help me upgrade my hardware

[ketchup_gsr]

hi all, i just setup my tivo box onto a new TV in a new area. As i have some money left over, i would like to see if i can make the image clearer. Currently i have a hauppauge pvr 250, and an ATI 9500 pro. I'm using the SVideo out, and a converter to RCA and then using that on that the TV... Is there a better way to display my picture. My TV is HD but doesn't have a DVI port, it does have component inputs.

I've also read that the NVidia 6600GT was a good upgrade used in conjuction with NVDVD. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

[nanook105]

I have two 6600GTs, one connected via componant and the other connected via DVI. PQ is excellent.

[winclk]

i have 1 6600gt connected via componant and the picture is excellent also.

winclk

[stephenm]

Originally Posted by ketchup_gsr

hi all, i just setup my tivo box onto a new TV in a new area. As i have some money left over, i would like to see if i can make the image clearer. Currently i have a hauppauge pvr 250, and an ATI 9500 pro. I'm using the SVideo out, and a converter to RCA and then using that on that the TV... Is there a better way to display my picture. My TV is HD but doesn't have a DVI port, it does have component inputs.

I've also read that the NVidia 6600GT was a good upgrade used in conjuction with NVDVD. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

I'm upgrading from an ATI 7500 AIW to a 6600GT... tonight. I'll let you know how it looks. Currently I think the picture is pretty good with the ATI, I've got a VGA port on the Plasma that I connect directly to. I'm upgrading for the PureVideo feature of the 6600GT.

In your case the problem is the S-Video connetor, I seem to remember a big difference between the S-Video connection and the VGA port. There are converters to go from DVI to Component, I'd check into it if I were you. I'm sure some others on here have done this already.

[ketchup_gsr]

thanks for the suggestion on the DVI -> component adapter. I'm for sure getting that. Now does upgrading from, for example, an ATI 9500 to an NVidia 6600GT make that much of a difference?

[archie]

ketchup,

you'd maybe be better off using the ATI HDTV component video adapter than using a DVI --> component adapter if you have a 9500. haven't tried it myself so i know nothing of the drivers/overscan/features of the thing, but it would probably suit your purposes and be a lot cheaper.

if your system is currently stable, that might be a simpler, less expensive alternative to a new vid card or dvi adapter.

imho, archie

[ketchup_gsr]

does that adapter work on an analog TV also?

[archie]

my understanding is that component is analog. if your tv has the components labelled as "Y, Pb, Pr" then i believe it should work. digital options are firewire, dvi and hdmi.

someone else may want to chime in if i'm incorrect.

archie

[fester]

nVid 6000 series GPU has good mpeg hw encode - I always wanted to try it out. Plain 6600 agp is still good card. I use svid outputs on ATI cards. s-vid PQ is a bit better w/ x700pro card pcie (vivo) which came w/ HDTV adapter. ...the gpu fan was sooo loud so I removed it and then ceramic epoxy'd a small-ish (2 slot) cpu copper heatsink on the thing - NOW ITS FANLESS. refurb newegg video cards are really cheap. i go tthe asus x700p 256m vivo $120 bucks

Svid -->CompAdapter is all you need. Radio shack or look at ati / nVid store in accessories to see it.

I would be: s-vid output (vid card) --> s-vid]adapter[comp --> comp input (on TV). RCA adapter you had was the problem... as everyone else mentioned ...lol. good luck

[archie]

fester, are you saying that you get a better picture out of the svideo than you did with the hdtv adapter? that doesn't really make sense, and if it is the case, you should be able to use the hdtv adapter that came with the x700 (or the component adapter that came with the aiw9800pro) and mess with the settings of your ati card to get a better picture with component out than with svid out.

the true hdtv output of your ati card should be significantly better than out through an svideo to component adapter (and free since it was included with each of your cards), assuming you have any hi def content to display. maybe for btv ntsc captures the above works for you (as it is not hi def), but then, why not just plug your svid out of the computer into the svid in of the tv?

i must be missing something here...

imho, archie

[stephenm]

Originally Posted by ketchup_gsr

thanks for the suggestion on the DVI -> component adapter. I'm for sure getting that. Now does upgrading from, for example, an ATI 9500 to an NVidia 6600GT make that much of a difference?

Well It's early in the morning... but I finally got this damn thing working with the new Audio and Video cards. I was using a Extegy via USB since I needed the SPDIF to connect with my reciever. Now a $25.00 card has the same feature.... one less box in the Ent. Center.

So now to the interesting stuff. I felt compelled to share my experience as far as comparing the video output of the AIW 7500 vs. the Nvida 6600GT (AGP). I always thought the ATI card looked pretty good on my plasma screen, however there seemed to be some wavey distortion when I watched a divx movie, expecially on "Stretch" mode. I always just thought it was a function of MP4 compression. Well not so! The same divx files, which are backed up from DVD's using AutoGK, look like clear DVD playback with the 6600 w/ the Nvidia DVD Decoder. So... yes I think it's worth it to upgrade. so far I'm pretty impressed! There are a couple issues with the decoder, but there are work arounds until they fix the issues.

FYI I'm connected directly to the VGA port of the Plasma from the card. You won't get this awesome picture with S-Video. Component will probably look just as good though.

[fester]

Originally Posted by archie

fester, are you saying that you get a better picture out of the svideo than you did with the hdtv adapter?

i must be missing something here...

imho, archie

yes - better picture w/ svid vs hdtv adapter. I dont have hdtv input on my TV! LOL!! yeah - yer missin' something here.