Nvidia 6600GT AGP and Component out

[jptaz]

Well I am a bit annoyed now.

I bought a PNY 6600GT AGP 8X Card 2 to 3 months ago. I bought it because it had Dual DVI and a seperate component out dongle. At the time I got it I discovered the newest version of the Driver that supports the HD Component out is 78.01 anything newer and the Drivers don't even think the card has component out.

A while back I just figured that it was driver issue and eventually support for component would get fixed...I tried the latest version and still no luck.

Now NVidia has this on there FAQs which was updated less than a week ago.
Question:

Component HDTV out options are not available in the NVIDIA TV Device Settings page.

Answer:

This issue is resolved with VBIOS version 5.43.02.89 or higher and is not a driver issue. Please contact your OEM or graphics card manufacturer to receive this VBIOS fix.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/partner_support.html

Now this just seems plain stupid...It works fine in 78.01, and now all of sudden the new drivers don't sure that sounds like a BIOS issue to me. I followed up with PNY and they said they do not support Bios updates.

Frankly I think I am blaming Nvidia for this one...until then I am still running 78.01 which is from the official NVidia download site and not some hack.

John

[Humanzee]

I guess thems the breaks, but lucky for you there is a simple fix, just get a new TV with DVI input. That's what I did.

I have an MSI 6600 GT VIVO. I hooked up my Component cables once, just to see if they worked. I don't know what driver version I was on then. I havn't tried since because Im now using DVI at 1080p. I think Componenet will only do 1080i.

Maybe as a last resort you could check and see if any ohter manufacturer markets the exact same card that you have, and check for updated bios? It might work.

Otherwise, you could Ebay your existing card and get a different one, There are some passively cooled 6600's out there. I kind of wish I got one of those instead, but I was in a time crunch.

check pcalchemy.

[docluv01]

FYI...

I have a EVGA 6600 GT PCI-E card with same problem with component video.

Nvidia recently released a new Beta 84.12 which seems to resolve this problem.

[Commodore 64]

I've got a passively cooled Gigabyte 6600GT. I have the same issue with component out. I use a beta driver, the 83.60 version that I downloaded based on an AVS forum thread.

Hopefully nV will officially release a driver revision that works. The latest official driver that works is the 78.05.

[jptaz]

I guess thems the breaks, but lucky for you there is a simple fix, just get a new TV with DVI input. That's what I did.

Ummm....NO....I have a TV that is connected to one of the 2 DVI connectors...the component is for my projector. I do not feel like running a 50 foot DVI cable when the card works works with component on an older driver...I eventually wanted to run DVI or DVI to HDMI...but I wanted to wait for my next projector to do that.

I may give the 84.12 driver a shot since I did just upgrade to the new pure video driver.

By the way how do you like the 37" Westinghouse LCD 1080P? My buddy at work has been thinking about getting one for his MCE PC but is now thinking of holding off until the 42" model is available.

John

[jptaz]

I loaded up beta 84.12 and sure enough it works

Hopefully this means Nvidia will get their Head out of their a$$ and provide an official Release with Component out support.

John

[wheelrandolph]

Hi,
I have Gigi. 6600gt pci-e and my display driver version is 8.1.9.8. Where are you getting 78.05 or 84.12? Or, is there another driver you are referring to.
I got this from Device Mgr., Display Driver, Nvidia.

[jptaz]

Your Version translates to Forceware 81.98, which is the latest released driver.

78.01 is in the Nvidia driver archive section. I have not seen 78.05

Beta driver 84.12 is available from www.nzone.com under the beta section of downloads.

