Any Home Theater nuts on this forum?

Ooh! I am...I love HT and I just got my 2nd Mac (a tangerine iBook; first: Performa 550), but my main system right now is my Dell.

turboSPE

Edit: I forgot to answer the 2nd part of the question: I would never ever consider doing any kind of movie watching on a PC or Mac...that's what my HT is for



[ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: turboSPE ]

I love home theatre but not on my Mac. No matter what you do you can't call it a theatre when it is on a 15 - 22" screen on a desk.

I have a PowerMac G4 Dual 500 just as a movie server that plays on my home theater. It has 380GB of movies and is plugged into the 1100 watts of home theater goodness.

Picture of Setup

[ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: tullamore ]

[ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: tullamore ]

I'm waiting for my new Harmony Internet remote to come in the mail. I'm tired of my Pronto and can't wait to try this new activity based remote. It seems more like a Mac experience to me, although you currently need a PC to program it. Check out the review
RemoteCentral.com.

I haven't added a computer to the mix yet, I guess I'm not too sure where to start and what the benefits would be!

Is it possible to output a DTS or DD signal via a digital output on a Mac?

The DVD player on the Mac does not support DTS.

Uhh not on my Mac, thats not really worth it.

I have a 27" TV, Aiwa Surround Sound System, Pioneer DVD Player.

Not bad for an 18 year-old eh?

Although there are sound cards with 5.1 capable chipsets and Mac drivers, Apple essentially defeats it by passing AC3 data (DD codec) via ATA. A more technical explanation of this is given in this article: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/audio/mi...view/index.html
scroll down to the heading, "Apple and AC3"

The other issue for me is the liimited number of pixel resolutions and refresh rates available with the current crop of display cards and drivers. My display's sweet spot is 960p at 72Hz for film based DVD. I have not found a way to achieve this on a Mac. PC'S with the right config can make pixel by pixel resolution adjustments and refresh rate changes in the fractions of Hz.

Ha ha, I had a Aiwa surround system. It was my first taste of Home theatre. I ended up giving it to my sister when I got my new stuff.

One of Apple's biggest problems is its lack of digital outputs. For a computer called the "digital hub", they're sorely lacking in digital output.

Mike

The more intresting part is that most of their computers don't have a DVD drive as they found more people would rather have a CD-R.

Lack of digital outputs??? You have digital audio, Firewire, and USB. What else is there that you would need. You can find a USB to digital audio adapter for most types of sound devices.

While a 5.1 (or better) system would be cool on a PC/Mac, I'd just as soon keep them separate. My Mac is in my office, on a desk, whereas my surround system is in the living room, where I (and others) can relax. But to each his own - I'm lucky to have space for both.

I have Snell surrounds hooked up to a Denon receiver (along with a Linn turntable for my creaky old LPs) and a 27" TV. Can't wait to get a plasma. Anyone out there have any interesting set-ups?

No offence but that is one of the oddest/ugliest things I have ever seen.

This is an idiotic statement. Macs are supposed to be the BEST in digital content. Well, where's the digital audio input/output and 5.1 content creation in FCP? WE DON'T HAVE DIGITAL AUDIO. Hell, even Dell LAPTOPS have digital audio out!! You realize that there are some of us that are trying to make DVDs? Well, it would be nice if:
1) Final Cut Pro supported 5.1 audio
2) Macs supported digital audio input/output
3) Games on the PC kick the Mac's ass.
4) Stereo is obsolete.

I think it's time Apple got its ass in gear and gave us 5.1 digital output.

Mike

[ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: starman ]

Actually, your statement is the one that comes off as idiotic. His opinion is that he would rather keep the systems separate and that is his opinion and I agree.

We are not talking about digital movie making here, we are talking about having a home theatre.

Any real home theatre buff (including myself) would laugh their ass off at calling ANY computer setup a "home theatre". It has nothing to do with 5.1 sound output or not, so many other factors make a home theatre and dinky computer screens with software video decoding would not even come close.

No ****, sherlock. See #2, #3, #4. What I'm trying to say is that the Mac has ZERO support for the kinds of things that PC users have all the time.

Although I agree that PCs as the MAIN part of a home theater is silly, there's a LOT of great ideas with placing a PC in a home theater setup.

Here's a perfect example - you put together a home theater with a projection TV. Now, of course you use a set-top DVD player, but wouldn't it be nice to throw a few trailers on before the movie? It's a nice touch. Too bad that the Mac doesn't support DD and/or DTS output, so the best you could do is stereo. PCs have support for that. Also, using DVD Profiler to catalog DVDs is a very nice way to browse using the projector TV. OOPS! No support for that on the Mac.

I love the Mac, but SOMEONE has to get EAX, DD, DTS, and some friggin' catalogging software for it!

