I've just recently built a new HTPC for playing back media files only as I now have a cable co HD PVR. My previous setup did all of my recording now this system is only for playing music and video files. I was wondering if anyone had any settings or advice to maximize PQ when playing back Xvid or Divx files. These files play back smoothly but are very soft. I am comparing them to the same files burnt on a DVD and played back on a Toshiba upconverting DVD player. On the DVD they are much sharper. I realize the DVD has a dedicated chip to so the scaling but this system should have more than enough power to so the same , I think. I have looked at the FFDshow decoder setting and have played with a few but no noticeable improvements.
The HTPC is running via a vga cable to a Toshiba 37" LCD.
Bit of a strange request this one, coming from a friend of mine who has decided to give gbpvr a try but has a weird way of wanting to watch stuff.
He watches a lot of old 4:3 content, but wants it stretched to fill the entire 16:9 screen (gbpvr's fill mode does that fine).
All his films though are DVD rips to xvid, which I'm guessing have had the black bars removed as part of the transcode, which means they usually stretch vertically so that a 2:35:1 film also fills the entire screen. In this case, that's not what is wanted. The original aspect ratio (with black bars) should be visible. Toggling to Auto usually fixes this.
Now for the killer... he controls all this via a bluetooth mouse and doesn't want to get up to press F7 to toggle modes. So he needs a mode that stretches 4:3 but leaves the 16:9 and 21:9 stuff alone.
So the questions are really:
a) is there a way to toggle using the mouse?
b) is there a way to set the aspect ratios in config.xml so that any video is always stretched horizontally but never vertically?
I'm not expecting a solution, but thought I'd ask anyway :-)
(Actually, in the case of a) - does anyone know of a program to allow a key press to be mapped to a mouse button?)
It looks like they software out paced my hardware.
I have a VIA EPIA-M 933Mhz system. I just use it to play videos, music and pictures. I don't do any recordings. I tried loading the new version but it locks up the computer. I don't believe the system supports VMR9 and I can't get directx 9c to install.
Is it possible to download an older version? One that supports VMR7? When I had it working the Nav displayed up the middle, it was about a year ago. 1.03? Is there an area where I can download older versions?
When I installed the original MediaMVP Hauppauge I was able to skip my videos with the remote control based on percentage. For example the button "6" on the remote control would take me to 60% of the video.
After I installed the PVRX2 I am now not able to do that with the same remote control.:confused:
Is it possible for me to reprogram the remote control for my MediaMVP so that I can get the original capability?
Thank you,
-Jay
P.S. I have the 45 button and the 35 button Hauppauge remote
I think there's been really positive progress on mvpmcx2 by sub and I in the last month, so I'd like to share the highlights of what we have coming.
Comskip Support
You read correctly, sub and I were able to come up with a way to process comskip to the PCH. It works better than I ever imagined possible.
Video File Remote Navigation
It is now possible to use GB-PVR style navigation in recorded programs, in-progress recordings and LiveTV
- This includes fast forward and REWIND, and skip back and forth by time.
MPEG TS/PS Video File Handling
Movement in a file is now primarily controlled by GB-PVR, so if you jump randomly you can typically blame sub or me, and not the PCH. The vast majority of problem files for the NMT that I have gathered play properly too, including some I stated were "junk" on the NMT forums.
OSD
The standard GB-PVR on screen display (OSD) is now available while playing videos. This include the guide, mini-guide, program details, and timeline bar.
Live TV Improvements
I find that LiveTV is now much smoother on the PCH than on the MVP. There are 2 second channel changes, the OSD doesn't have to run with the minimal OSD option, and some of the things that have caused me problems in the past (ie jumping to liveTV from the EPG while playing from the Video Library) just work like they are supposed to.
Resume
There is resume from the Recording menu popups and also an OSD resume from Video Library. No PCH limits like the last 10 files played or that the device must stay powered on.
Audio
Full background mp3 play as released in the last trial.
PCH Integration
With all of above, access to the PCH player for all non-mpeg files, including mkv, dvd, avi files, continue to be available directly from the GB-PVR menu.
I hope to be be ready to release for public beta soon, maybe this weekend. For those of you who said you'd try component video this is a good time to get ready. For this version 1080i settings are preferred over 720p. If you have an SD TV, it took about a year, but now the MVP is 100% obsolete. There still is some work to do especially on h264 1080i video and very high bitrate mpeg files in general but it is running pretty well.
hi, I'm trying to hook up my Hauppauge HD-PVR to my HD-Cable box and it seems i can't get it to work right. I've searched through the forums a lot, and i found people with similar issues, I've tried the fixes suggested but to no avail.
i tried the fixes in the survival guide, I've tried many different decoders, Ati Avivo codec, Arcsoft decoder, FFdshow decoders, coreAVC, and the generic decoders from Microsoft, but i still end up at a black screen.
