ATI Radeon 8500DV...stop me please!!

[Rob100]

Originally posted by Sciascia
Rob100

With Premiere does it support DirectShow capture? Also does it allow you to edit in mpeg?

Sciascia,

The "standard" Radeon 8500 doesn't have any video input facility, just VGA/DVI/Composite and S-Video out.

Rob.

[Rob100]

Originally posted by Sciascia
Rob100

With Premiere does it support DirectShow capture? Also does it allow you to edit in mpeg?

Sciascia,

The "standard" Radeon 8500 doesn't have any video input facility, just VGA/DVI/Composite and S-Video out. I have a WinTV in this machine if I want to do any analogue captures and an ATI DV Wonder for firewire connections.

Rob.

[Sciascia]

Well that is true, but I have the ATI AIW 8500DV and it does have input facilities. I can get it to connect to the capture device now in almost all of my apps using the vfw wrapper. The captures are very impressive form the tuner using SW codecs. Its nice being able to do 720*480 captures as well. The 704*480 thing was difficult for DD creation. No resizing necessary. Now all that I need is a DVD burner.

The MMC MPEG2 DVD capture looks pretty good too. I need to do some tests to see which is better and if it is in fact DVD compliant. You know how finicky some of these authoring tools are. Between the authoring apps and DVD compliant burners it is going to take some research on my part to find a good solution.

[IM_Riktar]

Hi Sciascia,
Now that you have had the Radeon for awhile I wanted to ask you how the 2D display quality is compared to the Marvel you were using? Also how big is the monitor you are using?

I played around with a AIW Radeon when they first came out http://forums.murc.ws/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29550
and recently had the chance to try it out some more since the box I built came back for an upgrade. While the card left me fairly impressed when I first tried it out I am now a bit disappointed when I hook it up to my 21" Dell (Sony) Monitor. I have noticed that I develop eye strain pretty quickly using the larger monitor. This wasn't an issue when I first tried the card on a smaller (19") monitor.

While I am not just ready to go out and get a Radeon AIW just yet I want to know how the newer models work since the AIW7500 isn't priced too badly and since the G400 Marvel is still fetching a fair price, the upgrade wouldn't be too costly.

But I am not going to sacrifice the 2D quality that my Matrox cards give me. Especially now that I can see what a difference it makes on a bigger monitor.

[Sciascia]

The 2D here looks great on my 19" monitor. I had some problems until I figured out how to set the refresh rate in the advanced display properites. 60Hz is a sure fire headache maker. The 2D on the Marvel is great, as all Matrox cards are known for it, but I run my desktop at 1600*1200 and it looks really good. If there is a difference it is not noticeable to me. And I just built a new machine with the Marvel on the same monitor and did not notice a difference.

[IM_Riktar]

Thanks for the reply. ATI does have some wierd ways when it comes to refresh settings. That did cause a little bugaboo initially until I figured out their methods. Just a note on this: My Dell (Sony) monitor has BNC inputs as well as the standard 15 pin. If I use the BNC hookups with the ATI card the refresh stays locked at 60 hz. Must have something to do with the monitor communicating back to the card. I know that using the BNC cables with Windows cause the system to identify the monitor as a Standard monitor and I lose any plug and play features. Never was a issue with the G400 but ATI must be a little funny about this.

It is interesting that 19" and under monitors don't generate the headaches that my 21" does.

I have found that I can work at my monitor for hours and hours without eyestrain, or other ill effects. But with the ATI card I am limited to about 45 minutes before I have to take a break.

Just to clarify, the eyestrain isn't something that happens quickly. It is a subtle effect that takes time to be noticed. I am well aware of the 60 hz headache that happens within minutes of viewing.

[Hulk]

I used to use an ATI AIW 128 and really did not notice any difference in 2D quality from my G400 Marvel or G450 Marvel. Then again, I am only running 1164x878.

I suppose the DAC's only begin to become stressed beyone 1280 or so.

[Indiana]

I have a quite good 22", and the 2D in 1600x1200@85Hz (or even 1600x1200@100Hz) is slightly but noticeably worse with my Radeon8500 than it was with my G400.