There is no need to get an RCA to S-video converter, just buy the cable. Why does he even talk about this?

Because it's meant as an example of why a S-video converter does no good for improving the signal. And, frankly, a lot of people will try this kind of thing because the converter is cheaper than the freaking cable. But mostly it's an example for other components that don't have Svideo out (e.g. -- many VCRs).

Also differing cable lengths DOES have an effect

Not a significant one, not unless you have absurdly different lengths (e.g. -- 100 feet or more). The propogation speed of signals is so high that it just doesn't matter otherwise.

you want to make sure that speakers don't have more rated resistance than the channel which drives them even if they are each not necessarily matched to each other.

Right idea, wrong answer. I've never seen a case where the speaker had "too much" resistance. The much more dangerous situation is where the speaker has too little resistance, because you can easily blow the speaker or damage the amp in that case.

BTW, the one thing he got wrong was the pricing on the front projector's. Cut the numbers in half and it's more accurate. It's entirely possible that the article as a whole is a couple years old and was just posted to the website a couple days ago.

graphics firm ATI Technologies says that its chips are already capable of processing physics

And CPUs are already capable of rendering 3D graphics.

This reminds me of a XBox developer's response to a question about the Revolution controller: "It’s the same reason our DVD remote, at the press conference I could have done our whole demo on the DVD remote because we put A, B, X, Y on the remote....You’re going to be able to play casual games on Live Arcade with the remote control."

http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200510/N05.1005.1820.37210.htm

Physics cards don't make physics more realistic in games, they allow you to use physics on everything in game. What will a PPU allow you to do? Well, take HL2, for example. Sure, they have some items in levels that are able to be manipulated with the grav gun, and the bodies bounce around nicely. But, the number of items is limited due to processor restraints. With a PPU, you can not only have itmes you can manipulate, you can allow players to blow holes in walls, creating more items. You can allow total enviromental manipulation, without slowing the game to a crawl. (i.e. a grenade will create a crater, bounce a car off a tree hard enough it will uproot, etc...)

No one will make a game were you NEED the card right away, just like you didn't NEED a 3d card at first. Unreal didn't NEED a 3d card to play it, but is sure looked 1000x better if you had one. Same deal with PPU enabled games.

And I doubt Aegis will go bankrupt, since ATIs card will be split between graphics and physics, they will most likely be slower than a 2 card dedicated solution. (PPU and graphics card)

I agree in principle, but I'm still glad to hear this is something the vid card manufacturers are keeping an eye on at least; I'd much rather but a PPU if it was part of my graphics card...

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GW: Tashen Boke [R/Me]; Rosti The Ninja [Mo/R]; Gort Grimley [W/Ne]

bah, screw India, i want one of those $100 3rd-world laptops that are being proposed. Sure the specs suk but it's still 100% better than what i've got now, which is nothing. I'm a Citizen damnit! Offer ME cheap stuff too!

Think about how Soldier Of Fortune 3 will look if it used one!

The chunks of brain and blood would be spectacular!

Physics cards don't make physics more realistic in games, they allow you to use physics on everything in game. What will a PPU allow you to do? Well, take HL2, for example. Sure, they have some items in levels that are able to be manipulated with the grav gun, and the bodies bounce around nicely. But, the number of items is limited due to processor restraints. With a PPU, you can not only have itmes you can manipulate, you can allow players to blow holes in walls, creating more items. You can allow total enviromental manipulation, without slowing the game to a crawl. (i.e. a grenade will create a crater, bounce a car off a tree hard enough it will uproot, etc...)

No one will make a game were you NEED the card right away, just like you didn't NEED a 3d card at first. Unreal didn't NEED a 3d card to play it, but is sure looked 1000x better if you had one. Same deal with PPU enabled games.

And I doubt Aegis will go bankrupt, since ATIs card will be split between graphics and physics, they will most likely be slower than a 2 card dedicated solution. (PPU and graphics card)


This comment was edited on Oct 7, 18:13.

Does anyone REALLY need a sound card? Games are so simplistic and cartoony, realistic sounds would just be out of place. Yeah, I'm going to plunk down $300 for a card so that DIG DUG'S PUMP can sound more realistic. DREAM ON SUCKERS

Was anyone REALLY going to buy a physics addon card? I sure as hell wasn't. Their best example of how AWESOME these addon cards would be is ACCURATE WATER DROPS wow.. yeah, cause I really care about how the rain drops in my video game are colliding with the puddles on the ground... no really, I do... please take my 300 bucks!

It's like they are on this hype train of how great more powerful physics would make gaming, when it's bullshit, sure I want the world to react to my actions but do I care if its 100% accurate when calculating how that crate falls down? Nope.

And what publisher was going to have the balls to make a game where you NEED the addon card? Seems like it'd be best used for tech demos and not actual games.

There are some errors in that Facts and Fallacies article. The Playstion stuff is pointless since you can get S-video from ANY Playstion by simply buying the S-video cable. There is no need to get an RCA to S-video converter, just buy the cable. Why does he even talk about this?

Also differing cable lengths DOES have an effect, relative electrical signal delays and thus potentially out of phase signals, though whether this is something significant or not is debatable.

Like the speaker resistance answers, sometimes he reduces thing to too simplistic an answer thus missing out on explaining things that are important. i.e. you want to match pair lengths for wire but maybe not the lengths for back and front, you want to make sure that speakers don't have more rated resistance than the channel which drives them even if they are each not necessarily matched to each other.

Myths propagate because people don't know and when an 'expert' gives advice that perhaps makes fundamental assumptions about what people know rather than explicitly spelling out the considerations, they only continue to propagate. Even worse is advice that ignores or exposes a gap in knowledge to begin with (like the Playstation advice).

I now declare Ageia bankruptcy watch formally open...

Start your clocks!