DVD playback and macrovision control: Radeon or Geforce2MX?

[rockethead]

I am in the process of building a set-top box to play DVDs. I'm currently stuck with a TV that only has a coax-in, so I have to go through my VCR. This means that I need to be able to disable Macrovision. (I know I could spend $50 and buy a signal scrubber, but I'd rather not spend the money.)

Anyway, I've got a Geforce2MX with TVout (Asus V7100/T), but I'm thinking about replacing it with a VIVO Radeon. I was wondering if anyone could volunteer their experience and suggest which card is going to be easier when it comes to disabling macrovision and region controls. Also, which card has better DVD (software) player support?

Thanks

-rh

 

[rockethead]

Get up there.

 

[dfloyd]

From what I have read, and seen of my Radeon, the Radeon has the best software dvd playback of any video card on the market. The TV Out should also be better. But I do not know as I have not saw the MX's tv out solution or DVD playback.

On my system the DVD playback for the Radeon is flawless though and I would highly recommend it for this reason. Not to mention a great player is included with it.

 

[Hawk]

I believe the macrovision with the Radeon is easily disabled, though I am not sure how it compares to the MX.

Try here?

 

[Auric]

My Radeon LE TVO appears to output DVD via composite to VCR sans Macrovision. I have not tried the S-Video output yet. Anyhoo, I would focus on the quality first (forget the Geforce) and worry about disabling MV if necessary later since it ain't so difficult. I recall someone released a VI MV hack recently and in the readme said the VO MV was still functional (on a Radeon VIVO). Other sites to check are doom9.org and dvdsoft.da.ru

 

[rockethead]

ttt

 

[Wag]

On the MX end of things, I recommend you get a TwinView based card with s-video output. Twinview is an excellent feature, and has the most options with TV output of any video card. For DVD viewing you can snap-overlay to the full screen in either output, so it works really well. You can also use it to extend your desktop, and all those other things you can do with dual-head VGA cards (it uses the tv output the same way). I'm not familiar with how the Radeon does TV-out, but I imagine it just outputs whatever's on the screen. If I'm wrong, someone correct me.

You can turn off Macrovision and turn off the picture filter (among other things) with TV Tool which makes for an excellent viewing experience.