TV outs on modern video cards

[Azazel413]

I'm just wondering if on there are any differences between the TV outs on the Radeon 9000 and GF4 cards? I have a GF2 that has a ridiculously terrible TV out that doesn't cover the whole screen and isn't even centered. For this reason I think I'm going to go with the ATI card because nVidia has already shafted me once on it!

Experiences with any of the cards in question?

 

[Dunjon]

I know exactly what you mean. My GF2 had the worst TV-out. I don't know about the GF4 series yet. From what I understand they are not all made with the same tv out chips so it varies by manufacturer. It has been said that Matrox has the best tv out but they unfortunately have the worst 3d cards(except for the new one coming out). So it is my opinion that the Radeon series of cards have the best mixture of 3d and tv out.

 

[Peter]

All the Radeon cards use the same TV-out circuitry (either embedded or as a separate RageTheater chip), which is known for being quite good. If your TV has SVideo inputs, you should opt for a card that has SVideo out rather than composite.

regards, Peter

 

[Lonyo]

Some people have had problems with some nVidia s-video outs and certain drivers (40.41's). I have GF4 with s-video out and it's in black and white which isn't much use, but that might be because my TV doesn't have a s-video in and I'm having to do it through the scart socket.

 

[PuppettMaster001]

My gainward geforce3 ti200 had decent tv out. But i also used a radeon that had noticeably better tv out, the video and text was a little sharper and brighter. The Geforce had very acceptable picture quality.

 

[Azazel413]

Thanks all, just as I assumed. I'm going with the Radeon! Now the question is which one? 9000 or 9000 pro? 64 or 128 MB?

 

[foxes]

The Geforce2/3/4 use the same series of TV decoders, so they all have simmilar crappy TV out. Also, at least in the Geforce2, the decoder chip handles both VGA and TV OUT, so you can't run seperate resolutions at the same time. If you want to do TV OUT, you have to run your VGA at a tv-compatible resolution.

The Radeon has dual decoders, so you can run TV OUT in 640x480 at the same time you're using your VGA monitor at 1024x768, for example. Or, you can run 2 VGA screens, or 1 VGA and 1 DVI. This isn't the same as multi-head, since the screen content is the same, but it's nice to have for presentations and video capture.

Foxes

 

[Peter]

Oh the Radeons ('xcept the 7200) do have dual head capability. You get three outputs and two sets of content. Valid combinations are CRT+CRT, CRT+TV, CRT+DVI, DVI+TV, and CRT+DVI+TV. In the latter one, TV is a mirror of one of the other two. CRT+CRT+TV is the only disallowed combination, because Radeons can run a maximum of two analog outputs.

regards, Peter

 

[AnAndAustin]

Yup the GeForce TVout solutions are pretty nasty (although cheaply functional) when compared to the likes of the Radeon cards. GF4 cards are better than previous GF cards but mostly only down to uniformity (all dets should now recognise them) and dual display via the 2 RAMDACs (GF2 & GF3 cannot show pic simultaneously). So GF4 are improved but still rely on 3rd party chips and sport the usual horrible black borders and off-centre TVout image, which BTW nVidia could tweak through the drivers if they so desired! If TVout is important to you certainly go for a Radeon card, in US & Canada they're great perf/cost.

Rad9000 cards are basicly cut down, slower (but cheaper to make) Rad8500 cards although they are more standardised in terms of dual display and TVout. So long as you double check you should find a Rad8500 is a much better option, just check it has 2 RAMDACs (dual display), TVout (of course) and that the clock speeds aren't set too low. These things can often differ for retail vs oem as well as by manu for Radeon cards, they're still great cards but just double check if these are important factors for you. What ever card you get go for 128MB with out a doubt, most newer games will be heavily hit by 64MB, not a good decision or saving on any new card. My advice is to get a 128MB version of either Rad9000PRO or Rad8500/8500LE. The Rad9000PRO reqs less checking as you should be guaranteed both dual display (2 RAMDACs) and TVout but with a quick check the Rad8500/8500LE is the superior card and most come with both dual display (2 RAMDACs) and TVout. Do be warned that just because a card has CRT+DVI+TVout does NOT mean it has dual display (2 RAMDACs) as esp for 8500 cards this is sometimes skimped on.