The Video Playback Tests

The game tests showed that the integrated chipsets were not meant for gaming. They can be used to surf the Web and display office productivity applications well enough, but might they be useful as all-in-one HTPC motherboards? While both integrated solutions have some shader processing, can they effectively be used to decode, remove noise and maintain resolution and detail when playing movies? That is why we wanted to test their DVD and HD DVD playback abilities.

Video Playback: DVD

Truth be told, all of the graphics processors could manage standard digital video discs. How well is what the chart below outlines. Both integrated chipsets and the algorithms of their drivers handled the content equally well. The MSI NX8500GT did the worst out of the group with the standard DVD format. Primarily, there appears to be a blurring of the images it displays and it had problems with the "jaggies" tests. Surprisingly, the discrete Radeon HD 2400XT had problems with 3:2 detection and produced a moiré effect in the grandstands of the scene while the integrated Radeon X1250 did not.