[mythtv-users] TiVo Convert Experience - HDTV Video Card Recommendation

Michael T. Dean mtdean at thirdcontact.com
Wed May 2 21:34:14 UTC 2007


On 05/02/2007 05:10 PM, Jim Shank wrote:
> want to take
> full advantage of 1080p on the new TV which leads me to asking for a
> recommendation for a video card that will properly drive the new display.
>
> I can't begin to explain the suffering I went through in order to get the
> ATI card to work at 640x480 via S-Video on my existing TV and still have
> bowed edges to the picture. I have spent the last 5-hours Googling MythTV HD
> and have determined that an nVidia card is the way to go.

Yes.  For MythTV, I see it as: ATI = pain; NVIDIA = bliss.

>  The FX5200 seems
> to be the de-facto standard but there are some complaints about not being
> able to keep up with 1080i/p.

I've done 1080p output (using everything from PVR-x50-encoded 480i60 to 
OTA HDTV at 720p60 and 1080i60) on a GF4MX440, a GF5200, GF6200, and a 
GF7800GTX.  As far as TV goes, they're all fine.

If you have an underpowered CPU and use XvMC for HDTV, you'll want at 
least a 5200 (and anything more won't really help).

The main difference comes into play on the OpenGL.  The menu-based 
effects are not a problem for any of the cards.  However, for the GL 
transitions in MythGallery, the MX440 didn't even come close.  The 7800 
is more than enough for these, but it's really overkill in the grand 
scheme of things (i.e. the GL transitions aren't worth the $--I just 
happened to get it for another project, so...).

Also, the MX440 required me to scale Goom to a quarter size for 
reasonable performance.  The 7800 works with it (and all of Project M 
visualizations) at full res.

>  The 6200 is rumored to handle the resolution
> better but appears to have problems with video-overlay namely the lack of
> OSD colors.

However, as someone who just replaced a GF4MX440 with a GF6200, I highly 
recommend getting a 6200.  The main reason is because it will be "one 
step later" before NVIDIA "end-of-life's" the card.  Besides, if you're 
a good shopper, you can find one for the same cost as a 5200.  While I 
can't tell you when the 6200 will become a "legacy" GPU--let alone when 
the 5200 will be--since they're both the same price, it's almost 
definitely going to cost you more to get a 5200 that you'll want to 
upgrade once it's legacy (assumes you upgrade your kernel and/or video 
drivers every once in a while).

The lack of playback picture controls on the 6x00 and above is only an 
issue if you're the type who likes to change 
brightness/contrast/color/hue while watching TV.  You can use 
nvidia-settings to change them however you like and leave them there, 
but the main difference is that approach affects the GUI (i.e. X) as 
well as video playback.  (I, personally, happen to be an all-defaults 
kind of guy, so it's not an issue for me.)

And, the 6200 should be fine for the GL transitions in MythGallery as 
well as the visualizations in MythMusic/xine/xmms/...

>  It also seems that anything above that is a waste since this is
> a 2D application and the system won't be used for anything beyond that. I
> would appreciate a recommendation please.
>   

Basically, yes--with the exception of OpenGL transitions in the gallery.

Mike


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