upgrade to g400 marvel?

[Jeroen419962]

Hi,

I've been using a Matrox g200 Marvel for about a year now.
Usually I use it to capture from tv (my g200 marvel doesn't have a tuner) Since my tv only has a composite signal the quality is a bit disappointing compared to the original broadcast (bad colors, less sharp) So i was thinking about upgrading to a g400 marvel WITH tv tuner, this way you'll won't lose signal quality because the original signal goes right into the tuner. Am i right about this?
And if so, is it worth the upgrade? (I can buy one for $175)

thx in advance

Jeroen419962

[Brian Ellis]

Jeroen

I presume you are taking your signal from a Scart connector into the G-200 BOB? TV sets do not have great tuners and they often, especially on cheap sets, restrict the bandwidth to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. This should make little difference to the viewed image, which will be of much lower horizontal resolution than the optimum, anyway. This may explain the sharpness problem. The colour problem should not occur. However, the video signal should be imported via a decent purpose-built video cable, not more than 1 m long. Longer or inadequate cables could give both effects you mention. (This does NOT mean that you should go out and buy the most expensive gold-plated cable with solid mono-crystalline silver conductors: these are just a scam).

I use a G-200 sans TV and have no problem, although I don't input from a commercial TV source.

You could also try using the tuner in your VCR, to see whether it's any better.