http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:57:05 +0000 MyBB http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Registration-open Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:48:32 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Registration-open http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Insync-with-Google-Docs Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:49:46 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Insync-with-Google-Docs Insync.

Pretty smart!]]> Insync.

Pretty smart!]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-WHS-Win-7-MCE-Xbox-360 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:09:09 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-WHS-Win-7-MCE-Xbox-360
I have WHS....got a 250GB drive in it which not part of the pool.....on that installed VMWare running Win 7 as the guest....and have configured Win 7 MCE on it to look up shares on the WHS. Also installed MyMovies on the Win 7 MCE within the VMWare......and also added the XBOX 360 as an extender so can stream to my xbox!.....happy days...although it is a bit slow......prob need to get a better CPU

Currents Spec of WHS - 3 x 1TB pooled drives......1 x 250GB non-pooled....4GB RAM ....2GB allocated to WHS .....2GB to VMware running Win7.......CPU is only a dual core amd.....1 core to host and 1 to guest.....

..looking to get a AMD 960T quad core.....2cores to host and 2 to the vmware/win7....hopefull will speed it up a bit....can be unlocked to 6 cores too !...which might come in handy if i install DVBlink on server too!

....all on a gigabit network

....oh the Win7MCE on the WHS is set up as the Recording Broker for all the other Windows 7 Pc''s around the house.....which are eMachines ER1401's...]]>
I have WHS....got a 250GB drive in it which not part of the pool.....on that installed VMWare running Win 7 as the guest....and have configured Win 7 MCE on it to look up shares on the WHS. Also installed MyMovies on the Win 7 MCE within the VMWare......and also added the XBOX 360 as an extender so can stream to my xbox!.....happy days...although it is a bit slow......prob need to get a better CPU

Currents Spec of WHS - 3 x 1TB pooled drives......1 x 250GB non-pooled....4GB RAM ....2GB allocated to WHS .....2GB to VMware running Win7.......CPU is only a dual core amd.....1 core to host and 1 to guest.....

..looking to get a AMD 960T quad core.....2cores to host and 2 to the vmware/win7....hopefull will speed it up a bit....can be unlocked to 6 cores too !...which might come in handy if i install DVBlink on server too!

....all on a gigabit network

....oh the Win7MCE on the WHS is set up as the Recording Broker for all the other Windows 7 Pc''s around the house.....which are eMachines ER1401's...]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Harmony-Automation-Infra-Red-interface-Alpha-test Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:20:36 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Harmony-Automation-Infra-Red-interface-Alpha-test
I am involved with Harmony Home Automation software, and am "Homer", the moderator at the Harmony forum.

Harmony allows you to control X10 and Bye Bye Standby home automation devices (Plus many other systems) from your pc, and allows control between automation systems (i.e. a BBSB remote control can turn on an X10 light). You can add CCTV, 1-wire temperature monitoring, voice control etc. to that. The "Pro" version of Harmony includes a MCE module that works in Windows 7 (32 bit) too.

We are about to start an Infra Red control Alpha test - see this thread, which should eliminate the need for an expensive remote control for my home theater equipment.

If you are interested or have any questions, please join us on the Harmony forum. If you have specific requirements or ideas on what you want it to do, then join the Alpha test, and make your requirements known.

It's not free to join, but there will be a sizeable discount for joining the Alpha test, compared to buying the hardware/software later.

If you want to see pictures from my own Harmony system, then take a look at my ebay listings for "Harmony Home Automation".]]>
I am involved with Harmony Home Automation software, and am "Homer", the moderator at the Harmony forum.

Harmony allows you to control X10 and Bye Bye Standby home automation devices (Plus many other systems) from your pc, and allows control between automation systems (i.e. a BBSB remote control can turn on an X10 light). You can add CCTV, 1-wire temperature monitoring, voice control etc. to that. The "Pro" version of Harmony includes a MCE module that works in Windows 7 (32 bit) too.

We are about to start an Infra Red control Alpha test - see this thread, which should eliminate the need for an expensive remote control for my home theater equipment.

If you are interested or have any questions, please join us on the Harmony forum. If you have specific requirements or ideas on what you want it to do, then join the Alpha test, and make your requirements known.

It's not free to join, but there will be a sizeable discount for joining the Alpha test, compared to buying the hardware/software later.

