GeForce 6150 issues

[kricker]

Originally Posted by IncredibleHat

Uh... ok. But I thought for output to a TV, you COULDNT do 0-255 as they only understand 16-235 (I mean, its why you have to calibrate your capture cards so they stop clipping the blastid whites and blacks). Right?

What is this registry hack thou speakeths of?

Well.....yes and no. If you are using an HDTV you might want the full range of color. Depending on the TV, it might try to 'crush' and already 'crushed' signal so it gets adjusted twice. It gets quite complicated and the gurus over at AVS forums can explain it all better. I think the gist of it is you want the graphics adapter to send out the full range of color though. The registry edit is in the Release notes and I also posted it above. I think I am going to try these new drivers out right now.

[IncredibleHat]

Ok, I did the registry hack... I assume that a DWORD value of "0x3" means basically "3" ... which looks like "0x0000003 (3)" right?

Anyhow, I see no difference at all after doing this. *shrug* hehehe.

[kricker]

Originally Posted by IncredibleHat

Ok, I did the registry hack... I assume that a DWORD value of "0x3" means basically "3" ... which looks like "0x0000003 (3)" right?

Anyhow, I see no difference at all after doing this. *shrug* hehehe.

It might be a slight difference but a difference no less. Also it might need to be 1 instead of 3, the release notes have notoriously been reversed in this matter. I will play with it myself and tell you if I see any difference.

EDIT after looking back at the notes, it does say 1 for extended range not 3.

[IncredibleHat]

Yeah, I tried both starting with 1, then 3, then back to 1 again. Sorry to mention that earlier.

I may just need to calibrate other settings or something. There are just three places to do it. nVidia control panel for video playback. Hauppauge cards for video capture. Then HDTV for input signal. I have the HTPC setup to show desktop blacks very close to the 'null black' of the screen when in Full Screen mod (thats 4x3). And the whites up to where I can see 4 different shades of bright white. So I think I have the HDTV setup correctly.

The toughie is the video capture. I hate installing DSCALER to get the histogram filter thingy, because last time I installd dscaler, it hosed a ton of my video playback settings

[kricker]

Originally Posted by IncredibleHat

Yeah, I tried both starting with 1, then 3, then back to 1 again. Sorry to mention that earlier.

I may just need to calibrate other settings or something. There are just three places to do it. nVidia control panel for video playback. Hauppauge cards for video capture. Then HDTV for input signal. I have the HTPC setup to show desktop blacks very close to the 'null black' of the screen when in Full Screen mod (thats 4x3). And the whites up to where I can see 4 different shades of bright white. So I think I have the HDTV setup correctly.

The toughie is the video capture. I hate installing DSCALER to get the histogram filter thingy, because last time I installd dscaler, it hosed a ton of my video playback settings

I know what you mean. It is quite daunting. I get halfway done with it and wonder what the hell I am doing again. And to top it all off, its totally subjective.

I also changed the registry setting, and I am not sure if I saw a change either. I know I did see a difference with earlier drivers, but I can't remember which ones. I tried sooooooo many. Plus my DualTV will not let me use the color calibration, so it records way too hot and I have to adjust the playback within the decoder I am using.

Oh well. At least it looks like playback with VMR9 is working though. I got some slight tearing without FSE in Sage, but using windowless in Zoomplayer gives me nice playback so far. I do not really see a difference between overlay and VMR9...so all this may have been for naught.

[blade]

Originally Posted by IncredibleHat

Yeah, I tried both starting with 1, then 3, then back to 1 again. Sorry to mention that earlier.

I may just need to calibrate other settings or something. There are just three places to do it. nVidia control panel for video playback. Hauppauge cards for video capture. Then HDTV for input signal. I have the HTPC setup to show desktop blacks very close to the 'null black' of the screen when in Full Screen mod (thats 4x3). And the whites up to where I can see 4 different shades of bright white. So I think I have the HDTV setup correctly.

