Marvel G400-TV Opition...

[Sisko]

I was wondering if I could get some opinions on the Marvel G400-TV. I'm looking for a new all-in-one card and was looking for video captre and 3D performance views. I'm coming from a ATI All-In-Wonder Pro and have seen some stuff Matrox can do. Thanks ahead of time.

[This_Idiot]

You could read the review at www.desktopvideoworld.com (follow the "Product Reviews" link)

[Fogduck]

Sisko: I think you'll find that the Marvel G400 is the best all around all-in-one card on the market.

The ATI All-in-Wonder 128 cannot touch it in terms of 3D (the AIW128 performs only marginally better than a Voodoo2).

The ATI All-in-Wonder 128 has hardware MPEG, which is quite a feat, however, you need some serious hardware and a smoothly running subsystem to capture full-screen full-motion video without dropping frames.

The G400 does hardware MJPEG, which is a frame-by-frame compression, which outputs substantially larger files than the AIW128, but requires much LESS horsepower to capture broadcast-quality AV. Hard-drives are cheap, so Matrox' solution lets you capture very high-quality AV on even relatively mediocre hardware. The bundled Ligos transcoder lets you compress to MPEG1 and MPEG2 after the fact, with variable bitrates.

The Voodoo3-3500, on the other hand, has the BEST 3D of these three contenders, not surprisingly, but its video capture quality and DVD, etc. are definitely sub-par.

Matrox has always been unsurpassed when it comes to 2D quality as well, and the G400 continues the reputation in this aspect as well.

There is a great in-depth article comparing some of the current (at least, circa Q2-4 '00) all-in-one cards on Tom's Hardware Page <http://www.tomshardware.com>.

Sorry I do not have the direct link, but you should find it soon enough without looking too far there.

I was waiting for the All-in-Wonder 128 since Spring '99, and after it was delayed by a few months, I started looking elsewhere. I could have had it a month or so before the Marvel G400, but I am definitely glad I waited: I have great desktop video capabilities, AND continue to come out on top in Unreal Tournament. : )