Codecs Problem with playing AV input (1 Viewer)

[WeeGraeme]

I'm not sure if this is a hardware or software problem, so apologies if this is the wrong area to ask.

I have a HVR2200 in my media pc, which I'm using to record pay tv. They're connected via svideo and RCA audio.

I'm finding the volume is significantly lower if I view the same program via my media pc vs direct from the paytv box to the tv.

I also find that the video drops out for between 2 and 10 seconds at a time. The screen goes to a blue screen with a white patch at the bottom.

I'm new to media pc's and I don't really understand what codecs are responsible for, but does this sound like a problem which replacing or tweaking a codec might fix?

I'm currently using Windows 7 RC, but if it'd be more reliable, I can easily swap back to XP Home SP3 or Vista Home Premium SP1.

DVB-T seems to work fine and I'm not bothering with analogue TV channels, other than for the paytv connection.

Any suggestions, please?

 

[WeeGraeme]

Given that I was running the RC version of Windows 7, which is potentially less stable than a proper released version, I've changed my operating system to Vista SP1. I've also read and learnt how to create and attach log files.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.

 

[Kotik]

Hello,

Which codecs are you currently using?

 

[WeeGraeme]

Hello,

Which codecs are you currently using?

Hi, Kotik

I started off using the default. Then I read some posts where people were praising ffdshow, so I installed that, but it made no difference.

I now have CBVA DMD wrapper filter as the mpeg2 video decoder. I'm not sure of the version, but I only downloaded it from their website yesterday.

ffdshow rev 3052 is the H264 video decoder.

Everything else is the default. They're the only two I changed.

 

[Kotik]

Download SAF v3.47 from here and follow the instructions on that thread. Also could you provide more info regarding your hardware specs?

 

[WeeGraeme]

Thanks. I'm doing that now. I'll post back shortly. I don't mean to appear too stupid, but what hardware specs would be useful to you?

 

[Kotik]

Mainly VGA and which drivers you are using for it.

 

[WeeGraeme]

The video card is an Asus EN9600GT. It has 1 gig of DDR2 or DDR3 on board (I forget which just now). It has an spdif connection from the inbuilt sound on the motherboard. it's then connected to the TV via a HDMI cable.

The driver version is 7.15.11.8250

 

[Kotik]

As far as i know 9600 is capable of DXVA (Hardware Acceleration) on video material. Since you connect your VGA with your TV with an HDMI cable you should also enable the Dynamic Refresh Rate options of MediaPortal. Generally SAF is a nice way to start, i hope this thread will cover your questions. But in case you get stuck somewhere don't hesitate to ask here.

 

[WeeGraeme]

Thanks.

It seems to be working now. It did actually display the problem again after I first configured it, but it seems to be ok now. It does pixelate a bit, but considering how much processing the signal undergoes from when it is transmitted until it is finally displayed on my TV, it's probably not surprising. The TV is also a 46 inch which probably makes it worse.