaking the law along with , at this point in time, loosing chapter skip and many times audio along with loss of audio formats.

SO... backing up movies to your HDD is still illegal... damn.









And you can't extract the different audio streams on a blu-ray like you can a DVD? Then combine the one you want to the ripped copy?


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## stumped

Quote:


Originally Posted by *superon* 
SO... backing up movies to your HDD is still illegal... damn.









technically yes and no at the same time. you have to break encryption so that isn't allowed to be discussed on OCN.


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## superon

Quote:


Originally Posted by *stumped* 
technically yes and no at the same time. you have to break encryption so that isn't allowed to be discussed on OCN.

Ah yes, you're right, they got us on the encryption angle.


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## TonyL222

Quote:


Originally Posted by *stumped* 
[*]ATi cards and (some) nVidia cards can pass audio through thier DVI ports with special HDMI/DVI Adapters[/LIST]

So, I just built an HTPC. I have a HIS Radeon HD 4670 video card with a DVI-to-HDMI cable to me receiver. I ran a coax digital sound cable from my mobo to my receiver 'cause I didn't think that the DVI->HDMI cable would carry sound. Is the coax unnecessary? I guess when I get home I can pull it to see if I still get sound.


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## DuckieHo

You might want to mention the PCM capabilities of each chipset..... some are capable of only 2.1, 5.1, or 7.1.


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## sli_shroom

about the vga section...

depending on the hdcp scheme used, the video may be either reduced to 640x480 or may not play at all. if the hdcp flag is not enabled, full resolution playback is possible as vga can support the needed bandwidth (for video only as vga doesnt support audio). if the flag is enabled and the loopback is not present, resolution reduction or failure to play will usually result

the same is true for r/g/y (component) cables as vga is a type of component cable.


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## 21276

Quote:

ATi/nVidia *Ausio* through HDMI/DVI Adapter:
i think you meant, Au*d*io.
EDIT: oh, and in #6 of the recap you also missed the i in audio.

other than that, nice little FAQ or Guide or whatever you want to call it. Rep+


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## Androktasie

Quote:


Originally Posted by *superon* 
Ah yes, you're right, they got us on the encryption angle.

No they don't. The DMCA is against production and dissemination of software that circumvents digital protection measures. Actually using the software should be covered by fair use since it is merely "space-shifting".

At the very least, linking to an article _about_ said software is perfectly legal under 1st amendment rights.

Just don't get any crazy ideas about distributing DVD and Blu-Ray rips, and you'll be fine.


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## superon

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Androktasie* 
No they don't. The DMCA is against production and dissemination of software that circumvents digital protection measures. Actually using the software should be covered by fair use since it is merely "space-shifting".

At the very least, linking to an article _about_ said software is perfectly legal under 1st amendment rights.

Just don't get any crazy ideas about distributing DVD and Blu-Ray rips, and you'll be fine.

I was always a fan of DVDdecrypter, although I think they stopped support for it back before blu-ray ever hit the scene.
Is ANyDVD good software?


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## Androktasie

Quote:


Originally Posted by *superon* 
I was always a fan of DVDdecrypter, although I think they stopped support for it back before blu-ray ever hit the scene.
Is ANyDVD good software?

DVD Decrypter died due to legal pressure from Sony. The developer didn't have the resources to fight them off in court, so he bowed to their demands and the program has stagnated. Unfortunately he never released the source code before shutting down, so development has ceased. Since the internet is so great at keeping abandoned software alive however, DVD Decrypter is still referenced and sometimes even required by conversion utilities that are actively being worked on.

AnyDVD (and AnyDVD HD) does not rip the video to your hard drive, it merely strips the content of protection. There are a number of freeware and shareware programs that can handle the actual ripping.

For DVDs, since the DeCSS library is so ubiquitous it is possible to get software that will decrypt and rip in one convenient package. (Handbrake for BSD/Mac, DVD Shrink, the list goes on...) The MythTV HTPC project actually has this built right into the 10' interface, no extra software needed.

For Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, there are a few utilities that were produced by the people in the AfterDawn forums back when HD DVD was still in the game, but currently Slysoft's AnyDVD is leading the pack as far as simplicity and the latest Blu-Ray decryption methods.


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## stumped

please guys, i don't want this thread closed for a reason about why about the legalness of breaking DCMA protection and breaking encryption.

This thread is for correcting misinformation on terms connections, and uses.


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## Puscifer

Great thread. There's lot of good info there, nice work. There's a typo in your original post though. In one of the headlines it says ausio instead of audio. Just thought I'd let ya know. Again, great thread man


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## dhrandy

Great thread. You must be using something other than Firefox. You have a couple miss spellings, but no big deal..


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## stumped

i'm using firefox, it's just i typed it while i was tired and just about to go to bed. if you could help my pointing them out, that'd be appreciated.


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## stumped

bump, added stuff about vlc, since people seem to recommend it blindly.


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## Gill..

So - my newly built HTPC using my 780G chipset (HD 3200) probably didn't play Nemo to my daughter's ire due to me trying to use the VGA cable? (regular DVD by the way)

If I switch to DVI/HDMI ports...but still input to the VGA on my 42" TV it might work without me losing any more hair? Audio still going via 3.5mm regular input....

