torrent question
 

"A friend of mine" has a couple of films on his computer that are avi's. when he hooks up his computer to his 40inch lcd (via the svideo input) the pic quality is pretty poor, with a noticable pause or hickup every 2 to 3 sec's.

He also has a PS3 that is linked to the screen via an HDMI cable.

Is there any way of making the image of the film better by either burning to disk using some sort of software or dumping the film onto a memory stick and running it through the PS3?

cheers,

Sounds like when he watches stuff from his PC he probably needs to close some programs or kill a process or two. If he has his email open or a virus scanner on the PC they can cause that problem. It might help to increase the memory too.

About the PS3, maybe, won't know until you try.

Not much. Poor source cant be helped that much. Tell him to look for a better quality copy.

I watch Top Gear on my 37" LCD, picture quality is about equal to cable, no hickups. I hook up video through the S-video connection on my laptop and audio with a cord from my headphone jack that has RCAs on the other end. Overall the connection doesn't seem as sharp as a regular PC monitor, I need to try a PC cable, as my TV has a jack.

I think some newer laptops have HDMI. That would be ideal.

cheers blokes, does svideo kill the image as much as everyone says it does?
as for the running apps causing the hickup, I remember trying to burn an avi that had the same hickup but it still showed on the dvd... I was hoping that maybe I was not doing something that i should do when trying to burn or view avi files.

It's just poor quality source. There is some HD downloadable now although I think windows reduces the resolution.

In order of signal quality,

SD (Standard Def)

Composite (Yellow, Red, White RCA)

S-Video

Component (RGB)

Hi Def

Component or HDMI. Some argue HDMI is better but depending on your equipment mix Component is as good or better. HDMI is digital so passes encryption, Component does not.

A good TV should also include VGA as an input source.

If possible use a better source than the s-video.

Hiccups could be throughput issue, processor to slow, slow 4500 or 5400 rpm hard drive or just a crappy AVI.

My guess is the signal and hiccups are due to a crappy AVI. How long is the segment and what is the file size of the AVI?

stomach, not sure what you mean by 'how long is the segment' the file size (as are all the files) is nearly always 700mb

I've got a DV-410V-K hooked up to my TV. Well worth the $90 I paid for it. It has a USB port on the front. I download the avi file that I want to watch, put in on a USB flash drive and stick it in the DVD player. Very good quality with no pauses or hesitation.

I would think your "friend" might want to take a look at what else is running on his PC.

30, 60, 90 minutes?

And resolution?

Can figure out the approx bitrate from that info.

Like mp3's if bitrate is low so is quality.

Some TV's, (actually a lot these days) like my Samsung have "Media" capability, USB port to hook up cameras and flash media.

Hook you (sorry, "friends") PC to LCD with VGA cable and it will be better. Even better, if you have DVI output, you can use DVI-HDMI adapter.