does the radeon decode just as well as the hollywood decoder?

[kajiki]

I'm wondering if the radeon card can decode dvd's just as well as the hollywood?

 

[VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVI]

I was very surprised to find that my Radeon looks much better than my H+. I started a movie using ATI's DVD player just to see if it worked for sh*ts and giggles, and lo and behold it was so much better that I took the H+ out.

 

[Hawk]

Oh, I forgot to tell you, you can use other software with the Radeon's DVD decoding also, so you don't have to worry about getting stuck with just ATI's DVD player (which is actually Cinemaster).

 

[rbV5]

DVD playback on the Radeon is excellent

 

[Taz4158]

I actually found I get better sound and picture from switching to WinDVD.

 

[ManuTOmanU]

So you all agree that the H+ is not necessary?

If so do you know anything about the G450...? nobody on this forum seems to have this card... I haven't heard of anybody... well I am getting it... Same thought here, H+ worth the money?

 

[Playitagainsam]

You might want to keep those hardware decoders handy... for occasions like these

 

[BrainSalad]

I've read alot about this card and it seems to be in-line with Matrox' history of making a good product...but!!! The memory bandwidth is 64 bit which is not good. They use DDR memory so it should work like a 128bit SDR version but I think its pretty stupid to make a card with DDR memory and only give it a 64bit memory bus. For this reason alone I wouldn't buy the card. On the other hand, if you absolutely need the dual monitor support then Matrox seems to be the best at that game.

 

[Hawk]

Well ManuTOmanU, the Radeon has hardware decoding on chip, the G450 doesn't. So Radeon users saying the Hollywood isn't necessary doesn't mean it's the same case for the G450. But why are you getting the G450? If you just need a dual monitor card, you *could* just get the Radeon VE, which has dual monitor (DVI for LCDs) too, and has the hardware DVD decoding, and is probably faster than the G450 in games. The 2d is probably almost as good, I guess the only advantage the G450 has over the VE is that in Win2k the G450 can be now used as two separate cards (different refresh rates and resolutions).

 

[ManuTOmanU]

Well sorry, but I was out of town, had to work, so to let you know, I would really like the G450 for its 2D quality, but on the other hand it isn't everything, I think the ATI would give me enough 2D too... I am more concerned of the software that controles the 2 monitors, Matrox seems to be better,,,

I don't know but I think G450 lets you output to a VCR, which would be important (???not really) but nice to have, since the Hauppauge PVR doesn't give me that choice. And aren't there more and better opportunities the G450 offers over the ATI VE... How much is it the ATI? I am going to read through this round up again... consittering both cards...

 

[ManuTOmanU]

Oh... newegg has it for just 86 or so... not bad... Well maybe I am getting this card... ok thank you manking me aware of the VE again... You easily forget things... Let me know of any reviews... or whatever you know about this card... maybe I need to post a new thread...

 

[ManuTOmanU]

Sorry for this tripple post, but does the VE has any problems outputting PAL? not NTSC?

 

[Hanky]

Hey Manu,

dunno about the VE but as I already told you the Matrox cards sometimes have problems outputting to PAL. See this for more information. Matrox is aware of it though and will hopefully fix it with the next driver release. For me the problem was very annoying with the latest 6.50 drivers but was not as obvious with the 6.23 revision.
DVD speed is o.k. on my system even without a H+ but I'm going to use it anyway, because I want to use Dual-Head for two PC screens and the TV-Out of the H+ is excellent.

Btw: CeBIT is starting soon. Do you still want to come?

 

[nemes]

What are you guys comparing? Display on TV or monitor?

Dedicated H+ to TV display has been proved to be one of the best including top class standalone players. You can compare with radeon's tv display here but I haven't tried yet.

But on monitor display, if you compare the quality of H+ which is using a bypassing adaptor, with the software decoded result, then you are making a mistake. And the bad quality of H+ mainly comes from using an additional adaptor between the monitor and the graphic card and radeon will give you a better quality because it dosen't have use that crap. Remember voodoo? With BNC connector, you'll get better result.

LOL, my H+ can produce exactly the same quality with whatever you call a better dvd player if I use the same software.

Except ATI dvd player, I think there're no software players which can utilize radeon's mpeg decoder chip yet, I may be wrong.

Original question is "does the radeon decode[\h] just as well as the hollywood decoder?" For a low end rig, H+ will get a nod because it's a cheap and dedicated card. Radeon requires a heavy load by itself alone. If you have a decent machine, it is up to you. It really doesn't matter. If you wanna watch the movie on tv while you're working on computer and don't wanna be bothered by radeon's funny resolution change, then H+ will be better.

So if TV display means anything to you, H+ is still a better option.

 

[Hanky]

nemes,

yes you're absolutely right, the H+ is excellent for viewing on TV. Matrox' TV-Out quality is excellent as well when not choppy...

Using the H+ for viewing DVDs on the PC screen is definitely as dumb as it gets...I already tried it and the quality is a joke. The problem is also you always have to use the loop-through-cable if you don't want plug it out and in again all the time, that means also for the 2D Windows environment and 3D games. The 2D quality is sooo awful with it...even worse than with nVidia based video cards.

 

[ManuTOmanU]

Ok, I am now decieding, between those too, is there any good deal on the H+ below 50$?

If I would get the G450 and the H+ (which doesn't have any trouble with PAL) I would have a solution with no problems, but the lack of pci slots... right?

 

[Hanky]

I never heard of problems with the H+...
"lack of PCI-Slots"...is one more or less important for you?