Pants TV-out on PVR-350

[Andi]

Hey all.
I'm new to this PVR-lark, well, 2 days new to be precise.

I've built myself a AMD Sempron 2200 / 256mb / 250gig system with a Hauppage PVR-350.

Is it just me, or is the output via scart to a tele rather pants? I've got the latest drivers on there - and I fiddled in Config and it made no difference.

Is it generally expected to be a bit blurry and saturated colours?

I've tried the search, and there wasn't anything in particular to this it threw up.

The TV isn't the greatest in the world (28in Wide Phillips jobby) but I can't blame that really, as my Xbox, cable, VCR, and DVD are all crystal clear! No S-Video in though

Is it just the TV-out being poor quality?

And maybe slightly cheeky asking on here - but do other PVR-solutions suffer the same problem? (MythTV, M$ MCE 2k5, etc). I thought this card was supposed to be the dogs....

[isgdre]

I too am using a PVR-350 on a non HDTV. Tought I have no end of trouble with the new remote, Picture quality has been good.
I mostly use Low quality since Picture quality is so good on my tv and I don't need to use up disk space for nothing.

[Stimpy]

The picture quality on the PVR-350 output should be excellent, whether you're using the composite or s-video output.

First you need to determine if the problem occurs during recording or during playback. Try playing your recorded video file on your computer monitor and see what it looks like. If it looks good, then it's a playback problem and the most likely culprit is the cable betwwen your PVR-350 and your TV. Try using the same cable that you use with your VCR or Xbox.

Using a different PVR application won't make any difference since they all use the same default contrast/brightness/saturation settings when you first install them.

[MaBo]

Hi,
I was dissapointed with the picture quality from the pvr350 tv-out. It turned out to be the included scart-cable. I chagend that to a set of s-video and rca-audio cables and an adapter to cnnect these to the scart input on my tv. Now picture quality is very good.

Minor investment, great improvement!

Greetz,
MaBo

[Andi]

It does sound like my cable might be poop then.
Are they all just pants cables, or is it worth talking to where I bought it from to see if they'll swap it?

For testing, I have a small 15in monitor plugged into the computer at all time. Quality on that is excellent, so the PVR-350 is the culprit. Even the GB-PVR menu systems are fuzzy and you have to strain to read the programme information at the bottom of the screen.

[Andi]

Quote[/b] (MaBo @ Jan. 25 2005,03:20)]Hi,
I was dissapointed with the picture quality from the pvr350 tv-out. It turned out to be the included scart-cable. I chagend that to a set of s-video and rca-audio cables and an adapter to cnnect these to the scart input on my tv. Now picture quality is very good.

Minor investment, great improvement!

Greetz,
MaBo

So are you using the pvr -> rca/svideo cable included with the 350, then a s-video cable to a s-video -> scart convertor box?

I had thought of this but couldn't get a S-Video cable.

Why doesn't the PVR-350 cable output RGB? Then the quality would be excellent

[MaBo]

Andi,
Yes, I use:

Quote[/b] ]the pvr -> rca/svideo cable included with the 350, then a s-video cable to a s-video -> scart convertor box

plus an audio rca/rca cable parallel to the s-video cable.

I bought my s-video cable at a regular home appliance shop. Shouldn't be a big problem to get one. If your TV doesn't have s-video in, even not in the scart input, then there is a chance this setup only works if you use the hauppauge supplied s-video to composite convertor (a grey plug in my box).

BTW s-video is just as good as rgb, according to some people even better. Composite video is quite a bit worse though.

GReetz,
MaBo