Computer as DVD player

[azianguy99]

Hey everyone, this is my first post!

I'm looking for some insight on my HT setup, focusing on the dvd player.

I have a 36" sony wega XBR 400 and am looking to hook up a progressive scan DVD player to it. I say the SONY 9000, but it's a little pricey.(1200 +) Instead, i decided to try and make my DVD-ROM from my computer output to a tv, since the image is done in one pass onto the monitor. So, this is what i am about to do.

Going to buy a Audioauthority VGA-component converter box, hook that up to the VGA output of my Computers Video Card into the component in on my Tv. Pretty simple right?

My concern is with the scaling and the quality of the dvd software. Will the picture be worse than the Sony 9000? I'm not quite familiar with dvd computer software. Would a MPEG-2 decoder card work better than My Video Card? (ati Radeon VE) Please bring up any problems you can think of.

Thanks

[spigidygak]

Screw the vga converter box, you'll lose a lot of quality from that. Go for a hollywood + dvd decoder card. You get hardware rendering and the card itself has an s-video output. Real good output from the card to a tv, tried it a couple times.

[azianguy99]

Yea i have the hollywood plus, but, component is higher quality that S-Video, and if i output using S-video, the image will not be progressive, it will be interlaced.

[spigidygak]

Thats true, but you're gonna have to pony up a lot for a high quality vga converter box then. So I guess if you are willing to spend the dough go for it.

[caddelma]

I'm not sure what a good convertor box runs, but you may be better off buying a cheap dvd player till you get the sony. You can get a decent low end (like a Toshiba 1600, that I have) w/ component outputs for around $150. Just a thought.

[azianguy99]

What's up everyone,

I just finished up setting up my rig, and i gotta tell you, the picture is CRISP. Just as good as any other progressive scan Player. But, the software encoder i use makes the backround fluctuate sometimes. I think i need a better software decoder. Anyone know of any good ones?
I am currently using windvd 2000.

Also, i can't seem to get the output of 1080i to work on my TV. I can get 720p but i feel that 1080i may be better.