Config of a PC to playback DivX on Tv

[zedstrange]

I am building a PC to incorporate in my Home Theatre system, so that i can do the following;
- capture video from directly from TV, SatTV, VCR and Video Camera.
- rip DVD to Divx and or S/VCD
- playback Divx on TV with surround sound through Yamaha home theatre.
- add on benefit of being able to use it as normal PC with TV as monitor

Its a Duron 1gB with 512mB ram and a BT capture card.

I have read several articles which indicate that this is not as simple as it seems. Maybe its not really possible its hard to tell, as it seems that a lot of what i have been reading is a couple or more years old, and a lot of things can change.

The hardest part seems to be Playback Divx on TV with surround sound.
Some suggest getting Hollywood + card, as TV out on Video cards are not as good quality, but surely these days with powerfull CPU, and a video card like a GE force MX 400 should be as good as if not better.

So here is the question;
do i get a GEForces MX400 or Hollywood+ card?

i think the Hollywood+ does away with the need for a soundcard but can only output 2 channel steroe - as SPDIF outputs cant be connected to a Amp, right?

any other considerations?

Cheers

Zed

[Kb_cruncher]

-hollywood plus card is a good option and yes it has spdif out but has to be connected to a 5.1 decoder not an amp.

i wouldn't recomend a gforce.ati is a better option as they have hardware decoding on board and have exellent 2d output as do matrox g450/550(this is what i use).

[theReal]

For a good TV-out, buy Matrox or ATI, forget the Geforce!

[GodH8sMe]

Here's another vote for Matrox.

I went with a GeForce2 MX 32mb card on my entertainment/server box because it was dirt cheap and the TV out is completley acceptable. It's main function is not video on TV (although I find myself using it more and more), but it does a good enough job for what I need. I have heard nothing but praise for Matrox cards (for quality) though. I can't say anything favorable about ATi as they have a tendency to take forever on driver releases, and/or flat out lie to you about features.

My setup :

AMD Athlon 1.333
512MB PC2100
EPoX 8K7A v1.1
GeForce 2 MX 200 (Siluro)
2x60GB IBM 60GXP
Pioneer 116 DVD-ROM
SBLive! 5.1
LinkSys LNE100TX v4

Slackware Linux 8.0, using TwinView to spread the desktop over two monitors. Left half "desktop" side is a 17" monitor at 1024x768, right half is TV at 800x600.

Using ogle (DVDs) and xine (everything else) I use the TV side for output while still able to work on the left half of the 'desktop'.

[ph2t]

Gotta vote for the Matrox again.
I use the G450 daulhead that has TV out and it work's very well.

It's the only card to have the most comprehensive daul display support I know of.
The DVDmax feature is great!

Ph2t.