Note to self

[kingandy]

Tempting.

(Elaboration: Recently somebody at work gave me their home cinema speaker set - just the speakers, no player. I've since been experiencing difficulties getting hold of a Dolby 5.1 DVD player that doesn't come with speakers of its own...)

EDITED TO ADD: With my web search enhanced by Alex's mention of the PS3's digital sound capabilities, I've managed to locate the name of the device I actually need - a surround sound amp or "AV Receiver". This sits between your DVD player (or PS3) and the speakers, splitting the digital sound signal into its appropriate channels - most package-based 'Home Cinema' systems have this built into the DVD player, along with the five-plus-one pairs of speaker outs. Given the price of these decoders (the cheapest one at Richer Sounds is £70) it seems unlikely that the DVD player above has a decent on-board one. Maybe I'll splash out on an amp anyway, since a) the current DVD player won't be immediately redundant, and b) I'll be able to use it with a fancy-ass games console if and when.

Comments

[stsquad.livejournal.com]

Or you could get a PS3 ;-)

[kingandy]

ooh, does the PS3 have 5.1 speaker outs?

[stsquad.livejournal.com]

It has HDMI which I think can carry 5.1. IIRC there is alos an optical out as well although I haven't had a chance to look at it.

I only mention the PS3 because if it weren't for the fact mine is Japanese we wouldn't watch anything on the DVD player. All DivX's are now watched in upscaled HD via the PS3 and a external USB harddrive. Takes a lot less space than all those CD roms.

[kingandy]

Ah, well, we already have a DVD player - two actually - it's just that they only have a couple of speaker outs each. From internetting, I gather that in order to make use of a PS3's surround sound one would need to connect it to a surround sound amp by way of the optical data connector.

Could your PS3 read the movie files directly from your computer via wireless network?

[stsquad.livejournal.com]

Yep, it supports DNLA servers which there are a number around. The only reason I don't have one running at the moment is I obviously want an Open Source Linux one. That and I don't actually run a server any more :-)

I think it supports DAAP as well for music.