RE: How can I use my MediaMVP better ?

["Phil Harris" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Both Medio and Xlobby also provide excellent front ends for a
> media server but getting a decent s-video image appears to be
> an impossibility!
>
> But, perhaps I'm missing something! In my 'simple' mind a
> decent TV output (S-video or Composite or even RGB for that
> matter!) can't be that hard to achieve with a PC? Isn't this
> what an X-box or Tivo does anyway?

I've spent the last two years trying to sort this out ... The Hollywood +
and Xcard give *EXCELLENT* s-video output at 768 x 576 pixels but getting
anything like a decent s-video output from any graphics card that I've
tried
seems an impossibility.

Supposedly the Matrox G-series cards can be set up to output an interlaced
SCART compliant display but the cable has to be home-brewed and I just
haven't had time to make one. Also there's stuff on the web about getting a
SCART compliant drive out of an ATI Radeon chipset. The problem with both
of
these is that basically you're on your own as far as sorting out display
timings with stuff like Powerstrip and TV's are far less forgiving than
monitors when fed out of range timings - they tend to respond by frying
their line output transformers rather than displaying a nice "Out of
range"
message.

Oh yes, and also many of the Powerstrip solutions to generating interlaced
RGB require you to use VNC to set up the PC itself as if you boot with a
monitor attached then you can't reconfigure the Radeon chipsets to give
interlaced output and Remote Desktop doesn't work for this.

I've been told by a customer (who works at Intel) that there are some nice
cards heading this way that support component video output ... But God
knows
when they'll be here.

Phil