[torgo100]

OK, this is my first HTPC. I see a lot of Powerstrip settings for ATI and NVIDIA cards, but no info for Matrox cards. I have built an HTPC for the specific purpose of acting as a line-doubler for my Laserdisc player. Since this is "Phase 1," it's not even in a pretty case or anything yet. So far, the specs for everything are:


P3-800 Mhz

512MB RAM

Matrox Marvel-400TV video (Output)(Alternately, I have a Matrox Millenium G400 available)

Pixelview XCapture (Input, although it doesn't work with Dcsaler yet)

Hauppage WinTV (Input until the XCapture works)

Dscaler 4.1 Alpha

Powerstrip (newest version)

Windows XP Professional

VGA to Component converter


My t.v. is a Mitsubishi 46089, 46" HDTV, 16x9


There is no sound processing in this system, only video. Also, I am not doing any PVR functionality, only line-doubling for Laserdiscs.


The real problem that I am having is getting the resolutions set properly in Powerstrip. I have looked through some FAQ's, but like I said, I can't find any info regarding any Matrox cards. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

 

[torgo100]

Anyone??


Anyway, I have opted to using the Matrox Millenium G400 card. It has a faster RAMDac, and dual-monitor support, which is nice for making and testing changes. I have plugged the component cables into my 1080i input, but I'm still having resolution issues. If anyone has any ideas, help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JeffDM]

I have a G450, but haven't tried Powerstrip yet. Maybe it is time to try it out.


The only thing is that I get a weird color banding on scaling issue that _no one_ has been able to help me with:

http://www.demaagd.com/dScaler/


I get these results on both the G450 and an ATi Radion VE, the VE was a little worse. I don't have an nVidia to try.

 

[gdubois1]

I've used a G400 to my Zenith HDTV for a couple of years. Works great either with Powerdesk or Powerstrip.

Jusr be forwarned that there is no interlaced support for DVD playpack.

 

[hificanuck]

I've used a Matrox G400 for quite a while with good results. I works fine with Powerstrip and I never encountered video related crashes. HOWEVER I recently purchased an ATI 9000pro with reservations and the change was amazing. Live with the G400 for a while and then make the change to the ATI Radeon, you can see the difference.

 

[torgo100]

Do you think that the difference that you saw with the ATI 9000 would be similar to the 7500 in terms of quality? The reason I ask is that Besy Buy has the 7500 for $60 after a rebate. Also, for you users of the Matrox cards, can you send me the settings that you use in Powerstrip an/or Powerdesk? I'm not using this for DVD Playback, and so far, I get a lot of aliasing on the images from Laserdisc.

 

[sd_smoker]

Quote:

Originally posted by gdubois1 I've used a G400 to my Zenith HDTV for a couple of years. Works great either with Powerdesk or Powerstrip. Jusr be forwarned that there is no interlaced support for DVD playpack.

What exactly does this mean? If I wanted to use a G450 to play DVD's on my NTSC (interlacing) tv, am I SOL?

 

[Mastiff]

What I can say is that a year ago I tested a G400, a GeForce 2 GTS and an ATI Radeon 7000 VE, and the ATI won without any problems. The Matrox card lost. One of the most revealing tests was an office building in the background in The Matrix. Where I could discern every single window on the ATI, I could only see the separate rows on the GeForce, and finally one grey mass with the Matrox.


This was on my Barco Graphics 808. In other words, if you buy an old and cheap Radeon, you'll get a much better picture then if you use your Matrox. I'm waiting for the new 9500 (it's not available in Norway yet) to increase the PQ another notch.

 

[JeffDM]

Mastiff;


Your test sounds interesting. Do you remember the time code and which portion of the image? I'd like to see how it fares on my systems. What OS and DVD player software did you use?


Thanks.

 

[JamesWhite]

I was just about to purchase a Matrox G550 card with hopes to increase PQ using it with RGB(sync) to Scart(rgb).


The Matrox card can do RGB(sync) without an adapter.


If Im hearing this right, the Radeon 9x00 has better PQ,

Can these cards do RGB(sync)?


I know that a Mike P Mod'd Radeon card can do RGB-HV, but what about RGB(s)?


My Primary use is DVD playback to a Sony KV-32FX66E 16:9 direct view.


Anyone?

 

[Mastiff]

I can't remember the time code, but it's where Neo has rescued Morpheus, after the helicopter crash. YOu can see a lot of buildings in the background. And I used WinDVD for the GeForce and Matrox cards and the ATI Cinemaster 7.6 filters for the Radeon card.

 

[torgo100]

I think that I've finally resolved to picking up a $60 ATI 7500 card at Best Buy. No one really seems to have any solid information regarding the Matrox cards, but there's ton's of info for the ATI's. My biggest problem now is getting the PowerStrip settings right for the 1080i input on my TV.

 

[technomage]

I'm also trying to configure a Matrox G400 in my HTPC, using PowerStrip 3.x.


Has anyone ever gotten it to go into 960x540 (for the Sanyo PLV-Z1)?


I go through the dance with PowerStrip and it tells me to reboot, and I do,

but the new resolution is not available. Is this its way of telling me the

card won't support it?

 

[elm_sd]

I am not sure it is the same with the g 400 but under win xp with my radeon aiw I have to use powerstrip to select the new settings as it isn't under the windows display properties..

I never had a problem getting 960 x 540 and 1584 x 540 timings as my g400 max card was very flexible under 98,me and, 2k never tried xp as I went to the radeon way of life before I got xp