ASUS releases Splendid HD1 video card, sure does have a way with names

We're still a little hazy as to exactly what ASUS's new Splendid HD1 "video enhance card" actually does differently than most other 2D-enhanced devices, but the company claims it ratchets up 1080p video quality on both digital and analog outputs, and it'll fit in right along side those Splendid-based Xondar cards. Of course, it's also got HDCP (which is a start), but it's starting to smell a little gimmicky around here, splendid or not.

[Via Far East Gizmos]

[Aguiluz @ Mar 23rd 2008 12:55PM]

Man, is that small.

[mymaclife @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:19PM]

I don't think the picture's full size!

[Abuzar @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:50PM]

That's what she said!

[James @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:11PM]

More like - That's the conversation they both had on eHarmony.

[Abuzar @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:26PM]

You just had to ruin it didn't you James.

[James @ Mar 23rd 2008 9:43PM]

More like - Thats what he ruined.


Ok seriously now, I'm going to stop being jealous that someone beat me to an awesome comment :P.

[Abuzar @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:32PM]

Yeah, I'm always first on the "That's what she said" thing. Mostly in real life though.

Makes me childish, but it's funny as hell.

[Saad Rabia @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:03PM]

Splendid, indeed!

[ReggieXuk @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:04PM]

Engadget, do a story on how http://www.tvcatchup.com/ has been taken down.

[Neebs @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:05PM]

http://www.engadget.com/contact/tips/

[Richard Lai @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:01PM]

I've never heard of this site before, but hey, it's not like the channels aren't offering a similar serivce themselves (BBC iPlayer, 4oD, etc.).

[Apple Fanboy #3782 @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:13PM]

What happened to Ask Engadget?

[Josh L @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:46PM]

What happened to the previous 3,781?

[Allen @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:14PM]

So..... the purpose behind this is????....

[Wwhat @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:20PM]

When I heard about it before they said it was to add DHCP (and HDMI connectivity) to non-DHCP video, but it's hard to take a product like that serious.

[fischju @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:04PM]

Well, if you want a very cheap and small system for playing 1080 content, a dedicated decoder is nice.

[Chris Anderson @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:41PM]

@ wWhat - DHCP and HDCP are two very different things :)

[Wwhat @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:04PM]

Perhaps that's why I mentioned them separately?

[Wwhat @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:07PM]

Oh nm, I thought you said HDMI and HDCP, you are right laugh, I messed up. Too many damn acronyms, I'm drowning in them.
DHCP over HDMI, I better patent that!

[web2.oh @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:59PM]

PCMCIA: People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

[Michael @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:31PM]

I have a non-HDCP nVidia 7600GT OC. My 20" BenQ monitor is also non-HDCP, so at this point, there'd be no purpose in using this Splendid device.

The only people it would apparantly benefit is someone with a monitor that supports HDCP but with an awesome computer they want to add HDCP support to.

If your video card is that old, it seems likely that a new HDCP-compliant GPU would be on your shopping list.

This product is basically useless for anybody.

[Dark-Dx @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:52PM]

Anydvd HD is your friend :)

[Wwhat @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:12PM]

Yeah the thing is that you don't need HDCP for normal unprotected video, and if you play blu-ray video you most likely have a GPU that helps you, or you are better off getting a cheap graphics card that supports it over this solution probably.
And if the issue is that you have a DVI-connector-only card you can buy converter cables to go HDMI.
To sell this it would have to be $25 max. I guess.

[vdogg89 @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:44PM]

it doesnt look like it does anything that my old video card cant do... but me want!

[Hermiod @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:48PM]

Shame it's entirely useless. No HDMI = No Sale.

[Adam @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:54PM]

You do realize that HDMI = DVI w/o Audio no? A simple adapter and you have HDMI...

[Hermiod @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:58PM]

Which won't carry sound which makes it useless for a media centre setup.

[Tony Rayo @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:59PM]

No, HDMI in fact carries audio and video and at a higher bandwidth than DVI supports.

[Justin Nolan @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:02PM]

A higher bandwidth because you are adding audio on top of the video. DVI video == HDMI video. A DVI to HDMI cable is entirely passive. Just different pin out and connecters (again, minus audio). But we are talking about a GRAPHICS card here, anyways.

[OziD @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:59PM]

Ya man. You tell those optical audio cables.

[Adam @ Mar 23rd 2008 6:55PM]

Actually OziD, another misconception. Optical does not support 7.1 Standards whereas HDMI does. This would only be to support your outdated HD-DVD or newly acquired Blue Ray players (if you were to get one for your HTPC). However, for your more standard viewing, Optical is best because it does not encumber line noise or other electromagnetic phenomena. Also, HDMI, with the correct construction of materials, can support a larger cable length by 2-5 meters.

[Adam @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:01PM]

Might I also add, if you're building an HTPC, then it would be best to purchase an independent Audio Card to offload to, which makes this discussion topic moot.

