For those looking for budget cards - here is a clip from xbit labs review of budget cards for HTPC. Note that the scores are already high. For dvd playback - these are already higher than most dvd (branded) players. For HD - this is almost as good as it gets. Media streamers would score lower.
None of the tested GPUs could achieve the maximum score of 130 points. The main problems are the inability of the GPUs to smooth out the jaggies in the Jaggies Pattern tests and transform filmed content (24fps, progressive scan) into DVD or 1080i HDTV (interlaced) with the 3:2 pulldown method (the so-called telecine). For some reason, the GPUs proved to be unable to render text over video, which is a serious problem.
HTPC owners are going to use Full-HD TV-sets with a resolution of 1920x1080. As a result, it is far more important to ensure high-quality playback of high-definition video.
As you can see, many modern GPUs boast exceptional quality. In fact, nearly every mainstream and performance-mainstream GPU is very good at playing Blu-ray and HD DVD movies. The disappointing results only come from the integrated graphics cores Intel GMA 4500 and Nvidia GeForce 8300, and from the discrete Radeon HD 3400
