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TV-Out
racketboy - Oct 16, 2002
  racketboy Oct 16, 2002
Does anybody have any good links or info about the basics of TV-Out on video cards?

I want to get one soon, but would like to know about it a little more.

Can you view stuff on both a monitor and a TV without switching plugs or anything?

Does TV out work good for most apps, games, and emus?

Sorry for the "dumb" questions

 fivefeet8 Oct 16, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by racketboy@Oct. 16 2002, 12:19 pm



Does anybody have any good links or info about the basics of TV-Out on video cards?



I want to get one soon, but would like to know about it a little more.



Can you view stuff on both a monitor and a TV without switching plugs or anything?



Does TV out work good for most apps, games, and emus?



Sorry for the "dumb" questions


Well, it sorta also depends on which video card with tv out your gonna get.. TV out allows you to have a dual monitor output.. Your regular computer monitor and the TV at the same time.. On my geforce 4 ti 4600, there are options as to what kind of dual monitor output I want.. The choices are, CLone, horizontal panning, vertical panning.. Quite nice to have since you can set up so that you can do two different things at once, one on each monitor.. The clone option copies your desktop on both displays.. So your only really able to use one display, but it's on two of em.. The panning options are the better choices.. Watch a movie on the TV out, while surfing the web or playing games on the computer monitor..

It should work for any apps you have on your computer.. Old emulated arcades games look really nice on the TV..

Lucky me, I've got two video cards.. Voodoo 5 5500 pci and GEforce 4 ti 4600.. Three possible displays on the geforce and one on the V5.. 4 displays possible at once!!!! There goes my electric bill..

 dnguyen800 Oct 16, 2002
here is a short article about the tv-out chips on most geforce cards:

http://tvtool.info/english/tvchips_e.htm...

the features you were talking about vary from card to card. My old ATI Rage II can handle tv and monitor displays at the same time, but my Kyro II and Geforce2 GTS can only display one at a time. Also, the resolution of the monitor and the tv have to be the same, so it's safe to use 800x600 for old cards like mine, and maybe 1024x768 on geforce4 tis and radeon 8500 and above.

I wouldn't recommend using tv-out to replace your monitor, text is very hard to read and hurts your eyes, plus you can only use low resolutions. My MSI Geforce2 GTS TV-Out (Conexant Bt869 chip) has really bad image quality, so don't get that. My Apollo Kyro II tv-out output looks really great, GBA games look as good as SNES games on this. Divx videos look great, but the only problem with tv-out is that it doesn't use all of the tv screen, so there is a small border on the sides. For games, I was able to play games like Medal of Honor, Hitman, Sum of All Fears, Colin McRae 2, and Max Payne without any problems.

I think your best bet is to get a card that is built by ATi. If they are anything like my RageII, you can expect the best features. You should read more reviews about videocards, sometimes they have information about the tv-out quality.

 mtxblau Oct 16, 2002
I'll vouch for that. I have a Radeon 7200 (64MB DDR ViVo) and while it won't compare to the new GeForces, it has excellent TV-Out (pretty solid resolution, text isn't too hard to read) and outstanding DVD hardware decoding (a bonus, I guess).

The Radeon 8500 'All In Wonder' is pretty sweet. If you can afford it, I recommend it. Good drivers are at www.rage3d.com... .

 Gallstaff Oct 16, 2002
Yes i too have been wondering about this. is there any card that allows tv-in and tv-out? Not at the same time necesarily no but just one that offered both features? Cause i think that there are just sepearte pci boards you can get for this sort of thing. ATI... has these things.

 racketboy Oct 16, 2002
I'll probably get a GeForce 3 or 4 (do the MX series work good for TV-Out).

The box I'll put it in will pretty much be for gaming (primarily gaming -- esp emus.) and being my "workhorse" (doing CD Burning, MP3 Ripping, etc.) to free up my laptop.

I'm really looking forward to running MAME on there and using Gens so I don't have to have my Genny/32X/SCD all hooked up and clogging the back of my entertainment center with wires and "brick" AC plugs.

Thanks you guys -- you we a big help.

Any additional info would be appreciated.

 Zziggy00 Oct 16, 2002
Do not get a scan converter (a little box that hooks into your monitor ouput connector and then goes into the antenna plug on your TV) cheapest one's run for about 100 bucks and they really are poorly made (on the low end that is).

One of my worst purchases i've ever made, I might have used it twice ever.

 racketboy Oct 16, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by Zziggy00@Oct. 16 2002, 2:20 pm



Do not get a scan converter (a little box that hooks into your monitor ouput connector and then goes into the antenna plug on your TV) cheapest one's run for about 100 bucks and they really are poorly made (on the low end that is).



One of my worst purchases i've ever made, I might have used it twice ever.


yeah I've heard of those.

for $100 you might as well get a new video card!

sorry about your experiece, Ziggy

 mtxblau Oct 16, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by Gallstaff@Oct. 15 2002, 6:06 pm



Yes i too have been wondering about this. is there any card that allows tv-in and tv-out? Not at the same time necesarily no but just one that offered both features? Cause i think that there are just sepearte pci boards you can get for this sort of thing. ATI... has these things.


Yeah, that's my card (vivo). Currently my PC is my entertainment center (DVD, TV, w/ my saturn, and VCR connected on the TV-In). I love it. It's not as sharp as a regular TV, but it's pretty good, I think.

 racketboy Oct 16, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by MTXBlau+Oct. 16 2002, 4:25 pm-->
QUOTE(MTXBlau @ Oct. 16 2002, 4:25 pm)