[mythtv-users] Does a 120Hz LCD TV need VDPAU?

[Kenni Lund]

2010/1/18 Dale Quigg <dalequigg at gmail.com>:
> Hi,
>
> I'm getting a Vizio SV320XVT TV that is 1080p, 120Hz, and can employ
> "SmoothMotion".
>
> I'm wondering if VDPAU would likely be helpful for this TV or if the TV
> would probably handle deinterlacing without the need for VDPAU.

IMHO the main advantage of VDPAU is offloading the CPU, allowing you
to play HD-streams with a CPU utilization of 5-10%, allowing the CPU
to do other things. Deinterlacing is just a nice feature.

> Maybe a better, more general question is "Do 120Hz TVs with 'smoothing'
> technology benefit from VDPAU deinterlace functionality?"

Well, your computer will output a progressive signal by default
(1080p), I highly doubt that your TV will be able to detect if you
play some interlaced movie inside of your progressive signal.

If you really want to take advantage of the interlacer of your TV
(which I doubt), you'll have to setup your graphics card to always
output an interlaced signal, like 1080i. I've never tested it, but I
can imagine that your TV will do funny "optimizations" to
non-video-output, like small text in a browser, menus or just programs
in general (which will all be crystal sharp on your TV with a
progressive signal).

If I were you, I would forget all about the fancy optimization
technologies of your TV, feed it with a 1080p signal from your
computer and let VDPAU do its job on decoding, deinterlacing, etc.

Best Regards
Kenni Lund