HD Extender video quality issue

[TimmyToo]

I need some help to determine if I have a problem. The video quality of my HD Extender isn't as good as I expected.

I have been running 6.1.9 since it was released without any problems. I upgraded to 6.3.5 when I got my HD Extender last week. I also flashed the extender to the latest firmware.

The video quality didn't look as good as my 8600GTS hooked to my 32" Vizio LCD TV via VGA. I never bothered to calibrate the PC display settings, the picture looked good enough to me.

The HD Extender (via HDMI) looked a bit reddish and oversaturated. I wasn't too concerned as I figured it would need some calibration.

Over the weekend I moved my SageTV server to a new PC. I was waiting for the HD Extender to be released before I made the switch. With the WGA strike it made it easier to plan the downtime.

I did a fresh install of XP, installed the HD Homerun, VLC 0.8.6d, JRE1.6u3, and Hauppauge drivers (PVR1600, PVR500). Installed SageTV 6.3.5 and configured all the tuners. So far, so good.

I connected the HD Extender and played a few 720p MKV files. They seemed to look worse. I noticed blocky video and graininess. Figuring it may be the video compression of the MKV files I check some of my previous Sage HD recordings. Same issue, just didn't looked as good as I expected. Live tv was just as bad.

I changed from the HDMI to component cables. No difference. I changed the output from 720p to 1080i. I tried changing the video settings on the TV. Still lacking the video quality I was getting from the 8600GTS on my PC client when it was hooked to the TV.

My question... Is there some setting on the SageTV server that could effect the HD Extender quality? I'm not sure if the 32" Vizio is a highly rated display but the picture quality I get from the builtin QAM tuner or VGA look very good to me. I expect the HD Extender should be able to give me a good picture if I can figure out what my problem is.

Can some suggest what I should try next?

Thanks.

[autoboy]

Have you tried setting the extender to 1366 x 768 resolution? Have you tried running a calibration disk through the extender to calibrate the blacks, contrast, and colors?

[bialio]

Originally Posted by TimmyToo

The HD Extender (via HDMI) looked a bit reddish and oversaturated.

I have noticed the same thing. I dialed back the "Color" control on my TV's (to lessen the saturation) to compensate until I have time to run some calibration type discs through the extenders.

btl.

[TimmyToo]

Originally Posted by bialio

I have noticed the same thing. I dialed back the "Color" control on my TV's (to lessen the saturation) to compensate until I have time to run some calibration type discs through the extenders.

I think I can work on the color issues with the TV controls. The graininess (macroblocking?) and pixelated look I'm not sure about. I wonder if there is a noise reduction setting or some other control I may have messed with.

When playing back a 1080i clip from the Tonight Show it looked better, but when Jay Leno would stand still during his monologue I could see the pixels "stop".

I'm going to hook up the HD Extender to my old 50" Toshiba 50HX81 HDTV CRT set in the living room to see how that compares.

I was also wondering if there was a codec I needed or some setting on the Sage server I should be looking at. I assume with the HD Extender that doesn't come into play.

[autoboy]

You can also run the extender in native output mode and let the TV handle the deinterlacing and scaling.

[RHD]

Originally Posted by autoboy

You can also run the extender in native output mode and let the TV handle the deinterlacing and scaling.

How would you do that?

RHD

[fidget]

Originally Posted by autoboy

You can also run the extender in native output mode and let the TV handle the deinterlacing and scaling.

I have seen the problem, too (with DVDs) and letting the extender switch resolutions does not solve the problem. It is very hit and miss as to which DVDs will show the problem and witch will not. In my case, scenes with gradual color changes show it the worst.