The problems with the tv-out on the TNT 1 and TNT 2 chips, using a PAL signal, are the (large) black borders around the screen. This is no real problem with games but watching a dvd in a box does not improve the image quality. There is a way to get it right but your have to adjust your TNT board and connect it to the parallel port, not something a normal user will do. Ofcoure the board manufacturers (they really stick this time close to the Nvidia reference design) are guilty but as long if we (the costumers) never complain or raise our voice nothing will change. The whole Geforce hype started on the internet so we do have the power to make or break things, but who wants to deliver the bad news ?.
Everybody seems to be fixed on the 3d features (especially the FPS) and the price seems to be no real bottleneck. My fear is that you still have to spend more money to get a good picture on your TV so what’s the point of DVD/TV-out support if there’s no good output?. If you count the costs of a Hollywood alike card I will gladly spend a few bucks on a really good Geforce card (asus 6600 deluxe ?). It seems to be a hush hush (no TV out support in the current drivers) feature that looks great on a box but has no real value in real life, maybe the heat is on Nvidia or the manufacturers ?
DVD is a family medium, but do you like to watch a movies with friends or family behind your desk on a 22” monitor ?. There seems to be a big difference between the standalone DVD player and DVD-Rom drives in usability for your home entertainment system. Ati (fury max) is not the best 3d card developer but when it comes to integration in your home entertainment system they seems be way ahead.