I've tried different HDPVR Drivers. the set that came on the disc allowed me to view live TV until i closed it down and reopened it and it wouldn't show anymore, just a black screen. the box does light up for a split second when i start live TV, but then the light decides to shutdown... then light up a few minutes later with a red status light but still has a black screen. i noticed in one of the posts that the IR Device causes the system to lock up, so i removed it but that didn't work either.
Any Help would be Appreciated!
P.S. in case your wondering, i bought this last summer and couldn't get it to work then, but i decided to work at it to see if i can get get it to work.
EDIT:the frst log files zip was after a reboot i got live tv, but the audio was out of sync with the video,
the second log files zip was after i reloaded gbpvr i got a black screen again
I have found a number of times when I try to record a program but it comes back as having a conflict with previous recordings.
I have three analog tuners and have my default recordings set up with a 1 minute Post Recording pad.
The problem comes up if I had previously set to record two half hour programs one after the other on the same channel plus another on a different channel and then try to record another program during that hour period.
I should only be using two tuners during this period (one to capture the hour long program plus a second to capture the two half hour shows on the same channel) before I add in the second hour long show. Unfortunately, GBPVR blocks me from trying to record the third program during that hour unless I first cancel one of the two back to back programs, set to record the hour long program and then set to record the program that I had cancelled. GBPVR then is happy.
It seems that the only thing blocking me is that the one pminute post padding is taken by the program as a "hard" requirement. I would like to see the post padding to be a "soft" requirement is there is another program being recorded on the same channel right after the first one. True, some of the programming of the first show might "bleed" into the second but it will be there and not be lost.
sorry for posting this - i know others have posted issues about getting their client(s) to work but i don't understand why on a machine where gbpvr client was working - it no longer works. I get the stuttering effect on audio and video.
then i tried to uninstall and reinstall - now i can't even install gbpvr - get an error message "install finished prematurely due to an error."
even after reboots and cleaning the registry, i can't install gbpvr.
my other problem is, what is the best configuration for the client. which codecs have been known to work? i have ffdshow installed but no luck. over wireless, the video and audio stutter. over wired, the video stutters.
i've gotten no where with with a client to work and it is not like there's any CPU contention on the laptop or the media center.
please provide any help in getting a client to work.. WHat is the magic wand ?
Just thought I'd share this with other developers...
I decided to go over to VS2008 Express totally but I'm running short of disk space so thought I'd uninstall all previous VS versions. Before I did this, I mounted the VS2008 iso with Daemon Tools Lite as a virtual DVD just to check it and the Autorun setup displayed OK - I then closed it.
After the uninstallation of the various VS versions, however, when I tried the VS2008 iso again it complained it didn't know how to handle setup.hta. Sure enough, when I opened My Computer -> Folder Options -> File Types, there's no mention of an HTA file type. :confused:
I've managed to get the setup running by telling it to use mshta.exe but two attempts to create a permanent file association failed to 'stick'. Folder Options -> File Types still doesn't show an association for HTA. Nasty.
Last night I attempted to record two shows using the 1600 card. The analog tuner worked as it should and recorded and allowed me to view the recording, the digital tuner show caused GB to crash when I attempted to view the show while it was recording. Once the show was done recording, it still crashed GB when I attempted to watch it. However, windows Media Center, and Win media center classic played the file without a hitch.
I then recreated the problem this morning. Here is a time line
of what happened:
Set GBPVR to record ch 4.1 - GB crashed. I check to see what the tuner is doing, and it says it's still recording.
Then I reload GB and go to live tv and it claims that the only the digital tuner is recording, the analog tuner is not mentioned, I can't watch TV. What happened to my Analog tuner?
Then I go to TV guide - analog ch3, and it allows me to view the channel.
Record ch3, works great, rec and view while recording.
Check live tv, both tuners listed and in use.
Look in pending recordings, both rec shows listed.
Try to watch ch4.1 rec... and GB crashes again.
Made a log zip of PVRX2.exe-native.log and PVRX2.exe.log. I saved a copy of everything in the log dir, so if you need something else - let me know.
Just keep in mind that I did test this yesterday morning, both tuners recorded and allowed me to view the shows without a hitch. What changed?!?
Under the playback tab, using:
Vid renderer: EVR,
Mpeg video decoder: Intervideo Non CSS,
Everything else system default.
