The 210 and an 8200 (multihead, same box) works for me on broadcast 22mbps hd and the few bluray I've tried. I'm also running the audio over the hdmi (ac3 in my living room, required a patch that eventually went into my distro 2.6.37 kernel, prob standard now). The nice thing about the 210 is many are fanless, relatively low power, and I think mine only cost $20. Andy, you would be welcome to come take a look in person. Everthing I've heard is that ATI still isn't ready for Linux hardware video decoding. <div class="gmail_quote">On Aug 9, 2011 1:14 AM, "Philip J. Robar" <<a href="mailto:philip.robar@gmail.com">philip.robar@gmail.com</a>> wrote: > > On Aug 7, 2011, at 11:43 PM, Richard Houser wrote: > >> an nvidea 210 (need vdpau) > > If you want to be able to handle any video out there and you want HD audio bitstreaming you’ll want to get something a little better than the nVidia 210. MissingRemote* has an up to date summary chart of GPUs from an A/V standpoint. While an ATI 5450 will make any home theater sing (I’m happy with mine) for ~$20-30 after rebate (and many might even be happy with an nVidia 8400/8500), you might as well go with current generation stuff. That mean an at least an ATI 6450, Intel HD Graphics 2000/3000 (IGP in 2nd gen. Sandy Bridge CPUs), nVidia Geforce GT 430/440 or nVidia Geforce GTS 450/460. > > All the reviews I’ve seen say that the nVidia ION/ION2 (basically a 210) just don’t cut it when it comes to demanding video. They get close, but why compromise? And they don’t bitstream HD audio. (See here for details: <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/3702/zotacs-zbox-hdid11-review-next-gen-ion-better-worse-than-ion1">http://www.anandtech.com/show/3702/zotacs-zbox-hdid11-review-next-gen-ion-better-worse-than-ion1</a>) > > Any of AMD’s new APU line is good enough from an A/V standpoint as long as you don’t card about 3D Blu-ray. If you do, you’ll have to do a little more research as the chart only covers the lowest end version. > > Note that nVidia’s higher end gaming GPU’s drop HD audio bitstreaming, but maintain their video prowess. > > > Phil > > * Older/Legacy GPUs: <a href="http://www.missingremote.com/guide/basic-overview-gpu-hd-video-processing">http://www.missingremote.com/guide/basic-overview-gpu-hd-video-processing</a> > * Latest Chart: <a href="http://www.missingremote.com/guide/gpu-comparison">http://www.missingremote.com/guide/gpu-comparison</a> > > _______________________________________________ > linux-user mailing list > <a href="mailto:linux-user@egr.msu.edu">linux-user@egr.msu.edu</a> > <a href="http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user">http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user</a> </div>