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Technology Stocks : 3DFX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: timbur who wrote (13193)	6/10/1999 1:56:00 PM
From: timbur	Respond to of 16960

DVD on various video cards Nothing too special, but he compares the DVD video decompression performance of various cards, and concludes that the V3 is a decent option, but not the best for this. hwupgrade.com

To: timbur who wrote (13193)	6/10/1999 1:58:00 PM
From: Piranha	Respond to of 16960

OT: DVD << But since the DVD cable is female/female, I couldn't use my V2 cable. :( >> You can get a "gender changer" if you have a spare Voodoo passthru lying around. Radio Shaft or Fry's would likely have them. I've been thinking about the MPEG decoder card for some time now, but I've been holding out since I was expecting a 3500TV-like card from 3dfx this year. That's what prompted my original question: I wanted to know whether the 3500TV would obviate the need for a dedicated MPEG card. It seems that for the most part it would, but there will continue to be a software dependency that leaves a big unknown as far as future compatibility goes. The MPEG-2 FMV in games is one of my issues. I agree that if it's just a matter of using DVD for storage capacity, there should be no problem. According to the Tex Murphy README, here is the reason for the DVD/MPEG-2 version doesn't work with my Zoran software decoder: "This software MPEG2 player does not work with the game, since it does not support proper playback in DirectDraw fullscreen exclusive mode." If whatever software solution 3dfx implements with the 3500TV does this, I might be okay. (For that ONE game, anyway). I've been able to play the FMV sequences as MPEG-2 ".DAT" files (outside the game), and believe me, MPEG-2 is a TREMENDOUS improvement over the Smacker videos on the CDs. I'd love to see more games with MPEG video sequences, but I think for that to happen, the collective powers that be in the PC-DVD/MPEG world need to get things standardized a little better first. What I'll likely do is just wait to decide on a MPEG decoder card until after I get the 3500TV. I realized the drive/card bundle price is the same as the components individually. I'd only save on shipping. That way, I can at least see how the DVD performance is on the 3500TV and just get the MPEG-2 card if it's still noticeably choppy or if some new MPEG FMV game comes out that I decide I MUST have and it turns out to be incompatible with the software. Oh, BTW, at about the same time as these other upgrades are happening, I will likely upgrade my CPU to a P3-450.... Piranha