the graphics card pc lcd monitor relationship

[nickpan]

ok guys..i want HD on my PC..a common requirment i think

ive come to lots of conclusions by reading around but i just wanted some conformation from the pros

a) im pretty sure a 1920x1200 resolution LCD monitor should do the trick right? its above the 1080p barrier so i think that bit should be fine

b) my main question - Graphics cards

I dont play games..but from what i can see, gfx cards have a variety of outputs..VGA which is analogue, DVI, dual DVI and HDI

Now VGA is pointless

DVI is what i think i need

Dual DVI is for super high resolution monitors that i cant afford

And HDI is so u can connect it to your tv right?

However, i cant connect it to a tv, cause u cant use a tv as a monitor


So anyway, my question is;

Does a better gfx card mean better picture? Do they do all the video rendering etc thus providing a clearer picture?

Do i need to spend 500 pounds on the best gfx card which plays every game in the world to have a great display on my monitor?

Does the gfx card determine your max resolution?


I guess the bottom line is...what route do you take to get the finest highest quality looking videos and photos onto a pc screen?


Thanks for reading

Nick

 

[Datman]

I have a DVico Fusion HDTV DVB-T+ PCI card in my computer.

It is running on a 1280x1024 res LCD monitor. It got it when I still had my 2.8GHz CPU and Asus 9600XT and played Hi Def TV with no problems. I upgaded my CPU and graphics card to a 3.2GHz presscot and X800pro in this comptuer and it made no difference to the picture quality.

What are the specs of the computer you are using it in.

 

[avidday]

a) im pretty sure a 1920x1200 resolution LCD monitor should do the trick right? its above the 1080p barrier so i think that bit should be fine

That is fine - just make sure you run the PC at 1920x1200 resolution (or whatever resolution you monitor natively supports). otherwise something in the image pipeline will be doing interpolation and the results can be poor.

b) my main question - Graphics cards

I dont play games..but from what i can see, gfx cards have a variety of outputs..VGA which is analogue, DVI, dual DVI and HDI

Now VGA is pointless

VGA certainly isn't pointless - it is component analog and can produce very nice results with a high quality video card and crt (monitor or TV). A majority of HD home theatre setups (and things like the Xbox 360) do HD via VGA. However, if you are running a digital panel, it makes sense to use a digital signal path.

DVI is what i think i need

DVI is the most common digital output signal on PCs and LCD monitors (and Plasma and LCD TVs) right now, but HDMI is also become common (see more on this below).

Dual DVI is for super high resolution monitors that i cant afford

No Dual DVI is identical to DVI, except there are two ports which can support two monitors.

And HDI is so u can connect it to your tv right?

Its HDMI, and it is, in fact, identical to DVI, except that it can carry digital audio as well as video, uses a smaller plug, and has provisions for DRM encryption of the signal between the video source and the screen. You can buy DVI to HDMI convertor cables.

However, i cant connect it to a tv, cause u cant use a tv as a monitor

You most certainly can connect to a HD capable TV and use it as a monitor, and you can get rather good results too. I run my home theatre system this way.

So anyway, my question is;

Does a better gfx card mean better picture? Do they do all the video rendering etc thus providing a clearer picture?

Do i need to spend 500 pounds on the best gfx card which plays every game in the world to have a great display on my monitor?

Most certainly not. There are plenty of graphics cards with high end GPU cores which have tonnes of raw processng power, but don't have particularly high quality output stages and don't produce great looking picture. Similarly, there are plenty of lower performance cards with excellent output stages and great picture quality. There is no such thing as a free lunch though - good quality output cards aren't cheap.

The performance requirements for smooth HD output aren't particularly high - you need some hardware accelerated colour space transforms and a fast direct rendering interface - which every directX 8 compatible card has. If you want to display 1080 line TV signals (like DVB broadcast signals), then some hardware accelerated MPEG2 motion compensation can be helpful, which most directX 9 compatible and many better directX8 compatible cards have.

There is a major catch, though. If you have in mind to build a PC capable of playing HD movies off a blue ray or HD-DVD drive you will buy a little later, then there are currently none on the market that will do it. The content providers have decided that any video output device that can output 1080 line content from a protected source like a HD optical disc must support HDCP encryption. Presently there are no PC video cards available that support HDCP. Non HDCP devices will only be permitted to output 480/576 line output.

You can read more about the current HDCP farce here
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_nvidia_hdcp_support/

Does the gfx card determine your max resolution?

Generally speaking, yes. Most often the limitations are the amount of bandwidth in the output stage of the card and the amount of available memory the card has.

 

[nickpan]

you've been of great help thank you thats the exact answer i needed...

So in summary, i can get a monitor which is HDCP compliant..i found a samsung model HDCP compliant..244t? was the model i think

The reason why i said u cant use a tv as a monitor is i found that sitting close to a tv as u do a computer screen is tiring on the eyes..

