MVP Video Quality: Darks are too dark! Please Fix!

[blackbeltdbz]

Not to beat a dead horse, but has there been any advancement made on the MVP dark picture issue? This problem has been admitted by Hauppauge but no fix yet. The darker video portions on BOTH my MVP's is too dark! I have the brightness turned WAY up on my video capture but still too dark.

The problem is obvious most of the time, but here are a few examples...

When someone on tv is wearing a darker suit (not necessarily even black) you cannot make out the suit. When watching the same show on regular tv you can see the details of the suit such as the lapels and pockets.

Any characters on tv with dark hair... all you see is blurry darkness on their head, you don't see any detail. Again, the same show WITHOUT MVP, you can see the details of the hair such as color and texture.

I realize many ppl prob won't notice this problem even if they do have it, but how many out there are noticing this problem, and is their a solution in sight?

[frankstir]

I'm experiencing the same thing. I’ve tried every imaginable configuration. I used different TVs, wireless, wired, and varied the location. The only noticeable difference was when I used wired the boot up and navigation was a lot quicker @ 100 mbps.

I even setup a controlled environment with everything in the same room. That didn't improve the quality of the picture either. It's definitely a limitation with the Media Extender.

No matter what I tried, however, the lack of brightness and clarity prevails. I’m going to return my gear...

[stevech]

I will procrastinate purchasing an MVP

[mazakmaster]

I have noticed this also. Has anyone tried useing hauppauge software for the mvp? Is it the same picture quality? Do you guys think it is a Sage issue or Hauppauge?

[blackbeltdbz]

I have used the hauppauge software, and found the same result. I do not however feel hauppauge should be 100% responsible for fixing this issue. SageTV is selling them as media extenders and should support them.

[mlbdude]

What kind of calibration have you done between the capture settings and the TV?

[dynamix]

Not to beat a dead horse, but has there been any advancement made on the MVP dark picture issue? This problem has been admitted by Hauppauge but no fix yet. The darker video portions on BOTH my MVP's is too dark! I have the brightness turned WAY up on my video capture but still too dark.

I emailed Sage support about the issue and their only solution was to make all my recordings super bright. Not a very good solution since that would ruin the recordings when I viewed them on SageTV Client.

They could offer no other solution so they gave me an RMA number to return the product. That would be ok, except now I'm stuck with a 10% restocking fee on a product they knew had issues, yet offer NO warning to their customers. I got the opinion from the support person, that the issue was "no big deal" and only happens to "some people." With the number of complaints both here and on other boards, I think the problem is much larger than that.

Let me also state, that I really wanted this product to work well. I've been wanting something like this for a long time. I should've done more research before purchasing, and I should've purchased from a retailer that doesn't charge 10% restocking fee on defective merchandice.

[blade]

About the only thing you can do is make the recordings a little brighter and increase the brightness of the display as well (if your TV has seperate color calibration for each input). Personally I wouldn't want to compensate entirely with one or the other, but rather split the difference.

[jphhughes]

I purchased a MVP from Sage a couple of weeks ago and just installed it yesterday. After finding out that it does not work with the Windows firewall I got it set up and it was working fine. However the picture was very dark and had a great deal of red present. So after reading this thred I Adjusted the color setting in my RPTV and all channels look good. I had to drop the color setting dow to almost 10%. Now everything looks like it should.

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by blade

About the only thing you can do is make the recordings a little brighter...

This may be a solution if the MVP is the only client used, but who is willing to degrade the recording quality for main server / clients just to compensate for what looks like a flaw in the MVP ...?

I am a little surprised about all this, since I always heard people raving about the excellent picture quality of the MVP in comparison to the software decoders, at least for SDTV. Now I have a MVP myself and experience this darkness problem too, which seems to be quite frequent based on the postings here. Not a huge deal for me because I am currently using the MVP on a crappy TV in my bedroom, but I can feel the pain for people who want good PQ on a decent TV...

It's not very satisfying to hear that there doesn't seem to be any real effort (from Hauppauge or Sage) to address the problem ...

Dirk

[MrApollinax]

I haven't seen the issue from my MVP however my MVP is going through my DVD player via Svideo which then is connected into my TV via component video. I'm guessing that my DVD player is upscaling the video from the MVP so i don't notice any problems with the birghtness levels.

[stevech]

the board admin should setup a poll of users to see if the MVP problem is systemic - for users who want the MVP-connected TV to toggle between the MVP and cable-direct, and for recordings from the Sage Server viewed both with and without use of MVPs.

