Image & sound quality (3 Viewers)

[Peter2]

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.0.4
Windows Version: xp sp2, hotfixes till july '06
CPU Type: AMD Athlon 64 Venice 3200+
HDD: 200GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA-300 NCQ
Memory: Apacer DDR PC3200 1024MB LFT
Motherboard: Asus A8N8L
Motherboard Chipset: Nvidia Nforce 4 chipset
Motherboard Bios: 0401
Video Card: GeForce 6150 integrated graphics
Video Card Driver: ForceWare 81.85
Sound Card: Onboard RTL ALC655
Sound Card AC3: ?
Sound Card Driver: 5.10.0.5200
1. TV Card: Hauppauge Win/TV PVR 350
1. TV Card Type: Hardware
1. TV Card Driver: 1.18.21.22266
MPEG2 Video Codec: ?
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ?
HTPC Case: Asus Pundit
Cooling: Standard
Power Supply: Standard
Remote: Hauppauge silver 45 buttons
TV: Sony KV-29FX20B
TV - HTPC Connection: Scart -> Scart convertor -> S-Video

Hi,
I bought this pc some recently, mainly to use as a HTPC and since I have some extra time, I finally decided to get it to work properly.
Long ago, I bumped on meedio and seeing the possibilities now made me decide to replace my broken VCR with something much better. By searching around, I discovered Mediaportal and even having MCE, I prefer this.

I have tried all the codecs and still the image and sound quality are not as good as playing directly in powerdvd6. The images are less vivid/coloured, and the sound is also more 'flat'. I succeeded to configure powerdvd as an external player in mediaportal but then the remote is not working anymore, eventhough it works fine in powerdvd 'outside' mediaportal.
This differences in quality is also noticeable with recorded tv content: better when viewed with powerdvd.

1) is it normal that in mediaportal it is like this?
2) if not, what can I do more to improve it
3) I would expect that using the powerdvd codecs would give me the same results as in powerdvd itself; is that wrong?

Of course I prefer to get everything done from within mediaportal if this is possible with the same results as powerdvd but maybe I'm doing something wrong since I'm new to this HTPC stuff.

Any advice is highly appreciated,
P.

 

[NLS]

Well the quality (or lack of) you see in MP, is what WMP gives you.

I have to mention though, that maybe the more flat/less vivid you hear/see, is in fact the more realistic. Have you thought about it?

Using powerdvd codecs theoreticaly gives you the characteristics you get in powerdvd itself, but this could be false in case powerdvd "switches off" some of its extras when you don't use the program itself. Most probably registry entries control this to some extend.

 

[MrSensitive]

every DVD player or software has other characteristics, nothing you can do about that.
one thing you can try is to look into ffdshow, this is a prosprocessing renderer/filter that lets you adjust just about anything..
when all high end filters are enabled, it can hog your CPU, but there are good compromises. I can only advise to go to avsforum.com and search foor FFDshow.. you will have a lot of reading to do..

regards

 

[Peter2]

I have to correct the description of the image quality: it is as if there is a very light fog when watching dvd and tv recordings through MP.
NLS: I get your point and appreciate very much that (you)/people take the time to help (me)/eachother but the image quality is only that way in MP.
Watching tv with it's own tuner or a dvd with powerdvd gives an eqaul/better image.

This is the first/only media center that I have seen so far and I don't know if it's normal.
On the other hand I cannot imagine that all you guys out there are so enthousiastic about using a media center with the same results as me.

I'm looking into ffdshow and unless the changes are VERY subtle, I don't see any difference.

 

[jawbroken]

My video and audio are great. You just need to take the time to properly calibrate the codecs you are using, with the aid of a calibration video or similar.

 

[Peter2]

jawbroken, how can I do that - calibrate a codec?
Searching google or this forum didn't bring any useful information.
Can I download such a video from the net and apparantly MCE - saw images on a search - has such a built in feature but I cannot find it in MP.

Thanks,
P.

 

[jawbroken]

It is hard to just tell you how to calibrate a codec, as it varies depending on what you are using. The MediaPortal configuration has some tweaking options for its two main supported codecs (MPV and DScaler).

I am not sure where you can get calibration videos to download, I borrowed a DVD from a friend. You can always give it a shot just by eye, if you pick the right video (skin tone is particularly important) you can usually get it close enough if you don't have any particular calibration video. Will take a bit more tweaking though.

 

[Peter2]

I have searched in 'Device Manager' and there are different audio and video codecs but none of them is adjustable.
In MP I didn't find a way to do any modifications to the image either.