Blurry playback on DVDs (1 Viewer)

[jay_galway]

Hi Im new to media portal, I used to use XBMC and loved it, and when I heard that it was being ported to the PC I wanted to check it out.

Anyway I currently have some DVDs backed up to a HD, now when I play these using Cyberlink PowerDVD the picture is sharp. However when I play them through media portal, using the media portal player and default settings its visibly a LOT more blurry.

Any ideas what the problem is. I am currently using the latest version of media portal 0.2.2.0.

I can supply more pc information if needs be but the fact it works well on another player prolly means Ive done something noobile.

Thanks for great work by the way.

One last thing, is there a skin for media portal that is the exact same as the default one you get with xbmc?

Cheers,

 

[roosterx]

1 q. do you have a ati x1xxx based graphics card?

 

[pannivas]

its better if you supply more information.
1) what video card are you using?
2) what codecs are you using?

At the moment i have tested many MPEG2 decoders and the best i have found so far is NVIDIA PureVideo. Also with nvidia cards there are some tweaks that you can make in your display properties to make your dvds look even better.

Assuming you have an NVIDIA Video Card.
If you go to your NVIDIA control panel under Video and Television category and then adjust video color settings. Enable inverse telecine and increase the % of sharpness and noise reduction.

 

[jay_galway]

Hi thanks for the reply,

I have a nvidia Go GTX7800 graphics card in a Dell XPS170 laptop.

The puzzling thing is the DVDs look perfect in Cyberlink PowerDVD.

One other thing, what codecs should I ideally install for media portal, one of the great things about the xbox media centre was the fact it came with all the codecs already there.

Now I presume some codecs are better for ATI or NVIDA etc, so why not package with media portal the best codecs for each card manufacturer, and when you install the software it checks the hardware and then automatically downloads the relevant codecs?

 

[pannivas]

ok according to this table
http://www.nvidia.com/object/purevideo_geforcego_comparison.html

you video card supports both hardware accelaration for SD and HD playback using Nvidia PureVideo HD drivers and Nvidia PureVideo Decoder software.

Download the latest drivers if not already and install them and enable those settings i have described on my previous post.

Its better to have control over the codecs you are using. Better PQ if you do a good job.

Here is what i am using.

MPEG2 decoding: Includes all DVDs, HD content that was encoded with MPEG2 as well as SD content encoded with MPEG2.
I am using NVIDIA PureVideo Decoder. The best imo but its not free.

H.264/x264: Includes all HD content encoded with either H.264 or x264.
I use CoreAVC (again not free) with Haali media splitter.

AC3 sound: AC3 filter is a great free sound filter

MPEG4: Koepi's Xvid

 

[jay_galway]

Thanks for that information, one thing though what do I configure in Media Portal when I have these codecs? Ie is there any changes to my video config settings in there that I must make? I presume there is.

Im sorry if Im being totally dim, but as I said Im new to all this

Thanks again.

 

[pannivas]

MP uses directshow filters for video and audio playback. All the above codecs i gave you are directshow filters thus MP will use them once installed on your system.

As far as i know through in MP you can only configure an MPEG2 video/audio decoder under Movies and DVD section in MP config. Choose NVIDIA PureVideo for your MPEG2 video decoder and AC3 filter for your audio decoder.

Futhermore you can install two very usefull applications to control your directshow filters.
1) RadLight filter manager found here http://www.free-codecs.com/download/RadLight_Filter_Manager.htm
lets you set merits on all directshow filter installed on your system. For example if you have 2 or more MPEG2 codecs installed Radlight will let you set a higher merit for NVIDIA Purevideo. Setting a higher merit will allow this filter to always be used when you decoded MPEG2 content. Although this is a usefull application dont change the filters merit unless you have problems with playback. If you have a problem with a file or dvd not playing or not using the correct filter follow the next step to check it out.

2) GraphEdit
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/showsoftware_graphedit_141.html

Is an application that shows you what filters are going to be used for a file. For example if you have a file that has problems playback then open it with Graphedit and check what video and audio filters are used by your system.

From my personal experience after i installed all the above codecs i didnt have to change the merit on any of them. Always the correct one is been used and i have tested it with many files.

MPEG2 SD and HD content always NVIDIA PureVideo and AC3 filter
MPEG4 SD and HD content always Koepi's Xvid and AC3 Filter
H.264/x264 SD and HD content always CoreAVC with Haali Spliter and AC3 Filter