I suggest checking avsforum.com and hometheterforum.com to see some of the great things people have done with PCs in a home theater environment.

Mike

[ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: starman ]

You come off as such a big shot it is hard to believe you are as old as you are.

So what you are saying is that you want Mac's to come with built in 5.1 support so you can watch a trailer on your big screen TV from your computer? First, almost no trailers come in 5.1 sound even on DVD's. Second, do you have any idea what size and quality you need for a projection TV and 5.1 DTS sound?

Lots of movies are edited on Mac�s just fine. Have a look at the next star wars movie for one.

Here is a better question, do you even have a home theatre?

Maybe it's because I know what I'm talking about.

Maybe it's because I used to be a projectionist in a movie theater.

Maybe it's because I own a 35mm projector with SEVERAL films on film. You want to talk about home theater..how about a REAL home theater??

Maybe it's because I've been dealing with stereo->home theater setups for over 20 years.



Ok, right there you know NOTHING about home theater. I have all my trailers listed. I have TWO HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN in some kind of 5.1 audio, so when you say something like that, it just goes to show you know squat. Thanks for playing.



Uh, yes. How about this:

Zenith PRO880X 16x9 projector
Denon AVR-5800
JVC 723GD
600+ DVDs
50+ Laserdiscs remaining
Definitive Tech speakers
NINE AND A HALF FOOT diagonal screen.

So yeah, I have a liiiiiitle bit of an idea. Star Wars looks great on it, especially on 35mm (without "Episode IV". What a treat!).



Get a life.

Mike

[ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: starman ]

I have a cheap but nice system that lives in my family room, includes
Kenwood 500x5 DTS DD Opitcal Coaxial imputs and three other inputs
Toshiba DVD player with DTS DD component video S video and RCS along with Coaxial Digital Audio
a rather small 75 watt 8 inch sub by Yamaha
two nice model six Cambridge Sound Works book shelf speakers as the fronts
two decentmodel 17 Cambridge Sound Works book shelf speakers as the surround sound.
and a Pioneer center chanel speaker
All of this to a really old but great Zenith 27 monitor. that we got 7 years ago and still gives a great picture and has S video and RCA inputs.
All of this for under 600 bucks no bad. I can watch any DVD in 5.1 DD or DST, including my PS2 using the optical output

The next thing that we will up date is to a 36 or even a nice 52 inch flat screen, maby even widescreen if money allows. Also I would like to get a bigger sub something like a 10 inch 150 watt, with great sound at 30hz now thats some bass.

So your answer to my "do you even have a home theatre" is "get a life"? Ya, that is the home theatre I thought you had

Not to mention if having a life means spell checking "Wookiee" then I am glad I don't have a life.

Anyway, here is mine. about $15,000 dollers worth of high end equipment that I bought myself at the age of 24, so I am not just talk.

Projection 40' Widescreen Progressive scan HDTV
Marantz SR-7000 over receaver 100 watts per 6.1 channels
Progressive scan DVD player
Energy Encore 6.1 speakers.
100 Watt energy Sub
about 130 DVD's
HDTV Satellite

I do enjoy this line by you though:
"Ok, right there you know NOTHING about home theater. I have all my trailers listed. I have TWO HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN in some kind of 5.1 audio, so when you say something like that, it just goes to show you know squat. Thanks for playing."

Oh my sisters 16 year old stoned boyfriend worked as a projectonist so if that is supposed to impress anyone you need to try again.

Thanks for playing and enjoy the picts





[ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: Leia Shoots Like a Girl ]

Uh, I already listed my equipment, dumbass. Maybe if you'd learn to read you'd see that.

By the way, that's not a 40' screen you have, it's 40".



Any moron can be a projectionist in a chain. I was a projectionist in an ARTS CENTER. There's a difference. First off, some of the films I ran were my own (Star Wars, Tron, CE3K, Battlestar Galactica 3-hour TV version - only 2 known to exist on 35mm). The stoned 16 year olds in your local Loews don't know the difference between an arc lamp and an aperature plate.

Tell your sister to set her standards a bit higher.



Is that the "Superbit" version of "The Fifth Element"? *snicker*

By the way, there's something set wrong on your system. The aspect ratio of The Fifth Element is 2.35:1, and even on a 16x9 TV with the 2.35 source in anamorphic mode, you should get very thin black bars on the top and bottom of the picture.

UPDATE: I ran downstairs and threw T5E on my 16x9 set, and matched it to the same frame as what you showed. Your sides are most DEFINITELY cut off. Your system is improperly set up. You may have the equipment but you don't know dick about what you own.



Is that like a "sheep hearder"? You really are the master of Star Wars misspellings.

Mike

[ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: starman ]

[ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: starman ]

That was the best you could do? You point out a ' instead of a ". Man, you really need to try harder

BTW I heard my sister likes 30 something know it all men with big moles on their face. Know anyone?

