Recommend a Geforce Card for H.264 Encoding

[mrm1]

Ok so I just built a Core i7 930 system with a Geforce 9500 GT. I was hoping for better Vidio Broadcast quality, but so far, my image still appears like it is in a haze or unfocused like it did on my old AMD Athlon 64. Some are telling me it is the Video card and that i need to UPGRADE to a Quadro 3800, 4800 or 5800 ... well that is a bit out of my price range. I am wanting to spend around $200

So was wondering, is there a Geforce card that may also assist the CPU in H264 encoding? Is the Geforce 9500 GT as good as I will get?

My sotfware of Choice is Telestreams Wirecast video Braodcast/switching software. I have 4 cams connected to the pc via Firewire and USB.

CPU runs at 11% while broadcasting

Heres the problem, when I use Adobe's Flash Media Live Encoder (FME) the video looks crystal clear using H264. But when I use Wirecast and the same settings and H264 my output looks less clear and hazzy.

So it could be the Video Card ... or it may be the way Wirecast is doing the encoding. I know that Wirecast is going to put on an upgrade in June 2010 that will enclude H264 MainConcept encoding, but if Video cards will help, what would be the better video card for the job?

Here is a short clip in FME
http://www.justin.tv/bethelchurchlive/b/263074904

Here is the same cam in Wirecast
http://www.justin.tv/bethelchurchlive/b/263074917

I have searched the boards, and not finding any recommendations for this specific application. Can anyone suggest a card that may assist in getting a better picture quality than the 9500 GT. I am needing VGA / D-sub out and S Video too. I know I can get VGA/D-sub with a DVI converter, what about S-video - can that be converted to S-Video or composit or HDMI? I am wanting to run out to an LCD TV as a second monitor (wirecast allows this). So could get a TV that supports whatever outs are on the card.

Any help would be appreciated.
Mike

 

[WR2]

when I use Adobe's Flash Media Live Encoder (FME) the video looks crystal clear using H264. But when I use Wirecast and the same settings and H264 my output looks less clear and hazzy.

I think this is your first clue. FME=good vs Wirecast=bad.
Now it might be possible that you're using different default settings between FME and Wirecast. What was the size of the final output video for each program?

Because you can get a good result with FME I'm leaning away from thinking its a video card issue.

 

[mrm1]

My settings in Both:

H.264
854x480 output
30 fps
Key frame set to 250
Bit rate 300 kbps ( have also tried 400 / 500 / and beyond - 400 yeild little diff. Beyound 500 and the spikes start to get above me 650 kps upload speed)
No limit so bit rate is free to move up and down around the 300

Audio on both set to the same output.

So I tried to make the output the same for both.

I tend to agree that the Wirecast encoders are not as good. My hope is that the new and improved version coming out in June will help "clear" this up, but in the mean time, Am I running a on decent video card? What might be better in the price range?

As noted, another wirecast user said the answer lies in Quadro Cards- said they aid in the encoding, but too costly for me. Are there Geforce Cards that also help in H264 encoding? Or for what I am doing, is the 9500 GT a good pick.

 

[mrm1]

I found this link stating that some Geforce cards use the same chipsets as Quadro Cards. Looks like the GTX 260 uses the same chipset as the Quadro 4800. Would this be a better option than the 9500 GT?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro

 

[mosox]

Use the CPU and x264, best quality.

 

[mrm1]

Use the CPU and x264, best quality.

Not sure I understand this? Please expand.