The toughie is the video capture. I hate installing DSCALER to get the histogram filter thingy, because last time I installd dscaler, it hosed a ton of my video playback settings

You shouldn't really be adjusting the PC unless you have no other option. For one thing when you update drivers and decoders the settings sometimes revert back and you're back to square one.

I left my PC at the default settings and calibrated my display by running the AVIA disk on the HTPC. Then calibrated my capture card and I was done.

Trying to adjust settings in too many places will just leave you with one huge mess.

[IncredibleHat]

Originally Posted by blade

You shouldn't really be adjusting the PC unless you have no other option. For one thing when you update drivers and decoders the settings sometimes revert back and you're back to square one.

I left my PC at the default settings and calibrated my display by running the AVIA disk on the HTPC. Then calibrated my capture card and I was done.

Trying to adjust settings in too many places will just leave you with one huge mess.

Right. I had just read a long time ago that you 'dont want to adjust your TV, as the signal from the PC is already screwed up'... or some such. Meaning, the PC output is already clipping the whites and blacks, and trying to adjust your TV isn't going to make a world of difference.

However, I usually tend to try and leave the desktop/control panel settings to 'middle' sliders. Then I futz with the hauppauge cards, then finally the HDTV.

[kricker]

Originally Posted by blade

You shouldn't really be adjusting the PC unless you have no other option. For one thing when you update drivers and decoders the settings sometimes revert back and you're back to square one.

I left my PC at the default settings and calibrated my display by running the AVIA disk on the HTPC. Then calibrated my capture card and I was done.

Trying to adjust settings in too many places will just leave you with one huge mess.

I agree. That is the way I do it. That being said, I assume you still want the video drivers to deliver the full range of colors from 0-255 and not 16-235. The broadcast video is already suposed to be at those levels when you record it, so there should be no reason for the DVI output to convert it for you.

[blade]

Originally Posted by kricker

I agree. That is the way I do it. That being said, I assume you still want the video drivers to deliver the full range of colors from 0-255 and not 16-235. The broadcast video is already suposed to be at those levels when you record it, so there should be no reason for the DVI output to convert it for you.

To be honest I've never worried about all that. I do recall reading that whether or not you're getting 0-255 or 16-235 depends on if you're using overlay or vmr9 and that you need to adjust your display accordingly.

[kricker]

Originally Posted by blade

To be honest I've never worried about all that. I do recall reading that whether or not you're getting 0-255 or 16-235 depends on if you're using overlay or vmr9 and that you need to adjust your display accordingly.

Well, being someone who works in video I do know that broadcast specs mandate 16-235, but not everyone follows it closely. There are many things that get by. Which is why sometimes you will see red images crawl, or hear a slight buzz on full white screens and many other strange things. But assuming that the video you capture does follow these specs, and your capture card it capturing it properly, you should theoretically get video that is 16-235. Now if your video adpater is scaling the color space before it hits the display, then your 16-235 becomes something else because it is treating it as if it was 0-255 then scaling it to fit 16-235. So it becomes something like 32-215. I highly doubt the video drivers actually can tell if the video is already 16-235 and not scale it, it seems to me it either does or doesn't. Does this make sense? Or am I just rambling on....

[blade]

Originally Posted by kricker

Well, being someone who works in video I do know that broadcast specs mandate 16-235, but not everyone follows it closely.

They actually have broadcast specs?

I've been so frustrated with my local NBC channels due to the poor quality. I have two local NBC stations and one is so dark and red that it is unwatchable. I mean you can't tell the difference between green and black. Sometimes even telling red from green is difficult. The other has decent colors, but something funky that makes it impossible to get even half decent deinterlaing. If you thought 640*480 res video games were jagged you should see my NBC.

I don't know what they do when they broadcast, but something is screwy because the same shows on USA or A&E look perfect when they show them as reruns. I'm dying for QAM support, but have held off because I didn't really want a USB tuner (only one available for Sage right now).

[kricker]

Yeah, I guess I left out the fact that broadcasters and providers can be soooo lazy and incompetent that they screw up the entire delivery process....but that's another story......now back to our regularly scheduled thread topic.