Some Newbie Questions

[Zitman]

Hi all,

I am new to GBPVR and have just installed it on the following kit: XP1800+, 512Mb, PVR350, Radeon 8500, QWare 5.1 Soundcard

I have a couple of queries though!

1 - I am assuming I need to connect the TV to the PVR350 and not the Radeon card.

2 - If I do this can I still get my sound from the optical outs on the sound card or do I have to use the audio outs on the PVR350.

3 - I have a bunch of AVI files which show up in the Video section but when I try to play them I just get a black screen. This could be a crippler for me as I have literally hundreds of AVI's and converting them would be a non starter.

Thats all I can think of for now.

Thanks in advance

Zitman

[cwills]

For best image quality, you will want to use the 350's output, instead of your Radeon, but if you do this, you will also need to use the audio outputs of the 350 if I'm not mistaken.  The AVI files will not play as the 350's hardware decoder cannot decode them as they are not mpeg2 files.  If you use GB-PVR in software mode through your Radeon's outputs, you can watch AVI files and use your optical outputs, but the quality is worse as it will be software decoded, and defeats the purpose of having the 350 in the first place, you would be using it as a 250.  You will have the same problem trying to get a DVD to play through the 350's output, black screen.

I'm running my HTPC with my 350's outputs on one input on my TV and my GeForce's outputs on another TV input, so I can switch between them for various things.  DVR on GB-PVR on 350's outputs, games, DVD's, multimedia on GeForce's outputs.  Totally unrelated, but if your receiver has analog multi-channel audio inputs, you may want to use them instead of an optical or digital coax from the PC if you plan on playing games.  5.1 surround sound games such as Doom 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, etc., output surround sound in analog, and do not send a proper digital signal, only 2ch stereo, as the computer games are designed for 5.1 computer speakers, which have analog inputs.