Card to output at 1080i to 42" plasma ?

[DezUk]

I am thinking about doing a new PC build and I'm a bit stuck as to what graphics card to go for, in the past I have gone for an all out gaming based card but I am not much of a gamer these days. The system I will be building will be used more as a media machine connected to a 42" plasma screen. I was hoping to use the plasma as a monitor for some applications and definately use it for HD output for watching films. So what cards should I be looking into for crisp 1080i output ?


Thanks

 

[MofoKilla]

Whats your budget ?

 

[El_Watcher]

If you plan on getting an HD-DVD or BluRay and connect the PC to the Plasma with DVI/HDMI then you will have to get a card that supports HDCP, i.e. the 8800 at the moment.
If not then you could probably get a 7100 to output at 1920x1080 without too much trouble as long as the CPU is fast.

 

[spookywillow]

X1950pro supports HDCP

 

[Dark_Angel]

What is your budget, the rest of your system, and do you need a PCI-E card or an AGP card?

 

[Dutch Guy]

What is the actual resolution of the Plasma screen, is it 1920*1080 or lower?

I think you need a 1080p Plasma/LCD to get a real 1920*1080 resolution as 1080i is two 540 line screens interlaced, or I could be totally wrong

 

[DezUk]

Well I am doing a whole new build and total budget for the entire system is £1000 but gfx wise I was thinking the £150 mark. As for HD DVD I have an Xbox 360 and was thinking of using that for future HD DVD playback. The PC will be used for watching HD content from the web.

 

[DezUk]

What is the actual resolution of the Plasma screen, is it 1920*1080 or lower?

I think you need a 1080p Plasma/LCD to get a real 1920*1080 resolution as 1080i is two 540 line screens interlaced, or I could be totally wrong

The Plasma is 1920x1080i its a Hitachi 42 PD9700 and is currently connected to my pc with a HDMI to DVI cable.

 

[Doppleganger]

Bear in mind that PC graphic cards only output progressive, not interlaced signals. Therefore, you might find that the TV will only display 720 progressive if it's not capable of displaying 1080 progressive.

 

[Dutch Guy]

Bear in mind that PC graphic cards only output progressive, not interlaced signals. Therefore, you might find that the TV will only display 720 progressive if it's not capable of displaying 1080 progressive.

That is what I tried to explain, you worded it a lot better, 1080i =! 1080p

 

[sunlitsix]

couldnt you use vga to get 1920*1080? or does that depend on the max resolution of the TV?

 

[Dutch Guy]

couldnt you use vga to get 1920*1080? or does that depend on the max resolution of the TV?

I don't know all that much about this but I am fairly sure the Plasma does not have a native resolution of 1920*1080 but something lower like 1024*768 or 852*540

 

[ugly ferret]

Bear in mind that PC graphic cards only output progressive, not interlaced signals. Therefore, you might find that the TV will only display 720 progressive if it's not capable of displaying 1080 progressive.

They can output interlaced signals, though usually only specific reses (1920x1080 and 1280x1024 for me).

I don't know all that much about this but I am fairly sure the Plasma does not have a native resolution of 1920*1080 but something lower like 1024*768 or 852*540

Indeed, plasma pixels cannot be made small and so only the largest screens (50+ inches) are big enough to fit in 1920x1080 pixels. I've never heard of 1920x1080 42 inch plasma so I suspect it's a 1024x1080 ALIS panel. These can accept normal 1920x1080i signals but must scale down horizontallly to fit the screen. Any new graphics card should work, just set the res to 1920x1080 30hz (interlaced).