Blu Ray from the HTPC

I'm with you on the HTPC. I've done the same thing. I use a video card that passes the audio through the HDMI and I run that to the receiver for decoding and amplification. I may go to a seperate amp when I can and only use the receiver for processing. I'm looking forward to checking out the Asus HDAV1.3 audio card once it's out. The software I use on the PC upscales the video as nicely as any of the hardware processors I've aeen and the added processin g power of the CPU allows a Blu-Ray or standard DVD to begin play within 3-5 secound of closing the tray. Much nicer that waiting as long as 3 minutes from dedicated players.

Hi Patrickp that's great! What type of video card do you use? I just upgraded / added a new HTPC with a QUAD core processor installed using a Geforce 256 bit 1 GB ram 8800GT Nvidia for video. Referencing my CPU usage, the PC cruises between 4% to 9% when playing Blu rays.

Maybe next year the true HDMI audio/ video cards will be reasonable enough for me to buy and go direct for both video and audio without the need of my SPDIF audio.

I'm quite happy with the results for now. Being able to up convert and change standard DVD viewing with a few adjustments is indispensable. You should try the GOM player as well. It has so many adjustments, it is almost confusing.lol

You can even slow or speed up the audio portion of a movie if it seems to be out of sync...very cool indeed!

I plan to network my entire home with the HTPCs and flat panels. This way I can play movies, music or internet broadcast at will in any room I have a TV mounted.

Netflix instant downloads viewing is pretty good on the setup as well. I never run out of any thing to watch..that is for sure!

I'm running a ati type hd4850 right now. Previously I was using a hd3650 with a passive cooler and I discovered it had issues passing audio trough the HDMI port so I had to swap it out. I'm into that one for about $150, a little more than I needed to spend on a video card but it also plays games quite well.

I do need to check out the GOM player, it sounds like it may be the way to go. I'm running PowerDVD right now. At the time it was one of the few programs that supported all the HD audio formats and did BD Live as well.

I have started down the whole house thing myself but as it turns out I'll likely just end up with it in the Master BR and the living room. I figure if I need anything else I'll just stream it to a laptop and move that whereever I am at the time. I only have one flat panel in the master right now and I'm leaning towards a projector for the living room. I also added a HDHomerun box to the network so I have HD broadcast TV anywhere I have access to my wireless network.
Yep, Netflix was one of the reasons I went with HTPC's also. I currenlty have all my music ripped in lossless along with the TV tuner, Blu Ray/DVD and netflix it pretty well takes care of everything. As a extra, email, surfing, and games.
We are in a minority right now but when everyone sees what can be done with HTPC's there will more of them out there. Blu-Ray on PC's was lagging a bit behind but it's there now. High def audio and high quality DACs & decoders are still more difficult to come by but they are on the way and a person can always stream to an audio receiver or processor for now.
The Asus Xonar HDAV will be 1.3a compliant, do all the HD decoding and have top of the line Burr-Browns. An optional card will allow the user to play with different op-amps by simply plug in sockets. That woukd be fun.

Holy smokes Patrickp!! You are definitley on game. Yup I'm in for around $160 on my video card as well.

I agree ..we are in the minority for sure! It is only a matter of time though.

I've got a panel in the master BR and the great room. I have 3 more to mount on the walls(kitchen, master bath and guest BR. It's kinda crazy I know...since I'm the only one in the house. lol.. makes for one heck of a bachelor pad though. ;-)

I always get comments from visitors about how cool it is to watch TV,surf the net, play music, video games and movies all from the same interface at the same time. They really get a kick out of it when I have 3 different movies and the TV broadcast playing on the screen in the great room at the same time. lol

BD is my preferred playback software for Blu ray. I tried the other two on the market. Both were over complicated IMHO compared to Cyberlink BD.

The card you mentioned sounds like a winner!Hopefully the video card makers will get this stuff rolling and make it more affordable for everyone.

Where's a good place too pick up one of those HDHomerun boxes?

Thanks