Hi. I have a 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 which I currently use for TVOut to watch DVD / MPEG4 video. I use Windows 2000...
The Voodoo3 works great at 640x480, I can even have the TV and a VGA monitor hooked up at the same time. (Which is good for having the monitor next to you and the TV 10 feet across the room; makes reading text a lot easier) But at 720x480 the drivers for Win2K don't allow me to size the picture properly for the TVOut... the size/centering controls work great at 640x480, but not at all at 720x480... which programs like PowerDVD prefer.
With 3dfx gone, I don't expect much in driver improvements.... so over the last couple months I've been looking for good prices on some other inexpensive TV-out boards. With the constant changes in video adapter chipsets, I figured there must be some good deals coming... as to watch at 720x480 I surely don't need 32MB of RAM or super-duper 3D on the adapter! Even 8MB should be more than enough.
Today I found that AxionTech.com has a great line of TVOut video boards ... but I have no idea which one is good.
I'm NOT looking for hardware accelerated DVD, as this is useless with MPEG4 -- and I'm running on a Celeron 950 440BX system so that MPEG4 works fine on my Voodoo3.
Some that I noticed (that are in stock):
ATI Expert@Play 8MB $45.95
AOpen PA3000+ Riva TNT2 M64 32MB (retail) $63.95
AOpen PA3000 Riva TNT2 Vanta, $63.95
E-VGA NVidia TNT2 M64 32MB, $67.95
Can anyone recommend one of these over another? Win2K driver quality? Will it allow me to drive a VGA monitor and TV at the same time (with same picture) like my Voodoo3 does? Does the 720x480 mode work well and allow you to center on your TV?
Thanks.
The Voodoo3 works great at 640x480, I can even have the TV and a VGA monitor hooked up at the same time. (Which is good for having the monitor next to you and the TV 10 feet across the room; makes reading text a lot easier) But at 720x480 the drivers for Win2K don't allow me to size the picture properly for the TVOut... the size/centering controls work great at 640x480, but not at all at 720x480... which programs like PowerDVD prefer.
With 3dfx gone, I don't expect much in driver improvements.... so over the last couple months I've been looking for good prices on some other inexpensive TV-out boards. With the constant changes in video adapter chipsets, I figured there must be some good deals coming... as to watch at 720x480 I surely don't need 32MB of RAM or super-duper 3D on the adapter! Even 8MB should be more than enough.
Today I found that AxionTech.com has a great line of TVOut video boards ... but I have no idea which one is good.
I'm NOT looking for hardware accelerated DVD, as this is useless with MPEG4 -- and I'm running on a Celeron 950 440BX system so that MPEG4 works fine on my Voodoo3.
Some that I noticed (that are in stock):
ATI Expert@Play 8MB $45.95
AOpen PA3000+ Riva TNT2 M64 32MB (retail) $63.95
AOpen PA3000 Riva TNT2 Vanta, $63.95
E-VGA NVidia TNT2 M64 32MB, $67.95
Can anyone recommend one of these over another? Win2K driver quality? Will it allow me to drive a VGA monitor and TV at the same time (with same picture) like my Voodoo3 does? Does the 720x480 mode work well and allow you to center on your TV?
Thanks.
Facebook
Twitter