Don't hurt me....I'm new here :-)

[superporky]

Hello all! I'm slowly migrating to Sage, WAF being the only thing that is slowing things down. It was my dying client PC and how well the MVP works with Sage that has brought me over. That and I was able to get 2 of the Helius MVPs off ebay for cheap. I've had a couple of test runs with the wife and she had comments on the picture quality being poor (I know it's not poor...her words) and darkness. I've read that darkness is an issue and one I can work around. As for the picture quality I'm not overly impressed, I've seen many posts that say that PQ of the MVP is better most pc video cards (I'm using a silent GF 6600), am I doing something wrong? At this point I am reviving my client PC that was built soley to be quiet but would like to use the MVP's elsewhere in the house.

I'm just wondering is there anything I can do to improve PQ on the MVP. IE server side? The MVP decodes the video so I'm guessing not?

As a non-HD extender owner I wonder if it's possible to split the Extender section of the forum into 2 parts, HD and everything else. Since the HD extender has been released searching for MVP info has become difficult. I guess getting a HD extender would solve that problem

BTW I'm outputing to a 27" CRT with S-video.

-This post has not be checked for grammer or spelling-

[CyRex]

What is your recording quality set at? I think the majority of my SD content is recorded using 'DVD Standard', and I get exceptional PQ viewing through the MVP.

Also, what type of tuners are you using to record, and how do you have them connected? (ie direct cable, S-Video from STB, etc).

What is it about the PQ that you don't like? Is it blurry, blocky, pixelated, grainy? How do the recordings look if you view them directly on the PC, either through Sage or media player?

Since the MVP's have a hardware decoder, you should be able to get an excellent picture, especially on a SD TV connected with S-Video.

-Dan

[BFisher]

agreed, my MVPs (5 Hauppaggues, and 1 HD) give an exceptional picture. If they don't look good, I'd check the recording quality setting - I have mine set at the best it can do.

[superporky]

Sorry, obviously lots of info missing here....

Recording quality-
It's set to whatever the default is so I definitely have to change that. That being said I was viewing content previously recorded by BTV.

Tuners-
1 Haup 150 and 1 Haup 250, both connected to stb's via coax. Hardware below (sorry not updated to Sage)

The picture seems to be more liney (interlaced/de-interlaced I have no idea what I am talking about). That and the darkness.

Before I go any further I will do some test records with Sage with the Quality cranked up and will see what it looks like. This way I'm comparing apples to apples.

Thanks!!!

Soon to be Sage
BTV Server - BTV 4.7.1 | AMD 64 3500 | 2GB | Evga 7300gs not connected to anything (yet) | 2x 160 gb sata 3gbps RAID 0 | PVR 150 to DCT1800 STB | PVR 250 to DCT1800 STB | USBUIRT | XP Pro

BTV Link 1 - BTV Link 4.7.1 | XP-M 2500 @2.0ghz | 512mb | GF 6600 - fanless | 10 gig 2.5" HD | ASROCK K7S41GX | Silverstone Lascala LC02 | IR Keyboard/Mouse | XP-Home | BM + BTV | Harmony 880 using keyboard and firefly mini receiver.

BTV Link 2 - BTV Link 4.7.1 | Compaq R4125CA notebook

Naslite - 2x 250 gb | 2x 80 gb

[doc]

Well the first thing I'd change is to connect your stb's differently.

I used to use coax and it was awful. I now go from the scart on the back of the stb to the composite and audio connectors on the pvr cards. You can get a lead that has scart one end, and the composite/audio ends on, or a scart convertor. I use both.

I also have the recording quality set to BEST.

[Crashless]

You should be able to fix the 'darkness' by adjusting the brightness and contrast on your television set.

BUT, I would definitely change to at least composite cables to your STV first, s-video would be better too.

Then you might need to calibrate your tuner. There is an interface under Video Capture setup that allows you to adjust the picture as it is encoded to MPEG.

Those adjustments should fix your IQ problem.

There's no reason to go with the HD Extender if you're only looking at SD material. That is of course, as long as you don't REALLY want the animations. Which _are_ cool, but it sounds like you'll be fine without them.

[CyRex]

You could also try the Hauppauge Tweak Tool. Many people find that they can improve their recording quality by tweaking the settings of the tuner cards.

-Dan

Edit: Just wanted to add that you should probably only use this tool as a last resort, as it may do more harm than good. I don't think there is any reason you should have to use this tool to get a good picture with your setup.

[doc]

As crashless said you dont need to go for an hd extender. The PQ on the hauppauge MVP is far better than I managed using a 6600GT, and of course its silent, so you dont need a noisy pc next to the TV. Just avoid the wireless mvp.

The european mvp has a scart socket on it so you can use a standard scart lead to connect to the TV. The US/Australian ones I believe have composite and audio outs, so you can use the reverse of the convertor posted earlier to connect it to your tv.

The picture quality I get with the composite from the stb and the mvp is just as good as if I'm going straight from the stb to the tv.

[superporky]

I'm interested in the SCART connector. I'll do some tests with composite cables and will report back.
Thanks for the help!

[reggie14]

superporky,

If I'm understanding you correctly, you are saying that picture quality using TV-out on the 6600GT looks better than the MVP. For mpeg-2 video this should definitely not be the case- no matter how you're getting the TV signals to your capture cards and no matter what quality setting you're using. But, you said that you were watching shows previously recorded in BTV. Did you compress/transcode those to mpeg4 by any chance? The MVP can only play back mpeg2, so when playing back an mpeg4 file, Sage has to transcode it on the fly. It usually looks OK, but not great. Of course, a client PC doesn't have to transcode, so the picture quality would be better on a PC than the MVP when playing mpeg4 videos.

[superporky]

I 'believe' I tried some that were compressed to divx and some that were the standard recording format. Which I am 'pretty sure' is Mpeg2. I admit my testing to this point hasn't exactly been systematic, so over the holidays I'm going to setup some recordings with Sage and give it another go. I'm also going to test the client box side by side against the MVP to see if which one is better. It may turn out that the poorer quality is an assumed perception, and not reality (i.e. it’s different, so it must be worse). Besides the wife is coming on board, I mentioned that sage will automatically skip commercial breaks and she was immediately interested. No more having to reach for the remote, and push one button to skip the commercial break. If that makes us sound extremely lazy, that is OK. I can live with that.

[superporky]

FANTASTIC!!!!
The MVP looks great. It appears I was viewing content that was compressed to divx by BTV which looks crappy on a good day. I also suspect the Svid cable may have been loose. The Sage and BTV mpeg2 recordings all look fantastic. I've got SageMC installed with comskip and life is good. I tweaked the brightness on my TV for the MVP input and it rivals live TV. Even the wife approves!!! Now I just have to bring over my reoccurring recording schedule and I'm off. Thanks for the help.