[John Laur @ Mar 24th 2008 1:21PM]

@Justin Noland

You are correct that any video compatible with DVI can also be transported on HDMI; however the reverse is not necessarily true anymore. Although they are still technically electrically compatible, HDMI 1.3 specifies a higher maximum data rate than dual link DVI allows in order to support a greater color depth, greater refresh rates, higher resolution displays, or some combination of these things. The 30" monitors out now are at the very edge of dual link DVI, but have some wiggle room on HDMI and DisplayPort.

DVI actually does not limit themselves at dual link and actually has specs for a quad-link connector (it is available on some Quadro cards and high-DIP displays, for instance). But it is a far more cumbersome and expensive connector -- so bumping the bandwidth on the existing connectors really is a better idea for the consumer market, particularly since cable quality is generally good enough to deal with the increased bandwidth anyway.

[agrabren @ Mar 24th 2008 1:06AM]

You realize that HDMI does not have an audio pin, it's encoded in the video lines. So a device with DVI output could, in fact, output HDMI audio using a DVI to HDMI cable.

[VitalyTheUnknown @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:49PM]

Asus HD1 is an OK name but I think to create some buzz they had to name it "Blu-Ray Booster" that would definitely caught everybody's attention.

[Wwhat @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:14PM]

They probably would have to pay sony (and partners) huge bucks then though.

[Phil Perman @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:49PM]

So this thing basically improves the image quality of video fed into it. I think everyone should wait for real world tests of just how well it works before they write it off as useless.

p.s. @ Michael, you can't add HDCP mid stream, it has to be there all the way through, i.e. you need an HDCP video card weather you have this thing in or not

[Crap @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:57PM]

ASUS Splendid HD1 Video Enhance Card Upgrades Generic VGA to True HDMI

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Catering to the new era in multimedia technology, ASUS, producer of high quality audio and visual solutions, has announced the new ASUS Splendid HD1 video enhance card. This astounding piece of hardware is able to increase picture quality for HD content to deliver sharper, more vividly colored visual outputs. It can even enhance lower resolution inputs by recovering image clarity when viewing legacy content for viewing on LCD TV or monitors; as well as provide true HDMI with audio and HDCP.

[Julian Weisser @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:37PM]

Any pricing yet?

http://flickr.com/photos/julianweisser/2355305498/

That is a really funny easter pic I took two years ago (sadly two years before I had a decent camera- now it's digital rebel ftw!). What are you guys up to today? I am going to the relatives for a party and teaching my 9 year old cousin how to play the guitar.

Hope the picture brightens up your day! Happy Easter!

[will clifton @ Mar 24th 2008 11:38AM]

what's this? a friendly, cheerful person? a welcome surprise.

[mymaclife @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:37PM]

No it's a dog eating eggs from a basket - get your eyes tested!

[Wolfticket @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:50PM]

I think more people should post pleasant, date relevant, family photos on engadget. In fact, why bother with the whole gadget thing at all, it's such a downer.

[Wolfticket @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:51PM]

^ miserable person ^

[Wwhat @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:16PM]

Easter is just a day when it's harder to buy gadgets on.

[asphixiated @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:37PM]

Whoo! bring on the PCI-e!

[GrizzlyAdams @ Mar 23rd 2008 9:59PM]

The video decoding is done on this card, then it overlays the video onto the incoming feed and wraps it in HDCP if the content requires. Basically its a modern version of the old Hollywood+ card. Offloads the video decoding to a dedicated processor as well so even if your cpu sucks, as long as you have a PCIe 1x or better slot open, you can use this card.

This would actually make sense for my MediaCenter PC. Its *NEVER* used to play games, and I just had to drop $300 on a new motherboard, cpu & ram when the old went up in smoke. Left my pockets rather empty for buying a video card.

[rall.eric @ Mar 23rd 2008 10:39PM]

response? yeah...what?

[happy_penguin @ Mar 24th 2008 12:11AM]

I like the compactness of it. Video cards are getting to be entirely too huge. Also, I don't see a fan, not to say that it doesn't have one, I just don't see one. It would be good to see high performance video cards without fans. Fans are necessary when they're included but fans add noise, and they get dirty and fail. I'd like to see some advances in heat control or better yet, advances which don't produce so much heat in the first place.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Mar 24th 2008 1:16AM]

It's not a video card for playing doom, but a digital pass thorough for processing 2D video. To use, you connect the DVI output from your nVIDIA or ATi graphics card to the SPLENDID HD1 and it will upscale lower definition content like legacy games or DVD movies. It's an attempt to modify the video signal in real time so that LCD users can enjoy some the color, contrast and scaling abilities a CRT used to offer.

[happy_penguin @ Mar 24th 2008 7:58PM]

Thank you. I didn't quite understand what the product was about.