yeah latest version of that thumbnailer plugin seems to be working for me in h264 dvbt / MP1.1 Alpha =)
Calling all MP New Zealanders (Both of you!!) (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter TVKiwi
- Start date
- October 1, 2006
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New Zealand
Matt
You need an IR tranciever which I assume you have, and at least one IR blaster. First install an IR server suite. Then, in MediaPortal Configuration, in the plugins, in process plugins, you will find a plugin called "MP Control For IR Server". Enable this plugin. In its configuration go to the top tab labelled IR commands, click "New", and give the command a name, eg "Turn on heatpump" etc, and teach it the IR beam (it is intuitive). Once you have set up all the IR commands you want, go to the first tab, and hopefully your remote is set up, if not use the pick remote button at the bottom af the screen and enable your remote (eg MCE Remote (full)). Then, go to the "Map buttons" button on the same page. Simply expand the button list until you see which button you want to run the IR command you put in (turn on heatpump?). Click the remote button on the left hand pane, then change what it does in the right hand pane, use "blast IR" and in the IR drop down list pick "Turn on Heatpump". MP will ask which blaster port to use and let you test it right there and then. Just repeat for all new commands. Good Luck. Easy. I run my stereo and TV this way, brilliant!
You might have some issues with a heatpump though,because I think heatpump remotes actually send a string of commands not just relating to the button you send, which is why when you change the temp on the remote away from the machine, then change in the heatpumps IR range, the heatpump and the remotes temp readings are the same. Give it a go and see if it works.
Cheers
John
Hi John sorry never got round to thanking you for your advice! Havent had a chance to do this yet with work/family/gardening commitments but its a horrible rainy day here (as usual) in Auckland so Ill get into it in a bit! But
for the advice! I'm trying to get a reliable DVB-T signal but have been having issues with pixellation. My receiver is a tuner card (HVR4000) in my HTPC which reports quality but not signal strength. The quality seems to be at 100% most of the time but the drop outs are so brief I don't have time to check the reading before everything's back to normal again.
I've done all of the necessary aerial upgrades (high gain aerial, masthead amp, new RG6) and am unsure whether my issue is caused by weak signal or interference.
I have a friend with the Dick Smith terrestrial receiver box which apparently has a signal strength and signal quality indicator on it.
Does anyone know how accurate these are?
If I borrow this box and hook it up to my aerial will it give me a good indication if my signal is strong enough?
If so how strong should it be as a min for good reception?
Thanks
I've done all of the necessary aerial upgrades (high gain aerial, masthead amp, new RG6) and am unsure whether my issue is caused by weak signal or interference.
I have a friend with the Dick Smith terrestrial receiver box which apparently has a signal strength and signal quality indicator on it.
Does anyone know how accurate these are?
If I borrow this box and hook it up to my aerial will it give me a good indication if my signal is strong enough?
If so how strong should it be as a min for good reception?
Thanks
- October 1, 2006
- 104
- 5
- 49
- Home Country
-
New Zealand
Hiya I just got a new high gain aerial + new cable am in a small valley with pylons marching across the ridge in the direction of the transmitter. These are both Bad Things according the the aerial guy. I have no mast head amp... Try ditching this? However I get 100% quality and 0% strength I think this is fairly common and not very reliable indicator of Q+S something to do with driver variation between cards? I get all FTA channels off DVB-T no problems at all. Not that knowledgeable about DVB-T signals and your card but I guess its best to eliminate one thing at a time ie first the masthead amp then the TV card itself IE try your mates STB. Silly question time... Have you got the latest drivers, are there any 'splits' in the aerial, is there someone nearby with a big amateur transmitter mast? Also yuo are using coreAVC as your h.264 codec have you tried using power DVD codec? I was getting nasty pixellation untill I remembered to use this codec and switch on 'hardware decoding' within mediaportal configuration/video settings (I think)
Hi, thanks for the reply.
I need the masthead amp in (digital certified, fully screened, F type), without this the signal is too weak. I have a splitter in circuit but it is a fully screened F type. I've also confirmed I have a good earth connection.
I have the latest drivers for the card and there are no amateur radio masts nearby that I'm aware of. I'm using the latest version of CoreAVC with hardware decoding enabled. I've tried it with this turned off too with no change. (Other than my CPU goes from 10% to 30% during playback) Most of the time the signal is good and I have a clean picture, every so often I record something and find brief periodic (maybe 10 - 20 minutes apart) pixellations. They are in the exact same spot in the programme each time I view it with different codec settings enabled leading me to believe at this stage that my issue is record quality rather than playback. I've not been able to reproduce the effect manually leading me to think it's possibly interference.
I'm trying to work out a simple way to measure my signal strength so at least I can rule that out but without a signal strength meter of some kind this is proving a bit tricky.
If you can borrow set-top-box then you can prove whether it's a signal problem. Any reason not to use cybrelink powerdvd decoder? I've never had much luck with core AVC whereas I've always had success with cyberlink. Oh I just noticed you have an 8800GTS which doesn't fully support hardware decoding of h.264. It has the older core, you need an 8400, 8500, 9400 etc This could be part of your problem.
I can't help you, but I have had a very similar problem with DBV-T for a while now but just ignoring it. Rather than pixellation though, I just get a jump or skip over what I'm guessing is bad data in the stream. Several frames are lost. It can be every 10 or 20 minutes at times, or none at all for several hours. I have perfect reception here with 100% for signal & quality, according to MP config, with a HVR-2200. I can see the broadcast mast easily from the roof.
I just ignore it. It doesn't usually miss too much of the program, and I doubt there is anything I can do to resolve it. I use the PowerDVD 8 codec.
I don't remember this happening last year with the same configuration. I'm thinking it has to do with the extra channels they are squeezing down the same bandwidth. I can only remember it occuring on the TVNZ HD channels, but I may be wrong.
I just ignore it. It doesn't usually miss too much of the program, and I doubt there is anything I can do to resolve it. I use the PowerDVD 8 codec.
I don't remember this happening last year with the same configuration. I'm thinking it has to do with the extra channels they are squeezing down the same bandwidth. I can only remember it occuring on the TVNZ HD channels, but I may be wrong.
Hi, I'm using CoreAVC because I ran the trial edition and it seemed to work well. I haven't got PowerDVD but I guess I could give it a go. Can you install just the codec or do you have to load the whole software package?
Where did you get the info on the 8800GTS not being fully compatible with H.264? My understanding was that it is (it's listed on the CoreAVC as a suitable card too.)
Either way, I'm having the same issue with harware encoding on or off. I've been watching the news tonight and had perfect reception with no pixellation on TV One. Switching over to 3 part way through and I had bad break up and repeated pixellation. Back to One and everything was fine.
I know they're on different frequencies/transponders and One is 720p whilst 3 is 1080i so lots of variables to explore I guess.
But I really need to see how good my signal is before I start looking too much at the PC. I'll try and get hold of the STB and see what that does.
Hi, thanks for that. I've had the odd skip like that but changed my deinterlacing settings and it fixed it. I'm in Mt. Wellington, Auckland and unfortunately don't have clear line of site to the mast as we're in a bit of a hollow. With the aerial set-up I've got now I get a pretty good picture on Prime so the signal should be reasonable on DVB-T too.....in theory.
Does the signal strength meter on the HVR2200 work correctly? The HVR4000 that I have doesn't have a working meter on board and so I get random readings from 0 to 100%.