[mythtvnz] Video card for a diskless frontend?

[Brett Miller]

Stuart,

I was incorrect in listing S-video output on the En9500GT or En9400GT.
The analogue outputs are component & VGA; no S-video.

Your first problem is newer video cards do not have S-video outputs.
Decide if full HD on screen is necessary/worth it.
Use the HD datastream and downscale to S-video to your TV.
Will still look okay.

I think the max. data rate with S-video is 576i50 or  480i60 so not HD
It can still work well.
I still use S-video from SD-DVD player because the TV upscaler is way better 
than DVD player component output or  HTPC playback at 1080i.
I have not attempted to optimize the Linux SD DVD playback upscaling because 
I don't yet know what to try.

An adaptor/converter from VGA to S-video should be straightforward.
Would require careful VGA modeline setup.
May need to careful consider cost and 'time-to-trash' vs benefit factor of 
any adaptor/converter.
The very latest flat panel TVs are just as good (IMHO very subjective) as 
CRTs and the price will drop with time.

Note:
VGA is 'just' analogue RGB+Hsync+Vsync (5 signal lines) ignoring EDID etc 
etc
Component has couple formats using 3 signal lines YPbPr, sync contained in 
one?
Component only exists to not use Vesa VGA connector and/or standard and to 
use nasty consumer cables with RCA jacks at over inflated prices.
Component is inferior to VGA. but so what..
S-video has colour (chroma) & brightness (lum) separated sync on lumience
SCART can contain RGB (no separate sync), S-video & composite   sync on one 
off S-video signal lines
Most SCART gear uses composite only and it is a connector system with nasty 
implementation.

Brett.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stuart Whelan" <mythtv at somepointinthefuture.co.nz>
To: "MythTV in NZ" <mythtvnz at lists.linuxnut.co.nz>
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: [mythtvnz] Video card for a diskless frontend?


> On Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 7:40 PM, Brett Miller<blmiller at slingshot.co.nz> 
> wrote:
>
>> I would suggest the EN9500GT-512K with S-video VGA & DVI  (VGA also) $110
>> from the right places.
>> This is available silent form so better thermal/noise management.
>
> This sounds good to me, I am looking into it now.
>
>> The video card is sometimes the cheapest component in a PC but the most
>> important in a HTPC.
>> Too much video grute is a possible waste of power & costs money to run.
>> The power management of video cards is still not very effective in real
>> tests.
>
> Yes, the selection of the videocard is what I am spending most of my
> time on.. The TV-Out side is new to me, the rest of the PC I can
> handle no problems.
>
>> What is the model of TV ?
>> The CRT TV will have limited set of operating modes it will sync.
>> The TV may perform upscaling/pre-scaling etc.
>> Might need to use custom modeline entries for X.
>
> The TV is a JVC AV-32X4BA. I did a google search on it but didn't come
> up with any specs that could tell me what the operating modes are.. I
> have the instruction manual but they are not listed there that I can
> see. Is there a website that I missed that may list them?
>
> Is there a procedure I can follow to find them out, maybe trying
> different modes in my xorg.conf?
>
>> The X server/Nvidia interface/configuration is a big weakness of Linux so
>> expect problems.
>> There are connection arrangements with dual head video cards that I have 
>> not
>> had success by "xorg.conf" file manipulation.
>
> Yes, I have run in to problems here also. I have had Mythbuntu running
> through the dying 8800GT S-Video and and also the S-Video output on my
> laptop.
>
> Lots of mucking around trying to find the right resolution to drive
> the TV output at, then setting X and Y offsets and sizes in MythTV. I
> found the 880GT picture was very hazy/filled with scan lines (I
> think), but the card is dying so it might just be that.
>
> Thanks for the advice!
> Stuart.
>
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