DVD Audio and PC Monitors

The release of Dark Side Of The Moon in 5.1 made me decide to get a basic system for trying out multichannel sound. Unfortunately I wasn't given the full story when I bought the kit, and a question remains to be answered.

I got a Pioneer DV 656 multiregion DVD Player that plays DVD-Audio and SACD into the bargain with a Yamaha 6 channel reveiver and a set of surround speakers.

What they didn't tell me is that you need a television so that some menu functions can be negotiated before 5.1 sound can be accessed.

I haven't got a television, neither do I want one. However, I have got a decent PC. If I fitted a graphics card with S-Video input (connected to the S-Video output from the DV 656) would this enable me to use the PC monitor for following the menu functions?

Can anyone recommend a decent graphics card with S-Video or Scart input?

 

You should not need a monitor for SACD. For your PC, all you would need is a "TV" card with aux video in. That should work well enough.

 

I have an older monitor from back when I owned an Amiga connected to my SACD player via a composite video connector. Don't know if you have access to something similar. svideo would give you a better picture if I intend to use it for anything video related.

Otherwise the above mentioned TV card idea is probably a very good one.

 

Video Killed The Radio Star - what an excellent single. I hadn't played it for ages.

I am nervous about a TV card - I am worried that the TVLRO in Bristol would use it as an excuse to demand money for a TV License even though its sole purpose is to navigate SACD and DVD-A. The DV 656 defaults to stereo on both types. The composite connector sounds a good idea.

 

If you don't hook it up to the cable, they will never know that it is there. Just use the video ins.

 

So, do you really need some kind of monitor to play DVD-A, and the 5.1? If so, that's stupid. If this is true, it is why I frown on DVD-A as a format! My main stereo is not part of a home theater set-up, and nor do I want it to be.

 

I have my DVD-A player hooked up to an external TV Tuner/Converter box that my monitor is hooked up to, and there is a pass through to the computer. Basically, it converts the S-Video or Composite signal to RGB and allows you to use the monitor as a TV without turning on the computer. When the computer is on, I can either leave the converter box off, or I can turn it on and switch back and forth between the desktop and the external signal. I have found that this gives a much better picture than any internal video card/tuner I have yet seen. I use this to watch movies and for navigating DVD-A menus. The biggest advantage is really that you don't have to turn the computer on, which is the last thing you would want to do when playing back music or watching a movie. That fan noise is horrible. The model I own is the ViewSonic VB50HRTV. You can check their website for information on this and other models: http://www.viewsonic.com.

 

So, what's the answer, guys?

 

If you are using the Pioneer DV 656 then most certainly you need a monitor to navigate the menu to 5.1 sound be it SACD or DVD-Audio. The Viewsonic device mentioned by GoldenBoy sounds like it's just what I need, so I've emailed their UK distributor.

I've got very mixed feelings about DVD-Audio. I don't like the silly big jewel boxes that don't fit on the shelf. I'm not interested in the video elements. Does anyone make a universal player that doesn't need a TV or monitor to get at the 5.1 sound?

 

It's up to the manufacturer how the disc is made. When you have so many choices for audio tracks, there has to be a way to select the track you want to hear. If you have a DVD-A player, you can just pop most of the released DVD-A's in and you will get 5.1 out the 5.1 inputs and hi-rez stereo out the stereo out.

If you want to access the DTS or DD tracks, or if you want to hear any alternate tracks, you might need a monitor to select them.

That's why it is called DVD-A, the keyword here being VIDEO.

This is not a problem if you have the proper equipment.

 

So, to enjoy all of a DVD-A's eatures, I HAVE to have a monitor hooked up to my system.

Don't get mad at me for repeating this, but this is why a like SACD, no need for any HT setup.

 

But there is no video in DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), so how can video be the keyword?

 

Whatever...........If you guys don't like DVD-A, then that's cool, believe me.
(I still can't see how you can judge something that you have never used, but that's fine.)

SACD is great, DVD-A is a different thing. You really cannot compare them. The DVD-A, to me, is just more VERSATILE.

 

Well, how will you know which 5.1 mix you are accessing? DD or DTS?

 

Exactly my point. Some of us don't have, or want a TV or monitor in our music systems. DVD-A assumes that the end user is set up for it. That is a strong mark against DVD-A in my world.

 

Yes, a VERY strong mark against DVD-A, and one that has been little publicised.

 

Can I safely assume that most DVD-A fans are HT fans?

 

AFAIK, you will only get the Hi-Rez surround out the 5.1 outputs without using a menu. Thus, you must have a DVD-A player. That's the point! (You need an SACD player to get them off an SACD, so what's the big deal?)

Try it, you'll like it! You can't judge the format without the proper player. The DTS/DD normal tracks are not what you should be comparing to an SACD. If you want redbook tracks, get the CD.

To answer your question, Grant, most DVD-A fans (that I know) are surround sound fans, not nessessarily HT fans. However, many have decent HT setups!

 

Yes, OK, but what if one wants to hear the two-track stereo mix on a DVD-A. Do you need a monitor then?

 

No. You can just put it in the DVD player and press play.

CAUTION: The very first DVD-A discs did not do this. I think the LA Woman and Deep Purple required menus. However, they may have been redone. I am not sure. I would expect that since some 2004 automobiles are being fitted with DVD-A players, the use of a required menu may be a thing of the past. I suppose they could make it like a DVD-V, where you press the "AUDIO" button on the remote and the player toggles through the various audio formats/language.

It will be interesting to see how the auto based players are implemented.

 

Actually, most DVD-A's default to the 'Advanced Resolution' 5.1 mix. I have only one DVD-A that defaults to stereo and it is the EMI DVD-A of Ravel's Bolero, etc. by Jean Martinon w/ Orchestre De Paris. As far as needing a monitor or not, it may or may not be possible to navigate to the various mixes on a DVD-A (depending on how the disc was formatted) by simply using the Group button. Most DVD-A's have the 5.1 mix under Group 1 and the Stereo mix under Group 2 (or is it the other way around? I forget now). However, some DVD-A's use the 'Audio' function so that you can simply hit the Audio button and switch between Audio Program 1 or Audio Program 2 etc. As it stands today, most DVD-A players cannot access the DD/DTS mixes on the DVD-V portion of the disc (why would you want to anyway if you have a DVD-A player?) but there are some discs now, such as the REM Document DVD-A that make those alternate mixes available to all DVD players, or like the Ravel DVD-A I mentioned, they are double-sided so that the DVD-A program is on one side and the DVD-V program on the other. There is also the problem of some discs allowing you to access the individual tracks by inputting the track number, like you would with a cd, and some discs (or players) making you have to either use the 'track skip' button (which on some discs makes it relatively slow to go between tracks) or use an on-screen track-list to select the individual song. What makes it just about a necessity, IMO, to use a TV/Monitor and the on-screen menus for DVD-A's is that you never know which one of these methods is going to be used. You can really spend an inordinate amount of time, depending on the disc, trying to figure out just how to get a specific mix to play from disc to disc. What makes it even more frustrating is that, for the most part, none of these DVD-A's inform you as to which method/methods they use. Of course, some of these things vary from player to player as well.