Watching TV: Strong reds 'vibrate'. (1 Viewer)

SwissBuster

Portal Pro
June 27, 2008
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Geneva, Switzerland
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Windows Version: Vista Home Premium SP1
CPU Type: Intel Core2 Duo E7200 2.53Ghz
HDD: WDC 750GB
Memory: 4GM RAM
Motherboard: Asus P5N-EM HDMI
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro
Video Card Driver: 8.501.0.0
1. TV Card: Technisat SkyStar HD2
1. TV Card Type: DVB-S
1. TV Card Driver: 1.1.0.402
2. TV Card: Hauppage WinTV
2. TV Card Type: DVB-S
HTPC Case: Antec Black
Remote: Logitec Harmony 650
TV: Sharp 52"
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

I have recently noticed that when watching live TV, any deep reds seem to flicker. This is most obvious watching football - on a close-up of a player, his shirt appears to be moving as if blowing in the wind (I've checked - it is not wind!). This is also noticeable when players are moving fast, and I have seen it in other examples with strong reds - e.g. a glass of wine being poured. I have only noticed this with red, not with other colours.

Any ideas what might be causing this or how I can troubleshoot? I have tried other codecs which don't seem to make any difference. I am at a loss as to what to try next.
 

mm1352000

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  • September 1, 2008
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    Hi SwissBuster

    If you're using digital tuners then the things to check are codecs and also (perhaps more importantly) TV and video card colour and post-processing settings.

    mm
     

    SwissBuster

    Portal Pro
    June 27, 2008
    229
    4
    Geneva, Switzerland
    Home Country
    Switzerland Switzerland
    Any ideas what might be causing this or how I can troubleshoot? I have tried other codecs which don't seem to make any difference. I am at a loss as to what to try next.

    After a clean instalation of Windows 7 and playing with various settings and codecs, I have a stable system also reliably displaying HD (a first for me!). However, the flickering reds are back, but ONLY on SD channels - HD displays perfectly. I guess this is artifact of trying to display a low-res image on a full HD screen, but it baffles me. Any ideas?
     

    mm1352000

    Retired Team Member
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  • September 1, 2008
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    Hi again SwissBuster

    I hope you are well! :)
    If it is only on HD channels now then check: are you using the same codecs for MPEG and h.264/AVC video on the TV tab in the "codecs and renderer" section of MediaPortal configuration? What happens if you make a recording of a channel that exhibits the problem and play it in other video software like VLC?

    mm
     

    SwissBuster

    Portal Pro
    June 27, 2008
    229
    4
    Geneva, Switzerland
    Home Country
    Switzerland Switzerland
    Thanks, MM.

    Actually, it is only SD which flickers, not HD, which makes it all a bit mysterious - I would have expected HD to cause issues. The codecs for HD and SD are the same (FFDshow), but I will try some others to see if I can improve the image (completely new clean install on my Media PC over Xmas).

    Good idea on recording a show and watching in another player (or even another codec) - just need to find a suitable show to record!
     

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