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If you want to get the best graphics card for TV output the answer is get an old Matrox Marvel G400-TV.
For some time I have been using a Matrox Marvel G400-TV card and the picture on my TV using the S-Video output is excellent. I use TV-out for playback of interlaced MPEG2 files of music performances captured from TV broadcasts (capture by G400-TV, mpeg coding by TMPGEnc). I use Dual Head Clone with a desktop of 800x600 (Large Fonts) to choose a track in Windows Explorer, then DVDMax takes over to display the video full-screen - it is a great system.
I have just built a new PC primarily for video and audio playback (quiet fans). I purchased a G550 graphics card for it because people on this and other forums have said that Matrox cards are still the best for TV-out. But with DVDMax on the new card, but I noticed that movement on the TV screen is smeared. For example a guitarist’s hand strumming the strings is much clearer on the G400 than on the G550. I would say that the TV-out picture of the G550 has been de-interlaced. On both machines I installed the Ravisent DVD player software that came with the card (these provide the codec which plays the MPEG-2 files).
I questioned Matrox Tech Support and they say that none of their current cards support interlacing on the secondary output. Here is the thread:
If it is true that Matrox currently produce the best cards for TV-out and since I have been able to compare the Marvel G400-TV and the Millennium G550 side-by-side, I would say that for TV-out the G400-TV is the best graphics card that has ever been made. Not only is interlaced movement preserved but the picture on Dual Head Clone and DVD Max is clearer and sharper. However the DVD picture on the computer screen is better on the G550, and the seek bar works (you can only play mpeg-2 files from the start on the G400 with its Ravisent software, no positioning using the slider). The normal Windows desktop looks the same on both cards.
Watching Mpeg files on the TV is more important to me than watching them on the computer screen so I have just purchased a second Marvel G400-TV from ShopMatrox (where they are still available).
They also appear second-hand from time to time on e-bay.
You should know that as an experiment, I installed WinDVD on the machine with the G400-TV and it produced a better picture on the computer screen and the seek bar worked, but the TV-out became permanently de-interlaced. De-installing WinDVD did not restore it. I expect I will have to flatten the C: drive and reinstall everything including the Ravisent software. Fortunately this was only on a test installation on a hard drive in a caddy (tray) , not my main C: drive - so no big problem.
To get interlaced TV out of the G400 you must have 'Always scale to full screen' checked, and, of course, you must be playing an MPEG-2 file that is interlaced. If you pause the player when something is moving, if interlacing is working the picture on the TV will shimmer. If interlacing is not working the picture wil be smudged but static.
Hope this helps someone.
For some time I have been using a Matrox Marvel G400-TV card and the picture on my TV using the S-Video output is excellent. I use TV-out for playback of interlaced MPEG2 files of music performances captured from TV broadcasts (capture by G400-TV, mpeg coding by TMPGEnc). I use Dual Head Clone with a desktop of 800x600 (Large Fonts) to choose a track in Windows Explorer, then DVDMax takes over to display the video full-screen - it is a great system.
I have just built a new PC primarily for video and audio playback (quiet fans). I purchased a G550 graphics card for it because people on this and other forums have said that Matrox cards are still the best for TV-out. But with DVDMax on the new card, but I noticed that movement on the TV screen is smeared. For example a guitarist’s hand strumming the strings is much clearer on the G400 than on the G550. I would say that the TV-out picture of the G550 has been de-interlaced. On both machines I installed the Ravisent DVD player software that came with the card (these provide the codec which plays the MPEG-2 files).
I questioned Matrox Tech Support and they say that none of their current cards support interlacing on the secondary output. Here is the thread:
If it is true that Matrox currently produce the best cards for TV-out and since I have been able to compare the Marvel G400-TV and the Millennium G550 side-by-side, I would say that for TV-out the G400-TV is the best graphics card that has ever been made. Not only is interlaced movement preserved but the picture on Dual Head Clone and DVD Max is clearer and sharper. However the DVD picture on the computer screen is better on the G550, and the seek bar works (you can only play mpeg-2 files from the start on the G400 with its Ravisent software, no positioning using the slider). The normal Windows desktop looks the same on both cards.
Watching Mpeg files on the TV is more important to me than watching them on the computer screen so I have just purchased a second Marvel G400-TV from ShopMatrox (where they are still available).
They also appear second-hand from time to time on e-bay.
You should know that as an experiment, I installed WinDVD on the machine with the G400-TV and it produced a better picture on the computer screen and the seek bar worked, but the TV-out became permanently de-interlaced. De-installing WinDVD did not restore it. I expect I will have to flatten the C: drive and reinstall everything including the Ravisent software. Fortunately this was only on a test installation on a hard drive in a caddy (tray) , not my main C: drive - so no big problem.
To get interlaced TV out of the G400 you must have 'Always scale to full screen' checked, and, of course, you must be playing an MPEG-2 file that is interlaced. If you pause the player when something is moving, if interlacing is working the picture on the TV will shimmer. If interlacing is not working the picture wil be smudged but static.
Hope this helps someone.
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