Best Video card for DVD playback?

elitezoid · Post by **elitezoid** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 11:55 am

Hi,
Just updating my second pc so it can be used as a HTPC, obviously it has to be near silent and offer the best DVD playback and picture quality. So what card would you advise on getting, rather not spend too much as it's not going to be used for gaming, only general windows stuff and playback of DVD's and other visual media?
I was thinking of an ATI 9200, or is there a better option?

shathal · Post by **shathal** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 1:29 pm

"Does it make a difference?" (speaketh the ignorant).

Is DVD playback such an issue? I've yet to run into a contemporary graphics card which makes it look bad. Usually I can't tell, unless there's a top-notch monitor @ some silly high res running, anyway.

Maybe that says something about my current (rather dated) hardware, but to me DVD playback has never been an issue.

If you're a man for the graphics "deluxe", I'd usually point towards Matrox cards. They're usually the 2D "creme de la creme". I've heard of problems when running ATI cards at high res's. Can't say I've run NVIDIA cards all that high.

But since ATI + NVIDIA are mostly out for the gamers, I'd be looking towards Matrox + co for the hunt in your area? Benefit of that of course is that Matrox's cards tend to be somewhat cooler running also than the "game deluxe" types...

Hope this helps

.

apocalypse80 · Post by **apocalypse80** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 1:59 am

Are you going to use a PC monitor or a TV for DVD playback?
If it's a PC monitor , then any card will do , you'll have to use a magnifying glass to see any difference.
If it's a TV , I have never seen a VGA with a TV-out that's really good.
All have minor (or not so minor) distortions , like wavy edges.
That applies to all nvidia and ATI cards I've ever seen , including Geforce4 , GeforceFX and all the latest radeons.
I've never tested a matrox.

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 2:54 am

Another thought would be to consider a REALmagic XCard which gives the best DVD playback I've ever seen from a PC, either to monitor or to TV.

sonofdbn · Post by **sonofdbn** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 12:57 am

I use a Gigabyte Radeon 9200 which is passively cooled - plays DVDs just fine and of course adds nothing to the noise level. It has S-Video TV-out and at least to me the picture quality on my TV is as good as playing a DVD from a standalone DVD player (also using S-Video).