Poor quality Live TV (1 Viewer)

[TonyR63]

Hello

I was previously using MythTv using a Divico Fusion Dual Express PCIe and a Kworld Dual AF9015 which worked very well for years however I wanted to run Windows 10 so I tested MediaPortal.

I initially installed version 1.12 with Windows 10 with the media extensions which recognised the AF9015 card but was very inconsistent scanning channels and did not see the Fusion card at all even though the Windows device manager showed it installed and running. I tested the Fusion in a Windows 7 machine with Media Centre and it worked perfectly even with an internal antenna.
I removed MP1.12 totally and installed MP 2.0 fresh and it saw both cards but would not scan any channels on the fusion card. In the end I removed the fusion card and tested with just the dual AF9015 connected, the current configuration. It shows a good signal and found 29 channels however when I watch Live TV the quality is terrible freezing and pixelating on all channels. Totally unwatchable. I looks like a very poor signal quality but is connected to a very good reliable antenna point.

The Media server that hosts MP 2-0 is a Lenovo M6072-ADM Core Duo E6550 2.33 GHZ with 4 gig RAM which ran MythTv perfectly and later Windows 7 Media Centre connected into the very same antenna point in the house, same computer hardware. With Windows 10 and MP 2.0 it is total rubbish. I have disconnected the antenna completely from the TV card and the picture quality is almost no difference and reconnect with no improvement. Surprising it does not drop the channels just sjhows consistent poor quality. If I connect the same antenna cable to the Topfield PVR in the same entertainment centre or the Panasonic digital TV I get perfect picture on all channels but using the same antenna to the computer running MP 2.0 a picture as if no antenna was connected.
The scan channels interface within the TV configuration application it reports a good signal and I am in a good reception area in Adelaide.

What should I do to fix the TV quality issues?

.

 

[TonyR63]

Here are the log files. I could not find the upload button when posting my original question.

TonyR63

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.
Your issues are not related to the TV server, tuner cards or MP1/2. It is a client issue.
Your client logs are full of those errors:

[2017-03-07 23:37:08,871] [235072 ] [DX Render] [ERROR] - EffectAsset: Unable to load 'imagecontext_base;transforms\none;effects\zoom_blur'
SharpDX.CompilationException: C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MP2-Client\memory(19,7): error X4505: maximum temp register index exceeded
C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MP2-Client\memory(19,7): error X4505: maximum temp register index exceeded
ID3DXEffectCompiler: Compilation failed

The error is related to DirectX9 and means your gfx card (in the client) is outdated too much to be used in Win 10 properly. The Q35 Chipset is from 2007, means it is 10 Years old now and even as it was new it was not a very good one.

You now have three options. First) stay with Win 7, Second) Swap to Linux or Third) get yourself more recent hardware.

Option 3 will normally also result in a much lower power consumption you really can see on your electricity bill... Overall you probably will save a lot more money than you've to pay for the new hardware... I've changed my hardware two years ago and I saved about 40$ per month! But my old hardware was very power consuming and the system is running around 16 hours a day. So don't expect that much but you definitely will see a difference.

 

[TonyR63]

Hello Lehnden

Thanks for your advice and information. i have lots of new hardware lying round the house however getting small form cases is a problem and they seem to be very expensive if you can find them. the Lenovo is small compact and quite. I have a 2011 PC with much better components but in a massive full size case so cannot fit into the cabinet. I think I will need to reinstall Linux.

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.
I don't know anything about hardware prizes in Australia as I live in Europe, the opposite side of the world. But things like Intel NUC, AsRock BeeBox or Gigabyte Brix or similar are more than powerful enough to make a good MP client and available (in Europe) at around 150$ - 200$ (US). They are quiet up to completely noiseless and they have the size of a CD jewel case...

 

[TonyR63]

Hello

Thank you for your advice.

I am sure that Intel NUC, AsRock BeeBox or Gigabyte Brix would do the job nicely however I was trying to reuse existing hardware. The current Lenovo PC was manufactured around the same time as the TV tuner cards were produced, in fact the Divico card is a few years newer, and they run fine in this hardware configuration in Win7 MP and MythTv so it is questionable why MP 2.cannot run with the existing specs. Note the Lenovo was originally released with 2 GB of RAM and is now running with 4GB so in that respect it has been upgraded'

I would be interested in reviewing the minimum specification of MP 2.0 as I was not able to find them defined. If the source code is dirty of course it will require additional resources to run and perform.

it is all too easy to blame the hardware however I am not convinced that Media Portal software is performing optimally. No one has explained why it cannot scan and channels using the newer 2011 Divico Fusion PCIe card that works very well in Windows Media Player in the same hardware box?

I was thinking of preserving landfill and everything is not a matter of dollars.

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.

I would be interested in reviewing the minimum specification of MP 2.0 as I was not able to find them defined.

They are defined in our Wiki.

