TV-out video Quality - Best card and will it work?

[TheWhoDat]

I am wanting to set up a Home Theater PC.

I was wondering what Video card will offer me the best TV-Out Quality?

I was primary going to use this machine for DVDs, MP3s to A?V reciever and playing games.

I tried using a GF3 ti200 and the quality was terrible.

Is there any card that will offer me decent enough quality that I can read the text, even if its not perfect, to load programs and play the games?

Thanks for any help!!

WhoDat

 

[AnAndAustin]

Without a doubt Radeons and pref the Rad9000 cards. Rad8500 are good too and a little faster in the 3D dept but there is more variance withmanus and Video playback than Rad9000 cards. Rad9000PRO is about 20% faster than Rad9000 but Rad9000 should o/c well. If you do your homework Rad8500 are faster and cheaper esp for 128mb versions which should be under $100. GF4TI cards offer better TVout than GF3 as well as much better perf, features and all-round functionality but they still don't compare to the Rads for TVout. No doubt, get a Radeon.

TV sets can't accurately show 640x480 let alone 800x600 which is the lowest Windows desktop res currently used. Text should be readable, esp if it is large, but Tvs use 50-60Hz interlaced, that's the equivilent of running your monitor at 25-30Hz which is NOT pleasant for much more than gaming and video files.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

If your serious about a home theater PC, i suggest you pickup an HDTV or projection set which accepts DVI or VGA signals. That will provide the utmost clarity and PQ you've ever seen.