SageTV Media Extender Brightness Control

[joe123]

Ok, I setup my TV with SageTV Media Extender watching a live show and I then switch my TV from SagetTV ME to normal cable watching.

When I flip back and forth, I can defenitely see a big difference in the Brightness between what I see on the SageTV ME and normal TV.

Also, the SageTV media Extender image apears to be a bit more grainy.

I am hooking the SageTV ME to my TV via yellow/white/red cables.

[malbec]

I have been on the hunt for the brightness issue for a couple of weeks. It appears to be a known hardware problem...the signal put out by the MVP is 75% of "normal." The only "fix" I have been able to track down is to up the brightness level on your video capture card. Sucks, yeah, I know.

http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/pvr_tweak.html

[joe123]

Originally Posted by malbec

I have been on the hunt for the brightness issue for a couple of weeks. It appears to be a known hardware problem...the signal put out by the MVP is 75% of "normal." The only "fix" I have been able to track down is to up the brightness level on your video capture card. Sucks, yeah, I know.

http://www.cask-of-amontillado.com/pvr_tweak.html

Yes, the image is about 25% to 1/3 less bright than normal. That is terrible!

I have been reading these forums for a while AND NOBODY ELSE HAS NOTICE THIS FOKING THING? I WOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT THIS SAGETV MEDIA EXTENDER IF I WOULD HAVE KNOW THAT.

I JUST CANT BEILIEVE NOBODY ELSE HAS COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS.

THE IMAGE QUALITY IS ABSOLUTLY WORTHLESS WITH SUCH DARK OUTPUT COMING OUT OF THE SAGETV MEDIA EXTENDER.

[lotusvball]

No need to FLAME. I have absolutely no issue with the brightness. It appears the same whether I am watching on the server or on the MVP. So maybe not everybody is having your problem. Can we get some feedback on this. Is anyone getting a good picture or are their brightness levels low?

[joe123]

Originally Posted by lotusvball

No need to FLAME. I have absolutely no issue with the brightness. It appears the same whether I am watching on the server or on the MVP. So maybe not everybody is having your problem. Can we get some feedback on this. Is anyone getting a good picture or are their brightness levels low?

Ok sure. With so many users with SageTV media Extenders, I can't imagine nobody else has noticed.

If we are the only ones, then I sure hope so since we may have gotten bad SageTV media Extenders.

Also, the picture quality is sub-par at best on my TV when using the SageTV Media Extender. The TV image looks grainy and lousy (aside from being darker).

Am I the only one getting Sub picture quality on their SageTV Media Extender?

[gplasky]

I have the Hauppague MVP bought before the Sage version of the device. But they are identical. I DO NOT have the darker picture issue at all. I have it connected via s-video to a 15" LCD Sharp Aquos TV and get a sweet picture. I don't know what TV you're connected to but the MVP is a SD device. If you have it connected to a large screen or HDTV it will generally show a worse picture.

Gerry

[jan smit]

I have been reading these forums for a while AND NOBODY ELSE HAS NOTICE THIS FOKING THING? I WOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT THIS SAGETV MEDIA EXTENDER IF I WOULD HAVE KNOW THAT.

I JUST CANT BEILIEVE NOBODY ELSE HAS COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS.

I have reported similar problems last week in a thread called "Media MVP setup" (on which a got no reaction at all):

How to calibrate?

I have just installed my MVP and it works quit well.
The picture I get on my sdtv is not as good as I was hoping (not as good as my Xcard+headercable picture).
I would like to be able to calibrate brightness, contrast, etc.
Is there any way of calibrating other than via the Source color calibration?
I can of course change the settings in my TV, but I don't want to influence my normal TV watching

I have no pixelation or stutter problems like some other people, therefore I wrote that it works quit well. However the picture is too soft and has too low brightness and contrast. Adjusting my capture settings is no option because that does not solve the problem for shows that are recorded previously.
Adjusting my TV is no option either since that makes the normal TV watching too bright.
I have not touched the Hauppauge software at all and am just wondering if you can make adjustments there which change the default brightness ot the MVP.
BTW: I have a European MVP, using Scart connector.