Note the Lenovo was originally released with 2 GB of RAM and is now running with 4GB so in that respect it has been upgraded'

It's the graphics that is causing the issues, not main RAM...

so it is questionable why MP 2.cannot run with the existing specs.

It probably can on Win7 (as Win7 did not need so much hardware), but not on Win10. The DirectX things are out of scope for us. MP2 uses new(er) technologies so it needs more recent .NET frameworks and Visual C runtimes. That's why it definitely can not run on XP (as example) where MP1 is using old fashioned technologies like .NET 3.5 and similar. That's why MP1 still can work on XP also XP is no longer in the list of supported OSes. In the Windows World, normally a new OS means new Hardware too...

it is all too easy to blame the hardware

But it definitely is the hardware to blame. And to be precise it is the graphics board(chip) that is too weak to run MP2 on Win10. The "rest" of your hardware is strong enough. As the graphics is onboard you can not that easy exchange it with a better, stronger one. That's why it most likely a complete new system is needed...

No one has explained why it cannot scan and channels using the newer 2011 Divico Fusion PCIe card

Most likely a driver issue. MP1 and MP2 are using exactly the same TV engine so there can not be any difference here. When it has worked with MP1 and Win7 it must work with MP2 on Win7 too. But as it didn't work with MP2 on Win10, it also will not work in MP1 on Win10. This means, it is a Win10 driver issue.

 

[TonyR63]

Hello

Thanks again for providing further information, most appreciated.

If I may clarify - the Divico Fusion card did NOT work with MP1, it works fine with Windows 7 and WMC. This information was provided in the original post. Media Portal 1.12 did not even see the Divico TV tuner card even though Win10 could.

I would have been happy to run the Kworld card alone in the older MP1.12 however this also did not work or give reasonable performance reporting poor signal quality and not finding channels..
Because my hardware is old I was initially trying to use MP1.12. Why was the divico card not seen at all in MP1.12 and why did the Kworld AF9015 not tune channels properly with a good antenna signal with MP1.12? It switched o MP 2.0 because I could not get MP1.12 to work and i burned a lot of time trying to fix.

From what I have experienced MP 1.12 software as in interface to hardware that works properly in other solutions is not functional and I don't believe you can simply blame the on board graphics that performs perfectly with other software.

The specs of the Lenovo should stream DVb TV to clients using a TV card from 2007 using MP1.12 with a good antenna signal in a good reception area if the software itself is not causing an overhead it its own right.

 

[Lehmden]

Media Portal 1.12 did not even see the Divico TV tuner card even though Win10 could.

That was a misunderstanding then, sorry. Your TV card seems not to be supported by MP's TV engine then. We try to support as much TV cards as possible but we can not support all and every card that is available on the world market. Probably it later can be supported in our new TV engine 3.5, but no promises...

The specs of the Lenovo should stream DVb TV to clients using a TV card from 2007

Once again (for the last time), the really weak graphics card in your 10 years old client system is not strong enough to playback the Live-TV video. This simply is a fact that you can not ignore. It has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the ability to stream any DVB to other systems as then the video decoding work has to be done on those other systems. The stream delivering itself don't need any graphics power at all and only a very little CPU power.

 

[mm1352000]

If I may clarify - the Divico Fusion card did NOT work with MP1, it works fine with Windows 7 and WMC. This information was provided in the original post. Media Portal 1.12 did not even see the Divico TV tuner card even though Win10 could.

As Lehmden said: that was possibly a driver compatibility thing. If I recall correctly, there are a range of drivers (official, Microsoft-provided, generic) available for some DVICO tuners, and not all of them work with MediaPortal.

Generally you seem to assume that if the tuner works in W7, it would work in W10. That assumption sometimes fails.
Furthermore you seem to assume that if the tuner works in WMC, it would work in MP. That assumption sometimes fails too. Rarely... but not never.

Nobody can give you a more specific or certain answer unless you provide TV Server log files.

I would have been happy to run the Kworld card alone in the older MP1.12 however this also did not work or give reasonable performance reporting poor signal quality and not finding channels..

Did you check that MediaPortal's frequency list was correct for your area before you jumped to the conclusion that there was a problem with MediaPortal?
An out-of-date frequency list would explain both of the symptoms you mentioned. These things happen. We rely on the community to provide frequency list updates.

Why was the divico card not seen at all in MP1.12...?

As above: nobody can give you a specific answer unless you provide specific information (in the form of log files). I know this may seem pedantic, but it's the honest truth.

...and why did the Kworld AF9015 not tune channels properly with a good antenna signal with MP1.12?

Same again. Log files required, and check the frequency list is correct.

...and i burned a lot of time trying to fix.

Why didn't you ask for help earlier?
There are plenty of people here who could have assisted you.

From what I have experienced...

With the greatest respect, your statements about hardware capabilities, software overheads etc. seem confused and a bit mistaken. Getting into an argument about this is a waste of time for all concerned. Therefore, my recommendation is: if you'd like assistance, lay aside your pre-conceived ideas about your and provide the log files that we need.