Anyone had any experience with the Sigma Designs X-Card (DVD decoder card & more)?

[StattlichPassat]

There's one on eBay I'm thinking about picking up to replace my Hollywood+ card (the software - old and new - sucks, and I'm always having driver conflicts under Windows2000). Thoughts? 🙂

 

[dszd0g]

I had a Holywood+ when I had around a 400MHz system. I really see no reason to use a hardware decoding card when you've got a 1.2GHz system like yours. Even then I generally had to leave the card unplugged because the cable that hooked the decoder card to the video card made text look more blurry in higher resolutions. Most newer video cards have some DVD playback enhancement, which is probably better than any of the hardware decoder cards.

I think hardware decoding cards are past their usefullness. A good software package makes all the difference. I have a few different software DVD decoders on my system. The one I seem to be using the most is actually ATI's DVD player. It seems to produce smoother looking (better antialiased or something) video than the rest.

 

[StattlichPassat]

I forgot to mention that the Toshiba 16x DVD drive on my rig serves as the source for my home theater system- DVDs aren't normally viewed on the computer! 🙂 When they are, yes, I use a software-based solution. The Hollywood+ is cool because it has a coaxial digital out for my receiver (re: Dolby Digital 5.1) and S-video out into my 27" TV- I never used the loopback cable because of the bluriness, and contrary to what most believe, you don't have to use it. I don't. Any signal will be displayed on the TV, not the monitor. On top of that, I bought a remote for it last year, where the IR receiver hooks up into an empty COM port. Hardware wise, it works fantastic. The picture and sound are the equivalent of what I would come to expect in a traditional set-top DVD component box, plus, it impresses lots of people that I can run DVDs with that kind of audio and video from my computer- I too think it's pretty damn slick. I just wish the software was better. 🙁

So now what do you think?

 

[dszd0g]

When I bought the Hollywood Plus, I didn't own a standalone player. Now I own two. Even if I didn't, all my recent video cards have had video out (S-video and/or component) and my sound cards have had RCA/component and S/PDIF.

Once I bought the standalone player, I mainly only wanted to watch DVDs with the Hollywood Plus on my computer's 21" monitor when I felt like watching a movie by myself (not that often). So I needed the blurry loopback cable.

I own an RCA to coax converter box (Rat Shack) for my old TV with only coax input.

I got sick of the Sigma Design software too. I personally would not buy another of their products. However, if that is the only solution for you, what choice do you have?

Maybe someone here can say that the software with the X-Card has resolved all the issues with the Hollywood Plus and is now perfect. I don't own the card so I can't say one way or the other.

According to a quick review check of the X-card. They have made a tradeoff in its design. They removed the analog chip for the loopback so the review claimed that the blurriness is gone. The tradeoff is that windowed playback no longer works, only fullscreen. DivX support is not very good if you care about that. It has some issues with playing VCDs back in an accellerated mode.

The Techspot review summed up:

Pros
* Excellent image quality.
* Great variety & quality of video outputs.
* Performs significantly better than software alternatives.
* Remote Control supplied.
* Stable Drivers.
Cons
* Drivers need more work.
* Digital Video Port disabled.
* Limited audio options, more so an issue when no external Dolby Digital/DTS decoder is available.

It may be worth checking out the Sigma Designs X-card forums to see how many issues appear to be present.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Wow, thanks! 😀

Maybe someone here can say that the software with the X-Card has resolved all the issues with the Hollywood Plus and is now perfect.

This is what I'm hoping for at the least. Essentially, I don't think I'm getting any new real features by trading up to the X-card. It does the same thing, just with better software I'm hoping. Otherwise, I can get by ok with my Hollywood+, especially now that I have the cool remote. 🙂 If this technology doesn't evolve like it should (hello! Creative Labs! you've got a market niche opportunity to dive into here...), then I'll just have to get a traditional DVD player component for my HT rig.

 

[Mavrick007]

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI
I forgot to mention that the Toshiba 16x DVD drive on my rig serves as the source for my home theater system- DVDs aren't normally viewed on the computer! 🙂 When they are, yes, I use a software-based solution. The Hollywood+ is cool because it has a coaxial digital out for my receiver (re: Dolby Digital 5.1) and S-video out into my 27" TV- I never used the loopback cable because of the bluriness, and contrary to what most believe, you don't have to use it. I don't. Any signal will be displayed on the TV, not the monitor. On top of that, I bought a remote for it last year, where the IR receiver hooks up into an empty COM port. Hardware wise, it works fantastic. The picture and sound are the equivalent of what I would come to expect in a traditional set-top DVD component box, plus, it impresses lots of people that I can run DVDs with that kind of audio and video from my computer- I too think it's pretty damn slick. I just wish the software was better. 🙁

So now what do you think?

I had basically the same setup as you have on my old computer with the Hollywood + and the remote, which was a decent setup, but this was on a slow machine and on my faster one, I find that there is no purpose to using a decoder card. The new versions of WinDVD and PowerDVD are good quality and you don't need the card this way. The only downside is no remote and the fact that you have to have a sound card that will output digital audio for your DD and DTS, but as was stated, I too have a couple of dvd players now that allow me to not even have my pc on while I'm watching a movie, with ease of use and good quality sound.

I don't see the new card being that much better, and if you seriously want something to hook to your tv, you can buy cheap dvd players now for under $200 or even under $100 with everything the card will give you and more.

 

[StattlichPassat]

That's the main attraction to a discrete hardware decoder for me- my GeForce2 GTS/Pro doesn't have TV-out of any sort unfortunately, and even if it did, I am a 5.1 surround snob. I'd have to ditch my SB Live! value which I love for an Audigy or Live! 5.1 because I HAVE to have 5.1! Decisions decisions...