Keeping on studying graphics video adapters supporting video input/output this
time we are dealing with the ATI
RADEON 7500. This model happened to get into our lab later than the newer
ATI RADEON 8500 DV. But taking
into account that the design of the RADEON
8500 DV still needs to be improved and multimedia capabilities of the newer
models are not certain yet (for example, of the RADEON
9000 Pro), the 7500 might
also be interesting for users. This model has been being produced for a long time
already, that is why we can consider that it has reached its perfection. As it
was much said and written about the RADEON
7500 we will turn only to operation with video data.
Design and Accessories
The pictures below show how the card looks like:
The Philips FQ 1216 ME tuner is quite old; all new cards come with modern solutions
with better sensitivity and screening protecting from pickups. The monitor output
has a DVI interface but the card is also equipped with an adapter for 15-pin VGA.
Video signals come in through a cute external box. The output is made in the
form of an ordinary adapter with 4 tails, because different versions of this card
can come either with a TV-out or with a TV in-out. The most expensive ones also
have a tuner. The price goes up together with capabilities.
The output adapter contains Composite, S-Video, mini-jack to deliver sound
to a sound card and Digital Audio (S/PDIF) to deliver multichannel sound to a
Dolby decoder when playing DVD.
Like in all previous and famous following video cards from ATI, the ATI RAGE
Theater 213RT1ZU chip fulfills sampling of a video signal. That is why sampling
quality depends primarily on this chip. But taking into account that all latest
ATI's cards are equipped exactly with this chip I do not expect any changes in
the video processing quality. And the test results prove that.
A remote control is lacking but the software of the card (MMC) can work with
a remote control from the RADEON
8500 DV model in a radio-frequency channel and USB interface.
Test conditions
Testbed:
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processor: P4-1800
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mainboard: ASUS P4T-F (i850 chip)
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memory: RIMM 512 MB from Samsung
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system disc: IBM IC35L040
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disc array for video: FastTrak 100 TX 2 + 4 IBM IC35L040 discs of 40 GB
and 7200 rpm
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sound card: Creative SB Audigy
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power unit of 300W.
Different partitions of the test computer contain:
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Windows 98 SE rus
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Windows 2000 pro 2195 + SP2
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Windows XP PRO rus.
The card operated almost equally under all operating systems except Win98.
Installation of the driver v.7.66 was followed by a message that the driver
was incompatible with the card. Once we came across such situation with
the RADEON 8500 DV. And we know how to cure it. So, first it's necessary
to install a standard VGA driver from the Win98SE distributive, then change
it for the required one. However, all multimedia drivers of the tuner and
sampling module must be added manually. Such problem occurred only in the
Windows 98 SE rus, the later systems do not let it arise.
If you know peculiarities of the ATI's software, adjustment of the tuner
is fast and easy. Having chosen the country and grid I set a scanning mode
to Exhaustive Search. In this case it scans the whole frequency range in
0.1MHz steps. Such careful search takes over 10 min, but I found all 13
channels living in my antenna. If you choose a standard search method,
only standard possible frequencies of TV channels will be scanned through.
Unfortunately, some channels are broadcast at non-standard frequencies,
that is why in the standard search mode only 6 metric-wave channels can
be found here.
Software
As it is typical of ATI all programs are gathered into the MMC (MultiMedia
Center):
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TV - computer VCR
-
DVD - software DVD player
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Video CD
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Audio CD
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File Player - universal player
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Library - all multimedia files created with the MMC programs
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LaunchPad for a quick start of other programs.
All these programs are examined in detail in the RADEON
8500 DV review. Here I'd like to highlight main advantages and disadvantages
of the MMC v.7.6.
All found channels can be set to any buttons, and any frequency can
be set manually. But all this is possible only when the Exhaustive Search
mode is chosen. In this case all of 13 channel I have in my antenna are
found successfully. Otherwise, the tuner is able to find only 5 (only from
the air grid).
