My HP 2133 (1 Ghz) plays 480p video flawlessly, but any attempt to play a high definition format makes the video look like a slideshow.
When Broadcom announced the “Crystal HD Enhanced Media Accelerator” I decided to purchase one, dissect my mininote again and see how well the card works.
The following videos are examples of the “before” and “after” experience of using the accelerator on my HP 2133 mininote. Installation of both the hardware and the software had it’s challenges which I’ll document in a later post this week.
The sample Stormchasers_1080 and Robotica_720 video files were downloaded from the Microsoft HD Content Showcase.
I think you’ll agree that the results are very impressive. I also tried the accelerator with a blu-ray clip from the movie “Body of Lies” which also worked great, provided you paused the player for a couple of seconds after forwarding the video.
The Broadcom cards are available as PCI Express mini cards and for the ExpressCard 34 slot. I bought the mini card on ebay for $24.
Robotica_720 before HD Accelerator installation:
Robotica_720 after the Broadcom HD Accelerator has been installed:
Stormchasers_1080 before the Broadcom HD Accelerator has been installed (on an external monitor):
Stormchasers_1080 after the Broadcom HD Accelerator has been installed (on an external monitor):
