How best to watch HD content? (OT)

[Arthur Dent]

> On 17 January 2011 10:50, Arthur Dent <misc.lists at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> My question:
>> How do the good folks here watch HD content to best effect? Is there
>> something simple I can do, or do I need to invest (my limited funds) in
>> new technology?
>>
>
> As I wanted both a player capable of playing HD media and a Blu-Ray
> player I went with a slightly more expensive option and built myself a
> 2nd PC which is a dedicated HTPC connected to my TV via HDMI and my
> home theatre amp via optical audio for full surround sound.
>
> I researched it a lot (about 2 years ago) and settled on a motherboard
> which had a Radeon HD3200 graphics chipset which can easily deal with
> anything I throw at it.
>
> It runs Windows 7 Media Center plus PowerDVD for the Blu-Rays
>
> The system works amazingly well and I've not found anything it can't play
> yet.
>
> And if some new format comes out at any time in the future I'll be
> able to update it with ease.
>
> Lots of info here:
>
> http://www.missingremote.com/
>
> http://www.thehtpc.net/
>

Thank to to everyone (on and off list) for their suggestions. Some are a
little esoteric or a little advanced for me, but certainly food for
thought.

I was kind of hoping for an easy "set this option and it will play
automatically on your player" type of advice, but that was just wishful
thinking.

One option that I do have (although it is cumbersome because it involves
rumaging around the back of the set and swapping cables) is to use my
laptop. My work laptop is a Dell Inspiron (running Widows 7 unfortunately)
but it has an HDMI port. Connecting it to the TV I can play digital
content using the VLC player installed on it. The quality doesn't exactly
blow my socks off. Is this true HD?

Thanks again....

Mark