dvd decoder card

[snyper1982]

i was just wondering, if i could use a dvd decoder card, i want to get a dvd drive, but i dont want to have to use a software decoder, so i could i use a decoder card even though i already have a 3d card? or does my geforce 4 have a built in decoder. thanks guys.

[Maxvla]

Originally posted by snyper1982
i was just wondering, if i could use a dvd decoder card, i want to get a dvd drive, but i dont want to have to use a software decoder, so i could i use a decoder card even though i already have a 3d card? or does my geforce 4 have a built in decoder. thanks guys.
excellent question. and i just happen to have a decoder card.

the speed of the dvd drives really doesn't help much... 12x or better is what you should look for. they are fairly cheap now.

you can use a dvd decoder card and a 3d graphics card at the same time with no problems whatsoever.

i find that watching movies using my decoder card is a better by a huge margin. especially if you plan on using a tv/big screen to watch it since the processing is alot better than the pathetic video out on most 3d cards. when i watch dvd's from my computer on my tv it looks exactly like if i was using a home theater dvd player. extremely crisp and built in dolby 5.1 as well.

the one i use is made by sigma designs and its called Hollywood Plus. here's a link to their page --> (http://www.sigmadesigns.com/products/hollywood_plus.htm)
this card can be found for around 40 bucks and is worth every penny.

i happened to get both my dvd drive and my decoder card as a package for 50 bucks 8 months ago!!

good luck and i hope you get a decoder card... you will certainly love it.

if you have further questions just post below.

edit- getting drivers for the hollywood plus is a bit tricky on win2k/xp cause the cdrom it comes with doesn't have them. the drivers are on their website and are very easy to find. then installing them is a bit tricky as well because you hafta install the drivers for the card before you install the decoders program or it doesn't work right. its pretty simple once you've done it once.

if you decide to get one i can walk you through it. :)

[Monaco]

well, you could use a decoder card if you want. It should have a pass-through video cable that connects it to your main card.

But why not a software decoder? Even my old 450mhz Celeron had enough oomph to play software decoded DVDs just fine. A modern rig will have no problems at all.

I know my GTS has some decoding features built in, and I bet a GF4 has even more. But it's still not nearly as good as a real decoder card. A real decoder will give a better picture and just work much better, but I find the software decoder is plenty good for me.

[MospeadasDark]

Yes you can. You're going to have to reroute the VGA thru' the decoder card. It's pretty straight forward.

[snyper1982]

well my friends has a Hewlit Packard computer, and it has an XP 1600+, and she uses software decoding, and it looks like crap, so i want to get a decoder card.

[snyper1982]

so what you guys are saying it basicaly like the old voodoo 2's? didnt you have to have a pass through for them?

[Maxvla]

Originally posted by snyper1982
so what you guys are saying it basicaly like the old voodoo 2's? didnt you have to have a pass through for them?
on any system using a decoder card there is a pass through cable. doesn't affect performance at all... you hafta have the decoder card in the video loop or you can't see anything :p same thing with the sound... theres a pass through cable.

[Monaco]

if you have a monitor with two VGA inputs, you don't need a pass through! Unfortunately monitors like that are usually pretty expensive.

I did the pass-thru thing with my voodoo2 for quite a while, and it did not really hurt my visual quality at all. A DVD decoder will most likely look fine with a pass thru.

[Penguin4x4]

Either Lite-On or Toshiba for the DVD-ROM. Hardware decoding for MPEG-2 has been around since at least 1998, I cannont comment on quality, I'm justing stating facts. :)

[Penguin4x4]

I was also able to find this (http://harbourtownsales.site.yahoo.net/vgasigsplity.html).

[Maxvla]

Originally posted by Penguin4x4
I was also able to find this (http://harbourtownsales.site.yahoo.net/vgasigsplity.html).
why would you need that?

ok... video originates from your video card. then gets piped vga connector to some proprietary connector (in my case) and that plugs into the decoder card. then your monitor plugs into the decoder card. the decoder card has a s-video out which you can hook up to a tv.