John

[wheelrandolph]

Thanks John, just remove 2 decimal points I guess.
Randy

[Humanzee]

Originally Posted by jptaz

By the way how do you like the 37" Westinghouse LCD 1080P? My buddy at work has been thinking about getting one for his MCE PC but is now thinking of holding off until the 42" model is available.
John

I am so impressed, I feel silly not having bought an HD set earlier. I was originally just looking to replace my 31" RCA tube tv with some sort of HD Tube set. Then I realized I could get a micro display rear projector that was way bigger for about the same money. Then I realized that I could get a flat screen LCD that could do 1080p and hook up directly to my computer via DVI for about the same money.

I selected the 37" model because it is the biggest that I can fit into the armoure in the bed room. When we get a house and I can justify getting a really big screen, it will have a home in the bedroom.

Possitives:
1080p,
brighter than you could ever want, (I have the backlight turned way down),
2 DVI connectors,
VGA Connector,
2 Component Connectors,
1 or 2 S-Video/Composit Connectors.
Detachable Speakers.
Zero Dead Pixels
HDCP over DVI
Price, cheaper than other LCD's of the same size and lower resolution (no NTSC or HD tuner)
General Sweetness

Negatives:
1920x1080 is almost too high a resolution for a 37" tv, From the couch at about 8ft it is hard to read 12pt font even with the windows font size options maxed out.

My CPU struggles to keep up when decoding HDTV 1080i material. I don't know if it is driver related or hardware related, but I pretty much have to use FSE to get any kind of smooth performance. CPU gets pegged at 100% and sometimes the video gets choppy, worse when commercial processing. I think I need a faster cpu, maybe multi core.

The Westinghouse is just a monitor, no built in cable or HDTV reciever/decoder. But I don't need one as I have 3 in SageTV.

When on a completely black screen and in a darkened room there is slight luminance bleed through from the back light in the corners. I don't notice it when there is anything else on the screen.

Down scaling isn't elegant. I set a custom 1280x720 resolution for 720p in the PC just to try it out. That wasn't one of the native resolutions supported by the Westinghouse (might be wrong about this, but I only gave it a 2 minute look) so being an LCD the video only showed in the center of the screen. You can use the sets Zoom and Fill features to then scale the image back up again. This gives the set a softer look but I was only experimenting with it to see if I could decrease my CPU utilization. Didn't help much so I went back to 1920x1080

1080p is only supported on 1 of the 2 DVI inputs, the other up to 1080i

No HDMI input.

Questionable support for HDCP over HDMI>DVI convertion cable. (again shouldn't be a problem if graphics cards continue to support DVI)

Comes in a gianormous box. I tend to keep them for a while just in case, its filling up the extra shower and bathtub as we don't have anyplace esle to put it.

Comments:
HD sets bring out all the flaws in you signal quality and make them more easily visible. I hooked up my DVD player via the S-Video and was very dissapointed in the quality on the Westinghouse. When I found some componenet cables, and hooked it up, it was 100% better. When I put the dvd in my computer and played it with the PureVideo decoder doing its adaptive deinterlacing, it was 1000% better. Stellar actually. I would say it was actually jaw dropping.

If your friend is only going to use it for a HTPC then I'd have no reservations at all with recommending the Westinghouse. If he is going to hook it up to an old school Cable box, DVD or VCR, he probably won't be too impressed.

Bottom Line:
The Westy is an exceptional HTPC monitor. DVD's in particular looks better than I had ever thought possible. SDTV looks great when played through a computer with a deinterlacer like PureVideo. (a friend of mine has an HD ready Sony WEGA Tube set, SDTV looks really grainy and pixalated through the built it NTSC tuner). I downloaded some 1080p programming and it is just unbelievable. HDTV in our area is all 1080i, it looks outstanding, though I now need more CPU power to keep up.

I got our unit from Crutchfield, they had free in home delivery. They even took it out of the box to make sure it wasn't damaged in freight and everything.

[jptaz]

Just an Update.

Nvidia finally got there act together and the official 84.21 Driver supports the Component Dongle with HD...well I can not confirm the HD as I use it to connect to my projector via component cable at 480i, but all the settings are correct and available unlike any other official release except for 78.01.

John