I'm interested in hearing your opinions if I have the best possible setup to watch my bluray rip movies from my HTPC/Gaming rig to my TV. First off, it's working but I'm wondering if I have it setup right to get the best audio and video experience.
HTPC/Gaming Rig:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
i5 3570k
16 gig ram
GTX 670
Creative Sound Blaster XFi
TV:
32" LG LE5400 (upgrading to 55" Plasma by Black Friday) I only use the TV for movies. I use my Dell 23" for gaming. I
PC is connected to my 32" LG TV via DVI-D/HDMI cable. Around 25 feet. After googling around I found out I need a full HDMI cable with no DVI-D adapter to get 120mz from PC to TV. I just ordered it so right now I know I'm only at 1080p 60hz streaming. My older graphics card didn't have HDMI, my gtx670 does. So that's why I was using adapter cable.
Audio is sent from my PC (Creative Sound Blaster XFi, way older model) to AVR (Harmon Kardon 1600) via S/PDIF/ to Toslink cable. In the sound card settings I have it setup to send audio using S/PDIF and 5.1 speakers. It gives me a choice between 2.1/4.1/5.1/7.1/Headphones.
For movie play back I only use VLC Media Player.
So this is it. Aside from the current 60hz streaming. Am I on the right track here to get the full HTPC experience?
- To get better sound, do I need to upgrade the older sound card?
- Is VLC Media Player adequate or is there another program I can use to get better quality video playback?
- Once I upgrade my TV, will VLC still provide best video playback quality?
- Do I need to use any other software to get better audio/video quality?
- Do I use AC3 filtering or is it even necessary in this setup?
