Is it recommended to have a discrete graphic card on a laptop for video editing?

[imported_smilingcrow]

I?ve been researching laptops as I need a portable PC for video editing.
My gut feeling is that a dedicated graphics card, as opposed to those integrated with the motherboard chipset, is necessary. Unfortunately, quite a few of the laptops that interest me are lacking only in this one area. Anybody know the facts on this?

I?m looking at a centrino laptop, as I need a lightweight laptop with a long battery life for other purposes. I know there are better mobile platforms purely for video editing, but they don?t meet my other requirements.

Thanks

Crow

 

[sunase]

Nope, graphics cards don't really have much to do with video editing and even the most basic integrated one is fine. There are cards for PCs that hardware accelerate the sort video editing/effects that do have to do with editing, but those aren't even considered graphics cards. As for TV output, even a midrange stand alone scan convertor will almost invariably beat anything on the graphics card so you don't even have to worry about that. I imagine if you're serious about video editing you use DV/firewire for output anyway.

 

[imported_smilingcrow]

Thanks for the info. I'm new to video editing, so I might have to babelfish your post to undertand it all 🙂

Crow

 

[DaveSimmons]

Short answer: no, integrated graphics is fine.

 

[arsbanned]

Probably anything powerful enough for vid work will have a dedicated graphics solution. You should be looking for the fastest proc available and at least 1 gig of RAM. Firewire is a must.