I was looking to buy my HD compliant system in June i guess im just waiting for these GFX cards

Whats your opinion of Nvidia's PureVideo?

Regards

Nick

 

[Kowalski]

Dual DVI is for super high resolution monitors that i cant afford

No Dual DVI is identical to DVI, except there are two ports which can support two monitors.


You're confusing graphics cards that have two DVI ports with DVI Dual Link. A single link DVI connector will do 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz, higher resolutions (e.g. 2048 × 1536 @ 75, 1920 × 1080 @ 85, 2560 × 1600, 3840 × 2400) need Dual Link.

Quite a few current cards have dual link connectors, they're pretty common but unless you're running a massive monitor, you don't really need dual link.

 

[Datman]

Your welcome.

I tried to use a TV myself, the resolution is to low for the text, it just gets blurry and the refresh rate is a bit low, get a flicker.

As for Nvidia's PureVideo, I haven't had anything thing to do with it myself, but have heard and read that it's good, same as Ati's setup.

The 15pin D-Sub VGA connecter is fine for TV viewing, but as you know DVI is has a sharper picture.

 

[avidday]

Yeah the Samsung 244T is HDCP compliant and it looks like a nice panel.

As for NVIDIA purevideo, I run a Quadro NVS 285 in one of my boxes, and it has H.264 and MPEG2 decode acceleration on the core. I don't know what the windows drivers are like, but the linux ones are pretty good, except that the decoder accelerators aren't supported.

 

[nickpan]

what im wondering is when are we gonna get fully HDCP compliant video cards..having read that article, i dont think gfx card companies are gonna be announcing the arrival of their new breed of cards that actually are HDCP compliant this time

was just wondering how we're supposed to tell without buying and testing

 

[Datman]

Thanks for the link, it's been a while since I read a review about it. Alot has changed to, I think it was still with the X800 and 6800 cards at the time of the review.

Glad I got Ati. 😀

 

[nickpan]

guys just we may not have fully HDCP fully compliant cards..it doesnt mean we cant watch fully HD stuff right? it just means we cant watch any of the 'licensed' stuff as such..is that correct?

I mean if i was to record somethign with a 1080p video camera, i wouldnt loose 75% of my resolution?

 

[Datman]

Yeah only the protected stuff that will come out will be a problem. I watch the 1080i HDTV stuff on my computer, we only have 2 channels at that resolution where I live.

Becarful of Sony products for protection, some of there digital still cameras you need permision to share or print your own photos.

 

[nickpan]

ah great ok..so this HDCP stuff only effects the official crap

Few more questions;

Whats the availiability of hidef stuff like? someone mentioned usenet on the forums i think..is there HD stuff availiable to download off that?

Furthermore - what are HD capture cards like? can they capture the full 1080i resolution? I mean from what i understand..tv channels cant broadcast in 1080p yet cause its too much data to transfer or something like that..is that true?

Finally..can anyone recommend Graphics cards that can output fully at the 1920x1200 resolution that give a good result

I have no concern for gaming or anything, so i dont think i need a million pixel shaders or anything

Cheers

Nick

 

[Datman]

someone mentioned usenet on the forums i think..is there HD stuff availiable to download off that?

I don't know about this, I haven't come across much on the net, only a few samples.

what are HD capture cards like? can they capture the full 1080i resolution?

My Fusion card has no troubles capturing in hi res, I save to MPEG2 format. The other option is TS (Transport Stream).

can anyone recommend Graphics cards that can output fully at the 1920x1200 resolution that give a good result

Any mid range card should be fine. Looks like Ati has the better setup ATM for this type of stuff. Remember I was running fine from a 9600XT card before my upgrade.

Some small form factor PC's only have intergrated or budget solutions.

 

[nickpan]

ah right cool..so any ATI card should do the trick..cool so i got that bit sorted

I remember a few years ago, i got into the whole DVD-R thing recording DVD-R's with my DVD Recorder hooked up to the TV off Sky Digital and then ripping the disks onto my pc. The DVD recorder compressed in mpeg2 so thats what i ripped the files in the results were OK

However, i would say the videos didnt look overly amazing..but obviously, the tv i had back then had a much lower resolution so it made stuff look alot better than my pc screen..

Have things come along way from then quality wise?

 

[Datman]

When you ripped the signal from your TV it most likely would of changed the resolution to that of the TV's, so you get the lowest signal that way.
The less lose you can get the better.

576i or standard def can look a little fussy or grainy on my screen, but 1080i looks sharp and clear.

http://www.dvico.com/
This is the website for the manufacture of my card, I'm very happy with the quality of it.

If you are happy with DVD quality you will be impressed with 1080i, far more detail and image clarity.

 

[nickpan]

cool looking at that website..those cards look good..however we're still waiting around for HD Tv around here in the UK..well actually i think Sky offers it now but i havent got it yet

 

[Datman]

We got free to air HDTV before the Motherland!!!!! 8O 8)