I was hoping you would notice that "hearder" bit, point proven.

[ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: Leia Shoots Like a Girl ]

No, as you notice I already pointed out that you don't know how to properly set up your own equipment.

Mike

Oh, is the TV supposed to face the wall or the viewer cuz I thought I set it up right? You wanna come over a fix it? You can meet my sister at the same time as you will definitely raise her standards

I think the stoner boyfriend will do a better job than you at setting up your $15,000 of equipment. Enjoy it.



Mike

If I'm an idiot because I have no personal interest in watching or editing 5.1 on my Mac, in my office, as opposed to my living room, then I plead guilty.

Tell me - are the citizens of New Jersey still complaining that the garbage doesn't get delivered on time?

Whoa, TMI

Ya, working as a projectionist doesn't have much qualifications. Funny how you can comment that everything is wrong, you are right (without knowing why) and then run off and then hide.

Hey, you are a Genius!

P.S. I am dying to know how you deciphered problems with my home theatre from a picture of half of it. Special face mole powers?

Hey Guys,

I?m sorry this thread has turned so negative. I was hoping to find people on this forum who shared the same interests as me, namely Macintosh and Home Theater but also shared my disappointment that they are, for the time being, mutually exclusive pursuits. My first post regarding this subject was in the ?Muti-Media? section of this forum and it got one whole response. I have posted on other Mac forums with no responses. I am coming to the conclusion that there is little interest among Mac users in home theater computing.

I believe that there might be some misunderstanding here of what I mean by a Home Theater Computer (HTPC) and some explanation might be in order.

A HTPC is without question, the highest bang for the buck investment you could make in any component in your HT. You can build a box for around $1.5K (buy one pre-built for $2.5K) that can:

1) Perform video scaling as well as (some say even better than) a $20K stand alone scaler.
2) View and record HDTV signals.
3) De-interlace NTSC broadcast signals.
4) Perform audio playback of CD music, MP3, DTS CD, DAD 24/96 audio format.
5) Other,although less important to me, functions such as 3D Gaming and internet PC games on your HT display.


Of course the down side to all this is having to deal with Windblows.

I have recently upgraded my HT display to Sony VPH-G70 and in order to take full advantage of its resolving power, my DVDO line doubler will have to be replaced with a scaler which is way beyond my budget. A HTPC is the only solution and Wintel is the only platform and being a Mac person that really sucks.

If you wish to educate yourself about the state of the art of HTPC?s try the HTPC FAQ at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/foru...p?s=&forumid=26

Doug

I already told you why. A 2.35:1 Panavision movie like The Fifth Element should have thin black lines on the top and bottom of a 16x9 screen when in anamorphic mode. Since the picture of your TV shows NO black bars, and the sides are cut off, it's obvious that you set your TV to some kind of "zoom" mode that scales the picture to fill the screen vertically at the cost of losing 25% of the picture (12.5% on each side - the ratio of 1.78:1 vs. 2.35:1).

Also, like I said, I checked that same frame on my PROPERLY calibrated system and you're losing quite a bit on either side of the film frame.

The more you deny that your system is set up improperly, the more idiotic you look.

Mike

I love theaters, love movies, love popcorn

Attempting to bring this thread back on topic...

Here's why there are few home theaters operated by Macs and why many are run by peecees: (from multichannel.com)

Doug,
You're right, you cannot have a Mac in a home theater setup and epect it to perform like a PC can. The PC's #1 advantage is the availability of hardware that outputs digital audio, playback of individual .VOB files, and scaling features. That's why I have a PC in my home theater setup. Dealing with Windows really isn't that bad in that environment. Once it's finished, you'll really have a nice system.

My PC only does a fraction of what it's capable of. I'm working on remote control scripting so that I can get rid of the mouse altogether when dealing with the selecting items directly from the screen. Also, I'm quite ticked off that I can't queue up more then one Quicktime movie at a time in "Present Full Screen" mode. That's one thing Apple really needs to get fixed ASAP. I can queue up several .VOB files at once using PowerDVD and that helps tremendously.

Mike

Ha ha ha! The more you claim to know something about something you don't know the more idiotic YOU look! Then you try to back out of it with your "comic book guy" name calling superior attitude.

My TV is set up perfectly! yes the movie is 2:25 anamorphic. My TV has several settings, Full, theatre wide 1, 2 and 3.

If I watch the movie in Full then yes it does have the black bars on the top and bottom. I and everyone I watch it with do not like those bars to the TV has an option to stretch the film vertically only (theatre wide 2). Because it is anamorphic it fills out the black perfectly and you LOSE NOTHING on the sides. Zero. It is not zoomed. You really think I would have all this equipment and DVD�s and watch a dvd with the wrong settings so that I crop the sides off on my widescreen TV. Please, take a picture of the same frame of your perfect setup and show me. I do wonder how you know what frame I uses though, can you really see the counter on the DVD player?

