Basic Video Question

[DKT]

Now that the 6600 AGP cards are coming out, I'm trying to decide whether to get one or not. I'm not sure I completely understand all of the video issues around desktop viewing, games, SageTV and HDTV. These cards support component output (480p or 1080i).

Here's what I think:
1) HDTV (1920 x 1080) resolution is impractical for desktop - too small.
2) HDTV (1920 x 1080) resolution great for games
3) SageTV output resolution 720 x 480i, so HTPC output of 1920 x 1080 resolution no impact on SageTV quality
4) If/when SageTV supports HDTV cards, then HDTV resolution great for replay of HDTV content.

Do I have the concept correct? If so, then for me the decision would be whether we game that much to justify, the pain to switch resolutions for various activities on the HTPC, and whether I want to get an HDTV capture card within SageTV (?) or outside SageTV.

Any advice, and/or corrections would be greatly appreciated.

[stanger89]

You're mostly correct, except about 3. If you're talking 480i S/Video output vs 1080i Component output, I can tell you that 1080i Component is WAY better than S/Video.

[DKT]

I forgot to mention that I'm using a HDTV. I thought I saw a thread that said that SageTV output was fixed, so regardless of what the computer resolution is set to, won't the replay of recorded TV or DVD's be output at the SageTV output resolution?

http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...ality+settings

[stanger89]

The recording size is fixed, SD is 480i, however on playback the decoders deinterlace your recordings to 480p, and then your video card scales it to whatever resolution you're running (1080i in your example).

[ToxMox]

Originally Posted by stanger89

The recording size is fixed, SD is 480i, however on playback the decoders deinterlace your recordings to 480p, and then your video card scales it to whatever resolution you're running (1080i in your example).

Just to add to that the SageTV interface and OSD stuff will render at whatever resolution you're outputting as well. Looks super at 480p etc.

[DKT]

Thanks. Under the scenario where I was using the 6600 @ 1080i with resize in ffdshow would this improve the picture quality?

Or without ffdshow, could I use AA and AF with the 6600 to improve the picture quality and scale the output to 1080i?

Or use ffdshow and AA and AF and improve the picture quality?

[stanger89]

I think the answer to those questions is yes. However in my setup, with my display, and IMO, ffdshow is not significantly better than the "built in" scaling on either my Radeon 9500 or my Geforce 6800. You'll have to try yourself and decide, but I'm definitely happy with my 6800's scaling and AA+AF.

[PeteL]

I don't mean to steal this thread, but since we are talking about 6600's I have a question...

Does the 6600's video acceleration (for MPEG-2 and WMV) equal or act similarly to the PVR-350's (or Xcard's) MPEG-2 decoder via s-video? Or am I way off base?

[stanger89]

No the 6600's (and all cards with hardware accelleration) offer just that, accelleration, some of the decoding is done on the GPU, some is done in software first. With the 350, it has a full hardware decoder, it takes the raw MPEG stream and does all the decoding.

Depending on your system it's either an insignificant distinction or an important one.

[PeteL]

Is there a theoretical minimum system that a card like this could breathe new life into?

I currently have a PII-400 with a PVR-350 that has been stable (BX440 chipset). However, I'd really like to be able to use my system for other stored video (divx, wmv, etc.) and was hoping these new generation of cards would offer a way to get these formats to my TV without upgrading the PC.

[stanger89]

I don't know of any hard minimum, but my guess would be something about the 1GHz mark would be about the minimum I'd want to try on.

Let me ask you this, what video card do you have in there now, and can you play DVDs or Sage recordings on it (not through the 350).

[Opus4]

When I used a p2-400, I could play around 2GB/hr recordings mostly OK on a Matrox G400 (Xcard was perfect for that, of course ). So, it would depend on how much the video card actually can offload from the cpu. Also, when buying a new video card for an older mb (if you try this), be sure to check the AGP compatibility -- some video cards are backward compatible with AGP 1x or 2x, but not all are & those others _require_ either 4x or 8x.

- Andy

[PeteL]

I really do appreciate the input guys... It's an old ATI 3D Rage IIC and I really can't get any MPEG2 files recorded by Sage to play without significant stuttering outside of Sage.

The PC is still going strong under the current arrangement, but I've got growing pressure from my wife and 2 little boys to get something a little snappier...

I fully plan on upgrading - just wanted to see how much more I could leverage this PC... Seems like I'll move it to a lesser used room so we can get a new home theater built right...

- Pete

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by PeteL

I really do appreciate the input guys... It's an old ATI 3D Rage IIC and I really can't get any MPEG2 files recorded by Sage to play without significant stuttering outside of Sage.

If it was minor stuttering, I'd say a new card might do the trick, but it sounds like you just need more power.