I'd hate to learn that this is a design flaw in the MVPs that Sage cannot accomodate vs. what Hauppauge does with their PC side software.

[blade]

Originally Posted by flachbar

This may be a solution if the MVP is the only client used, but who is willing to degrade the recording quality for main server / clients just to compensate for what looks like a flaw in the MVP ...?

I am a little surprised about all this, since I always heard people raving about the excellent picture quality of the MVP in comparison to the software decoders, at least for SDTV. Now I have a MVP myself and experience this darkness problem too, which seems to be quite frequent based on the postings here. Not a huge deal for me because I am currently using the MVP on a crappy TV in my bedroom, but I can feel the pain for people who want good PQ on a decent TV...

It's not very satisfying to hear that there doesn't seem to be any real effort (from Hauppauge or Sage) to address the problem ...

Dirk

True, but only so much can be expected for the price. It's still far less expensive than building a full blown PC. It's not like the product is unsuable. If you choose to go the low cost route you may have to make some compromises with your color calibration to split the difference. You can boost the capture settings slightly and increase the settings on the display the MVP is connected to and reduce the settings for the other clients.

Last I heard no one had a solution. Every software program that uses the MVP experienced the same problem with no solution beyond adjusting the capture settings. I was under the impression it was a hardware problem.

[blade]

Originally Posted by stevech

I'd hate to learn that this is a design flaw in the MVPs that Sage cannot accomodate vs. what Hauppauge does with their PC side software.

I thought the same problem was present when using the Hauppauge software?

[blackbeltdbz]

You can adjust the brightness for MVP video in GBPVR by modifying a .ini file. The adjustment is not a capture setting, only an output setting. If GBPVR can do it why can't SageTV?

[blade]

Originally Posted by blackbeltdbz

You can adjust the brightness for MVP video in GBPVR by modifying a .ini file. The adjustment is not a capture setting, only an output setting. If GBPVR can do it why can't SageTV?

Someone else claimed the same thing awhile back and it was confirmed that GBPVR does not adjust the MVP's brightness but the brightness of the capture.

There is a thread on the forum already with the discussion. I don't have time to search for it at the moment. If you have evidence to the contrary please post a link to it.

[mlbdude]

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...3&postcount=52

[Jesse]

Hi,

I have not seen the darkness issue, but I do get some very heavy color saturation (especially reds) when viewing on the mvp client. I was able to adjust my JVC tv to compensate quite nicely. I see most (not all) folks taking about adjusting the capture settings to compensate so I just wanted to remind everyone to try adjusting your display settings first. As I said, it worked out great for me so perhaps it will for others too.

[dynamix]

Originally Posted by Jesse

Hi,

I have not seen the darkness issue, but I do get some very heavy color saturation (especially reds) when viewing on the mvp client. I was able to adjust my JVC tv to compensate quite nicely. I see most (not all) folks taking about adjusting the capture settings to compensate so I just wanted to remind everyone to try adjusting your display settings first. As I said, it worked out great for me so perhaps it will for others too.

Yes... the darkness most reminds me of a tv with the contrast turned up all the way. Certain shows are especially unwatchable... For example, Star Trek The Next Generation...

I am still a firm believer that I shouldn't have to modify my recording inputs, or TV picture settings to get a good image. If the MVP was a DVD player, people would return it in droves and buy a different brand. Unfortunately for SageTV users, it's the only game in town.

You pay money for a good TV, record your shows on high quality settings, and the MVP just totally invalidates that. No thanks.

[Jesse]

Hi dynamix,

I am still a firm believer that I shouldn't have to modify my recording inputs, or TV picture settings to get a good image.

Wow. We have two SD CRT Tv's and one 42" HD plasma and they all needed a certain amount of calibration to get the picture such that we liked it. My hauppauge PVR500 has only been slightly tweaked using the tweak tool as my display adjustments got me the rest of the way there.

You pay money for a good TV, record your shows on high quality settings, and the MVP just totally invalidates that. No thanks.

I feel for you man. That is a drag, but it's not my experience. I just expect that I am pretty much going to have to adjust my display to get the picture I want. Once I got the display adjusted for the MVP, and yes it did take more adjustment than normal, the picture is great (IMO).

If the MVP was a DVD player, people would return it in droves and buy a different brand.

True, but I have often adjusted my display to suite my DVD player. The adjustments are, admittedly, less radical than with the MVP though.

I would have to agree that the average consumer is not gonna adjust their display for anything. Too bad, they are missing out on a better picture.