Question reguarding Component/HDTV-Out on GFXCards

[CecilX]

Hey, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread, but i'll go ahead anyway.

I'm currently building a computer specifically to serve as a nice web-machine for a Sony Wega recently bought that can support 480i/p,720p, and 1080i. I might also emulate any older Nintendo games I have bought, such as World Cup Soccer, to play with my friends on a big screen.

I've been trying to look up some information online about DVI/Composite/S-Video, and I know some basics(VHF/UHF is low, A/V is next, S-Vid ain't bad, Composite is nice, HDTV is better? Isn't VGA Out supposed to be nice?) but i'm a little lost on the matter.

My goal is to take advantage of my HDTV with this machine I am building for it. I wanted to ask if S-Video has blurry output, and if I'm to utilize composite or HDTV; what exactly would I need? I can't do a VGA Adapter to Composite video, can I? It seems the card has to actually support this; using adapters to suit whatever input fancy wouldn't take advantage of progressive/higher res modes, i'm guessing.

I'd like a decent price (not over $100, but willing to spend if it makes a huge difference) on whatever there is avilable-- no need for the newest NV architecture or anything like that.

--Mike

 

[Crashman]

VGA is VERY nice. I nearly bought a wide-tube TV with a VGA input. Any tube is analog, so DVI does nothing to improve them. That includes CRT monitors as well as TVs.

Flat panels (LCD, Plasma) are digital. It's kind of sloppy to convert a signal from digital (the card) to analog (VGA) to digital (the panel), so DVI works great.

Component (not composite) is similar in quality to VGA

S-Video is between component and composit

Composite is the sloppy old A/V cable video connection.

720P is the desired resolution because it's sharper than an interlaced screen (better for text and super fine details). The problem here is that most cards don't support the 1280x720 resolution of a 720P screen. They normally support 1280x768. For many users, that means the top and bottom of their output is chopped off, things like the start menue are beyond the edge of the screen.

Some programs allow you to set custom resolutions for your card. Rage3D Tweak is an example. Some cards allow you to adjust screen size, my ATI cards have offered that feature since the original Radeon.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[bosshoss]

Have you bought your vid-card for your new pc yet? If not, MAKE SURE you get one with a DVI-out because DVI keeps the signal digital the whole way, hence a much crisper picture. I used S-video for a while (not very good looking picture) until i could scrounge up the $80 for the DVI cable(THEY ARE EXPENSIVE). I then got my DVI cable and, POOF, way-way better picture, but I had some probs with getting the card exactly tuned for my TV, so it might take you a while to get everything set right. (I was losing the top and bottom 2 inches of the picture) This was solved by tinkering around with the nvidia utility. Since I got it working though, wow, all my DVD's upconvert to 1080i which makes them look fantastic.
EDIT: The new Nvidia drivers added support for 1280x720. In the release notes it specifically mentions added support for HDTV's. So if you don't yet have a vid-card, you might wanna think about a nvidia card. I have both a 6800gt and an ati9600xt, and they are both fantastic cards, but the 6800gt for me is a lot easier and better looking on my big-screen than my ati.

<i> If the creator of the human body is "The Ultimate Engineer", why did he put a recreation site right next to a waste treatment area? </i><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bosshoss on 11/29/04 02:04 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

I have a program that unhides special modes for ATI cards, such as 1280x720.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>