For play back on PC only? On a Windows 7 PC with the specs listed below what is the best player for playing back video on this PC shot in HD using an XHA1 in 60i? I am currently rendering to and playing back in Windows Media player default template settings but the playback quality is pretty poor even when set to best or 100% quality. Is there a different or better player for PC play back other than Windows Media Player?

Or is there a preferred render setting for playback on the PC other than the default Windows Media Player render settings or should I even be using Media Player? At this point I am pretty disgusted after upgrading to this new PC and could really use some help.

I am also noticing since replacing this PC a couple weeks ago that video I previously rendered as Win media files now look pretty poor as well, they looked awesome on the old PC but now look horrible.

Sony Vegas Pro 10
Windows 7 64 bit machine
XPS 8300 Intel Core i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz)
12GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHZ, 2x4GB/2x2GB
AMD Radeon HD 6770 Graphics card

You're asking a couple of different questions here. You're asking about playback software, but you're also asking about rendering.

WMP will play back most anything, including the raw HDV files you're capturing from your camera. Play those. I'm sure they'll look much better than what you're seeing with your rendered files.

But any media player pretty much only shows you what the file gives it, so if you're seeing poor quality, it's most likely in the render.

For HD playback on a computer, I generally tend toward the Sony AVC codec. I used to use the MainConcept AVC codec, but I've found the Sony codec gives me better results lately.

WMP will play it fine.

Or, you can render back to 60i HDV.