LCD Monitor/ Graphics Card issue
 

i know this may seem like a very easy question to some of you, but not to me and hopefully not to others struggling with the same issue. the footage from my Sony EX1(1080P HQ) looks like crap on my computer's LCD monitor. is doesn't matter if i'm viewing it in the Sony Clip Browser or in Adobe Premiere. it just looks awful. why is this? here's my computer specs if it helps decipher or explain the reasoning:

Dell Inspiron 530 Intel Core2 Quad processor Q6600 @ 2.4 Ghz 8mb cache
3GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800Mhz
128MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro
22" Flat Panel 1680x1050


ok, i'm pretty sure its the video card. can someone recommend a video card can handle playing 1920x1080 video and make it look like its HD? i hear the memory is important, ie: 512MB. i think the interface is key as well, ie: PCI Express x16 or x16 2.0.

thanks in advance.

-Mike

Mike,

You are correct in thinking that it is your computer and not the EX1.

I am currently running 2 Nvidia Quadro cards in my computer, using 3 x Dell 2408 monitors and it looks great - but, any computer monitor will still compromise your EX1 picture quality. You just have to work out what you are willing to put up with.

If you go with an Nvidia 8800 or 9800 - or an ATI 4850 - they will give you all of the speed you need (yes they are PCI express, so you will need to have a motherboard that will take them - which yours probably will). However, you might need to look at your monitor as well. If your monitor does not do 1920 x 1080 it is always going to scale your picture down to its operational size. The ability to do this will vary from monitor to monitor, but none do it well enough to keep your EX1 footage looking good. I am very happy with my Dell 2408 (which is a 24 inch 1920 x 1080), but it still suffers from occasional tearing and some minor colour problems.

You just will not get a computer monitor to look as good as a TV or studio monitor.

To cut a long story short - try the new video card, but you might need to look at getting a second monitor that displays 1920 x 1080 as well.

HTH.

Matrox MXO - Overview

EDIT: Never mind. I just realized your on a PC not a Mac. My bad....

You hit the nail on the head here, a 512mb card would be a good start. Generally you can't go wrong with nVidia cards. I also have a Matrox RTX2 card which feeds into a JVC CRT studio monitor for really accurate colour work.

well thanks for your input gentlemen. since i posted this topic i've been learning quite a bit. it seems like 512mb is all i'll need. 1gb and definitely 2gb of memory would probably be overkill. i found out that the "speed" of the processor in the card itself is also very important. something else i was unaware of was that Nvidia and ATI are just manufacturers of this cards. GeForce and Radeon are the "chip" makers and then they sell these chips to companies like Nvidia and ATI to build the card itself. with that said, i was told to stay away other manufacturers because of the poor quality in which they are made. i'm not sure how true this statement is but Nvidia and ATI seem to have a good reputation and i won't argue that. i also found out that i'm limited by the power supply of my computer. in my case i only have 350W of power. i'm finding out that just about all of the high-end cards need about 500-650W. so, the search continues for the best Nvidia or ATI made card that only needs 350W of juice, 512MB of memory with around 800MHz of "clock speed", and is PCI - Express x16 1.0 or 2.0 compatible.