Playback quality question

[snowmanaxp]

System:
Dell E521 w/ Nvidia 6150 chipset and VGA out to Analog 19'' lcd monitor
AMD 3800+ Dual Core
MSI Theater Pro 550
Vista Home Basic OS

MVP attached to 20'' SDTV w/composit cables

On the MVP the quality is fairly good. I have read about all of the dark color issues and have set up my TV settings to compansate as much as possible for now.

On the computer monitor the picture is grainy and blury. I have used the decoders from GPL and Nvidia as well as the system defualt. All seem to produce the same picture quality on the computer.
The quality is the same in PowerCinima that came with the tuner.

The actual onboard video is listed as Nvidia GeForce 6150LE. Does the "LE" portion cause the problem? I know a regular 6150 chipset should be more than enough to do SDTV output.

Or is it the fact that the moitor is an analog LCD?
Resolution set to 1280 x 1024. 32 bit color

Any Ideas?

I don't plan on using this PC to actually hook directly to a TV, but it would be nice if the picture on the monitor was crisp when I watch it.

[sub]

It might be worth trying the Overlay renderer on the PC instead of VMR, since it often produces a better picture.

...and remember not to sit close to your PC. Standard definition video is going to look a bit average if you're viewing it too closely.

[snowmanaxp]

Well, after looking at this more my live and recorded TV clarity is not as good as what playing a DVD is. Is this normal? My live and recordrd tv bit rate is 6Mb/s.
I am now using the overlay renderer instead of VMR9. I am using Purevideo from Nvidia codecs.

Some channels are better than others, this is probably a signal issue. Would installing an amplifier help?

Thanks again for all of your help.

[sub]

Well, after looking at this more my live and recorded TV clarity is not as good as what playing a DVD is. Is this normal?

Yes, that is normal. They take a lot of time making sure DVDs look great, then use original film sources and professional multi-pass encoders. Taking a crappy standard definition tv source, and running it through a (cheap) hardware encoding card doesnt typically look as good as a DVD.

Some channels are better than others, this is probably a signal issue. Would installing an amplifier help?

Maybe.

[snowmanaxp]

Sub,
Thanks for all of your help. I think this application is wonderful and the help you and others give to users like me makes it even better. Keep up the great work!