Problem with Quad Tuner - Poor quality picture (2 Viewers)

[jck]

Hello all,

I am wondering if someone can assist me with the following issue???

I am a newbie to the HTPC world and loving it. I had a digital now quad tuner installed into my HTPC DigitalNow and to date it has been working fine.

I have installed MP 1.2.1 and decided last night to install a new skin (streamed MP). I quite like it BUT I notice the quality of the TV picture is quite poor. We have sensational reception where we are (in Sydney) and I have a Sony HD 3D LED TV.

Just seems as though the quality of the picture has deteriorated since installing the new skin.

Therefore, what are my options???

Is it worth trying the Digital Now TV software??? Could this be linked from the MP Tv menu??

OR do I uninstall the skin?? By the way, I dont know how to do that so any assistance would be appreciated!!!

Can anyone assist me with this????

Regards
JCK

 

[Wbunaarf]

Hi, and welcome!

I have installed MP 1.2.1 and decided last night to install a new skin (streamed MP). I quite like it BUT I notice the quality of the TV picture is quite poor. We have sensational reception where we are (in Sydney) and I have a Sony HD 3D LED TV.

Unless your graphics card is struggling to keep up I fail to see how streamedMP could make a difference. What you can do to rule it out is to simply run MP in debug mode (Mediaportal Debug-mode / option 1). If you still have bad PQ please post the logs. Also, please fill out your system specifications (User CP / Edit System Specifications). You might also wish to have alook at How to Report Bugs and Get Support for a more complete description of the steps above.

//W

 

[jck]

Thanks very much for the feedback

I will certainly follow the steps you suggest and post how I get on

Regards
JCK

 

[jck]

Hello all,

So I restarted MP in debug mode and there is still poor quality picture on the Sony LED HD . I will certainly submit the logs etc once I work out how to do that....

Im assuming that the TV always displays in 1080 so could it possibly be the tuner OR the HTPC graphics card???

Any thoughts?

Regards
JCK

 

[Wbunaarf]

So I restarted MP in debug mode and there is still poor quality picture on the Sony LED HD . I will certainly submit the logs etc once I work out how to do that....

That the PQ didn't change was pretty much expected. The reason for debug mode is to raise the log level so that errors can be spotted. The steps to submit the logs would be something like

1. Start MP in debug mode using the 'Mediaportal Debug-mode' shortcut
2. Reproduce the error
3. Exit MP
4. When you reply, scroll down a bit and click on 'Manage attachments'. There you can upload the archive created by the watchdog

Im assuming that the TV always displays in 1080 so could it possibly be the tuner OR the HTPC graphics card???

Being a 3D TV your TV most likely has a native resolution of 1920x1080, yes, but you also need to set the resolution on your computer. I don't know your TV standard, but in this part of the world I need to set the refresh rate to 50Hz to match the content.

Since you haven't yet filled out your system specifications I can only guess, but which codecs are you using? Different codecs can greatly affect the PQ.

//W

 

[jck]

Gday Wbunaarf

My thanks for your reply. Great to get some feedback. Love the whole concept and look/feel of Media Portal BUT frustrated by the drop in reception.

I will try and post the logs tonight when I have a moment. Difficult until the kids are asleep!!

I looked at the refresh rate for the TV last night and noted a range of available options. Should it be the highest refresh rate?? OR should it be on 50Hz as you say??? The max refresh rate that I could choose was 56 Hz.

Also, I have no external codecs installed on the 64 bit windows 7 OS.

In the MP Config set up I noted the following codecs:

VIDEO CODECS:
MPEG2 Video - DNTV Live video
H.264 Video dec - Microsoft DTV DVD
MPEG/AC3 - MPC - MPA Decoder filter
AAC Audio Decoder - MPA decoder
Audio Render - Default Direct Sound

TV CODEC:
MPEG 2 - MPC MPEG 2 Video decoder
H.264 Video - Microsoft DTV DVD Video decoder
MPEG/AC3 - DNTV Live Audio
LATM AAC Audio decoder - Monogram AAC
DD Audio Decoder - Microsoft DTV DVD Audio Dec
Direct Sound Audio Renderer - Sony TV Intel Default

Does this make sense to you or anyone else??? Should I look at installing (for example) K-Lite Codecs onto my Win 7 OS????

Any thoughts??

Regards
JCK

 

[druid9]

I would stay away from k-light and install SAF5 unlocked instead

This works fine on Acer REvo, your machine would likely have much more horsepower

Attached my settings

Here is what I have:

SAF 5.00, with the following settings.

Don't need CoreAVC Probably, but I bought it so I use it.

This is working for me right now, but it took a bit of tinkering to settle on it. What I thought were codec issues were actually network issues for Live TV as mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

Good Luck, and if you find something better let us know
Attached Thumbnails

 

[jck]

Where are your attached settings?? Sorry could not find them.

Will take a look. Thanks for your advice - will look into it.

I cant help but think it might also be a graphics card issue???? I have an Asrock H61M-ITX motherboard BUT my box only has one PCI-e slot which is taken up by the Tuner card.

Does anyone know about these motherboards?? I believe they've got solid graphics etc installed. I have 8GB ram - I wonder if I should be utilising this more.

JCK

 

[darro]

Hi

Change your Video and Audio processor to the Microsoft DTV DVD ones so...

MPEG2 Video - Microsoft DTV DVD
MPEG 2 - Microsoft DTV DVD Video decoder

and give this a go.

I have the same card, it is not the quad card that is the problem, if the picture was breaking, stop starting and/or badly pixelated then that may be the card. Just a general poor video quality is going to be the codec or videocard

Cheers

 

[jck]

Thanks Darro

This issue is really frustrating. The picture certainly does not jump, break or appear pixelated etc. It is just 'soft' and does not have the clarity of 'HD'.

From memory those settings you suggested dont require external codecs to be installed??

JCK