Re: [gentoo-user] intel HD graphics 4000 and viewing DVDs

[Allan Gottlieb <gottlieb@nyu.edu>]

On Fri, Jul 27 2012, Michael Mol wrote:

> On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 3:41 PM, Allan Gottlieb <gottlieb@nyu.edu> wrote:
>> On Thu, Jul 26 2012, Mark Knecht wrote:
>>
>>> Check the nvidia site. It will tell you the exact driver Rev that
>>> supports this GPU.
>>
>> Thanks.  I see that 295.53 supports the NVS 5200M.  Am I right in
>> believing that this means all drivers >= 295.53 support it.
>> This would be good as there are a few such in portage.
>
> It's actually very rare for nVidia to remove support for a card that it has.

Thanks.  I agree and now that I think about it, I can always get the
older nvidia-driver from somewhere.

> On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 4:10 PM, Allan Gottlieb <gottlieb@nyu.edu> wrote:
>> I am getting a new laptop. (likely dell 6430).
>> The two graphics options are intel HD 4000 and nvidia NVS 5200M.
>> Dell is as expected suggesting the 5200M.
>>
>> I do not need 3D or fast response.  Dell hinted that DVDs might not play
>> with the intel HD 4000.  This seems weird to me as the 4000 is supposed
>> to be a big improvement over the 3000 and I can't believe dell or others
>> would have sold laptops that can't play dvds
>>
>> Any comments or experiences?
>
> My Duron 750MHz was able to decode DVDs in realtime. After that, all
> you're doing is blitting (or using xv) the frames to the screen. I
> would be absolutely shocked if the Intel HD 4000 GPU couldn't handle
> that basic of a 2D acceleration function.
>
> Now, DVDs use MPEG2. Blu-Ray uses h.264, which is a much harder beast
> to decode in realtime. It's possible the HD 4000 GPU can't handle
> hardware decode of h.264, but I don't know. I've never looked into it.
> (Software decode of 1080p h.264 on my Phenom 9650 worked somewhat, but
> highly active scenes would cause frame drops.)

Thanks.  I am not getting a blu-ray player.

I forgot a big point.  I have a very high res 30" monitor (2560x1600)
and need to insure that the graphics card can drive the monitor at full
res (I don't care about dvd's just software development and writing my
lectures).  I haven't received a definitive answer from dell about that.

I am really in a quandary over the graphics card.  The nvidia card is a
little new and not listed on the nouveau page (I have found nouveau
works much better than nvidia-drivers).  Also it requires a bigger
battery and power adapter.  Indeed with the intel 4000, I could get a
physically smaller dell 6430s with the same 14" screen (but somewhat
lower res).

allan