SageTV Client, best Graphics card for low end machine?

[jhughesjr]

OK I am just so thoroughly confused now when it comes to knowing what type of graphics card will allow me to get the best performance from a low end machine running sagetv client.

I was looking at a relatively inexpensive ati 9550 because of it's directx9.1 support but I saw this in the specs for an even older ati 9000 that I have not seen in the specs for any of the 9550 or 9600 or any of the cards with directx9.1 support for that matter:

"Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoder
Delivers full-frame, full-screen MPEG-2 video on your desktop."

This machine is using a monitor not a TV so will the 9000 with mpeg2 hardware decoding work better for an old p3 or do all of the newer cards have mpeg2 hardware decoding and they just don't bother to mention it since it is commonplace?

Now this is for the sagetv client so I'm not sure what type of format the stream from the server comes

[buzzerbee]

I just got a PCI ATI 9200 for about $23, after rebate, at officedepot (on clearance so might be hard to come by (SKU is 668064- it's $49 with a $20 rebate but I had a $10 coupon)). My store still had 1 left yesterday.

this is the thread I had about the rest of the hardware
http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...ad.php?t=10912

it works ok --a couple skips here and there but in my case I decided it was so minor that I could live with it if it meant not taking time to burn a DVD with episodes every few days so I could watch them on a DVD player on that TV.

I might turn the PC back to win98 in a couple weeks when I have time.

Also, I'm on a wired connection. On wireless, it may make a difference.

As for the client, it's like you didn't know it was a client instead of the server, if that answers the question about the stream. It's invisible.

[GbrNole]

if you're using overlay then the radeon 9000 will be ok at 1024x768 but if you want to use vmr9 then you will need a radeon 9550 with 128-bit memory for best performance.

at least with the 9550 you will be able to add a dongle and connect to a hdtv by component if you want to. that to me is worth the few extra bucks.

[jhughesjr]

hmmm,
Sorry for not being clear with what I'm trying to have answered.
I have a habit of confusing people with my words.
I am not going to hook this machine up to a tv so I'm not concerned with the quality of the tv out.

First I'm trying to understand what format the data stream for the SageTV client is in.
Is it an mpeg2 stream?

Second if it is an mpeg2 stream does the SageTV client have the ability to offload the decoding of this stream to a hardware decoder and if so can it utilize the hardware decoding present in the ATI 9000.

Third I would like to know if newer video cards with directX 9.1 support ATI 9550, 9600 .... nvidia 5700, 6600 all have mpeg2 decoding capabilities built into them but just don't bother displaying it as a feature anymore.

I guess if I'm understanding correctly these questions handle the processing of the stream. If it is an mpeg stream, once the mpeg stream is decoded we then have the issue of trying to output the data to a display. I can see how the directx9.1 support helps with the rendering of the video, however with a card like the 9000 that claims to be able to deliver "full-screen MPEG-2 video on your desktop" does this give SageTV client the ability to offload ALL decoding and displaying of the stream to this video card and if so does SageTV have the ability to make use of this?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by jhughesjr

hmmm,
Sorry for not being clear with what I'm trying to have answered.
I have a habit of confusing people with my words.
I am not going to hook this machine up to a tv so I'm not concerned with the quality of the tv out.

If using a computer monitor you're going to want a nice card.

First I'm trying to understand what format the data stream for the SageTV client is in.
Is it an mpeg2 stream?

Yes.

Second if it is an mpeg2 stream does the SageTV client have the ability to offload the decoding of this stream to a hardware decoder and if so can it utilize the hardware decoding present in the ATI 9000.

This actually has nothing to do with Sage, it depends on the decoders you're using. The answer for most, is yes.

Third I would like to know if newer video cards with directX 9.1 support ATI 9550, 9600 .... nvidia 5700, 6600 all have mpeg2 decoding capabilities built into them but just don't bother displaying it as a feature anymore.

Yes, and they do still advertise it, nVidia is really heavy into advertising it's video stuff lately:
"SD/HD hardware accelerated decode and display processing"
http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html

I guess if I'm understanding correctly these questions handle the processing of the stream. If it is an mpeg stream, once the mpeg stream is decoded we then have the issue of trying to output the data to a display. I can see how the directx9.1 support helps with the rendering of the video, however with a card like the 9000 that claims to be able to deliver "full-screen MPEG-2 video on your desktop" does this give SageTV client the ability to offload ALL decoding and displaying of the stream to this video card and if so does SageTV have the ability to make use of this?

That's a stretch, NO video card, completely offloads decoding, you need a dedicated card like the Xcard for that.

[jhughesjr]

This actually has nothing to do with Sage, it depends on the decoders you're using. The answer for most, is yes.

Ah yes of course, this makes perfect sense.

It is up to the decoder software that I select to utilize calls that are present in the video card hardware.

I haven't checked the Directx 9.1 specifications but I'm thinking possibly part of directX9.1 includes mpeg decoding?

If not then it will be important for me to make sure I purchase a card that specifically states they perform mpeg2 decoding or sd/hd hardware accelerated display in nvidia's case.

[mlbdude]

I don't think you can purchase a card any longer that does not have mpeg2 hardware assist decoding.

[stanger89]

It's called DirectX Video Accelleration (DXVA) and has been part of DX since probably DX7

[jhughesjr]

Ok so a dvd decoder could make use of directx video accelleration which can be found on any graphics card with directx support since directX 7 which provides some limited hardware decoding capablities when compared to the capabilities offered on a card such as the 9000 that specifically says:
"Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoder
Delivers full-frame, full-screen MPEG-2 video on your desktop."

Or a 6600 with:
"SD/HD hardware accelerated decode and display processing"

Provided the decoder makes use of the specific calls that are found on these hardware cards?

[stanger89]

I think you're over thinking this