It's possible to adjust a lot of parameters for each channel (give a
name, choose a standard, adjust color parameters, choose a stereo sound,
protect with a password, bring subtitles from a teletext on etc.). A displayed
image can be viewed in a standard overlay window, stretched to the full
screen or set as desktop's wallpaper.
The program provides a wide range of settings for a timer with a lot
of time-table events. It's possible to record TV programs at a certain
time, as well as play CD-audio, run the file player for watching DVDs or
implement receiving from the TV tuner. Almost everything which is not beyond
this equipment is supported, including "TV-on-Demand" for continuous recording
in the background mode. It can be useful, for example, to admire a scored
goal hundreds of times.
The Blended mode puts the overlay window over others and allows adjusting
its transparency. Such function is provided only by ATI.
Another rare feature is enlargement of the live image in the overlay
window by 2, 4 and 8 times, though quality gets worse.
The Still Capture function can deliver captured images to a clipboard,
printer or save in *.bmp. Besides, all such images are recorded in the
capture gallery.
Image quality
TV signal quality depends mostly on capabilities of a radio-frequency
module of the tuner. This board uses quite an old model. Hence noticeable
noise and pickups. It's not so evident on a monitor, in a window, especially
because the hardware suppression of the field structure of a video signal
makes images more blurry. But in a full-screen mode all gathered noises
appear in the file. Below you can see some screenshots obtained in the
Still Capture mode without scaling.
The results get much better with sampling of a video signal applied
to external low-frequency inputs. In this event the image quality depends
only on the ATI RAGE Theater chip, and it is rather high. Below are examples
of sampling of the reference test signal and a real image applied to the
external inputs from the VCR's tuner.
Multimedia capabilities of the card
The card uses the ATI's traditional technology, that is why video output
to external analog-outs is identical to other ATI's cards which were examined
earlier (RADEON 8500 DV,
All-in-Wonder). Image from the main
monitor can be duplicated on a TV or stretched to the desktop. Frequencies
and resolutions can be different at that. The card defines by input resistance
whether there are devices connected to the analog video-outs. The video-out
settings allow adjusting:
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contrast and color balance
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TV image size
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image quality optimization
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signal type or choice of a country
A TV standard can be set by choosing a certain country (though the list
is quite scarce), or you can set it forcedly. There are all variants of
the PAL (B-N), and NTSC-M. SECAM is lacking. You can stretch an image to
the full screen without black edges.
In the multimonitor mode overlay is possible only on three devices which
have a sampling frequency of 50 or 60 Hz. This is rational, but not evident.
But if you set 50 Hz to the computer's monitor, overlay will be supported
only on it.
The ATI's card is able to transcode video signals of different TV standards.
Although it is not for professional use, it can be useful in your daily
life. This is simple to realize: a source signal of any standard (the card
is able to work with) is applied to low-frequency analog inputs - composite
or S-Video; the card receives almost all variations of PAL and SECA, as
well as NTSC-J). Set the full-screen mode in the tuner and the required
standard in the TV-out settings (PAL B-N or NTSC-M), and you will get a
transcoded signal of quality acceptable for home use. We have got quite
decent results when converted the records from NTSC to PAL and back.
Some video files created in the program of the ATI RADEON's tuner
(ATI VCR or MPEG) can be edited in some popular video editors. For example,
in Adobe Premiere 6.02. A file created by the ATI RADEON card is duplicated
in the full-screen mode to TV-out. But the back export to mpeg known to
the ATI's file player is worse. You can export only to MPEG-2. No MJPEG
or uncompressed files can't be read by the player and displayed on TV.
Conclusion
The card we were dealing today with doesn't differ much from its competitors.
It copes with the specified functions excellently. Although image quality
of the tuner is moderate, it is acceptable for home use.
Pros
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High Video-in quality
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Perfect video compression algorithms
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Transcoding supported
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Rich software capabilities of the player
Cons (with the changes taken into account)
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Moderate signal reception quality
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No remote control
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