If you want to see pictures from my own Harmony system, then take a look at my ebay listings for "Harmony Home Automation".]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Hackintosh-Tonymac86 Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:49:22 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Hackintosh-Tonymac86
Installed 10.7.2 Lion in about 20 mins and all running well.

Got 2 screens running and will attempt a triple display when I get a Displayport to HDMI adaptor in the week.

Will start a thread detailing the install another time but it's built using:

• GPU: 1GB Gigabyte HD 6850 OC
• Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3, Intel Z68
• CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K
• HDD: 60GB Corsair Force Series 3
• Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 612S CPU Cooler
• RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance
  

Total: about £650]]>
Installed 10.7.2 Lion in about 20 mins and all running well.

Got 2 screens running and will attempt a triple display when I get a Displayport to HDMI adaptor in the week.

Will start a thread detailing the install another time but it's built using:

• GPU: 1GB Gigabyte HD 6850 OC
• Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3, Intel Z68
• CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K
• HDD: 60GB Corsair Force Series 3
• Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 612S CPU Cooler
• RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance
  

Total: about £650]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Yes-I-am-still-here-Sort-of Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:27:20 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Yes-I-am-still-here-Sort-of
Anyway, building myself a Hackintosh (or two) as I type, so off to dissapear for another couple of weeks over Xmas... ]]>
Anyway, building myself a Hackintosh (or two) as I type, so off to dissapear for another couple of weeks over Xmas... ]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-PCI-to-PCI-e-adapter Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:51:33 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-PCI-to-PCI-e-adapter
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150619756121

anyone tried on of these or similar ???]]>
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150619756121

anyone tried on of these or similar ???]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Windows-8-and-WMC Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:35:37 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Windows-8-and-WMC
For me, I use this a lot in regards to Media Browser, and playing music videos for the kids etc.

Apparently, Microsoft believe that WMC is now underused with only around 6% of the whole customer base regularly using this program. Other points of interest is that some video codec and Dolby Digital will not be included when it is released within the finished product which is all to do with licencing and keeping costs down for them.

Maybe for home cinema enthusiasts such as ourselves Windows is now the lesser product and time to start looking for alternatives.

Further information on this can be found here:-

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/media-cen...-away/3860]]>
For me, I use this a lot in regards to Media Browser, and playing music videos for the kids etc.

Apparently, Microsoft believe that WMC is now underused with only around 6% of the whole customer base regularly using this program. Other points of interest is that some video codec and Dolby Digital will not be included when it is released within the finished product which is all to do with licencing and keeping costs down for them.

Maybe for home cinema enthusiasts such as ourselves Windows is now the lesser product and time to start looking for alternatives.

Further information on this can be found here:-

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/media-cen...-away/3860]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Rip-Steve-Jobs Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:45:09 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Rip-Steve-Jobs His imagination has helped to shape and move the world.
Rip]]> His imagination has helped to shape and move the world.
Rip]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Cheap-PlayTV-tuners Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:10:45 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Cheap-PlayTV-tuners
Got 5 tuners now bit of an over kill for me!]]>
Got 5 tuners now bit of an over kill for me!]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-cooling Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:49:06 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-cooling he wants everything in a wooden cabinet with doors.
in the cabinet there will be a
amp
ps3
xbox
dvd player
soon there will be a htpc.

I was thinking of using 4 computer fans in the side panal. (2 each side)
then connect them to usb then usb into a Iphone plug.

Is this the best way or is there something a bit easyer.]]> he wants everything in a wooden cabinet with doors.
in the cabinet there will be a
amp
ps3
xbox
dvd player
soon there will be a htpc.

I was thinking of using 4 computer fans in the side panal. (2 each side)
then connect them to usb then usb into a Iphone plug.

Is this the best way or is there something a bit easyer.]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Newbie-questions Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:43:27 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Newbie-questions Really like the setup - I'm a newbie (looking to do something similar in our own hse) with questions!!
With your setup can different films be watched in the lounge/kitchen/bedroom at the same time? If so how?
The speakers in bathroom: where/how do you select/control the music to be listened to? Again can you listen to different music in both zones at the same time?
TIA
CC]]> Really like the setup - I'm a newbie (looking to do something similar in our own hse) with questions!!
With your setup can different films be watched in the lounge/kitchen/bedroom at the same time? If so how?
The speakers in bathroom: where/how do you select/control the music to be listened to? Again can you listen to different music in both zones at the same time?
TIA
CC]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Registration-suspended Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:14:33 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Registration-suspended

They're joining as quick as I can delete them so the doors have been locked until I can figure out how to block them.

