ATI hdtv DVI to component adapter

[TrailerParkKing]

Has anyone used this? I am thinking of adaptimg my pc and integrating it right into my entertainment system and want to use this adapter. Anyone else running it? TIA

 

[TrailerParkKing]

anyone have experience with this?

 

[rbV5]

Check out the Home Theater Computer at AVSforums. I use the native YPbPr output of my AIW card, and its functionally similar. ATI has improved the functionality and now has added custom resolution support (you have to hack the existing Cat drivers).

I use it for gaming, and watching videos. ATI keeps improving its driver support and there is a pretty large user base and support at AVSforums.

 

[RedWolf]

I just happen to be selling mine in the for sale/trade forums. http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=45&threadid=1311757&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

Anyway, it works pretty well. There are a couple of versions of it. I have the DVI version that works with 9500 and above. It only allows you to send an hd signal to your tv and give you a component connection (which looks much better than composite or svideo). It doesnt really do anything other than that. You can do some cleanup of standard def tv recordings with other programs, though. It is great for watching recorded hd tv, movies, and for playing high-res big screen games. One thing about the games was that the overscan on the adapter was pretty bad. ATI released some drivers that helped with that a bit but you need to do some configuration with powerstrip to get things to align right on your tv. The avsforum site mentioned above is a great site and there's a lot of info on it there.

 

[rbV5]

One thing about the games was that the overscan on the adapter was pretty bad. ATI released some drivers that helped with that a bit but you need to do some configuration with powerstrip to get things to align right on your tv.

I haven't used powerstrip in some time myself. Have you tried CTS? Its a godsend for gaming without having to configure custom timings.

 

[TrailerParkKing]

cts? what is CTS? I have always run Rage 3d

 

[rbV5]

CTS = Center Timing Support. Its an option in the Catalyst drivers for YPbPr output. Basically, it maps a window within the display.

An example: To play any game at 1280x1024 on my 55" Widescreen display using my HTPC, I enable CTS, set my resolution to 1080i (1920x1080) and my Display to Primary and fire up the game. On my display, that maps the 5:4 window perfectly to the center with a narrow black bar down each side. No messing with powerstrip, no custom timings, no custom resolution...just fire up any game with CTS enabled and play.

I've been busy and haven't played much with the new custom resolution support just added to catalysts, which may make things even better, but CTS is brilliant for the big screen gamer with a Radeon card and YPbPr output.

 

[TrailerParkKing]

wow that is sweet.. i will have to play with that once I get everything situated. Being a beta tester you certainly hasve more funcvtional knowledge than i do on the catalysts but I am sure I will figure it out.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: TrailerParkKing
wow that is sweet.. i will have to play with that once I get everything situated. Being a beta tester you certainly hasve more funcvtional knowledge than i do on the catalysts but I am sure I will figure it out.

I don't want to sound too optimistic, but their are some definate improvements in YPbPr support. My functional knowlege is pretty much limited to my uses, and I'm still trying to figure out how to use some of the new features.

 

[peonyu]

Ive been looking into the component adapter aswell and was wondering - is there any revision of the adapter that *doesnt* force overscanning on at all times ? Thats the main thing keeping me from picking one up.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: peonyu
Ive been looking into the component adapter aswell and was wondering - is there any revision of the adapter that *doesnt* force overscanning on at all times ? Thats the main thing keeping me from picking one up.

With the custom resolution support, the idea is to enable a mode that has excessive overscan, then use the interactive window to configure your cards output to your display. The interface is a little confusing to me as there is no documentation on its use and currently reaquires a registry hack or driver install hack to implement it. When I get it all figured out, I'll start a thread on creating custom resolutions using the Catalyst drivers.

 

[coolred]

Would this benefit someone with a standard def TV with component inputs?

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: coolred
Would this benefit someone with a standard def TV with component inputs?

Not really. You're still limited by your TVs low resolution & dot pitch.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: coolred
Would this benefit someone with a standard def TV with component inputs?

Not really. You're still limited by your TVs low resolution & dot pitch.

Yup

S-video is a form of component, it includes the Full black and white component (Y) and combines the color difference signals (Pb and Pr) into a single color signal(C)
SO
YPbPr = 3 seperate signals (Y)Black and White + (Pb & Pr) color components derived from the RGB signal
S-Video = 2 seperate signals (Y) + (C) Pb combined with Pr
Composite(rca) = 1 signal (all signal information combined)

The difference is pretty negligable for 480i output into a SD TV display (s-video vs YPbPr)

btw, the custom timing modes appear to be not quite ready for primetime from my playing around with them...