TV-out support ANYWHERE?

[Dirk Thierbach]

On Tue, Mar 20, 2007 at 07:16:25AM +0100, Csillag Kristof wrote:
> OK, so let's sum it up:

> - Intel cards have a nice open driver, but TV-Out does not work yet.

TV-Out does work for some cards to some degree with the driver, and it
also works for the old i810 chipset (which is fully documented) with
extra programs.

> - Nvidia cards have two driver sets: the closed proprietary binary
>   nvidia, where everything works (sort of), and the open nv, which can
>   not use tv-out.

The open 'nv' can use tv-out with an extra program.

> - Ati cards have two driver sets: the closed proprietary binary
>   fglrx, where everything works (sort of), the the open ones, which
>   can not use tv-out.

AFAIK, ATI cards can also use tv-out with help of an extra program.

> So, what hardware does one buy, if he needs TV-out, but he does not
> want to use proprietary software? Intel, ati and nvidia seem to be
> out.

You just buy one of those cards, and use the extra programs.

> Is this really _that_ difficult?

The problem is that (a) X doesn't contain the infrastructure to handle
the extra values needed to program the TV encoders, which is why every
(proprietary) driver cooks up its own set of options to handle TV in a
somewhat limited way, and (b) graphic card manufacturers don't publish
their specifications. Complain to the manufacturers.

- Dirk