User accounts that I think belong to spammers will also be deleted over the coming week, so if you I have deleted you in error, please let me know via an email.]]>

They're joining as quick as I can delete them so the doors have been locked until I can figure out how to block them.

User accounts that I think belong to spammers will also be deleted over the coming week, so if you I have deleted you in error, please let me know via an email.]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Deleted-user-accounts Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:09:23 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Deleted-user-accounts
If I accidently delete yours and you're not a spammer then it's an honest mistake. I know the web and most other forums are 99% spammers, but I'm taking a stand against it here on MediaCenterHouse! Bastards

So if you believe I've deleted you in error, please let email me.]]>
If I accidently delete yours and you're not a spammer then it's an honest mistake. I know the web and most other forums are 99% spammers, but I'm taking a stand against it here on MediaCenterHouse! Bastards

So if you believe I've deleted you in error, please let email me.]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-DVB-T2-dual-tuner Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:39:22 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-DVB-T2-dual-tuner

http://www.buydvb.net/tbs6280-pcie-dvbt2...d_p38.html

cant decide between this or the quad dvb-s2 tuner......decisions decisions !!]]>

http://www.buydvb.net/tbs6280-pcie-dvbt2...d_p38.html

cant decide between this or the quad dvb-s2 tuner......decisions decisions !!]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-My-Blu-Ray-Ripper-Reveiws Wed, 27 Jul 2011 06:29:25 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-My-Blu-Ray-Ripper-Reveiws
The Rippers
I started with some research and downloaded six or seven different programs designed for ripping blu-rays that were recommended some where on the web.
I almost immediately discarded all but three rippers. Two were immediately ruled out after just examining the UI and noticing the lack of customization options. Another three were ruled out based on the fact they required a separate program called AnyDVD to run at all. This didn't bother me too much but further investigation found that AnyDVD costs $60+ in itself and does not offer the most user friendly experience.
It's also worth noting I did not try out the beta of DVD Catalyst because it also requires AnyDVD or a similar program running in unison both of which would be added cost and added hassle. If your only looking to rip DVDs then DVD Catalyst for only $10 is the way to go from what I hear.
What I ended up with were three blu-ray ripping trials.
DVDFab - $60
Pavtube - $49
Aunsoft - $49

At first glance Pavtube and Aunsoft seemed almost identical in UI but they performed very different.

Customization
DVDFab was the first ripper I tried and I was very disappointed with the lack of control when ripping the blu-rays. There were nine different profiles to choose from when selecting .mp4 output format. Five of which had either 'ipad' or 'iphone' in the name and had very low max resolution outputs. In the end the only profile that was workable was the basic profile for h264 and for some reason did not support 1920x1080 resolution.
Pavtube and Aunsoft had, like I mentioned, identical UIs and actually shared identical customization options. In addition to having many more built in profiles for everything from different Android phones and IPhones to gaming consoles and even power points, it also had basic profiles for common video formats.
Where both Pavtube and Aunsoft set themselves apart from DVDFab was in the customization of these profiles. While DVDFab attempted to give me control of resolution, frame rate, bit rate, and audio, Pavtube and Aunsoft actually allowed me to change these to an assortment of options including 1920x1080 at multiple frame rates.

