On the negative side,if you have an older computer with only 256 megabytes of memory,taking even 16 of those for video display can seriously slow down your computer. These basic video ports are limited and very slow when handling things like movies and home videos. They often produce choppy results on some games and are completely incapable of playing some high-end games. Projects such as DVD productions,which contain multiple video clips,or playing games with extremely realistic shadows and textures are likely not possible (or are,at the very least,frustrating and slow) with integrated video.
Those that want to take advantage of the advanced features of modern computers can sometimes improve performance by increasing the amount of memory in their computer and using a significant portion of it for video. After adding memory,this adjustment can be made in the BIOS (basic internal operating system) and is best done by a professional,unless you are well versed in computer tinkering. This will also likely improve your computer’s overall performance. A better but more expensive upgrade is to invest in a high-end video card to replace the integrated version.
While you can get a decent add-on video card for around $50 and a very good gaming card (one optimized for super-realistic games) for $100-$300,those that use their computers professionally for creating and managing high-quality video will spend anywhere from $500 to over $3000. Other nice options such as TV tuners and video capture are also available on some cards or as an additional add-on. Video capture can be used to import such things as home videos,DVDs and television signals into your computer for recording,editing and storing.
If you desire to do this type of work,remember that video is very power and space consuming. You may need to add more storage (hard drive) space and more memory to be successful.
As always,keep backups of anything important,stay safe and happy computing.
Shaun McCausland has been in the computer industry for 27 years (locally with Musicomp &Bits ‘N’Bytes) and currently does in-home and on-site computer consultation,service,training and repair. If you have questions,you can reach him at 668-7118.