[JUC]

I am not really seeing a difference in brightness with the MVP--maybe a little bit but detinately not a 25%-30% drop in brightness. I also have this connected via S-video to a 42" Plasma and the quality is acceptable to me. This surprised me but the quality isn't that bad even blown up so big. Also, i would suggest using the s-video connection if at all possible over the composite.
JUC

[joe123]

Originally Posted by jan smit

I have reported similar problems last week in a thread called "Media MVP setup" (on which a got no reaction at all):
... However the picture is too soft and has too low brightness and contrast. Adjusting my capture settings is no option because that does not solve the problem for shows that are recorded previously. Adjusting my TV is no option either since that makes the normal TV watching too bright.
.

Exactly - Adjusting the capture card would not be an option since it would affect other recordings and playback on normal TV connected to server.

Ok, so we have a few people with Low Brightness on their SageTV Media Extenders. My SageTV Extender says Version 1.0 on bootup. Is there another firmware to upload to this box? I already upgraded my SageTV server to 4.1.4 and put in the latest mpv.bin beta file on it with no difference in brightness or picture quality.

Did we just get bad SageTV Media Boxes, or is everyone else just living with it or have not noticed?

By the way, for those of you wanting to test this: The easiest and most simple way to perform this test is by Watching Live TV on your SageTV Media Extender and then switching to regular live broadcast on your TV using the same channel. By switching between SageTV Media Extender Live TV and Regular Live TV, you can quickly see the differences if there are any.

[maddog33]

Originally Posted by joe123

Ok, I setup my TV with SageTV Media Extender watching a live show and I then switch my TV from SagetTV ME to normal cable watching.

When I flip back and forth, I can defenitely see a big difference in the Brightness between what I see on the SageTV ME and normal TV.

Also, the SageTV media Extender image apears to be a bit more grainy.

I am hooking the SageTV ME to my TV via yellow/white/red cables.

I had/have the same issues and I think, for me, it is a combination of things.

1) I'm running two MVPs, one composite to a 32" sony SD crt, one S-video to a 35" sony SD crt. Both have huge brightness differences compared to broadcast, DVD inputs.

2) Both MVP pictures could be called "soft", "lack of contrast", compared to the other inputs.

3) A huge inprovement in picture quality was obtained by finally realizing the amount of differences in available RG-6 (or whatever the number is...) cable to the MCE500 in the server. Noticing a difference between cables I had laying around the junk box, I finally just stopped a Cable TV van in my neighborhood and he gave me enough of what they were using and the difference is startling.

4) Now trying to manually adjust the picture on the server yields a pretty decent picture locally, but it is hit and miss - very cumbersome to adjust. I wonder if some of the Sage Experts here know of a more automated utility or at least a methodical set of steps to adjust the tuner. To be honest, it may be readily avail, I haven't looked very deep.

5) ...but after all is said and done, the MVPs outputs is noticeably darker and softer than the other sources. I haven't installed the hauppauge software to compare and am nervous to try, since SageTV is running so reliably right now...

that's my very non-technical experience so far... very usable, but very dark.

[joe123]

Originally Posted by maddog33

3) A huge inprovement in picture quality was obtained by finally realizing the amount of differences in available RG-6 (or whatever the number is...) cable to the MCE500 in the server. Noticing a difference between cables I had laying around the junk box, I finally just stopped a Cable TV van in my neighborhood and he gave me enough of what they were using and the difference is startling.

....

that's my very non-technical experience so far... very usable, but very dark.

Ok, sorry but I lost you. On #3 it sounds as if you used a different cable (what kind?) and that helped the brightness and quality? Then you go on to say that the picture output on your SageTV media Extender is "very dark". Ok, I lost you.

[maddog33]

Originally Posted by joe123

Ok, sorry but I lost you. On #3 it sounds as if you used a different cable (what kind?) and that helped the brightness and quality? Then you go on to say that the picture output on your SageTV media Extender is "very dark". Ok, I lost you.

Oh don't be lost...it's just bad writing...

simply put - I had picture quality issues also.

a lot of improvement was gained by using the "good" RG-6 cable that the cable company ran through the house, instead of home depot RG-6 type. This helped the pic quality, not the brightness.

I think more improvement in picture quality could be made if I had a strict series of steps in adjusting the tuners. I did manage to get the brightness up a bit in playing with the tuners, but -that was a crapshoot- too much brightness setting and it was hard to get contrast back.

on my system there still is and I assume always will be a brightness issue with the MVP output, but I have made it somewhat better and it is entirely usuable.

that's all.

[joe123]

Originally Posted by maddog33

This helped the pic quality, not the brightness.

Ok thanks. I am now seeing about ~50% saying there is a problem with the Brightness output of the SageTV Media Extender and ~50% saying no problem at all.