Testing
In order to get a good base line of these programs I popped in Avatar on blu-ray into my blu-ray rom and selected a chapter to use as testing so I didn't need to rip the entire movie every time.
From here on you will see me post settings in the form:
Codec: [codec used, file type always .mp4]
Resolution: [resolution]
Bit Rate: [bit rate]
Size: [file size generated]
Speed: [time it took to rip, in minutes]
In DVDFab I was only able to make one good base test due to the lack of customization. I set the settings to:
Codec: h264
Resolution: 1680x946
Bit Rate: 5000
Size: 130mb
Speed: 9:33
This test led me to believe that DVDFab was a possibility because the picture looked phenomenal with good 3d depth and very little artifacting around moving objects. The problem was that it was laggy. It took 10-15 seconds for what appeared to be buffering before the clip would smooth out and then I would get bullet lag quiet often.
I was confident this would be improved if I played with the settings but found that quality had to really be reduced in order for the clip to smooth out.
DVDFab was essentially ruled out.
I then put together some test batches for both Pavtube and Aunsoft. I chose to go with four different profiles for each program. h264 with HD standards, h264 base standards, MPEG 4 (xvid) with HD standards, and MPEG 4 (xvid) with base standards. These were the final settings and results:
Note: The chapter I chose was 3:34 long and my computer is using an Nvidia GTX 570 paired with an Intel E6750 2.66GHz dual core processor. You can use this information to judge the speed it took to rip these files. CUDA acceleration was on for all but the first video, CUDA is an Nvidia technology that speeds up the encoding and decoding of h264 files which is the reason the h264 files were significantly faster than the xvid files.
PavTube
4 files
Codec: h264 HD
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 9000
Size: 230mb
Speed: 12:57 (CUDA acceleration was off)
Codec: MPEG(xvid) HD
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 12000
Size: 307mb
Speed: 8:40
Codec: h264
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 9000
Size: 232mb
Speed: 3:20
Codec: MPEG(xvid)
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 12000
Size: 307mb
Speed: 8:40

Aunsoft
4 files
Codec: h264 HD
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 9000
Size: 232mb
Speed: 3:19
Codec: MPEG(xvid) HD
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 12000
Size: 307mb
Speed: 8:40
Codec: h264
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 9000
Size: 232mb
Speed: 3:20
Codec: MPEG(xvid)
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 12000
Size: 307mb
Speed: 8:47
As you can see the file sizes and speeds were almost identical between Aunsoft and Pavtube. Except of course for the first one where I forgot to turn CUDA acceleration on for the ripping.

Quality
Now here is where it got difficult. I know right off the bat people would ask me why I even tried the xvid codecs and instead just accepted that h264 would be the better codec. But I actually found the quality of the xvid looked better than the h264. After watching these clips over and over again both on the Xoom and hooked up to my HD TV, I settled on either the h264 with the HD standard and the xvid with the base line standards. Don't ask me why these two because I couldn't tell ya.
I like to think I have a pretty good eye for video quality, I currently sell HD TVs and can see the difference between 100k contrast and 120k contrast if that gives me any sort of justificaton.
I eventually agreed (with my girlfriend who was helping me judge) that the MPEG 4 with the xvid codec ripped by Pavtube was the best quality of the bunch. The colors were much more vibrant on my 42 inch plasma while the edges of moving objects were not blurred at all.

Results
What was important to me:
Quality of the Video
Compatibility with the Xoom
Usability of the program
What was not important to me:
Time to rip (I'm happy doing one movie overnight every night if need be)
Size - to an extent (quality is more important)
After reviewing every aspect of these programs that was important to me I can honestly say that Pavtube gave the best quality and also the best user experience. The reason it beat out Aunsoft is the fact that Aunsoft would convert some of my videos (the ones with the HD standards) to a 4:3 aspect ratio and also four tests made by Aunsoft failed to load on the Xoom while only one Pavtube test failed to load.
So I will now begin ripping my entire blu-ray collection into MPEG 4 formats at 12000 bit rate. But note at these settings your probably looking at 10GBs per movie so these settings are for people who share what is and isn't important for me. Even if this is not what your looking for I would still recommend Pavtube as the ripper of choice but instead of the xvid codec at 12000 bit rate I would go with the h264 codec at 9000 bit rate because you won't sacrifice clarity, just color.

Tips
If you are looking to test video quality for yourself look for a chapter when under Title Mode (on the Pavtube UI) that is rather short but has a good display of colorful moving objects and rip that chapter into different formats and settings.
When ripping the full movie switch the UI to File Mode and rip only the main file. The reason I recommend switching to File Mode is because if you rip both the title and all the chapters under Title Mode it will actually rip the movie twice. If you read my previous edits you will have seen how this doubled my file size.
Manually set the frame rate to what your looking for, I recommend matching the source. But do not use original frame rate when ripping the full movie, for me it got it wrong and played my movie in what appeared to be fast forward.

