[mythtv-users] Upscaling standalone DVD vs. MythTV

[Michael T. Dean]

On 02/16/2007 10:18 AM, Bill Chmura wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:29:29 -0500 "jason maxwell" wrote:
>   
>> I'm considering buying a nice upscaling DVD player. I'm looking at the
>> OPPO 971 and 981 players. How does a well built HTPC running Myth
>> compete as a player? I know there's a ton of variables there, but just
>> say I had a very nice rig, using HDMI inputs to my 720p HDTV. Would I,
>> could I, possibly be happy enough with the playback to not want or
>> need the standalone player?
>>
>> I was unable to find any benchmarks or direct comparisons between a
>> linux media PC and an Oppo player. So any pointers toward further
>> reading, or strait up opinions are very appreciated.
>> thanks,
>>     
> Another thing to consider is the load on your box.  Right now I am forced to use my back-end as my front-end also - which has three tuners.  If I up-scaled a DVD it could put an unnecessary load on the box and cause who knows what kind of problems it could cause with recordings and such.
>
> I have a cheaper up-scaling DVD player ($100US range), and it works pretty well.  I would not say the resulting content is awesome looking, but it does not look bad on the 1080 hidef screen.  I can try it tonight with some stuff and let you know.  Of course I am going up to 1080p from myth, and 1080i on the player itself.

Scaling is (for all practical purposes) free--no additional load on your 
system--if you have Xv support...  So, the only load on the system is 
the load involved in playing back MPEG-2 at up to 720x{480,576}@60fps 
which isn't much of a load on modern processors.

Mike