Suggestions needed for best graphics card... one that doesn't "squish" display on TV

[guitrldy]

I was participating in a thread about Hauppauge's MediaMVP and I wanted to start a new post to see if I could fix my problem in a different way.

I had posted a while back about this problem, and now I'd like to try to fix it (my post: "Why is my TV screen appearing curved (on top and bottom)..." http://discuss2.snapstream.com/vb/sh...&threadid=8633).

I'm unable to play around with TVTool and Detonator driver settings because the GeForce3 card I'm using only supports drivers version 2.1.8.8. It's an older PNY card and these are the only drivers that support it's TV output. A drag...

So, I know I need to replace it, but with what?

My requirements are: SVideo Out, low cost and keep my current 34" television. The TV's about 12 years old.
My Goal: to have my PVS output look the same on my television as cable. I can tolerate black borders, but not a "squished" display.

I'm thinking, due to the info I uncovered about the GeForce chipset (see link above), that I'm going to go with ATI.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[BajoBear]

I use an ATI 7500 and it works great. It has both svideo and DVI out. It was pretty cheap too. Note: I didn't opt for the All in Wonder model.

[Terminal]

I was using the ATI Radeon 7500 and the picture quality was horrible. Maybe it was a bad one, but the PNY FX5200 I am now using has a much better picture. I saw several recommendations in here for the FX5200 and I gave it a shot. I am quite happy with it. I got it for $99.00 at Best Buy. I'm sure I could have got something cheaper if I had purchased it over the internet, but I wanted it now.

[lurker2100]

I could be wrong about this Lisa, but you should be able to use the latest NVidia Detonator drivers and still use your TV-Out. In addition to downloading the Detonator driver package, you also have to download the WDM driver package. I used to have an ASUS GeForce 256 (one of the first GeForce cards) and I was able to use the NVidia drivers and do TV-Out. Go to the driver download page at www.nvidia.com and first download the "Graphics Driver" and then download the "WDM Driver" which is located under the "Multimedia Software" category.

[guitrldy]

I'll give it a try... the only reason I'm using the older drivers is from info on the PNY website for my particular GeForce3 card.

http://www.pny.com/support/faqs/read...FmodelID%3D16: "The GeForce3 Graphics Card uses driver 21.83 for picking up the TV out function....
If you own a GeForce4 Graphics Card, update to the latest nVidia driver for the video card...."



I'll report back... thanks!

[lurker2100]

Now that I've thought about it, I'm beginning to second guess myself. Maybe the WDM was just for video in... Well, I hope not and I hope it solves your problem.

[RobertH]

the wdm drivers under multimedia are for cards with vivo functionality (video input or tv tuners) they are generic nvidia capture drivers for those cards with inputs on them, and they cause problems for any tv tuner in the system that has a BT8xx chip on them from what i have seen in the past

[Brett]

You can always use a cheap PCI graphics card with TV out as another option, this will be more flexible in the long run as well.

I would suggest a Radeon 9100 (PCI) 64mb from:
http://www.essencompu.com it runs about $65.00 with no tax or shipping.

Normally I recommend NewEgg but NewEgg does not have this particular card, but you could try others there.

Essecompu though a great option, I ordered with great success from them, as did 90%+ of 500+ reviews at www.resellerratings.com

If you have WinXP no additional configuration should be necessary, you may have to set the BIOs to have the primary be PCI not AGP, but that is the only change neccessary to get dual video cards to work, and sometimes you don't even have to do that.

This will allow you to continue to upgrade your Videocard or Tuner Card, while maintaining the ability to TV out. And since it runs on its own resources (although small amount is needed) it will not bother your primary graphics card.

I mean I could recommend the ATI9800 Pro like I have but even that squishes the TV display =P

-Brett