Video Card - Picture Quality

[Evil_Attorney]

I've decided to transfer my pvr250 from my personal computer over to another TV dedicated computer. This computer has a NVIDA Geforce 4 mx 4000 with an S-video out. Before transfering the 250 over, I tested the computer with Cyberlink Power DVD playing DVD's.

Overall, the picture is good, however, not as good as a stand alone DVD player connected via S-video. The computer picture has slightly more noise in the picture and doesn't quite look as sharp. From a distance it's difficult to tell, but up close you can easily see the difference. This isn't pixelation or other compression artifacts, I don't think.

I'm using a cheap S-video cable that came with the video board, but I somehow doubt that this is causing all of my problems. Is this just a crappy video card? I would think that even a crappy video card would look as good as a stand alone DVD player.

[edgley]

S-video cables can cause a problem.
I have ones that have come with equipment that I have just thrown away they are so bad.

You dont need to pay a lot for one that doesnt add problems.

[mlbdude]

Also, remember that the SVIdeo out of your computer does not work like the SVided out of your DVD player. The DVD player decodes the MPEG2 directly to 480i out outputs (unless you have a progressive scan DVD player). Your PC decodes the DVD to progressive, then your video card interlaces it out to your TV. This causes some loss in detail.

[Evil_Attorney]

Thanks for the info. I believe the TV is set to progressive scan mode (but I'll double check). I'll also try a better cable to see if that help any.

[mlbdude]

Originally Posted by Evil_Attorney

Thanks for the info. I believe the TV is set to progressive scan mode (but I'll double check). I'll also try a better cable to see if that help any.

If you are using progressive scan then you are using component ofr DVI output on the video card. SVideo is only 480i.

[stanger89]

And if you aren't using the Component or DVI input, you should be.

[Evil_Attorney]

Sorry, I'm still new to this. Besides getting an expensive video card with Digital Video out or Component out, how could I connect to take advantage of the high resolution of the TV? I've heard about external scan converters, which I assume connect directly to the monitor's VGA port. How well do these work. Are there other options?

[stanger89]

Your best, cheapest option is to get a video card, it doesn't have to be expensive. What connections does your TV have? (DVI/Component/VGA?)

[Evil_Attorney]

It has both component and DVI. No VGA.

[g808]

If your video card does not have DVI or component outs, then you can use a transcoder to hook-up your PC to your TV (VGA to DVI).

Digital Connection has a nice guide and sells a couple good transcoders.

Crescendo Systems also sells external and internal (PCI) transcoders.

You might want to consider upgrading your video card though. It might not be able to handle outputting higher resolutions to your TV without tearing.

[Evil_Attorney]

Looking at the prices of the transcoders, I think a new vid card might be the way to go. I've never seen an HDTV displaying output from a computer. How does it compare to a computer monitor? Would high end graphics games like Halo look good on it?

[stanger89]

Transcoders are more expensive and probably inferior to a new video card. They were realy only popular before due to the lack of TVs with more than Component inputs and the lack of cards with component output. With DVI on most new sets and many video cards supporting component out (most Radeons and Geforce 6600s) transcoders are kind of pointless.

Originally Posted by Evil_Attorney

I've never seen an HDTV displaying output from a computer. How does it compare to a computer monitor?

Crappy, TVs are way worse than monitors, but they're designed different. Digital displays (DLP, LCD, Plasma) can come close, but CRTs no.

Would high end graphics games like Halo look good on it?

Definitely, while TVs aren't designed to be used as monitors (ie not for small text) they work great for video-ish stuff like games. Although if you want Halo, I'd get an Xbox

[Evil_Attorney]

From what I've read, 720p is equivalent to 1280x720 on a computer monitor. What's keeping the HDTV from achieving computer monitor quality? The refresh rate? Pixel spacing?

[stanger89]

If you have a 720p display (kind of implied when I stated Digital displays above), then they can come close.

Here's my basic stance on HDTVs as monitors (rather generalized):
CRTs (or probably more correctly TVs with max resolution of 1080i or 33.75kHz scan rate):
Not good (mostly), for the simple reason that you can pick clarity or area but not both. You can get a nice clear picture on a CRT HDTV by setting the resolution low, like 640x480 or 960x540, but those resolutions are too small to do anything in. IMO the minimum useable resolution (for PC type work) is 800x600, with 1024x768 being the lowest I'd want to go. OK so you can set your HDTV to 1080i (usually 1776x1000i for a PC without overscan) and you've got the area, text (windows text) is not clear at that resolution (interlaced) you can make it out on a good TV, but it's not easilly readable. It's the interlacing that kills readability.

Digital displays (or TVs that support 720p or greater, or 45kHz scan rate):
These get much closer, since you can run them at usefull progressive resolutions (720p or greater), but due to the lower tolerances (probably) they won't be quite as sharp as a monitor.

I look at it this way. An HDTV will make a great addition to an HTPC, video looks great on them, UIs can be "bigger" (more stuff on them), and you can do maintinance, casual surfing, etc on them. However they just aren't designed, nor cut out to be "primary monitors", meaning the ones you do your work on.

[Evil_Attorney]

Thanks for the great info. I feel like I have a little more of a clue now.