HD playback

[tommi462]

I'm not a total newbie to Kubuntu, but I don't know a lot and that's why I'm posting here. The thing is, I was about to build a cheap PC for Kubuntu use only. By cheap, I mean really cheap. There was just one thing that came to my mind just now and that was the fact that I might want to play some HD material on this computer at one point or another and I was wondering what were the recommended system requirements for HD playback with Kubuntu. Can anyone help me with this? I tried google, but couldn't find anything with first 4 tries so I gave that up

[askrieger]

Re: HD playback

Please define "HD". Are you talking about HD video? If so you need a display controller that can handle video out. Also, you will probably find that despite all the "media center" bull, computers also make lousy tv sets because they don't have tv tuners unless you buy one especially for that purpose, in which case you might as well buy a tv set. Also, HDTV sets make lousy computer monitors because they are low resolution and slow. No gamer would use an HDTV as a display.

If you mean something else by "HD", we can be a lot more help if you are more specific.

[tommi462]

Re: HD playback

Please define "HD". Are you talking about HD video? If so you need a display controller that can handle video out. Also, you will probably find that despite all the "media center" bull, computers also make lousy tv sets because they don't have tv tuners unless you buy one especially for that purpose, in which case you might as well buy a tv set. Also, HDTV sets make lousy computer monitors because they are low resolution and slow. No gamer would use an HDTV as a display.

If you mean something else by "HD", we can be a lot more help if you are more specific.

I meant like watching 720p/1080p video. I can't be more specific than that since I don't really know what I would be watching, I just had a thought that I might want to watch something, even if it's just movie trailers from Apple or something.

I'm not planning on using the computer as a HTPC or anything so I don't need to worry about the TV aspect. I meant more like what kind of a processor and graphics card should I get and how much system memory do I need, etc.

[askrieger]

Re: HD playback

Virtually any modern video card will run at broadcast tv refresh rates and resolutions. Almost all modern flat panel monitors are 1280x1024 of greater, so 1024x768 @ 50 or 60Hz doesn't stretch the video card. The real problem is that 1280/1024 is not an integer (neither is 1280/768) so your fancy flat panel winds up looking lousier than an old fashioned analog TV set. So you wind up using a subset of your screen. In which case, you're not getting what you paid for. Hence, my comments about computers and TV sets not mixing.

The worst mistake is that some newbs think that their "mucho kilobux" wall mount TV set is going to be a great computer monitor (Look at how much they paid for it!). Then they find out that it's just a very big low-res monitor.