Question for those using external preview with DVI

Sebaz wrote on 5/28/2009, 6:17 PM
I currently have an eVGA GeForce 7950 GT video card. I've had it for two years and I never liked it too much, but by the time I realized it was a piece of junk I wasn't able to return it anymore, so I kept it for a couple of years, but now I would like to move to something better. Since this card is Nvidia and it was supposed to be able to play HD without problems but it doesn't, I would like to move to ATI.

The main problem I have with this card is that it can't be used to play interlaced HD video properly. It plays Blu-ray movies fine, I supposed because they are 23.98 progressive, but when I try to play any interlaced HD material, such as episodes of TV shows that I transfer from my cable DVR to my computer, or the footage I get from my Canon HF100, it de-interlaces it, and it also stutters every three seconds. Also, in Vegas, instead of showing the original interlaced video when I preview the timeline in the TV set, it will blend the fields and leave them like that even when the cursor is paused.

So my questions for those who use the second DVI port (or an HDMI one) in your video card are:

1) does any of you have a card that (in Vegas) will play the interlaced footage on the preview monitor interlaced in the same way as if you connected the camcorder straight to that monitor or TV set? I don't know if Vegas is designed that way, or if the video card is to blame for that. Vegas has a a deinterlace setting in the Preview device preferences that I leave unchecked precisely to avoid that.

2) obviously my Nvidia based card is not powerful enough for proper display of HD Interlaced video. I would like to get recommendations on cards, preferably ATI, that play HD 29.97 interlaced video without a hitch.

3) I would like to know what are the most reliable brands of cards, after my experience with this eVGA card I know to stay away from them, but there are way too many choices and I know that probably many of them are junk that won't last a year. Is Diamond good? I think they are made by ATI themselves, but they used to be total junk many years ago.

Thanks

Comments

John_Cline wrote on 5/28/2009, 8:48 PM
I have the identical eVGA 7950GT cards in some of my computers. They work fine. They do accelerate MPEG2 decoding, but for any other HD format, you are at the mercy of whatever media player you are using. In my experience, ATI cards are junk, primarily because of their drivers. I use nVidia card exclusively and have never had a problem.

Now, you do realize that any computer monitor is a progressive display device and it simply can't display interlaced video correctly. I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to accomplish.
Sebaz wrote on 5/29/2009, 5:44 AM
Oh, I should have specified better. I was referring to having a normal HDTV set as the second monitor, which can to some extent display interlaced 60i. As I understand it still kind of de-interlaces it because the display is progressive, but you can still see the difference between real interlaced and progressive material.

As for the eVGA 7950, it is supposed to accelerate MPEG-2 decoding, but in my case if they do, they do it horribly for interlaced material. Whether it's DVD, Blu-ray or TV shows, it displays it the same way as I described in my first post.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/29/2009, 6:26 AM
my ATI 3850 has no problems playing HD over a DVI Out. I regularly do it to my second/primary monitor & have done it to a HDTV.

But what's more important then the source for what you want is how the computer outputs the video. The computer sounds like it's sending a progressive signal to the TV, so the TV won't bother interlacing because it's progressive, and you have your problem.

Double check the tech specs for your card, could be they reqire specific codecs, or, more likely, specific media players. IE ATI seems to prefer to use it's own included player for doing the best accelerated output. BUT... my comp can still play HD that's not in that player full screen.

Nvidia's aren't known for their multimedia capabilities, ATI's are. Many people have issues with the drivers but keep on using them and keep replacing cards but still have driver issues. Anyone I've talked to who's owned an ATI says the opposite. But if you don't know what you actually want & get something based on the box or hearsay, you're bound to have issues.