Need better video output quality

[justinmiller]

Hi all, I am currently running GBPVR with a PVR150MCE and fx5200 video card, with the TV-out on the video card going to my non-HD television. It looks pretty good, but still a little more blurry than if I were watching a direct signal feed from my (analog) cable. Even worse though is the quality of DVDs; they look nowhere near as sharp as my DVD player (which just broke, so I would love to not have to get another one).

What are my non-HD options for taking the video output from good to great? I've heard the PVR 350 has great TV out, but stability issues with GBPVR, not to mention it won't play DVDs. But if the PVR 350 is my only option to improve video out, I'd be willing to buy a separate cheap-o DVD player.......are there any other better options?

Thanks!

[capone]

I think an xcard has a better video quality from everything I read.

[Zod]

Maybe this thread will be helpful to you...I was hoping to gather other user's experiences with TV-out hardware, but only a couple others responded. Still, I go into my own experiences in amazingly verbose detail. So far, my attempts have been rather anti-nVidia and pro-ATI. Keep in mind, the Hauppauge 350's TV-Out only shows MPEG-2 output, not your computer's desktop or anything. For this reason, it might be a much better DVD/PVR output device, but forget using MAME or anything else through it, AFAIK.

[csy]

I'm using an ATI 9550 based video card (ASUS actually) which gives crystal clear S-video and very good composite output to my SDTV (it is superior to my DVD player). The 9550 is the cheapest ATI chip which includes DirectX Video Acceleration.

I've found the key to good SDTV quality playing DVD and MPEG2 is to set the screen resolution and refresh rate the same as the source material, ie 720x576 50Hz for PAL and 720x480 60Hz for NTSC, and set the display properties to "video mode" (normal TV overscan), and "Hardware Acceleration" enabled. Of course this will make normal computer graphics look terrible on your TV and the computer graphic edges will not be displayed due to TV overscanning, however video quality is excellent and will be displayed with the correct aspect and pixel ratios for a standard Pan&Scan TV.

[Zod]

I've found the key to good SDTV quality playing DVD and MPEG2 is to set the screen resolution and refresh rate the same as the source material, ie 720x576 50Hz for PAL and 720x480 60Hz for NTSC, and set the display properties to "video mode" (normal TV overscan), and "Hardware Acceleration" enabled. Of course this will make normal computer graphics look terrible on your TV and the computer graphic edges will not be displayed due to TV overscanning, however video quality is excellent and will be displayed with the correct aspect and pixel ratios for a standard Pan&Scan TV.

Agreed, these settings also produce the best MPEG-2 picture quality on my Radeon 9250. However, it's a real chore to switch back and forth between these settings and those that are best for viewing the whole desktop and using an emulator, especially since no control panel app fits into 480 vertical lines of resolution. I suppose the best out-of-the-box method would be to set up multiple display profiles and switch between them manually from the task tray applet, or using hotkeys. Hmm, I wonder if it's possible to have GB-PVR use these hotkeys to change to one display profile (like overscan mode) when launching a video, then change back to the default one (underscan mode) afterward? That'd be nifty.

[SLGF2A]

What are my non-HD options for taking the video output from good to great? I've heard the PVR 350 has great TV out, but stability issues with GBPVR, not to mention it won't play DVDs. But if the PVR 350 is my only option to improve video out, I'd be willing to buy a separate cheap-o DVD player.......are there any other better options?

Thanks!

I was in the same situation you are and, for what it's worth, I've been using GBPVR with a PVR 350 for about 8 months now without any 350-related glitches. Before the 350 I used my Nividia 6600GT and, even with significant tinkering, was unable to acheive anything near the video quality of your typical cable feed.

[justinmiller]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice! I adjusted my resolution and this does seem to have helped, particularly with DVDs. Couple questions for various postings:

...and set the display properties to "video mode" (normal TV overscan), and "Hardware Acceleration" enabled.

I'm not sure I am setting both these options correctly in my Nvidia drivers. Would you or anyone else happen to know what I need to set for this?

I was in the same situation you are and, for what it's worth, I've been using GBPVR with a PVR 350 for about 8 months now without any 350-related glitches. Before the 350 I used my Nividia 6600GT and, even with significant tinkering, was unable to acheive anything near the video quality of your typical cable feed.

Sounds like we are in the same boat......is it possible at all to play DVDs using the 350's output, even if it's with a separate app than GBPVR? Does this produce good output?

FWIW, I am just looking to optimize my recorded show and DVD viewing. I haven't yet dared into running MAME, DDR, etc.

Thanks all!

[sub]

Sounds like we are in the same boat......is it possible at all to play DVDs using the 350's output, even if it's with a separate app than GBPVR? Does this produce good output?

No, there is zero applications which allow you watch DVDs on your PVR350. I'm pretty sure its not possible.

[efin]

I thought that DVDs would still play through the 350's output, but that it would use software encoding (rather than the 350's hardware encoding). That's not right?

[sub]

No, thats not right. You cant watch DVDs via the PVR350 at all.