video cards with good quality picture out to a TV

[wiljim]

I just did a new build...I chose a GeForce2GTX-PRO (64mb DDR ram and S-video out)...on an ASUS A7V266-E mobo, with an AthlonXP 1700+. To watch a DVD, I output to a 27" Hitachi w/UltraVision (similar to the GAO technology)...and I can tell you, even using the S-Video ouput, the TV picture stinks! Very difficult to view...quite yccchy.

My previous computer (which I handed down to my son...PIII550 with a Matrox G400Max with Dual Head) played DVDs out to my TV, absolutely beautifully.

So I'm looking for a better solution. I'd get another Matrox card; great 2-D performance, but their 3-D performance is nowhere near the latest cards from ATI and nVidia. I don't want to have to buy a set-top DVD player when I have a perfectly good one right here in my computer! Why do the video-card-makers throw these TV Outputs onto these cards if the TV picture quality produced, is so vastly sub-par? Why?

I assume (based on reviews and reports) that an ATI card would produce spectacular 2-D and 3-D displays on my 19" Samsung monitor...BUT...
Do ATI cards produce a good picture out to a relatively modern TV?
Does the Radeon 7500 give a good DVD picture on a television?
Or would I need to go to the more expensive Radeon 8500?

Any advice would be appreciated...Please help...
Cheers.

[slease]

I have a Radeon 7500 installed on my Pentium 4 1.5ghz 512mb ram computer. The ATI TV out software makes DVD's look great but only in full screen... When I output to the TV I lower the resolution to 800x600 then I use WinDVD to play the movie and it looks great, just like a standalone player. DIVX look excellent also. I output to a 35" Sony Trinitron TV.

[wiljim]

I may even splurge for an 8500

[savagemyth]

I can tell you that the ATI Radeon 8500dv is the way to go!
The RF remote kicks ass and the graphics capabilities are outstanding for TV out and gaming. The only caveats are you should be prepared to tweak your bios properly, uninstall all previous drivers thoroughly, and use PowerDVD instead of the jumpy DVD player included with the ATI software. The price is a bit steep, but well worth it, IMHO.

[johnbmx4christ]

is the matrox marvel g450 etv any good?

[wiljim]

sorry can't comment on the tv model...I had the g400max with dual head.
What I can tell you, is that my g400 provides really fantastic 2-d and 3-d images (although the 3-d is a bit slow by today's standards)...across a dual monitor desk top. And the picture produced out to my 27" Hitachi is very fine! The DVD features also perform really well.
Matrox makes some pretty good stuff...ps its a small Canadian company out of Montreal. There latest cards (G550 series) are not real "cookers" in terms of speed...the G400 was probably the fastest card they made. Rumors abound tho...a new g-series may be out soon...faster, cooler, prettier.