2 "TV with ffdshow" problems (1 Viewer)

[Wonderm00n]

TV-Server Version:
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.3.0 RC2
MediaPortal Skin: Blue Two Wide
Windows Version: Win XP Pro SP2 + All updates
CPU Type: Intel P4 3.0 SKT478
HDD: 80Gb IDE + 120Gb SATA
Memory: 2048Mb DDR400
Motherboard: Asus P4-P800-E Deluxe
Motherboard Chipset: Intel
Motherboard Bios:
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT 512Mb
Video Card Driver: 6.14.11.6218
Sound Card: Realtek onBoard
Sound Card AC3: optical out
Sound Card Driver: 5.10.0.5440
1. TV Card: Hauppauge Win-TV-PVR-500
1. TV Card Type: Analog
1. TV Card Driver: 2.0.48.25037
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: MPV Decoder Filter
MPEG2 Audio Codec: MPA Decoder Filter
Satelite/CableTV Provider: TV Cabo Portugal (Analog cable)
HTPC Case: 3RSYSTEM MSTATION HT-1100
Cooling:
Power Supply: Eurotech 400Wt
Remote: iMON PAD
TV: LCD 37'' LG LZ37 RZ55
TV - HTPC Connection: Sub-D


Hi there,

I've just installed my MediaPortal based HTPC (as you can see here: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/my_new_htpc_some_questions-t27966.html), and I'm kind of a newby on this stuff... So please, be gentle

I gotta be honest... When I first saw the TV quality on MediaPortal I thought I was going to die, after all the investment I made on hardware (for both the HTPC and the PC where the harware for the HTPC came from), and the image quality was crappy! Not comparable AT ALL with the quality I have when directly connecting the cable to the TV.

I read a bit about postprocessing with ffdshow and finally got to a quality level I'm quite happy with.

First of all let me list the ffdshow configurations, in the correct order (all non-listed configurations are default):
- Picture properties: contrast 147, brightness -20, Saturation 68
- Blur & NR: all de-activated except denoise3d and HQ: luma 0.54, chroma 0.54, time 5.00- Sharpen: msharpen high quality, Strength 60, Threshold 25
- Crop: Top 8, Left 24, Bottom 8, Right 8 (This was the only way of getting of "black" around the picture that was seen in ALL channels)
- Resize: New Size 1360x768 (my resolution), if < 1360x768, Keep original aspect ratio

I really didn't wanted to de-activate the resize because it's making a big difference, but two things happen when it's activated:

- The image is not filling up all screen height, as you can see here: http://wonderm00n.blog.com.pt/_temp/20070915_tv_ffdshow.jpg
- The image stutters (maybe because of CPU consumption?)

The CPU is always on 50 to 65% when TV is playing.

Anyone can point me out a solution to this two problems, and if possible maintain most of the ffdshow settings (or other settings that will give me the same result)?

Thanks in advance,
Marco Almeida

 

[Marcusb]

OK, what you need to think about is the codecs.
MPA and MPV are good for problem solving as they are relatively simple.
If you use a more sophisticated codec then you can take advantage of hardware accelleration and the gfx card will do most of the work.
in your case you could try the nvidea purevidoe drivers for best results, but these are not free (purchase from the nvidia web site).
You can also try the powerdvd or windvd codecs. Just install the trial version of eaithe of these then activate hardware accel. in the codec properties of mp config.
Also make sure you select these from the drop down box in the TV config.

FFDshow also uses quite a bit of CPU, so between that and the non hardware codecs you are probably putting too much pressure on the CPU (along with general windows stuff).

See how you go with those then post back.

Glad to see you got everything built and (mostly) working ;-)

I think I said in the other thread, it's a hard road, but well worth it...

 

[Wonderm00n]

Marcusb,

Thank you for your reply, and I'm sorry not to have "closed" this thread, but I'm already using Nvidia codec, and had other problems that posted in a new thread (maybe I've shoulded used this one...). Theese problems are now (almost) solved... No more big stutter on the image (although scrolling text on news channels is still a bit strange...)

Take a look: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/tv_nvidia_decoder_postprocessing_crash_other_problems-t28166.html

I think I said in the other thread, it's a hard road, but well worth it...

SO TRUE!