[mythtv-users] Good card for HD playback

[Warren]

Todd Ignasiak wrote:
> I am somewhere in between..  Sometimes XvMC is rock solid with mv FX
> 5200, and other times I get problems, causing me to turn it off & use
> software decoding.   But, I upgrade SVN versions frequently, so
> inconsistent behavior is expected.       My cpu is an A64 3200+, with
> 64 bit linux kernel,  so it definitely does work in 64 bit mode.
>
> Back to the original topic..    I have been considering an upgrade for
> a while.  What I'm looking for is a socket 939 motherboard, with
> integrated Unichrome graphics, and an AGP or PCIe slot.  That way, I
> can try 'XvMC Pro' MPEG decoder offload with the Unichrome, and if
> that's not reliable enough, I can pop an NVidia card in it.  If that's
> not reliable enough, I can do it in software on the dual core Athlon
> 64 X2 CPU, while still having horsepower available for commercial
> detection, transcoding, etc.
>   
Things may have changes as I have been out of the VIA loop for a number
of months now, but back in November, OpenChrome, which is the most
advanced of the VIA drivers, did not have the ability to handle a
resolution greater than 1280x1024.  That is fine for 720p, but you will
not be able to do 1080i/p natively.  Also note that if there is a DVI or
HDMI port, the support for the VT1625 HDTV chip is still experimental,
so YMMV.

W