I would feel better if this was an isolated case with only a few people getting one or the other, but not split in the middle.

So, for those of us with Low Brightness and Contrast coming out of our SageTV Media Extenders, did we just get bad boxes? Any other settings to check?

Also, I take it that the Video Card on the Server has nothing to do with SageTV Media Extender, correct? Just wondering if the video card is affecting the media extender.

[joe123]

Here is a good link from someone else who has this same problem on their MediaMVP:

http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=8590.0

Looks like there is a problem with some boxes!

[paulbeers]

I had the issues with the darkened screen. Still do a bit, but a couple things I was able to do.

1. My TV allows for adjusting the brightness/contrast for the inputs seperate from say the tuner function. So I played with that a bit

2. The biggest difference was that I switched form composite to s-video it made a big difference. My wife was watching a movie while I was tinkering and as soon as i switched from s-video to composite she said "whoa that fixed it". I still think it is a bit dark, but a huge improvement.

[joe123]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

I had the issues with the darkened screen. Still do a bit, but a couple things I was able to do.

1. My TV allows for adjusting the brightness/contrast for the inputs seperate from say the tuner function. So I played with that a bit

Reading this post http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=8590.0
it looks as if the problem is hardware related. If so, adjusting the TV to compensate for the lack of Brightness coming out of the SageTV Media Extender means loosing picture quality - not a solution.

I don't mind a "bit" darker, as you and others have stated, but I think this darkness issue is much worse than you guys are reporting or want to admitt to, or you have different boxes than we do. Looking at the link above, the person was able to show a 36% drop coming out of the MediaMVP box <- That is not a bit darker, THAT IS A HUGE DROP IN BRIGHTNESS coming out of the SageTV Media Extenders.

It's like watching TV with your super dark shades on for goodness sake.

[jan smit]

Just a couple of hours ago I went to a computershop to buy a (second) MVP with the option to bring it back when the picture is not good enough. The shop is not the same as where I bought my first one.
I tried it and tomorrow I'll bring it back: exactly the same problems.
I'm using the European Scart cable which has RGB signals (should be better than svid.
I also have I direct connection to the same TV from my graphics card via svid (using Xcard and Vip header cable), which gives a much brighter picture.

I don't think the graphics card has any influence on the picture quality of the MVP, but I may be wrong since I don't know where the network connection gets its signal from. Maybe someone could explain that.

[joe123]

Originally Posted by jan smit

Just a couple of hours ago I went to a computershop to buy a (second) MVP with the option to bring it back when the picture is not good enough.

I tried it and tomorrow I'll bring it back: exactly the same problems..

Hi. Are you saying that both of your MVP units have the same dark problem? Just curious if your first MVP is ok and this last one is not, or if both of your MVP's are showing the dark image problem?

[maddog33]

Originally Posted by joe123

I think this darkness issue is much worse than you guys are reporting or want to admitt to

...there are much bigger things in my life I don't want to admit to, TV brightness issues doesn't really make the list...

You seem very excitable...
There very well could be an inherent issue with the MVP hardware. Somewhere out on the edge of the internet, there was another, more detailed post along the lines of the one you just linked to- could of been the same person, I couldn't find it just now. He detailed an actually circuit mod to the MVP to get the brightness level up to where he said it should be - so what?

My point is only that I improved it enough with the tools and knowledge I had easy access to, without having to become an expert, in the time I could give to the project and am now happy with the results.

It could probably be better, I could become more knowledgable, but there isn't a monthly subscription, it was cheap like I am and seems reliable.

I bet if you spend some time like I did, making small, incremental and systematic adjustments to the tuner settings you can get yourself to admit it's not that bad...
...come over to the dark side...

[joe123]

Originally Posted by maddog33

I bet if you spend some time like I did, making small, incremental and systematic adjustments to the tuner settings you can get yourself to admit it's not that bad...
...come over to the dark side...

I'll bet that if I watch it long enough, I will get used to the crapy dark picture too. Sorry, not a solution for me

As for being so excited - Yeah, but you have to understand that I read numerous posts here and only 1% of the posts even mentioned a problem with the Brightness / Contrast problem - so when I reported this and saw more folks saying the same thing, I got, well, let's say very surprised. I hate surprises.

By the way, here is another poster reporting the same dark problem: http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=5199.0

Sorry, I wont meet you in the dark side - I'll stay in the nice clear bright side for now