Mailing List Archive: Confirm TV-Out with Xv extension on Matrix G400 Dual Head

Confirm TV-Out with Xv extension on Matrix G400 Dual Head

Jun 3, 2003, 8:31 AM

Post #1 of 3 (1095 views)

I am in the process of building a Myth box. I have the AverMedia
card working ok and can run xawtv. I would like to get a S-Video
signal to my TV and am considering either a Matrox G400 dual
head or a nVidia card of some flavor. By looking at these archives
it appears that both work but there are some reports of trouble with
the Matrix card. Looks like a FB device has to be used that seems
to merge the two heads so the TV out is sort of a copy of the 1st
head display in order to get Xv onto TV-Out. Is this true and if so
has anyone implemented this strategy on this card?

There are also reports that the video quality of the Matrox card is
the best that you can get. Has anyone seen direct comparisons
between this and an nVidia with TV-Out card? Incrementally
better picture and the open source nature of the Matrox solution
has appeal to me -- but only if I stand a chance of getting it to work.

Thanks in Advance!

Rob

Re: Confirm TV-Out with Xv extension on Matrix G400 Dual Head [ In reply to ]

johndanner at untzuntz

Jun 3, 2003, 12:39 PM

Post #2 of 3 (1070 views)

Permalink

The G400 w/ tv-out works for me. You do have to use the framebuffer driver and
there are a few other simple steps that you need to take to get it to copy the
output to the second head. There was a howto posted a while back (January)
that describes the steps you need to take to get it to work.

I haven't seen the tv-out for the NVidia cards, but the Matrox looks good to me.

-John

---------- Original Message -----------
From: "Rob Comstock" <mythtv@westcoastlinux.com>
To: <mythtv-users@snowman.net>
Sent: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 08:31:34 -0700
Subject: [mythtv-users] Confirm TV-Out with Xv extension on Matrix G400 Dual Head

> I am in the process of building a Myth box. I have the AverMedia
> card working ok and can run xawtv. I would like to get a S-Video
> signal to my TV and am considering either a Matrox G400 dual
> head or a nVidia card of some flavor. By looking at these archives
> it appears that both work but there are some reports of trouble with
> the Matrix card. Looks like a FB device has to be used that seems
> to merge the two heads so the TV out is sort of a copy of the 1st
> head display in order to get Xv onto TV-Out. Is this true and if so
> has anyone implemented this strategy on this card?
>
> There are also reports that the video quality of the Matrox card is
> the best that you can get. Has anyone seen direct comparisons
> between this and an nVidia with TV-Out card? Incrementally
> better picture and the open source nature of the Matrox solution
> has appeal to me -- but only if I stand a chance of getting it to work.
>
> Thanks in Advance!
>
> Rob
------- End of Original Message -------

Re: Confirm TV-Out with Xv extension on Matrix G400 Dual Head [ In reply to ]

matt at solecize

Jun 3, 2003, 2:48 PM

Post #3 of 3 (1078 views)

Permalink

Yes, I also have the g400 DH working with my setup. The color/contrast
could use some tweaking, but I haven't examined the maven registers
enough to understand and/or adjust this. Also, the mga driver for X
doesn't support 32 bit color at 640x480 for some reason, and 24 bit is
not recommended (but I haven't tried 24bit or 800x600, so I can't really
advise)

As far as TV-out quality is concerned, I'm pretty sure that it is
superior to most consumer level video cards. However, some tinkering is
required, and I bet the TV out on the X-box is at least as good.

Matt
John Danner wrote:

>The G400 w/ tv-out works for me. You do have to use the framebuffer driver and
>there are a few other simple steps that you need to take to get it to copy the
>output to the second head. There was a howto posted a while back (January)
>that describes the steps you need to take to get it to work.
>
>I haven't seen the tv-out for the NVidia cards, but the Matrox looks good to me.
>
>-John
>
>
>---------- Original Message -----------
>From: "Rob Comstock" <mythtv@westcoastlinux.com>
>To: <mythtv-users@snowman.net>
>Sent: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 08:31:34 -0700
>Subject: [mythtv-users] Confirm TV-Out with Xv extension on Matrix G400 Dual Head
>
>>I am in the process of building a Myth box. I have the AverMedia
>>card working ok and can run xawtv. I would like to get a S-Video
>>signal to my TV and am considering either a Matrox G400 dual
>>head or a nVidia card of some flavor. By looking at these archives
>>it appears that both work but there are some reports of trouble with
>>the Matrix card. Looks like a FB device has to be used that seems
>>to merge the two heads so the TV out is sort of a copy of the 1st
>>head display in order to get Xv onto TV-Out. Is this true and if so
>>has anyone implemented this strategy on this card?
>>
>>There are also reports that the video quality of the Matrox card is
>>the best that you can get. Has anyone seen direct comparisons
>>between this and an nVidia with TV-Out card? Incrementally
>>better picture and the open source nature of the Matrox solution
>>has appeal to me -- but only if I stand a chance of getting it to work.
>>
>>Thanks in Advance!
>>
>>Rob
>>
>------- End of Original Message -------
>
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