Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)
Hi folks,
I've currently got a Matrox RT2000 video editing system on my PC, but I
think the required graphics card (Matrox Millennium G400 Flex 3D) has
partly died - it will only boot into VGA mode, and the correct card drivers
refuse to reinstall.
Anyway, as I rarely need realtime dual-stream video display any more, I'm
thinking of replacing the whole lot with a new ATI All in Wonder card,
which should give me full S-video in/out connectors, TV viewing as a bonus,
and a DVI monitor output which should drive my flat-panel display well.
However, could someone who uses such a system answer me a few questions?
I've tried various avenues to track this info down on the web, but the
product info & FAQs seem to stop a little short of what I'm asking.
1) I'm buying in the UK so will need a PAL tuner version, but can I easily
capture and output in NTSC when I need to? I occasionally need to
capture/edit NTSC material, and the Matrox has never been able to switch
easily. Also it would be nicer to view American DVDs at 60Hz, rather than
dropping them down to 50Hz. My TV copes fine with both formats.
2) When working in Adobe Premiere (or other editing package) if I'm using
my main system monitor on the DVI connector, can the current project be
viewed on a TV connected to the S-video port? (i.e. can whatever Premiere
displays in its video preview window be shown full-screen on my TV-monitor
at the same time, to see how it will look in the real world). I'm not
talking about complex dual-channel effects stuff, just basic video
playback. Same goes for the video output from Power-DVD, Windows Media
Player, etc. Do they output a clean signal to the S-video port, or do you
just get a 'copy' of the Windows workscreen on that port?
3) The Matrox card allows me to capture from analogue sources directly to a
DV-compliant AVI file (720x576 25fps DV), but I think some of the
compression work is probably being done in the card. If I want to capture
high-quality (i.e. up to domestic DV standard) what are my options? Is
capturing in MPEG-2 sufficient if I'm planning to edit in Premiere and
maybe record back to DV tape later via firewire? Will I be able to tell the
difference? My system is a couple of years old: Asus A7A266 mobo, 1Ghz
Athlon, 768Mb DDR memory, with recently updated large, fast hard drives.
Should that be enough to capture in decent quality without dropping frames?
4) Can I capture directly from within Premiere, or do I need to capture
using a separate utility? Not vital, but would be nice.
5) There seem to be so many variants of the All in Wonder board! I think
I'll need the newer Theater 200 processing chip to provide better hardware
compression support, but other than that what's the difference between a
9000, 9200, 9600, 9800 or 9800SE?! I don't play games, so all the fancy 3D
stuff will be lost on me, and I don't really want to pay loads extra if I'm
not going to see any real advantages in terms of video capture & output
tasks. My initial feeling is that the AIW 9800SE (mostly provided for OEM
use as I understand it) would be just as good as the AIW 9800 PRO - but
does the 8-pixel pipeline (for example) on the PRO board make capturing any
better? And do I get things like the remote control and all the various
dongles, etc. with the SE version?
6) Any comments on board manufacturers/resellers? I have found Sapphire,
Connect3D and Hercules cards listed, but don't know which to opt for.
Sapphire seems the best thus far (except I can't get hold of the company to
ask these questions!). Hercules say they no longer produce graphics cards,
but will that make a difference if the board I buy does what I need it to?
Connect3D I know little about, but they generally seem cheaper to purchase.
Any help, comments, suggestions, etc. as to what cards (if any) would do
what I need would be very much appreciated.
Kind Regards,
Andre
--
Andre Willey
Address edited to avoid spam. Please remove the letters shown in CAPITALS
from my quoted email address to contact me directly. Thanks!
Visit http://www.cix.co.uk/~neverland/dlp/ for the Disneyland-Paris FAQ
List.
Hi folks,
I've currently got a Matrox RT2000 video editing system on my PC, but I
think the required graphics card (Matrox Millennium G400 Flex 3D) has
partly died - it will only boot into VGA mode, and the correct card drivers
refuse to reinstall.
Anyway, as I rarely need realtime dual-stream video display any more, I'm
thinking of replacing the whole lot with a new ATI All in Wonder card,
which should give me full S-video in/out connectors, TV viewing as a bonus,
and a DVI monitor output which should drive my flat-panel display well.
However, could someone who uses such a system answer me a few questions?
I've tried various avenues to track this info down on the web, but the
product info & FAQs seem to stop a little short of what I'm asking.
1) I'm buying in the UK so will need a PAL tuner version, but can I easily
capture and output in NTSC when I need to? I occasionally need to
capture/edit NTSC material, and the Matrox has never been able to switch
easily. Also it would be nicer to view American DVDs at 60Hz, rather than
dropping them down to 50Hz. My TV copes fine with both formats.
2) When working in Adobe Premiere (or other editing package) if I'm using
my main system monitor on the DVI connector, can the current project be
viewed on a TV connected to the S-video port? (i.e. can whatever Premiere
displays in its video preview window be shown full-screen on my TV-monitor
at the same time, to see how it will look in the real world). I'm not
talking about complex dual-channel effects stuff, just basic video
playback. Same goes for the video output from Power-DVD, Windows Media
Player, etc. Do they output a clean signal to the S-video port, or do you
just get a 'copy' of the Windows workscreen on that port?
3) The Matrox card allows me to capture from analogue sources directly to a
DV-compliant AVI file (720x576 25fps DV), but I think some of the
compression work is probably being done in the card. If I want to capture
high-quality (i.e. up to domestic DV standard) what are my options? Is
capturing in MPEG-2 sufficient if I'm planning to edit in Premiere and
maybe record back to DV tape later via firewire? Will I be able to tell the
difference? My system is a couple of years old: Asus A7A266 mobo, 1Ghz
Athlon, 768Mb DDR memory, with recently updated large, fast hard drives.
Should that be enough to capture in decent quality without dropping frames?
4) Can I capture directly from within Premiere, or do I need to capture
using a separate utility? Not vital, but would be nice.
5) There seem to be so many variants of the All in Wonder board! I think
I'll need the newer Theater 200 processing chip to provide better hardware
compression support, but other than that what's the difference between a
9000, 9200, 9600, 9800 or 9800SE?! I don't play games, so all the fancy 3D
stuff will be lost on me, and I don't really want to pay loads extra if I'm
not going to see any real advantages in terms of video capture & output
tasks. My initial feeling is that the AIW 9800SE (mostly provided for OEM
use as I understand it) would be just as good as the AIW 9800 PRO - but
does the 8-pixel pipeline (for example) on the PRO board make capturing any
better? And do I get things like the remote control and all the various
dongles, etc. with the SE version?
6) Any comments on board manufacturers/resellers? I have found Sapphire,
Connect3D and Hercules cards listed, but don't know which to opt for.
Sapphire seems the best thus far (except I can't get hold of the company to
ask these questions!). Hercules say they no longer produce graphics cards,
but will that make a difference if the board I buy does what I need it to?
Connect3D I know little about, but they generally seem cheaper to purchase.
Any help, comments, suggestions, etc. as to what cards (if any) would do
what I need would be very much appreciated.
Kind Regards,
Andre
--
Andre Willey
Address edited to avoid spam. Please remove the letters shown in CAPITALS
from my quoted email address to contact me directly. Thanks!
Visit http://www.cix.co.uk/~neverland/dlp/ for the Disneyland-Paris FAQ
List.
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