Chris Bardon
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2000
- Messages
- 2,059
OK, so as I've posted before, I'm looking to put together some spare parts that I have into a HTPC. Ideally, I'd like to be able to use it as a music server, to play videos on (I have a bunch of stuff I've either downloaded off the internet or digitally recorded myself) and play MAME games. The only thing I'm not all that sure about though is the TV output.
I've had some experience with TV output boards from ATI, and I know that they were pretty bad (I'm thinking original All-in-wonder vintage here). I'm assuming they've gotten better(I've seen laptops with onboard Svideo outputs that look pretty damn good) but price is a concern here. I've also seen standalone boxes that convert VGA to RGB/Svideo online for about $150. I guess what I'm asking is:
-What are people using to connect their HTPCs to their TVs, and what would you recommend for the types of applications I'm looking at?
-How far back can I go technologically and still keep the same TV output. For example, I can get an All-in-wonder 7000 pretty cheap now-would using a newer card make a huge difference if all I'm interested in is the TV out? What about other video cards?
I've had some experience with TV output boards from ATI, and I know that they were pretty bad (I'm thinking original All-in-wonder vintage here). I'm assuming they've gotten better(I've seen laptops with onboard Svideo outputs that look pretty damn good) but price is a concern here. I've also seen standalone boxes that convert VGA to RGB/Svideo online for about $150. I guess what I'm asking is:
-What are people using to connect their HTPCs to their TVs, and what would you recommend for the types of applications I'm looking at?
-How far back can I go technologically and still keep the same TV output. For example, I can get an All-in-wonder 7000 pretty cheap now-would using a newer card make a huge difference if all I'm interested in is the TV out? What about other video cards?