Leave my video signal alone!!

[domc]

Is there a capture card that just leaves the video signal alone? In other words, just pass the already compressed signal from my Dishnetwork box to my video card to my SDTV (standard television)? I'm been fooling around with SageTV for about two weeks now and it's running great. No compaints and I'll be sticking with it. The only problem I've had was with picture quality which is a common problem by the threads on this message board. I've got it to an exceptable point (picture quality) but it's not the best.
I've tried all the suggestions possible that I can find including running TvTool, Purevideo, graphedit, manual changes in regedit, and more.

From what I gather, my pvr-150 card is compressing the already compressed (mpeg) signal from Dishnetwork. Is there such a capture card that just passes the signal through the card onto my computer without any funny stuff? Any settings in the pvr-150 (or another card) that can do this? Would upgrading my TV to an HDTV or LCD or any of the newer TV's be a better idea? Would getting analog cableTV be any better?

SageTV is great and I'm sticking with it. I believe the problems I've had were not with SageTV but with Hauppage. The box is for fulltime viewing on TV with no gaming at all or even planned.

I guess this is more of a comment than a question.

[gplasky]

What setting do you have your record quality set to? That affects how your picture looks. Live TV or Recordings. (Because technically they are all recordings.)

Gerry

[heffe2001]

Originally Posted by domc

From what I gather, my pvr-150 card is compressing the already compressed (mpeg) signal from Dishnetwork. Is there such a capture card that just passes the signal through the card onto my computer without any funny stuff? Any settings in the pvr-150 (or another card) that can do this? Would upgrading my TV to an HDTV or LCD or any of the newer TV's be a better idea? Would getting analog cableTV be any better?

Actually, the 150 isn't recompressing a mpeg signal, since the dish box decompresses the mpeg signal into a standard TV signal. The 150 then compresses that uncompressed signal. If you were on a regular cable system, using any of the digital cable boxes, you'd be doing the same. If you were to use a HD cable box that has firewire output, you can capture those transport streams directly, and they'll play fine in sage (just can't comskip them at the moment). I am currently using cable, 2 digital boxes going to 2 Leadtek PVR2000 boards, one analog cable going to a Adaptec VideOh DVD card, one Motorola cable box via firewire, and I've gotten 2 150's to replace the cards that have gone bad over the past few months (the PVR250 & one of the PVR2000's, both were in my Sage recorder box, think that PC killed them ).

[SHS]

What kind funny stuff are you seeing?

[blade]

Originally Posted by domc

video card to my SDTV (standard television)

Assuming you're using a decent capture rate (around 3 gig/hr) IMO it's more likely that the problem is with the playback instead of the capturing. Video cards tend to have very bad SDTV output. My 6600GT looks awful when doing 480i. It looks great when doing 720p or 1080i.

A little more info such as which video card you're using, decoder and settings, vmr 9 or overlay, and the type of artifacts in the recordings that you're seeing might help people give more accurate suggestions.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by domc

I've tried all the suggestions possible that I can find including running TvTool, Purevideo, graphedit, manual changes in regedit, and more.

Have you tried this:
http://users.mcleodusa.net/r/ratpac/..._contrast.html

[domc]

Originally Posted by SHS

What kind funny stuff are you seeing?

Well lets see If I can explain. I would say that it is mainly sharpness of the picture. I get like pixels moving over someones face (watching a reporter on CNN). Shifting pixel movement or something. When you look at a logo from a cable channel in the right hand corner, the edges of the logo are not sharp. There is a 2-4 pixel border around the logo and very faint looking. Just enough to effect the sharpness of the logo. Like a halo or something.

Computer specs are below signature.

Video setup in Sagetv:
Video Renderer: VMR9
Mpeg2 Video decoder filter: Nvidia Purevideo
DXVA Mpeg Mode: C
DXVA deinterlacing: Bob and Weave
Dscaler Deinterlacing: Disabled (can't change)

Setup Video Sources in Sage/Callibration to:

Brightness: 113
Contrast: 113
Saturation: 162
Hue: 128
Sharpness: 255 (any lower and it makes if worse)
Recording Quality is set to: DVD Standard Play

TV settings are set to Neutral.

Used DECCHECK..System is using Nvidia Purevideo Decoder
Used Hauppage Tweaker: Set temporal Filter (blur) to 0
Static Spatial filter to 0
Registry settings were checked to make sure it was changed.
Using SVideo out and into the computer.
Using 640x480 Resolution in Windows XP.
Tried FFdshow/Dscaler setup. Once it's set, it locks up sagetv.
Tried TVTOOL and had no effect.

I'm a little confused on Interlacing. For only TV Viewing, should it be interlaced or deinterlaced?

Does windows resolution effect TV picture on a standard 27inch tv? Seems to not.

Should I be fooling around with the settings of the video card out settings? I've tried sharpening and contrast setting and nothing fixes it. It's geforce 5500. I end up going back to default settings because picture is best.

Can't figure out if it's a capture card problem or a video card problem. If I new, maybe I can work out the situation better.

I can't access the properties page of Purevideo driver when a video in sage is playing. The icon shows in the tray and when accessing properties, nothing happens. Is there another way to change the settings. I had GBPVR running at one time and could access it from there setup page. Didn't like GBPVR as much as SageTV which I did purchase.

Don't get me wrong, I love SageTV and so does the wife, so we'll be sticking with it. Later.....

[stanger89]

Do a PrintScreen and post the picture.

What you describe sort of sounds like riging, which the Sharpness control would cause.

[domc]

Just a follow up... I finally (after 6 weeks) fixed my problem and hopefully maybe it can help others or save them time.

I downloaded Christweak (http://www.chris-pc.com/tweak/index.html). Works with ATI and Hauppauge I think.

I changed two settings, temporal filter to 0 and changed the resolution under WINTV section in Christweak to 640x480 (I believe this may have been the problem).

I've known about these two settings and have tried other programs to change them but they didn't work or stick. I've even tried doing it to the registry by hand. They didn't stick. I get no more blur, dot crawl, or pixelation.

I'm happy now and so is the wife..

[ben_95sl1]

agreed: the temporal blur looked horrible the first time i started recording with my pvr150. using graphedit and the reg setting for it to stick worked for me. the other major issue was the sound volume; they seemed to have slightly addressed it in new drivers, but I've read that the old drivers with the tweak program is better. A friend bought the pvr150 recently and after using the current drivers, had corrupted recordings....switched back to the old driver with adjustable line in volume and not a hitch?!?! it might depend on which driver you're using from hauppauge whether some settings stick/work or not. I did it almost a year ago and have had no problems with the driver and hence refuse to update it.