Analaog Tv quality - is it just me?

[erik.p]

Hi,

So, I've finally gotten mediaportal up and running, and showing it off to my gf.

At first she is -rightfully - impressed, as am I.

Then she points out that the analog TV - when shown live - looks like crap compared to the regular TV in the same room, showing the same channel.
It's all pixelated and looks like a VCD-rip, in particular dark areas.
The same goes for recorded material as well (Quality setting "high").

So, here is my question/rant.

Is this the price you pay for HTPC? That the quality of analog TV looks worse than when being fed straight to a TV? I can kind of understand this, as the signal has to go though TV-Card -> Graphics Card -> TV, and some sort of coding is happening to the signal along the way. Or have I missed something?

Any comments / suggestions appreciated.

OS : Windows XP Pro
Media portal : 0.2.2.0
TV-card: Hauppage WinTV PVR-150
Graphic card: ASUS N EN7600GS
TV: 32 Inch PAL-LCD, fed via VGA and 1:1 Pixel Mapping (well, 1360x768)

[ronilse]

Hi,
I don't have this problem @ all, using nvidia codec's together with PVR-150MCE & HVR-1300MCE. Actually i have more options to stretch/zoom/fit analog channel to my 32" crt with MP then my TV has & the picture quality it's the same as when feeding directly to TV.
I'm not using any speecial settings in rec quality or in card setup (MP Setup -> Television -> Capture cards, etc).
Have you tried different codec's?

Regards
Roy

[FlipGer]

Hi,

well, there are quite some places to increase picture quality. As you already stated the signal goes a long way and passes many places, where you can fiddle with settings.

Input: Does the signal come in clear? Do you use good cables / connections?
PVR-150: Use Quality settings. "medium" could be enough, "high" should be enough (you are already using this). There are some tweaks you can do with the Hauppauge Tweak tool: http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/pvr_tweak.html
MP: Try different MPEG Decoders, MPV gives me a quite good picture. Others report nVidia as very good.
Graphicscard: Try fiddling with the Color / Brightness Settings of the nVidia Control Panel for Video&TV Playback. If dark scences look pixelated the brightness often is to high.

HTH,
Flip.

[Tazman]

I have the same problem as erik.p. Also using Pvr150mce but with Ati radeon expres200 card. Signal goes from satelite to card (scart --> S-vhs). The picture is much nicer when viewing directly from sat --> Tv via Scart.

Are there a special driver version to the tv-card that is preferred?

Tazman

[ronilse]

Hi,
For pvr150mce i use the 2.0.48.24227 driver from the cd-MCE-31f.

Regards
Roy

[eloo]

Ronilse: Does the MCE driver work with XP Pro ?

[ronilse]

Hi,
eloo, I really don't know, havn't tested but guess it does (you can use xp pro/home drivers in MCE, they're all just windows so should work.

Regards
Roy

[eloo]

Ronilse: Thanks! I will give it a go tonight. Seems like the MCE driver is much more updated.

[FlipGer]

Hi,

I use these drivers for my PVR 150 non MCE:
http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=10135.0

HTH,
Flip.

[eloo]

Ronilse: You are a true savior, the MCE drivers should always be used, they have other drivers available on the site but driver version 2.0.43.24108 causes occasional blue screens on exiting MP. I have been battling this problem for months (litterally), I have tried almost everything -> reinstall, all settings, drivers, bios, PCI slot etc. But according to the changelog this problem has been fixed:

-------
Driver Release 2.0.48.24227.PreRelease (08/15/06)
* Fixed potential muted FM audio issue introduced in 24201.

Driver Release 2.0.48.24205.PreRelease (07/24/06)
* Fixed bluescreen on S3 (and possibly shutdown) introduced in 24201.

Driver Release 2.0.48.24201.PreRelease (07/20/06)
* CCInDVD Support.
* Optional firmware load delays.
* Fixed obscure, unlikely (and unreported) but potential bluescreen issue.
--------

These fixes werent added to the WinXP regular driver, thanks Hauppauge!
I am testing these drivers thouroghly now, so cross your fingers. Furthermore, the TV quality is better, even though its not stated in the changelog (but we all now devs dont use the changelog always.).


Bottom line, you saved me! Now I can get back to my c# book.