Epilogue
I need to note that I'm in no way affiliated with any of the above programs and did this testing because I couldn't find any reviews that were not sponsored by the programs themselves.
I'm entirely new to compression and ripping so this was a learning experience for me and hope that my terminology and assumptions of how the process works is accurate.
As a CS major I'm looking to get familiar with technical writing and I hope this review was readable, informative, and to the point.
Everything above is simply my opinions based on the time I spent with these programs]]>
The Rippers
I started with some research and downloaded six or seven different programs designed for ripping blu-rays that were recommended some where on the web.
I almost immediately discarded all but three rippers. Two were immediately ruled out after just examining the UI and noticing the lack of customization options. Another three were ruled out based on the fact they required a separate program called AnyDVD to run at all. This didn't bother me too much but further investigation found that AnyDVD costs $60+ in itself and does not offer the most user friendly experience.
It's also worth noting I did not try out the beta of DVD Catalyst because it also requires AnyDVD or a similar program running in unison both of which would be added cost and added hassle. If your only looking to rip DVDs then DVD Catalyst for only $10 is the way to go from what I hear.
What I ended up with were three blu-ray ripping trials.
DVDFab - $60
Pavtube - $49
Aunsoft - $49

At first glance Pavtube and Aunsoft seemed almost identical in UI but they performed very different.

Customization
DVDFab was the first ripper I tried and I was very disappointed with the lack of control when ripping the blu-rays. There were nine different profiles to choose from when selecting .mp4 output format. Five of which had either 'ipad' or 'iphone' in the name and had very low max resolution outputs. In the end the only profile that was workable was the basic profile for h264 and for some reason did not support 1920x1080 resolution.
Pavtube and Aunsoft had, like I mentioned, identical UIs and actually shared identical customization options. In addition to having many more built in profiles for everything from different Android phones and IPhones to gaming consoles and even power points, it also had basic profiles for common video formats.
Where both Pavtube and Aunsoft set themselves apart from DVDFab was in the customization of these profiles. While DVDFab attempted to give me control of resolution, frame rate, bit rate, and audio, Pavtube and Aunsoft actually allowed me to change these to an assortment of options including 1920x1080 at multiple frame rates.

Testing
In order to get a good base line of these programs I popped in Avatar on blu-ray into my blu-ray rom and selected a chapter to use as testing so I didn't need to rip the entire movie every time.
From here on you will see me post settings in the form:
Codec: [codec used, file type always .mp4]
Resolution: [resolution]
Bit Rate: [bit rate]
Size: [file size generated]
Speed: [time it took to rip, in minutes]
In DVDFab I was only able to make one good base test due to the lack of customization. I set the settings to:
Codec: h264
Resolution: 1680x946
Bit Rate: 5000
Size: 130mb
Speed: 9:33
This test led me to believe that DVDFab was a possibility because the picture looked phenomenal with good 3d depth and very little artifacting around moving objects. The problem was that it was laggy. It took 10-15 seconds for what appeared to be buffering before the clip would smooth out and then I would get bullet lag quiet often.
I was confident this would be improved if I played with the settings but found that quality had to really be reduced in order for the clip to smooth out.
DVDFab was essentially ruled out.
I then put together some test batches for both Pavtube and Aunsoft. I chose to go with four different profiles for each program. h264 with HD standards, h264 base standards, MPEG 4 (xvid) with HD standards, and MPEG 4 (xvid) with base standards. These were the final settings and results:
Note: The chapter I chose was 3:34 long and my computer is using an Nvidia GTX 570 paired with an Intel E6750 2.66GHz dual core processor. You can use this information to judge the speed it took to rip these files. CUDA acceleration was on for all but the first video, CUDA is an Nvidia technology that speeds up the encoding and decoding of h264 files which is the reason the h264 files were significantly faster than the xvid files.
PavTube
4 files
Codec: h264 HD
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 9000
Size: 230mb
Speed: 12:57 (CUDA acceleration was off)
Codec: MPEG(xvid) HD
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 12000
Size: 307mb
Speed: 8:40
Codec: h264
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 9000
Size: 232mb
Speed: 3:20
Codec: MPEG(xvid)
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 12000
Size: 307mb
Speed: 8:40

Aunsoft
4 files
Codec: h264 HD
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 9000
Size: 232mb
Speed: 3:19
Codec: MPEG(xvid) HD
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 12000
Size: 307mb
Speed: 8:40
Codec: h264
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 9000
Size: 232mb
Speed: 3:20
Codec: MPEG(xvid)
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bit Rate: 12000
Size: 307mb
Speed: 8:47
As you can see the file sizes and speeds were almost identical between Aunsoft and Pavtube. Except of course for the first one where I forgot to turn CUDA acceleration on for the ripping.

