Help and Advice requested - Pixelated Video

[helboy]

Hi

I have installed GBPVR on a fresh install on windows xp, with relevant software updates etc. including .net and Direct x 9.

I have a PVR-350 from Hauppage, with the latest software drivers and all the applications installed. I am connecting the 350 to my TV via the onboard NVIDIA graphics card because my TV has a PC Video input.

My problem is this: The picture is heavily pixelated. I have tested this card before and had no problems with the quality before. Is this something to do with my MPEG decoders? I have stuck to System Default, although I have tried many variations in the settings.

Before I invest a lot more time hacking about, can anyone point me in the right direction?

Many thanks

Chris

[stefan]

It would probably be either your decoder (do you know which one is running as system default?) or that you have somehow managed to set the quality to low for the recording, or that you have changed the settings for "medium" quality (which is what GBPVR uses as default).

[helboy]

This is Live TV, set to medium quality. I have not touched the defaults.

What recommendations do you have for a Decoder?

Cheers

[stefan]

I use intervideo, the one that came with the hauppauge card. You can find different versions of them here:
ftp://ftp.shspvr.com/download/mpeg_decoder/

[helboy]

Tried that link and downloaded and installed the latest driver, but to no avail.

I set the following in the config:

Video Decoder: Intervideo NonCSS Video Decoder for (something)
Audio Decoder: Intervideo NonCSS Audio Decoder for (something)
Audio Renderer: DirectSound Nvidia Nforce

Am I missing something basic here?

[stefan]

Am I missing something basic here?

Nothing obvious.

More things to test:
Does it look the same if you run the file in WMP?
Does it look the same if you run on a monitor?
Can you use another input on your tv (like scart or svideo or something) to try?
Record something with the "HIGH" profile and see if it looks any different.

A few things to start with =)

[helboy]

OK
i have tried a couple of hardware related things (such as removing the wifi card) with no luck.

I also tried the AV Out(composite) and again I had heavy pixelation. I haven't tried another monitor yet (I don't actually have one at the moment).

Different quality settings certainly haven't improved matters (low quality got a bit fuzzy).

A Capture shows the same pixelation when played through WMP.

I have uploaded two screenshots to show what I mean about pixelation. See:

http://www.can.co.nz/screenshot.JPG
http://www.can.co.nz/screenshot2.JPG

I guess this testing is quite good, i.e. it is pointing to something fundamental...

helboy

[helboy]

I loaded Cyberlnk PowerDVD to try its MPEG Decoder - no luck.

[stefan]

Can you try using the tv-out on your pvr-350 instead? That should really yield near-perfect picture.

[helboy]

Do you mean composite out? I set the output device to be my 350 within the GBPVR config, then change to a different AV input on my TV.

The interesting thing is that the Test Bars that come up before I start the GBPVR app is perfect when using composite out.

Are there any FLASH registers that get written when configuring the card? I ask this because this is my second attempt at running a PVR. I used to run a PVR on this machine using MythTV. That worked fine. I am swapping for support reasons.

Cheers