PVR IN PERIL! PVR-150 Picture Quality Disappoints

[CaptainVideo]

I tried FFDSHOW. Pretty powerful image manipulation! Unfortunately, it really pushed my XP1700.

Even so, the best I was able to do was what I did before: bringing out detail also brings out the noise and banding, especially in dark areas. The picture just looks flat and dull and lacking in detail.

The closest I got to something somewhat acceptable was
-reducing capture contrast using Hauppauge tweak tool
-narrowing the input range in FFDSHOW so it expands it back out on output
-increasing the sharpness in FFDSHOW

But, what I ended up with was a grainy image with lots of skipped frames on Live TV. Also, I still have the same problem with some channels looking too bright and blown-out and some looking too dark and underexposed.

Still to try: over-the-air TV to see if my cable signal is bad.
Maybe DScaler might work? But it is hard to imagine it having any better controls than FFDshow

[capone]

I couldn't use ffdshow in the end. It's probably just not enough processing power. I did have it working w/ the ATI, maybe because the drivers ran lighter. In any case, you could try running just the ones you need, because I did notice too many would slow down the ATI, too.

I'm going to encorage again, at the risk of suggesting you spend money for nothing (unless you do a store w/ an easy return policy) that you try a nVidia 5100 (or maybe most nVidias would do). I think you're going to find that the "vivid" slider will give you back all the richness of color you're missing now.

My Motorolla signal booster helped my signal a lot, but there are cheaper ones out there.

[BenTO]

I had a similar problem a few weeks ago (I couldn't watch the dark scenes in "24" because the blacks were all washed out.

I tried first the Hauppauge tweak tool and it made the dark scenes better, but the overall gamma was off.

Then I did some searching in these forums about video codecs and eventually found a combination of video codecs that produces a pretty good picture now. So my problem with colours was probably in the video codec.

I also had to install some software (Moonlight, Intervideo WinDVD, Microsoft DECCheck) to get some of the proper codecs.

I also discovered that my TV display settings were off as well so you might want to check that as well.

Good luck,
Ben

[CaptainVideo]

Thanks! But since it is hardware encoded how can a codec help?

Also, my TV is adjusted for the VCR, DVD and live cable. I'd hate to have to adjust it JUST so the PVR looks ok, especially when the PVR is the most configurable piece of equipment.

What combinations of codecs did you find that worked?

[CaptainVideo]

I couldn't use ffdshow in the end. It's probably just not enough processing power. I did have it working w/ the ATI, maybe because the drivers ran lighter. In any case, you could try running just the ones you need, because I did notice too many would slow down the ATI, too.

I'm going to encorage again, at the risk of suggesting you spend money for nothing (unless you do a store w/ an easy return policy) that you try a nVidia 5100 (or maybe most nVidias would do). I think you're going to find that the "vivid" slider will give you back all the richness of color you're missing now.

My Motorolla signal booster helped my signal a lot, but there are cheaper ones out there.

Thanks! An amplified splitter is high on my list.

The nVidia is tempting! However, I've been able to set my ATI so that every color/brightness bar chart I've tried looks good. JPEGS look good.

It seems reasonable, though, that some loss of detail is inevitable unless you can get each scanline of input to line up with each scanline of output (without swapping them!). Maybe I SHOULD have gone with a PVR-350?

I will try amplified rabbit ears tonight. There's a knob to adjust the level of amplification. If a loss of contrast detail is one of the symptoms of low amplification then I've found my culprit and will try an amplified splitter.

If the amplified splitter doesn't work I'll have to see if there's a gain pot on the main board. I may contact Hauppauge tech support.

:eek: My nightmare scenario: I find out composite-in looks better than the built-in tuner, so I set up a VCR to feed the PVR via composite & use IRBlaster to change the channels!

[onestar]

Thanks!

:eek: My nightmare scenario: I find out composite-in looks better than the built-in tuner, so I set up a VCR to feed the PVR via composite & use IRBlaster to change the channels!

Just to say, I was paying close attention to a recording I did on the 150. It was about 20secs behind the TV, so I could swap and compare. The recording was showing mid-range brightness objects fine. Very bright seemed no details, very dark seemed black. Unfortunately the actual program on TV was the same!!!!

Incidently I am using composite in - not the built in tuner - don't know if that makes any difference - I will have to set it upto compare.

[BenTO]

Thanks! But since it is hardware encoded how can a codec help?

Also, my TV is adjusted for the VCR, DVD and live cable. I'd hate to have to adjust it JUST so the PVR looks ok, especially when the PVR is the most configurable piece of equipment.

What combinations of codecs did you find that worked?

I didn't know that the PVR150 supports hardware decoding... the setting I'm talking about is the MPEG-2 Software Decoding. I installed Intervideo WinDVD6 trial and use the Intervideo Video Decoder. I had it set to default before but I found better results when I knew what decoder to use. Other options include Cyberlink and Moonlight. If you are using system default, use the microsoft deccheck.exe util to see what codec is being used. Search the forum for it since somebody uploaded it here to the board.


Hope it helps you...

Ben

[CaptainVideo]

If you are using system default, use the microsoft deccheck.exe util to see what codec is being used. Search the forum for it since somebody uploaded it here to the board.


Hope it helps you...

Ben

Thanks! I'm running Windows 2000, though

[CaptainVideo]

I just tried my amplified rabbit ears. I was definitely able to get a better picture on a strong station. Most importantly, I noticed misplacement of the ears didn't result in increased noise like you'd expect. The picture would get dark.

It is the only thing that makes sense. Why would one channel look fine and another crappy? I have crappy cable and the PVR-150 isn't sensitive enough.

That's a guess at this point, but probably a good one.

[CaptainVideo]

BIG Update. I got adventurous and tried out a G550 dual head I have access to. There are huge disadvantages, but the picture quality is better beyond description. Simply amazing compared to the All in Wonder. In fact, the MPEG2 artifacting is much more noticable now due to the greater detail and color saturation.

However, the only way you can get video out is by enabling "DVD Max". Without it you see the desktop, but any video played back only shows up on the primary VGA display, not S-Video. That means no on-screen display, which is a HUGE drawback.

I'll post separately asking if there's a way around this.

In short, the PVR-150 is FINE, the All-in-Wonder (original Radeon) is not.