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    Mini PCI-E Bluray H264/VC1/Mpeg 2 Decoder

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by meansizzler, Oct 24, 2008.

  1. meansizzler

    meansizzler Notebook Consultant

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    Been looking for one of these, might give it a shot in my sony TZ

    BroadCom BCM970010 BCM970012NB Mini PCI-e HD Decoder on eBay, also Graphics Video Cards, Graphics, Video TV Cards, Desktop PC Components, Computing (end time 29-Oct-08 10:15:27 GMT)

    Broadcom Ships PC Cards, Chipset For High-Def Playback -- High Definition -- InformationWeek

    Don't think you can buy them at retail only OEM level, eg.. Toshiba buys them at say 2000 Pieces a go..

    Nice to know there is a way now....

    Can anyone get an expresscard version?
     
  2. Tippey764

    Tippey764 Notebook Deity

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    If only i had two pci-e slots
     
  3. PhoenixFx

    PhoenixFx Notebook Virtuoso

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    Why do you want one ? What CPU / graphics do you have ? I think all modern Core 2 Duo CPUs (including ULV CPUs) can handle 720p and even 1080p HD H.264 decoding.
     
  4. meansizzler

    meansizzler Notebook Consultant

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    720P WMV/H264 @ 8mb/s, they max out at anything higher than that, 1080P WMV@16mb/s is out of the question or H264 @ 720P/60.. so playing back blu ray or hd discs is impossible...,

    If you want just the CPU to Decode you need at least 1.8ghz C2D, maybe even 1.6GHZmay work, but if you have a graphics card like intel x4500 or nvidia one that does hd decode then you can use a 1.2ghz c2d, unfortunately the intel 950 gpu in my TZ is pants, so may order the broadcom card and swap it with my 3g data card...

    Also imagine having a netbook that can play blu ray movies, well you heard it from me first...
     
  5. David Hooki

    David Hooki Newbie

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    Unless you can output to a larger and higher-resolution display, you may find that your results are worth neither the time nor expense.
     
  6. meansizzler

    meansizzler Notebook Consultant

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    I get that alot, must be your eyes and everyone elses, I could say the same for those you have 60 inch 1080P LCD's as up close the picture is pants, very grainy and pixelated so the results are bad unless you downgrade to a smaller/ low res display, I sit about 50 cm from the 11.1" 1366*768 LED Backlight display in my TZ, and I can see the difference between a SD and HD Picture, given my display is more than half the res of a 1080P display and 1/3 size of say a standard HD LCD TV eg 37", you get a much better pic from my display, now compare that to a 60" 1080P LCD TV my display is 5 times smaller yet outputs more than half the 1080P Resolution so my display will give a much better picture, when I view a 60 inch 1080P LCD I sit 100cm away from that, further back and the display is just too small, and at 100CM I see al the pixelation and grain from a 1080P Blu Ray, but at 50CM from my 11.1" Laptop display I see no grain or pixelation, just a sharp vivid image, the LED backlight helps alot..

    So bigger is not always better, a 37" LCD at 1366*768 is the sweet spot for large screen viewing, anything higher than that in terms of display size and res for LCD and you notice the Pixelation/Grain...

    If you want larger than 37" switch to a Plasma or Projector...

    LCD just does not cut it for large screen displays...

    To put it in simple terms, compared to a 60" 1080P LCD my display (11.1" 1366*768 LED LCD) does more than half the resolution yet it is 5 times smaller, so what do you think has the better pic?