She's 1 1/2 - this is technically her HTPC ....she was pissed when Nemo wasn't coming on... I felt like such a failure since it failed it's first real test


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## stumped

hdmi = digital. vga = analog.

as for DVD on a HDTV, it won't as good as you'd think (480p being upscaled to fit on a 720p/1080i/p monitor won't be very good) also, calibrating your TV will help in the picture quality aspect.

might i suggest using MPC-HC to play your DVD?


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## Gill..

Quote:


Originally Posted by *stumped* 
hdmi = digital. vga = analog.

as for DVD on a HDTV, it won't as good as you'd think (480p being upscaled to fit on a 720p/1080i/p monitor won't be very good) also, calibrating your TV will help in the picture quality aspect.

might i suggest using MPC-HC to play your DVD?

The upscaling is incredible in all respects - it really is. I'd never consider an upgrade to 1080P/Blu-Ray with how it looks now.

+1 for MPC-HC though, it works awesome - and I can't help but think it's because I used the x64 version. VLC worked ok, but was increbibly instable overall (again, I'm thinking for the opposite reason - it was native 32 bit)..

The animated CGI movies (Horton, Nemo etc.) could not look any better. By the time my daughter figures out it's not 1080p - she better be earning enough to buy her own crap!

When I toss in the original Star Wars titles (IV-VI), you can notice a tiny difference there - but again not worth the upgrades in TV/Blu-Ray. It looks good enough for this guy!


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## stumped

if you know what the differences in HDTV and SD are, and you watch 1080p blu-ray on a properly calibrated HDTV, you'll never turn back. blu-ray looks so much more awesome for CGI movies (just watched Monster vs Aliens, and damn it was almost 3d with out being a 3d version)


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## Thedark1337

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_hole

Lol i found something interesting while looking for answers to the analog hole

Quote:



One example was an early law passed by the European Parliament to support DRM in response to widespread buzz about unauthorized digital music downloads being held in computer memory caches. Apparently reasoning by analogy to "caches of arms," the use of computer memory caches was outlawed. The legislators, hearing a very general piece of computer jargon (caching) associated with infringement, banned it, not realizing it was a basic digital storage technique found in most modern equipment. A BBC article describing the controversy itself demonstrates the difficulty of explaining to legislators and the general public the aspect that every computer and most digital devices of any kind would have to be destroyed were the law to be evenly enforced.[2] Far from a specialized illegality, caching is a universally used computer memory technique, leading to comparisons of this law to the classic "urban myth"[3] of the Indiana Pi Bill.










The banning of caches. OT: Nice terms list


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## mushroomboy

I would like to say that you shouldn't state free programs won't play Blue-Ray,this is also a program that I think everyone should keep in mind. I'm a huge fan of the linux world, so I'm also a huge fan of mplayer (gasp) which has been able to play Blue-Ray as of late. IMO it's the only program that will play roughly any format you throw at it in any resolution. =)

Though I find it no suprise people mention VLC, it's more popular in windows than mplayer is in linux but I still think mplayer beats it hands down.

[edit] It also plays 1080p but the linux variants are going to have troubles. =( As linux doesn't have much support for acceleration in playback. =(


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## Rhythmeister

Nice intro for HTPC newbies







K-Lite codec pack comes with media player classic and with the codecs I think it can play in full HD. DVI actually stands for Digital Video Interface, I'm not sure where this visual thing is coming from, I think somebody misheard it and typed it on a forum and it's seemingly spread like wildfire like people saying they *give* a damn when they mean to state that they *don't*


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## mushroomboy

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rhythmeister* 
Nice intro for HTPC newbies







K-Lite codec pack comes with media player classic and with the codecs I think it can play in full HD. DVI actually stands for Digital Video Interface, I'm not sure where this visual thing is coming from, I think somebody misheard it and typed it on a forum and it's seemingly spread like wildfire like people saying they *give* a damn when they mean to state that they *don't*









because video -> visual is what it represents, your monitor doesn't display videos it displays visuals so somebody thought call the jack (or interface) a digital visual interface (DVI). BLA BLA BLAM. Now I'm not going to say you are wrong, or the visual meaning is wrong I'm just going to say the term probably got coined because monitors don't technically display videos. they "can" display videos but more appropriately they are visual interfaces. We don't say what our eyes see are videos, they see visuals and when you display visuals on a screen you get a visual interface! It's actually a lot more sensible to call it a visual interface rather than a video interface because of the fact we see visuals not videos. But either way your both in the right.


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## stumped

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mushroomboy* 
I would like to say that you shouldn't state free programs won't play Blue-Ray,this is also a program that I think everyone should keep in mind. I'm a huge fan of the linux world, so I'm also a huge fan of mplayer (gasp) which has been able to play Blue-Ray as of late. IMO it's the only program that will play roughly any format you throw at it in any resolution. =)

Though I find it no suprise people mention VLC, it's more popular in windows than mplayer is in linux but I still think mplayer beats it hands down.

[edit] It also plays 1080p but the linux variants are going to have troubles. =( As linux doesn't have much support for acceleration in playback. =(

your mplayer has to somehow work with the AACS encryption that copy protected blu-rays implement and i doubt the people behind the AACS encryption have allowed linux the same loophole it got with dvd and css protection. Right now, for software, they only let a few people have AACS compliant licenses, and i'm guessing mplayer won't play a blu-ray from the menu (but will play the individual file if you can decrypt it which is probably what you're describing).


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## JeremyFr

All 6 Series ATI/AMD video card's now passthrough full bitstream of Dolby True HD and DTS MA HD.


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