Quality
Now here is where it got difficult. I know right off the bat people would ask me why I even tried the xvid codecs and instead just accepted that h264 would be the better codec. But I actually found the quality of the xvid looked better than the h264. After watching these clips over and over again both on the Xoom and hooked up to my HD TV, I settled on either the h264 with the HD standard and the xvid with the base line standards. Don't ask me why these two because I couldn't tell ya.
I like to think I have a pretty good eye for video quality, I currently sell HD TVs and can see the difference between 100k contrast and 120k contrast if that gives me any sort of justificaton.
I eventually agreed (with my girlfriend who was helping me judge) that the MPEG 4 with the xvid codec ripped by Pavtube was the best quality of the bunch. The colors were much more vibrant on my 42 inch plasma while the edges of moving objects were not blurred at all.

Results
What was important to me:
Quality of the Video
Compatibility with the Xoom
Usability of the program
What was not important to me:
Time to rip (I'm happy doing one movie overnight every night if need be)
Size - to an extent (quality is more important)
After reviewing every aspect of these programs that was important to me I can honestly say that Pavtube gave the best quality and also the best user experience. The reason it beat out Aunsoft is the fact that Aunsoft would convert some of my videos (the ones with the HD standards) to a 4:3 aspect ratio and also four tests made by Aunsoft failed to load on the Xoom while only one Pavtube test failed to load.
So I will now begin ripping my entire blu-ray collection into MPEG 4 formats at 12000 bit rate. But note at these settings your probably looking at 10GBs per movie so these settings are for people who share what is and isn't important for me. Even if this is not what your looking for I would still recommend Pavtube as the ripper of choice but instead of the xvid codec at 12000 bit rate I would go with the h264 codec at 9000 bit rate because you won't sacrifice clarity, just color.

Tips
If you are looking to test video quality for yourself look for a chapter when under Title Mode (on the Pavtube UI) that is rather short but has a good display of colorful moving objects and rip that chapter into different formats and settings.
When ripping the full movie switch the UI to File Mode and rip only the main file. The reason I recommend switching to File Mode is because if you rip both the title and all the chapters under Title Mode it will actually rip the movie twice. If you read my previous edits you will have seen how this doubled my file size.
Manually set the frame rate to what your looking for, I recommend matching the source. But do not use original frame rate when ripping the full movie, for me it got it wrong and played my movie in what appeared to be fast forward.

Epilogue
I need to note that I'm in no way affiliated with any of the above programs and did this testing because I couldn't find any reviews that were not sponsored by the programs themselves.
I'm entirely new to compression and ripping so this was a learning experience for me and hope that my terminology and assumptions of how the process works is accurate.
As a CS major I'm looking to get familiar with technical writing and I hope this review was readable, informative, and to the point.
Everything above is simply my opinions based on the time I spent with these programs]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Will-my-wireless-keyboard-and-mouse-work-when-i-reinstall-windows Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:51:15 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Will-my-wireless-keyboard-and-mouse-work-when-i-reinstall-windows
Thanks]]>
Thanks]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Blu-ray-iso-question Sat, 16 Jul 2011 10:36:14 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Blu-ray-iso-question http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Media-center-resolution-issue Sat, 16 Jul 2011 10:32:34 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-Media-center-resolution-issue Media center changing.

When the media centre turns on the resolution is fine. It is connected to a Sony 3500es av amp, if I change the input and then change back to the media centre input it is no longer full screen and instead a small window in the middle of the screen.

If I then shut down it goes back to full screen before shutting down.

Has anyone come across this problem?

Thanks for any advice]]> Media center changing.

When the media centre turns on the resolution is fine. It is connected to a Sony 3500es av amp, if I change the input and then change back to the media centre input it is no longer full screen and instead a small window in the middle of the screen.

If I then shut down it goes back to full screen before shutting down.

Has anyone come across this problem?

Thanks for any advice]]> http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-dvbs2-quad-tuner Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:56:20 +0000 http://www.mediacenterhouse.com/forum/Thread-dvbs2-quad-tuner
http://www.buydvb.net/tbs-6984-pcie-dvbs...d_p33.html

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http://www.buydvb.net/tbs-6984-pcie-dvbs...d_p33.html

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