HVR-1950 Recording Problem - Device Set to PAL?

[Greg Smith]

Yesterday, I recorded a TV program with the Hauppauge HVR-1950 and GBPVR. I played it back, and the recording had sound but had many coloured cubes in the picture and rolling lines. I watched a bit of live TV from my computer, too. Same problem. I then thought perhaps the cable signal was the culprit, so I checked another TV in the house. The channels all looked good. I then unhooked the cable from my HVR-1950 and tried the internal Hauppauge HVR-1600. It worked perfectly.

I then noticed something this morning when I played back the file and looked at its properties. Its dimensions are 720 x 576, which is PAL. I'm in NTSC land, and the device has always worked as it should. Could something have caused it to accidentally set itself to PAL?


File Name: C:\Documents and Settings\Jim\My Documents\My Videos\As the World Turns\As the World Turns_20090824_14001500.mpg
File Size: 2118361088 ( 1.97 GB )
Program Duration: 01:02:57.00
File Type: PS - MPEG2
Encoding: MPEG 2
Video stream Id: xE0
Encoding Dimensions: 720 x 576
Display Size: 720 x 576
Aspect Ratio: 4/3
Frame Rate: 25.00 FPS
Bit Rate: 7.200 Mbps
VBV_Buffer: 224 KB
Profile: Main/Main
Progressive: Prog or Int
Chroma: 4:2:0
Audio Format: Layer 2
Audio Stream Id: xC0
Audio Bit Rate: 224 Kbps
Audio Sampling Rate: 48000 Hz

[sub]

You could try setting ForceStandard=1 in the Direct.ini file to force it to use NTSC.

[Greg Smith]

Thanks, sub. I'll give that a try tomorrow, and report back with my results.

[johnsonx42]

Frame Rate: 25.00 FPS

I'd have to concur with your diagnosis that it switched to PAL on you. No idea why though.

[Greg Smith]

I set ForceStandard to 1 in the Direct.ini file and I am happy to report that the problem is solved. Thank you, sub. What I don't understand is why the device changed to PAL. I've had the HVR-1950 since May and that was the first time that problem happened. Is this a common problem?

[sub]

Is this a common problem?

I've not heard of any other ocurrances. Maybe you or windows update had applied updated drivers?

[Greg Smith]

Perhaps Windows Update did that. The driver I used was from the CD-ROM included in the package. So, should having ForceStandard set to 1 prevent any further occurrences of this problem?

[sub]

So, should having ForceStandard set to 1 prevent any further occurrences of this problem?

It tells the app to force the device to use NTSC, rather than relying on the driver default (which should have been NTSC anyway). While this is set you shouldnt have any more occurrances of PAL recordings.

Its worth noting that changes to the direct.ini file are not retained during GB-PVR version upgrades, so you may need to reapply that change after any new version is installed.

[Greg Smith]

Good information. Thanks again, sub. I love this place.