Resolution isn't that great for playback...video card?

[CoffeeEater]

I'm playing back DVDs and some DIVX TV Shows. I don't have any stuttering problems, but the video is pretty pixelated. It looks better the further I am from the screen. Up close, it looks bad.

I only use onboard video (8mb) and Nero Showtime. WinDVD didn't work.

If I get a standalone video card (9250 PCI or x700 PCI-E), will I see better quality?

Dell SC420
Celeron 2.53GHZ
1GB of Ram
160GB SATA
19" Dell Analog LCD (running 1280x1024...8ms response)

[bits]

Are the DVDs home made or store bought?

The biggest factor in video display will be the quality of the video. If your seeing pixelation it is probably because the video is pixelated. A better video card will not help.

The saying goes; garbage in, garbage out!

[CoffeeEater]

Are the DVDs home made or store bought?

The biggest factor in video display will be the quality of the video. If your seeing pixelation it is probably because the video is pixelated. A better video card will not help.

The saying goes; garbage in, garbage out!

The DVDs are store-bought. The DVDs look a lot better on my crappy 24" TV than my 19" LCD.

The monitor is running at 1280x1024. I just don't know if it's the upscaling of the DVD resolution or the lack of a video card that is causing pixelation.

[bUR]

TVs do have a far worse resolution than your LCD and tend to smooth images, so while details get lost, pixels also get smoothed away. This can be the reason why it looks better on the TV.

I doubt the gfx card is the one to blame, as you say it is running at 1280x1024 which is more than enough for DVD-video. But to be sure play the DVD at a friend's computer and see how it looks there.