Again it is obvious you don't have an HDTV or have used a widescreen set so stop trying to impress anyone with something you don't have any experience with "comic book guy".

I think you mean 2.35:1 anamorphic.



That's only true on 1.85:1 movies, not 2.35:1 movies. Do the math. How do you fit a 2.35:1 image in a 1.78:1 box and lose nothing and retain the same aspect ratio when you fill the screen vertically? I've already seen that you're losing 25% of the image on T5E.



It's not that difficult. There are only a handful of shots with The Diva and of those, only ONE shot with her hands and fingers in that position.



I already said I have a 16x9 projector. Go back to 4th grade because you obviously can't read (we've already seen your spelling mistakes).

Mike

[ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: starman ]

"Worst home theater ever!"

btw, I have that same remote.

He is right. You have three options to display that film on that TV. Most avid Theater buffs would choose his, with the black bands on the top. This is becouse it preserves everything from the original film. The choice you made is to squeeze the film on to your TV. This in my personal opinion the worst choice as requires distorting the image. The third chice is to crop the sides.

The worst is when you take a 4/3 film or TV show and stretch it to fit a widescreen set.

But the setup allows you to choose your preference for a reason. It is your choice to do it the way you like it. But it is hardly the choice most high end video buffs like to do it.

No, you are wrong again because you don't have one. When you watch a 1:85 movie you watch it in FULL and it fills the screen. If it is anamorphic then you still see it full screen but with more resolution.

If you stretch a 1:85 movie then you will cut the top and bottom off.

If I take a 2:35 anamorphic film and stretch it you say I am losing 25% of the picture. You are retarded. I do lose a tiny amount top and bottom but unnoticeable amounts, that they even take into account for loss. I do NOT lose anything on the sides like you suggest.

Again how can you see what frame my movie is on? Can you please take a picture of your "proper" set up?

BTW what a sad life you must live to go and try to figure out what frame my movie is on not to mention you spell check everything I type because your points are so week

"Ooh, your powers of deduction are exceptional. I can't allow you to waste them here when there are so many crimes going unsolved at this very moment. Go, go, for the good of the city."

Well here I thought I'd find an interesting thread only to find a lot of bickering. After reading through these responses I have to say that starman's 100% right. Leia, I don't know where you got your information from, but you're definitely wrong about a lot of things. Not only that but I see that your responses show you're probably not the person you posted the pictures from (markt@mac.com based on the html source). Nobody that spends that kind of cash on equipment backpedals the way you do. Starman's already stated that he has the equipment, so why do you say he doesn't? Also, you contradict yourself. I'd suggest checking out some of the home theater FAQ's on the internet and educating yourself about these kinds of issues.

God you're an idiot also. You want me to take another picture of my apartment with your stupid comments in front of the TV, or perhaps hooked up to it? Did you happen to see that my sig and the pictures are on the same iDisk?

You want to tell me why you say I don't have the equipment and how I dare ask what starman has?

I would like to see what you have and for you to show me your setup. Also point out how I am wrong or Back peddle .

You also want me to take anything you say seriously when your user name and sig is just a copy of mine (and a horrible one at that)? For all we know you are "starman" trying to back himself up.

loser

[ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: Leia Shoots Like a Girl ]

Give it up, Leia. Three people here already told you that you're wrong about your setup. It's simple math. Stop acting like such a child.

Mike

Your the name caller, spell checker. Who is telling me my setup is wrong other then you and the guy who copied me (and is probably you also) and doesn't tell me how it is wrong.

SHOW US A PICTURE OF YOUR SETUP WITH THE CORRECT SETTINGS AND STOP PLAYING BIG SHOT!!!

Then I can fix my terribly broken setup and you can be right.

Leia,

It is quite simple. You are trying to fit a movie shot in 2.35:1 on to a set that is 1.78:1

The ONLY way to do this is to Crop, Stretch, or have black bands.

Starman noticed your setup did not have the black bands. In order to preserve the movie it would HAVE to have the bands. Becouse you chose to stretch it does not presere the original look of the film.

sorry, double

[ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: climber ]

this thread is hilarious. one guy points out facts, the other guy cries and calls him a name-caller. classic.

*yawn*

Yes, you really think I don't know that? Like I said "I DON'T LIKE THE BLACK BARS" I would rather stretch it and lose no horizontal picture and a tiny amount of vertical. This is not an improper setup or wrong, it is just a preference. Starman (comic book guy) is saying that I zoomed it and cutting off 25% of the picture which I am NOT. So what is so wrong here? Oh jealously.

He even registers another name copying mine to back himself up

And yes, Phizilla is right, this is hylarious.

How do you display 4:3 aspect TV on that set. Do you stretch it or live with the bars??