Quality of TV features on Gainward cards?

[Triumph]

I'm looking at some refurb Gainward cards at newegg for cheap, and I was wondering what their TV quality was like, compared to ATI's? Does the mpeg recording suck? Do the drivers suck (I'm running w2k)? Do they have a stupid attachment cable like my POS Voodoo 3500? Specifically, I'm looking for TV tuner and/or TV In features, and a bunch of the Gainwards seem to have this.

Also, do they OEM cards come with the proper attachments for video input/output?

 

[Wolfsraider]

sorry i own only radeon all in one wonder so i can't comment on gainwards cards.

mine is nice great dvd, great tv, and great svideo-out, but that is only on good tvs.

Also, do they OEM cards come with the proper attachments for video input/output?

no not usually. oems usually only supply cards and maybe drivers, cabling is a price factor.

on the other hand my radeon aiw retail came with everything


hope this helps

 

[Triumph]

Yeah, I always knew ATI had great image quality and TV capability with their cards, but Egghead is all out of the refurbished ATI's right now. Anyone else?

 

[Luke727]

nvidia's tv and capturing stuff is second rate. go with ATI.

 

[gregor7777]

nvidia's tv and capturing stuff is second rate. go with ATI.

Well, first off, lets be fair here. Saying Nvidia's tv stuff is second rate really isn't true. I mean, they don't actually manufacture the chips for these processes.

Secondly, if TV in/out is the ONLY thing you are looking into, there is no reason to not buy ATi. But, as far as Nvidia's cards go (and someone can help me out here) I've heard the ones with the Phillips chips are the best. Plus, don't use the software that comes with them. There are far better apps out there for that. (TVTool, Dscaler, etc.)

 

[videobruce]

My experiance with cards w/ video out is nothing but bad.

The quality is poor, limited resolutions and sizing adjustments (if any)
and a hassle to change over.

I recomend a separate scan converter!
More expensive but you get waht you pay for.

Professional units are over $1200 so you can't expect a $30 or $50 option on a video card to come even close!

You should be able to get something decent under $300.
People are paying upwards of $350 for these high end overpriced cards and $1,000 to $4,000 for monitors/projection TV's, why not pay a little more for the converter?

 

[rbV5]

<< My experiance with cards w/ video out is nothing but bad. >>



Well, you're wrong.

 

[videobruce]

How would YOU know what MY experiance is??????????

 

[Triumph]

<< You should be able to get something decent under $300. People are paying upwards of $350 for these high end overpriced cards and $1,000 to $4,000 for monitors/projection TV's, why not pay a little more for the converter? >>


If I was willing to spend 300 bucks, why would I be looking at refurb cards? Look, all I want is DECENT TV/Video input and output for less than 100 bucks. If this means buying an older card or a refurb, I don't care. I just want to know if Gainward card TV capability is trash compared to ATI.

 

[Workin']

Go ATI. Much better TV/video features IMO.

 

[rbV5]

<< How would YOU know what MY experiance is?????????? >>



You're right, I wouldn't, but you're wrong about the quality of the video-out capability of video cards in general. Obviously, the solutions you've tried are poor, but to discount the capability of cards that work very well based on the performance of the poor cards you've tried is wrong, therefore YOU are wrong.

Now to the point of the thread. I 've used my ATI AIW Radeon's and a ATI Radeon VIVO, both work very well. You can use a VCR for the tuner for the VIVO card, the AIW comes with a nice tuner.

I just picked up another AIW Radeon from a member in FS/T for $110, Some OEM's have the cables, some don't. Newegg has refurbs of the AIW Radeon occasionally for $79, the breakout box and cables I've seen on ebay for $30 if you need them. Look for MMC 7.5, and beta 6018 drivers to go with it, and you'll be set. The 3d gaming is pretty good as well. ATI definately has the upperhand with video features.