looking for video card with best HDMI picture

[Chasseur]

I want to change my video card for my Windows Media Center 7 pc.

My current card is an ATI with a DVI to HDMI adapter. The image looks washed out. Maybe a new video card can bring a better image.

I don’t do any gaming, just Media Center and bluray playback.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

[mikinho]

What ATI card do you currently have?  Do you want audio over HDMI as well?

I recommend taking a look at our [url=http://missingremote.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4993&Itemid=1]Guide:Bit Streaming HDMI HD Audio[/url] and from if you provide your current ATI card we can make suggestions from there.

[Chasseur]

I currently have an ATI 4xxx (not sure which one exactly, but could check). The card do not have an HDMi connector on it. I use a DVI to HDMI adapter. This adapter is not from ATI, I bought it separately.

Also, there is no audio with the HDMI, so I use a separate analog audio cable from my onboard audio.

PC is a Core 2 Quad Q6600.

I use windows media center 7 for live/recorded tv, and TMT3 for bluray playback.

I’m currently concerned about picture quality, but having audio over HDMI would be great too.

Thanks

[Meester.Rip]

I am using a 4550 ATI card and it works well. Because I have a AVR I ran optical out from my sound card to the AVR and the HDMI directly to the TV. Why, because I was having handshake issues with the PC-AVR-TV.
As far as being washed out maybe it is your adapter. You might be able to fix the image via the Catalyst Control Panel or look at a new adapter.

[captain_video]

If your picture isn’t looking as good as you’d like, have you tried tweaking the settings via Media Center?  You can adjust the critical settings (i.e., contrast, brightness, color, etc.) using the built-in MC utility.  If Media Center is your primary method of watching TV then you might want to get a calibration disc, like Digital Video Essentials, and calibrate the settings via Media Center for the optimum picture.  I believe the adjustments can be made as part of the TV setup option.  Chances are your current video card is fine. 

[autoboy]

A 4XXX card should be state of the art in terms of picture quality.  The adapter will not have any impact on picture quality since DVI and HDMI are actually the same apart from audio support, but the adapter may prevent you from running HDMI audio through it.  Official ATI DVI-HDMI adaptors will support audio over the DVI port.

If you aren’t getting a good picture, there are other problems.  You should check your overscan in the drivers to make sure you are displaying a 1:1 pixel mapping.  Searching for PC overscan ATI will get you some info on how that works.

You should also enable the smooth video setting in the ATI drivers and that will make sure you don’t drop frames because your video card can’t do all the post processing you’ve set in the drivers. 

Check the sharping and noise reduction settings in the ATI drivers.  I prefer those off but some people like them.  Don’t have them turned all the way up.

Then, you need to check the settings on your TV.  Make sure your TV isn’t scaling the picture to create overscan.  There are normally settings called picture size that adjust how much the TV will overscan your content.

Make sure the noise reduction, mpeg noise reduction, black and white balance settings, etc are all turned off or set to their low settings.  Check out AVSforum for specific instructions on what settings your TV should have enabled.  The community there tends to post their picture settings for each TV on the market.

[Chasseur]

Thanks for those informations!

I will check this out tonight.

One more question:

If I decide to change my card for the convenience of having audio+video over HDMI, is there any difference between the ATI 5xxx models? When it comes to live tv and bluray playback, does the low end 5450 performs as well as the high end 5970?

Thanks

[Meester.Rip]

I am sure a low end would be fine if not preferable as you can get the lower end card that is fan lessnoiseless. Provided you have adequate cooling in your case.

[autoboy]

There are some differences in the quality of the deinteracing they are capable of.  Generally it is recomended that you stick to the 5570 or 5670 if you want the most capable 1080i deinterlacing performance.  After the 5670, there is no difference in quality.  going 5770 or 5870 or 5970 will gain you nothing.  If you watch a lot of 1080i content, like from a HD-PVR, then it would be worth it to upgrade to one of those 55XX cards instead of the 5450 which is a really slow card and only handles bob and weave deinterlacing.

If you just watch blu-rays and other progressive content like ripped movies from torrents, hulu, etc, then you could go with the low end card.  They will all accelerate blu-rays the same.

