Need advice on good video card to play interlaced HD video

[sebasd5]

I currently have an eVGA GeForce 7950 GT video card. I've had it for two years and I never liked it too much, but by the time I realized it was a piece of junk I wasn't able to return it anymore, so I kept it for a couple of years, but now I would like to move to something better. Since this card is Nvidia and it was supposed to be able to play HD without problems but it doesn't, I would like to move to ATI.

The main problem I have with this card is that it can't be used to play interlaced HD video properly. It plays Blu-ray movies fine, I suppose because they are 23.98 progressive, but when I try to play any interlaced HD material, such as episodes of TV shows that I transfer from my cable DVR to my computer, or the footage I get from my Canon HF100, it de-interlaces it, and it also stutters every three seconds or so. This is the same if I play this footage from a file or burning it to a BD-R or BD-RE and then playing it with PowerDVD, and I also got the trial for Total Media Theater 3.

So my questions for those who use the second DVI port (or an HDMI one) in your video card are:

1) does any of you have a card that will play the interlaced footage on the TV set connected to the second DVI port interlaced in the same way as if you connected the camcorder straight to that TV set?

2) obviously my Nvidia based card is not powerful enough for proper display of HD Interlaced video. I would like to get recommendations on cards, preferably ATI, that play HD 29.97 interlaced video without a hitch, but are not very expensive, preferably below $70. I'm not a gamer, I just need flawless interlaced HD video playback without stutter.

3) I would like to know what are the most reliable brands of cards, after my experience with this eVGA card I know to stay away from them, but there are way too many choices and I know that probably many of them are junk that won't last a year.

Thanks

[SpoonMaN]

would sure be nice to know what the rest of your system specs are.....
that could be a major reason why the 7950 doesnt run to well for you.

[Rojas]

If you already tried a clean install of windows to make sure its not
a software decoder conflict, then here are some great video cards
The ATI 3450 line are great, some of them even come with HDMI output.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...I+3450&x=0&y=0

[sebasd5]

Actually I picked up a Visiontek Radeon HD 4650 at a local store and it works a lot better. In Total Media Theatre it plays back interlaced material as it's supposed to look, although strangely, for that to happen I have to select BOB deinterlace in the Catalyst software and the same thing in the TMT program. I don't get that very well, since the result is obviously interlaced on the TV set, even though the TV set does its own deinterlacing, but the motion is as smooth as when I connect the Canon camcorder straight to the TV set, or the cable DVR.

If I set the slider in Catalyst to weave then I start seeing that de-interlacing effect right away. Maybe they got the labels put in the wrong place and weave is BOB and viceversa.

Still, I'm not going to keep this card because the fan has a very annoying high pitch noise all the time, but I'm going to order something better in the Radeon 4000 series.

[Rojas]

Originally Posted by sebasd5

Actually I picked up a Visiontek Radeon HD 4650 at a local store and it works a lot better. In Total Media Theatre it plays back interlaced material as it's supposed to look, although strangely, for that to happen I have to select BOB deinterlace in the Catalyst software and the same thing in the TMT program. I don't get that very well, since the result is obviously interlaced on the TV set, even though the TV set does its own deinterlacing, but the motion is as smooth as when I connect the Canon camcorder straight to the TV set, or the cable DVR.

If I set the slider in Catalyst to weave then I start seeing that de-interlacing effect right away. Maybe they got the labels put in the wrong place and weave is BOB and viceversa.

Still, I'm not going to keep this card because the fan has a very annoying high pitch noise all the time, but I'm going to order something better in the Radeon 4000 series.

Here is a ATI 4650 with no fan.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161274