No.  However, there are two types of DVD decoding.  Software and hardware.
A separate hardware decoder is "supposed" to be better because it is a
dedicated decoder.  However, having worked very little with DVD drives in
this capacity I could not provide a very experienced opinion.

On the other had, when it comes to video my number one vote is for ATI.
They do o.k. on the 3D side of things (for games) but they rock! when it
comes to video processing (I'm sure I will get disenters on this opinion).
The exception to the rule on the 3D might be the Radeon card.  I have heard
that it is better at higher resolution than the GeForce Ultra, but this is
just hear-say.  A few of the ATI cards have dedicated DVD processors on
them, which will fulfill your final need.

Hope this helps!

Kyle Elmblade
[log in to unmask]

From: "bob boyd" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 11:27 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Req video card recomendation


> I want a TV tuner and to be able to play Unreal Tournament and Quake 3.
> Currently I have a 16mb agp card and a 21 inch Vivitron Monitor running
> 1280x1024 24 bit color. I also want to add a DVD drive down the road. My
> understanding is I can watch DVD movies only if I get a separate decoder
> card .... (yes?)

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