I would go for a fanless 5550 with DDR3 memory personally.

But, the only real difference between the 4XXX cards and the 5XXX cards is bitstream audio support.  You already have a 4XXX card which is a good card for playing blu-ray.  There is no difference in picture quality of a 1080p video between any 4XXX card and any 5XXX card.  I’d stick with your current card and check out why the picture looks bad. 

Try text on the screen from a website.  Does it look sharp and readable?  If it doesn’t then fix that before you start to quibble about little things most people won’t notice like Vector Adaptive deinterlacing on a 5570 video card vs bob and weave on a 5450.

[Chasseur]

The text on a website is sharp. Windows and media center interface is also sharp.

It’s only when watching videos that there is some “washed out”. The image is good, but not great. For example, the details and colors are better on a standalone DVD player than via media center. Same thing for bluray and live tv.

It’s not a performance problem. The smoothness is good and it’s not a deinterlacing problem.

Also, the blacks and whites are not as pure as they should be.

Concerning the upgrade, I do have a HD-PVR (1080i contents).

Thanks for your help!

[htpc_user]

I use a 2600xt in an older PC which is ancient by today’s standards when I use my projector outdoors.  I have a 30′ DVI to HDMI cable ran under my car port (which is where I use the projector) and the image looks fine even on a beige canvas tarp.  I would check your DVI to HDMI adapter cause your card “should” be fine even without native HDMI.

[autoboy]

Sounds like it could be a color space issue.  I’m not educated in that enough, but there is PC color which goes from 0-255 and there is video color that goes from 16 – 248 or something like that.  Windows will switch from PC to video color space when it plays a video.  Maybe you should download the AVSforum calibration disk and calibrate the TV.

[Matt]

[quote=”autoboy”]
Sounds like it could be a color space issue.  I’m not educated in that enough, but there is PC color which goes from 0-255 and there is video color that goes from 16 – 248 or something like that.  Windows will switch from PC to video color space when it plays a video.  Maybe you should download the AVSforum calibration disk and calibrate the TV.
[/quote]

I think you’ve nailed it. It sounds like a color space issue. Also some applications/video card driver combinations do not switch to 16-248 properly.

Using a generic DVI adapter also means that the card won’t actually enable the different HDMI colorspaces that are possible. DVI is RGB only, it does not support YPbPr.

Make sure both the TV is set properly and it understands it is getting an RGB signal, not YPbPr or XvYCC.

[Chasseur]

Well that sounds possible. Maybe a 4xxx card with a HDMI port works great, but mine only has a DVI and VGA port.

I think I’ll try to upgrade to a 5xxx card. Also, my secondary HTPC has a Radeon HD 3600 card. Would I see a difference between a 3600 and a 5xxx?

[quote=”autoboy”]
There are some differences in the quality of the deinteracing they are capable of.  Generally it is recomended that you stick to the 5570 or 5670 if you want the most capable 1080i deinterlacing performance.  After the 5670, there is no difference in quality. 

…

I would go for a fanless 5550 with DDR3 memory personally.
[/quote]

you prefer a fanless card vs the performance difference between a 5550 and a 5670?

Thanks for your support

[autoboy]

I’m guessing a bit on the performance of the 5550 vs the 5670.  I know for certain that the 5670 will have all the bells and whistles enabled by default in the drivers, but the 5550 last time I checked (when they first came out) didn’t have all the best settings checked by default in the drivers even though it was capable of the same quality when forced.

There is an option called smooth video in the drivers.  Checking that box will set the card to disable post processing options that the engineers think it can’t handle.  At the time of the review I saw (which was so long ago I can’t find the review anymore), only the 5670 and higher weren’t disabling any post processing with smooth video checked.  Unchecking smooth video allows  you to set the options manually and the 5550 with DDR3 was capable of all the same post processing.  The reviewer thought that it was just an oversight and thought that the engineers would enable all the post processing on the 5550 as well. 

Ah, I found it.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3601/the-final-word-on-the-best-radeon-htpc-card

The 5550 is very similar to the 5570.

[Author]

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