X800XT pictured.

[Striker]

I can confirm (having seen X800 XT in one of its launch events in Europe) that it doesnt have two power connectors.

As a matter of fact, judging from what I saw, Shuttle PC owners should be able to accommodate it fairly easily

More on Tuesday.

 

[DemoCoder]

Oh and this should interest you... Looks like we won't see a true HDMI interface from NV anytime soon.

List of HDMI Adopters

Well, Nvidia uses Silicon Image transmitters for some of their lineup, so they may have decided to use external HDMI Silicon Image transmitters this time around.

The most important part is HDCP support. Right now I have a pretty expensive projector which does not support HDMI or HDCP. I can use HDMI via a converter cable. The problem is, if Hollywood ever starts enforcing HDCP, I'll be screwed unless Sanyo can save me with a firmware update.

HDMI is important for the future. People are clamoring for A/V receivers that support DVI switching today (most only handle component), so we've got a ways to go. But I'm hoping all vendors eventually support HDMI, HDCP, and 1394.

(and I wish DVI vendors would stop trying to sell DVI-Link as a replacement for 1394)

 

[Pete]

Looks like I was right in assuming the X800 used the same connector as that HP thingy:

Damage[/url]]Oh, and in case you're wondering, that yellow, four-pin port next to the aux power connector is a composite video-in connector. ATI says this connector will likely be omitted from North American versions of the card, but the Euros will get them.

A puzzling pity only the EU will get it.

 

[ShePearl]

Right now I have a pretty expensive projector which does not support HDMI or HDCP. I can use HDMI via a converter cable. The problem is, if Hollywood ever starts enforcing HDCP, I'll be screwed unless Sanyo can save me with a firmware update.

HDCP is hardware change. It cannot be enabled/disabled/supported/unsupported in firmware level.

 

[T2k]

I'm talking about what it takes to build a capture card. If ATI, for example, builds a tuner which can just grab the raw ATSC Mpeg-2 stream from OTA and stash it to the HD, then all you need is the ability to handle streaming 18mbps/s to the harddrive. Thus, there are no real CPU limitations if you can just pull the ATSC digital signals out of the air and store them for playback.

But not everyone wants recompressed MPEG-2. Most home theater enthusiasts who capture Satellite/Cable will opt for a combo-tuner/PVR like the DirectTivo, which offers much higher quality than a stand alone TiVo unit.

The reason why you want IEEE1394 is that this is the standard used by set-top boxes and HDTV Tuners to stream the raw compressed MPEG-2 signal to appliances like DVHS which can record HDTV.

Thus, the ideal HDTV card would feature 1394 input. But it also needs HDMI/Coax in, because not everyone has a tuner with 1394 output. Yes, in the case of HDMI/Coax in, you'd have to have a tuner and do capture/encode.

A dedicated 500gb PVR unit can store roughly 50 hrs of non-recompressed HDTV (original 18mbps stream), which is about what the new DirectTV HD-Tivo can do. Most HTPC users will probably opt for raw storage for recent shows, but convert to MPEG-4/H.264 of older shows, OR, they will use 1394 output to record to a DVHS, or burn a DVD.

I totally agree.
Let me add a new point: since HD-Tivo is being introduced with such a ridiculously high price tag, I started thinking about building my own HD PVR solution. I just recently found this:
http://www.aja.com/products_Io.html

Namely io LA which has YPrPb/RGB input but it seems it lacks the native HD... at least according to this http://www.aja.com/pdfs/AJA_IoLALDbook2-18-04b.pdf doc

Not sure, I have to check at B&H Sunday...

If I can find something around the same price like HDTivo, I'm fine, makes more sense to me than gettin' an HDTivo.

I'm still hunting for somethind SDI-only HD capture around ~$1000 because you can get an HDTV RGB to SDI converter from AJA around $2-300 and that's it, you're fine.

 

[T2k]

Right now I have a pretty expensive projector which does not support HDMI or HDCP. I can use HDMI via a converter cable. The problem is, if Hollywood ever starts enforcing HDCP, I'll be screwed unless Sanyo can save me with a firmware update.

HDCP is hardware change. It cannot be enabled/disabled/supported/unsupported in firmware level.

Why not? What if it's already built-in but inactive yet?

 

[DemoCoder]

T2K, people in TivoCommunity are claiming you can get $250+ off the cost of the HDTivo if you ask for it. Check out the TivoCommunity forums on it.