[Penguin4x4]

VGA in from Vid card, VGA out to the monitor, says on the site,:eh?:

[Maxvla]

Originally posted by Penguin4x4
VGA in from Vid card, VGA out to the monitor, says on the site,:eh?:
i'm confused as to why you would need a splitter... :confused:

[Penguin4x4]

Its a Y cable, one goes to the monitor, one the decoder card, on the Vid card, or is this the wrong cable for doing that?

[Maxvla]

Originally posted by Penguin4x4
Its a Y cable, one goes to the monitor, one the decoder card, on the Vid card, or is this the wrong cable for doing that?
oh... i see where you are coming up with a splitter... plugging the monitor into both the video and the decoder card, which is incorrect.

correctly setup its like a series. video from video card to decoder card to monitor. you end up with only two wires... so its a simple and very effective way to do it. running your video through the decoder card does not affect gaming performance at all.

[Penguin4x4]

Ah, that makes sense, OK. :D Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM and this DVD-Decoder card, then:D Or go hog wild and get their X-Card,

[toastedzergling]

I had a hollywood plus decoder card, an instant drop on brightness and contrast for the pass through! Ah well I sold it already and now use software decoding. I heard ATI cards are very good playing DVDs, and most modern video cards support MPEG2 hardware decoding:rolleyes:

[Emericana]

Now let me tell you why i think you SHOULD NOT use a decoder card. i used to have a hollywood plus on a 850 athy and i personally thought that it was pretty crappy quality compared to tv. Decoders were made for when cpus were around 300mhz and the cpu could not process dvds well. because of this they had the hardware do that for that. now that cpus are blazingly fast they are not needed if you get it with a decent video card. all of the newer (gf3 and beyond) nvidia cards have partial hardware decoding in them. using that with a software player and you can get quality just as good as the tv.

i use power dvd and i love it. GREAT quality

[Penguin4x4]

Its like Hardware T&L vs. Software T&L.............

[Maxvla]

Originally posted by Emericana
Now let me tell you why i think you SHOULD NOT use a decoder card. i used to have a hollywood plus on a 850 athy and i personally thought that it was pretty crappy quality compared to tv. Decoders were made for when cpus were around 300mhz and the cpu could not process dvds well. because of this they had the hardware do that for that. now that cpus are blazingly fast they are not needed if you get it with a decent video card. all of the newer (gf3 and beyond) nvidia cards have partial hardware decoding in them. using that with a software player and you can get quality just as good as the tv.

i use power dvd and i love it. GREAT quality
decoding dvd's for computer monitor playback aren't the focus of decoder cards... playing them on tv's and having built in 5.1 for home theaters is the main focus.

i agree that the original purpose was for slow chips to be able to run dvd's, but their use has gone much further than that. a whole board devoted to giving you the best picture and several different display options from letterbox to ntsc to pal to even parental controls. try getting that from a slap on chip put on a gf4 as an afterthought. not to mention you only hafta pay for this once. and you never hafta keep track of program keys like when you buy programs like power dvd. also... a blazing fast chip doesn't mean best quality.

and... i don't mean to be blunt... but there's no other way to say it. video card video out looks like pure trash. i'd even use this decoder card for a high dollar theater setup. its that good.

when i can't distinguish between my dvd output and my dad's pioneer dvd player... you know you've got something good. (course his dvd player has more options and other connections)

i am not attacking anyone with this post... just pointing out my thoughts on people who for some reason prefer software decoders.

i intend to use this until a) pci becomes obsolete or b) dvd becomes obsolete. neither of which will happen in the next 4-5 years.

[MospeadasDark]

Having DVD done in hardware is a godsend for multitaskers.

If it's horrible quality, you were probably using horrible drivers. Around when the 850 athlon came out, 2K support was still pretty bad. 9X drivers were superb tho'.