Ok Ok.....Need aLOT of Help here

[southbaltorj8]

Ive got a Dell 2400 w/ P4 2.5ghz 680RAM 120Gig

The thing has integrated video??? No AGP slots. (i hope thats the right)....All i know is that i'm limited to PCI cards.

Anyway, What i'd like to do is buy a Dell 20" widescreen and use it as a TV display.

Questions
1) will my TV display quality be poo poo/choppy because of the lack of a big video card?
2) will my computer support the 16:9 format
3) can i purchase a PCI TV TUNER card that will support HD

[mrgrocery]

1. There is definately other users with issues because of only having PCI slots. Intergrated video maybe problematic too.

2. Maybe yes, but what kind of intergrated video does your card have?

3. Only for OTA HD Signals.

[dirchm0628]

Is the video out monitor only or do you have s-video?

You can buy over the air HDTV tuner cards. Read the blogs to see which models they support, but BTV4.0 hasn't been officially released yet.

Check to see what kind of video card is integrated with your motherboard. You should be able to dedicate ram to it from your system ram. You may want to buy a PCI video card if your existing video doesn't meet specifiactions.

I can't help you on the 16:9 layout. I still use a 32 inch CRT.

[mrgrocery]

Just to clarify my points, I don't think there is anything in particular about intergrated video or pci video that would preclude you from using BTV successfully(but I know there are issues), however you should check out the system requirments in the FAQ as well as the KB article on incompatable video cards.

[southbaltorj8]

The more I think about it the more I think i should just get a LCD TV....use the built in tuner.....the only draw back is not being able to record video....


Next time i upgrade/replace my computer i'll be sure to spend the extra dollars.

[Bilar Crais]

I'm thinking it would be highly unlikely that your integrated video would be VMR9 capable, which is essential for 3D mode rendering. You'd be relegated to overlay mode, which many users prefer anyway. I wonder if it'd have the muscle for HDTV though...

There are still some excellent PCI video cards available, though they are getting more pricey by the day.