Integrated Graphics

I recently purchased a notebook with the Intel 945GM chipset, Intel 950GMA integrated graphics. I don't really game and this laptop is for school use, so I felt that I wouldn't need a dedicated video card. I expected video quality to be generally the same compared to other video cards, but I was wrong or either there's something wrong with the card (which I'm trying to figure out). Here's a screenshot of 'The Terminal' DVD, with the DVD software that came with my notebook (Asus A8F). I've also tried other DVD software, tried hooking up an external monitor, all the same. I may be picky with video quality, but this screenshot of The Terminal really doesn't look like DVD quality:

http://img144.imageshack.us/my.php?image=integratedgv1.jpg

It's blurry and blocky. I tried tweaking with all settings, changing resolutions, but nothing works.

Does anyone else use Intel's line of integrated graphics? If so, can you please post a screenshot of your DVD playback?

 

my father has that cheapest dell laptop, he has the same graphics as you do. personally the desktop looks blurry to me. but i dont think he uses it to watch movies. just online poker

 

wrong thread thingy anyway

 

are you running the screen at native resolution?

 

are you sure that's a real dvd? it looks a lot like a "cam"; i.e. movie filmed with a camcorder.

anyways, the videocard is more than capable of creating excellent quality graphics.

 

is that the movie with the guy(tom hanks?) who lives in the airport?
that was a good movie...

 

yeah i really have to get this movie - haven't seen it yet

try putting the disc in a dvd player and see if the quality is the same

 

yea it is a real DVD, ran the dvd on my personal computer and on my friends laptop. and it's a lot clearer.

i'm not sure what's native resolution. my notebook is widescreen set at 1200x800, i've also tried to set it on 1024x768. it's all the same.

other formats such as DivX are the same. infact, i have HDTV divx videos that look sharp and dvd-like on my personal computer, but end up looking the same as the screenshot i posted on this laptop - all blurry and blocky.

 

That is indeed your GPU IMO. There may be a setting you have it on, but my computer plays DVDs just as good as my dvd player connected to my TV. I have an X1400, this is the exact reason I suggest to people to get at least a low end dedicated card, because they do not know if they will or will not need it. Better safe than sorry.

 

screen shot looks fine... the fact that most of it is supposed to be out of focus dosnt help in identifying "blurry" spots that arnt supposed to be blurry. Got any better ones?

 

The DVD's resolution is only so much. When you expand it to your desktops native resolution it'll blurr like that.

 

here's a better screenshot. this one taken from the TV series Prison Break, season 2 ep 1 in HDTV.

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7875/prisonbreaks02e01hdtvxvidlol033339215351kf5.jpg

 

what software are you using to play the dvd?

 

I've tried ASUS DVD and Power DVD, also misc media players with DVD codecs. The problem exists in the graphics card it seems. I'm going to get it looked at soon, and hopefully there is something wrong (so it gets replaced). If not, I have no idea why the video quality would be this bad compared to other computers or notebooks that utilize integrated graphics cards as well.

 

i very much doubt its the gpu problem. dvd playback does not feed off the gpu that much

 

Actually, that's about the only thing I can peg. While DVD playback doesn't feed off the GPU that much, it DOES use graphics hardware to decode.

I'd be entirely liable to assume the GMA950 just has a godawful DVD decoding scheme. My advice would be to try disabling hardware accelerated decoding, either in the DVD software or in the graphics software. That DVD capture looked horrendous.

 

Maybe thats it? At least thats what I've been assumeing its been on my laptop for the past 10 months.