Image quality, definitely an issue... (1 Viewer)

[charger2000]

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.1.0
Windows Version: WMCE 2005
CPU Type: P4 2.800
Memory: 1GB
Motherboard: Asus P4R800-V Deluxe
Motherboard Chipset: ATi Radeon 9100 IGP
Video Card: ATi 9550
Video Card Driver: Catalyst 05.10
1. TV Card: Hauppauge Nova-t
MPEG2 Video Codec: nVIDIA Purevideo 1.02.185
TV - HTPC Connection: Video composite


For a looong time I truly believed that was a limitation of the Video Composite connection from the ATi to my TV set, watching DVB-t trough WMCE 2005 was a bit frustrating, the image was a little grey and desaturated, but then I've discovered other SW to watch TV with a MUCH better quality, one of these is WinFastDTV of Leadtek (with a simple registry hack you can run it on every DVB-t card), the blacks are black, and the colors really shines, WinFastDTV uses its own codec, but you can set as preferred codec the nVIDIA codec too, and the image remains excellent.
So what's the point ? Inside MP the image looks exactly the same than inside WMCE, grey and desaturated (beware, nothing drammatic, forgive my lack of expressivity...), it's really a shame because I'm liking MP more and more...

If someone wants to make a comparison please download WinFastDTV:
http://tw1965.myweb.hinet.net/WinFastDTV.htm

I have attached the reg hack to use the SW apart from Leadtek cards, PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR OF THE PROGRAM, so absolutely nothing illegal here

please dig into this !

Nik

 

[charger2000]

little update...

If I select the Purevideo codec from WinFastDTV and set as Overlay mixer the image is OK, but if I switch to VMR than it gets grey... the same as MP ...

I'm not sure if I select the Leadtek codec from MP the image gets really better .. ?

 

[ziphnor]

You might want to read this:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=523614

A very relevant quote:

Always adjust at your display device if at all possible. Adjusting the output through ffdshow levels, video card adjustments, Powerstrip, etc. can have adverse affects on the picture, such as creating banding, crushing blacks/whites, etc. Only use source-side adjustments for final calibrations if you have no way of adjusting levels on the display device.

If you use a computer with a computer monitor, that monitor should have come calibrated to PC levels to show a range of 0-255.

Using Overlay with PC levels of 0-255, DVDs should have proper levels for blacks and whites. This is because Overlay is being "expanded" in a sense so that reference black and white show up properly, even though those values are at 16 and 235, respectively, and should actually appear as dark grey and light grey. This may be done by clipping the values, depending on the video card settings. This is something you can check on your own if you wish to use Overlay rather than VMR9. To do this, use Overlay and turn up the brightness/black level adjustment on your display until you either see the btb information, or nothing where the btb information should be. The former means you have btb data of course, and the latter means that information is being clipped.


VMR9, the other main video rendering mode, done in 3D using video card hardware, rather than 2D like Overlay, carries the full 0-255 range of values. So when you view something with btb/wtw data, such as the THX dropshadow screen attached post 31 (second page of this thread) on a display calibrated to show 0-255, you see the btb information (values at 7 and 10) -- and reference black (16) and reference white (235) appear as dark grey and light grey respectively.. Although VMR9 carries the 0-255 range of data, you must confine that to 16-235 (or slightly above 235) to insure reference black/white are at the correct levels, or shown as black and white rather than dark grey and light grey. To adjust a display set to 0-255 PC levels, you lower brightness (black level) and contrast (white level / picture), using contorls on the display itself. If set correctly using proper tests (DVE, etc.), this will give you correct blacks and whites, and at the same time insure that you are leaving the btb/wtw data intact so it can be used by the display to create a more accurate picture.


A quick test for seeing if your display is set to PC levels is this post. Bring up the THX image attached to it, and see if you are at PC levels (0-255) or video levels (16-235).

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

The problem that MP has, is it uses exactly the imputed .mpg stream without any visual enhancements.

Most software supplied with TVcards uses enhanced colours (unreal) Which really make the picture stand out.

Pretty sure most of this is down to the different properties between Overlay and VMR9 (which MP uses)

ps thanks for the link for winfast software, appearance\functionality knocks the spots off my Dvico software (manufacturer please note).

Doing a major upgrade at this moment hardware wise, so any DTV cards that use this software could be in the running.

That's not putting MP down, it's just sometimes more convenient, whilst working on other things, as this is a PC more than a HTPC.

Regards

 

[charger2000]

Today I've setup an HTPC with a nVIDIA 7600GT and the latest Forceware, well the image now, finally, is good, from both WMCE and MP, the blacks are black and ... so on ..
So it's an issue of the ATi 9550 and/or the Catalyst...

 

[charger2000]

Yesterday I've installed the latest Catalyst and the ATI Display Settings Media Center Extension, and now I've managed to get an optimal image setup both in WMCE and MP