ATI vs. Nvidia for HD playback?

Zhentkap · **ATI vs. Nvidia for HD playback? -** 09-19-2007, 18:58 | posts: 7

I'm having a huge amount of trouble with my BFG 7800GTX and getting the component outs to work correctly, so I was wondering, in general, is ATI any better with HD output from a video card than Nvidia, or am I just having trouble for some other reason? Since this is something that I actually need on an almost daily basis, and I currently cannot get any output through the Component video cables, should I consider goign with a different card to fix the problem?

StormVR6 · 09-20-2007, 01:31 | posts: 1,581 | Location: England

Well if you're getting no output at all I would think that's due to a faulty card or setting in the CP, not because the card can't do it. Are you running from the S-Video or DVI?

Zhentkap · 09-20-2007, 19:37 | posts: 7

I guess I should clarify a little bit: about half the time the card doesnt recognize that there is another monitor plugged in, and half the time it does. when it recognizes that there is a second monitor, it displays just fine while windows is booting [the post screen displays on both the monitor and the tv] but then it will display everything at some reduced brightness level which I cannot fix through the CP.

StormVR6 · 09-20-2007, 23:15 | posts: 1,581 | Location: England

During boot up the resolution will be at a default low, both screens obviously recognise this. Once on desktop it'll run at your selected resolution, are you sure the TV can support such a resolution, whatever it may be?

Have you tried setting the TV as the primary monitor, at a supported resolution? And like I asked, are you running DVI>Component or S-Video>Component? Either way, have you tried both?

Without actually experiencing what you are, it's hard to determine the problem, sorry.

Zhentkap · 09-21-2007, 00:49 | posts: 7

As far as component goes, I'm not sure how best to answer this. The card has a plug/adapter in the back that converts into a whole slew of options - composite, component, and s-video all on one adapter. I'm coming out of those components, and goign into the TV via component, so its not really converting at all.

I'll try the TV as the single monitor, or changing the resolutions. The TV supports up to 720p, so it should be able to show at least a couple of these resolutions higher than 480i out of the computer.

StormVR6 · 09-21-2007, 02:33 | posts: 1,581 | Location: England

Well if you're running a HDTV why not use a VGA>VGA cable or even a DVI>HDMI cable? What inputs does your HDTV have?

eat@joes · 09-21-2007, 06:28 | posts: 1,017 | Location: Nottingham, MD

I've had problems running Nvidia cards to my 46" Sony LCD rear projo. Only ATI cards support high, and widescreen resolutions on that tv. The Nvidia (7800GT) only allowed me to go 4:3 resolutions and had a very bad picture using DVI to HDMI.

I'm currently running a 2600XT @ 1920x1080 (HDMI) on that TV and it's wonderful. Although my computer lags while trying to play VC1. I can play 1080p, just not smoothly if it's VC1...might be my cpu though (A64 3000+).

Zhentkap · 09-22-2007, 01:32 | posts: 7

The TV only has s-vid, composite, component, and HDMI. The reason I'm using component now instead of HDMI is beacuse the computer is about 30 feet from the TV when I'm presenting and it was cheaper to get a component cable.

Thats what I was thinking, in regards to ATI vs. Nvidia joes. Thanks , I'll have to check out an ATI card, cause this problem needs to go away. I'll confess I'm [clearly] not an expert at this kind of thing, but I've tried everything that it seemed like it could be, and I cant think of any reason for the problem.

StormVR6 · 09-22-2007, 01:57 | posts: 1,581 | Location: England

Well it seems odd because I know of people who run HDTV's on 6000 series Nvidia cards, and one person I know on an AV forum even has his 5000 series running a HDTV!

Sorry I can't help, hope you have a result soon.

Zhentkap · 09-23-2007, 17:29 | posts: 7

Yeah, I know, I don't understand the problem. The weirdest part is that it varies so much. Sometimes when I turn the computer on it wont even recognize the TV, sometimes it will, but only at 480i, sometimes it will at 1080i but only at half brightness...its confusing, thats for sure. I'm going to try an ATI card sometime this week and hopefully fix the problem that way.