Tv Out Card Upgrade

[MerlinWerks]

Hi,

I'm interested in adding the Sage/Pvr-250 package to my setup. I would also like to see if I can improve the quality of the PC display on my TV. Currently, I have a dedicated PC mostly used as a jukebox with an ASUS V7100 Pro /T (Geforce 2 MX400), s-video out to Toshiba 32" TV. While this is usable, I was thinking about getting a FX 5200 Ultra to replace the ASUS.

Can I expect a significant improvement in TV picture quality using the FX 5200 over the ASUS?

Second, I understand that it is the later Detonator's that provide a finer control for the TV out display, i.e. adjusting the image to fill the TV. From what I've read the 44.03 driver is supposed to be very stable, is this version "late" enough to provide this functionality or can someone recommend a version?

Thanks!

[JJarmoc]

I haven't output a PC display to a standard def TV in years, so I may be way off base here. That said, I doubt you'll get a huge boost with any card. The TV is the limiting factor moreso than the video card.

[Amontillado]

I highly recommend the matrox 550, i think it is superiour to other cards I tested (gf2mx, radeon 7000/9200).
One of its great assets is that with the dvdmax feature you can display the interlaced image to your tv set, no more need to deinterlace (wich is still nessecary with all other cards i ever tested it since the scan lines dont allign properly).

I personaly think that that alone makes it completly worth it.
(but htis is offcourse the opion of a matrox addict)

[Crazedz]

I would say that upgrading from a Geforce 2 to any newer card is definatly worth it as Nvidia had problems early on with their TV out portion of their cards up till they came out with the Geforce 4 cards. So the TV out on a Geforce 2 or 3 will be inferior to the 4 or FX or any ATI or matrox cards.

Most of thoughs who have gone with a Geforce FX have been very happy with the results and some have said they tried ati and FX and liked the FX better though others have said they were happier with the ATI. I can't really comment on the Matrox cards as i myself haven't heard that much about them so im in a poor spot to say on them. Name branding may be playing some small part in their opinions though. You may want to try each of the 3 and possibly some others and see which one you like best.

So in short yes upgrade the card to whatever your confortable with be it a newer Geforce or ati or matrox card.

Edit : Also wanted to mention you don't have to go with a high priced Geforce card to get better video out as the video out on all the Geforce 4 cards are basicly the same and give same results and the same is true with the FX line. So basicly a Geforce 4 mx's tv out is the same as a Geforce 4 ti's tv out and that holds true for the FX compared with the FX ultra. So if your going FX you don't need to spend a fortune to get the best one unless you intend to use the system for other things as well. Like gaming then you would be better off with a higher quality FX card to get the extra performance boost.

[mlbdude]

I am using an ATI and the image quality is great.... Except for the deinterlacing artifacts. If I could playback the interlaced MPEG2 files and have them display correclty on my TV (like the Matrox cards) it would be great. The people at SnapStream tell me that it is a no brainer with their software - just disable deinterlacing and go fullscreen. No matter what I do though I still see scanlines.

I have a question for Matrox users. Can I have the TV ous as my primary monitor and have it properly display and interlaced video properly? I don't even have a monitor hooked up to this PC. Also, will I be able to still get to my desktop?

[Amontillado]

Originally posted by mlbdude
I have a question for Matrox users. Can I have the TV ous as my primary monitor and have it properly display and interlaced video properly? I don't even have a monitor hooked up to this PC. Also, will I be able to still get to my desktop?

Yep, no problem. I also have a tv connected. Only time you need a monitor is when you install the card for the first time, then connect a tv, select the country and enable clone mode and next reboot you can disconnect the monitor.

There is one restriction for at least the 450 and 550, you don't have overlay on the dualhead, means that you cant see a overlay image wenn you are in clone mode. Wenn a overlay is activated the dvdmax activates(wich makes teh interlaced display possible) but that means that at that moment you cant see the osd/program (so SageTV/Recorder).
I don't think the newer models have this restriction, but I'm not sure.
I personnally dont mind this, no need to see the osd wenn I'm watching something, and If i do need to see the program I just disable the preview and the desktop/program appears again.

[Narflex]

SageTV is capable of doing fully interlaced output on any video card that supports DXVA. Snapstream has a nasty limitation that the video card drivers MUST have a DX9 driver AND the video decoder you're using must be compatible with the DX9 version of DXVA. The Intervideo filters that come with the Hauppauge card do not support DXVA under DX9, so you'll definitely get a MUCH cleaner picture with SageTV than with Snapstream if you're using those.

This is also true for any other video decoder that doesn't support DXVA with DX9 (very few do support it at this point).

[mlbdude]

I am actually having some sucess with this. I have enabled overcan mode on my ATI9000 and started using the Elecard decords with deinterlacing turned off in the registry. I need to do more testing but so far the image looks great! Much better than the Intervideo using weave deinterlacing. I would love to use my free included Intervideo decoders to output an interlaced image, but so far I cannot figure out how to disable it.

[StylinLP]

Im searching for posts on users that use Elecard software decoder using their Radeon card to play back using either DVI out or RGB out to a compatible DVI or RGB in HDTV Plasma screen.

mlbdude. You also find the Hauppauge 250 software Mpeg2 decoder poor quality also? Its completely unwatchable on my system. ALl blurry and pixelated. If you install Elecard software you can pick that as a choice in SageTV video menu? It make a big differance?

I would use the Hauppauge350 s-video out but I was told thats a straight interlaced signal to be connected to normal interlaced tv sets. But if you have a high end Plasma screen or CRT projector then its better to use RGB or DVI deinterlaced signal from the videocard like my Radeon9600pro. Do I got that right?

[mlbdude]

I am only using a standard TV and I find it to work realy well. Maybe not so much the decoder, but the fact that it lets me use DScaler to deinterlace. I could not stand the blurry motion scenes from the other decorders deinterlacers. I am currently using Adaptive deinterlacing.

The pixelation problem may be a hauppauge driver or bitrate problem, so not sure if that wil be cured. You can try it for a couple weeks and would encourage you to do so.

Also, make sure you are outputing in 720x480p. You will be good results on a digital TV doing that.

Good luck

[pawn]

I played with an MX400 trying to single out a stuttering problem I have, and I promise you the picture quality was FAR inferior to my Radeon 7500. I don't believe the card supports hardware acceleration either, since the best CPU usage I could achieve was about 30% (compared to 12-15% with my Radeon).

So, yes, you most likely will want to upgrade, although I have no experience with NVIDA cards.

Also: is your 32" TV HD capable? Does it have component video inputs? If so, I STRONGLY recommend forgetting S-Video TV Out. Get yourself a transcoder and hook your TV up directly to the VGA port on the video card.

This combination isn't 5 times as good as S-Video, it's 50 times better.