Thinking about buying + Line of flashing artifacts at top of screen?

[TabsAZ]

Hi everyone,

I just bought an ATI 650 Pro card last night and I'm trying to decide which 3rd party media center to get. (the ATI thing that came with the card is complete junk) I've got it narrowed down to SageTV vs. BeyondTV I think but I'm having a strange issue with Sage right now:

On some of my channels, there's this line of flashing pixel type artifacts at the very top of the screen image. The thing is, it's not there on the same channels in Beyond TV... I'm using the Nvidia Purevideo decoder. (system is an Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 2GB, GeForce 7800GTX 256MB, twin Samsung 19" CRT's)

Any general comments on which program I should go with? I do like BeyondTV's GUI a lot more than SageTV's (it's just a lot more streamlined and easier to navigate I think), but it seems to use up a lot more resources. I have a dual monitor system and when I put BeyondTV on the 2nd monitor, my mouse pointer gets all slow, web pages scroll slow etc on the other monitor. SageTV doesn't do this, which I like...

I'm just using this on my PC by the way, don't have it connected to a TV, no remote etc.

Any ideas on the artifact issue and on which program I should get?

Thanks,
Ryan

[blade]

Sounds like you're seeing the closed caption data. You just need to increase the vertical stretch. This is covered on page 165 of the manual. It has to be set individually for each aspect ratio.

Btw you can customize the menus in Sage and there is another STV for Sage that looks more like MCE. STVs are sort of like another skin for Sage, but can also include additional features.

[TabsAZ]

I see parental controls on page 165 - we have the same manual?

[blade]

Originally Posted by TabsAZ

I see parental controls on page 165 - we have the same manual?

Sorry I was looking at the v6 beta manual.

Not sure what page it is in v5, but it describes doing the same thing jds said just through different menus to get there.

[Opus4]

The controls for this are found in Setup -> Detailed Setup -> Multimedia -> Aspect Ratio Settings. You can adjust the size & placement of the video to push the top portion of the video off the screen. (p. 169-170 in the v5 manaul.)

- Andy

[TabsAZ]

Thanks guys - that did it on the artifact issue...

How would I go about checking out this SageMC STV thing? Does it have a better looking program guide and the ability to compress the recordings and skip commercials like BTV does? Those are the things I really like about it vs Sage right now - it just feels more polished. I realize it doesn't have a bunch of esoteric customization ability etc, but I'm not sure that's even what I'm looking for.

EDIT:

You know, something else I just realized too. I'm gonna be buying Vista Home Premium in January, which has the Windows Media Center app built in. Is Sage gonna be worth having over that for someone who's just doing basic PVR stuff on a single system?

[TabsAZ]

Guys I got SageMC installed but I'm finding it really hard to navigate now without the mouse icons there - they're on in the settings menu but nothing shows up on the screen. Is this designed to work only with a remote or something?

[rickgillyon]

Do youself a favour and go back to the default STV, IME it's far more functional. You need to know the software before deciding it doesn't do the job!

[blade]

Originally Posted by TabsAZ

Guys I got SageMC installed but I'm finding it really hard to navigate now without the mouse icons there - they're on in the settings menu but nothing shows up on the screen. Is this designed to work only with a remote or something?

SageMC is designed to be used with a remote so it doesn't have all the mouse icons. I agree with rickgillyon about using the default stv while trying out Sage, but it's still worth taking a look at so you know what the alternative "skins" look like for Sage.

Also the default Sage STV can do commercial skipping. You just have to install the comskip stvi import and setup dirmon2 and comskip or showanalyzer to process the files.

The v6 beta of Sage has built in compression, but right now it's only single pass and the quality isn't good enough IMO. It's best suited for converting shows for playback on smaller screen and portable devices. Hopefully Sage will provide better options so it's more useful for use on larger screens.

[TabsAZ]

Thanks for the help... I figured out the keyboard shortcuts, SageMC is pretty nice, I agree.

I'm almost thinking what I should just do now though is buy an XP MCE 2005 CD - it's around the same price as Sage or BTV and it'll be a real easy transfer over to the Vista version in January. I just can't see buying Vista and then not using the MC feature, especially when other things are copying its interface etc...

Does this sound like it makes sense? I don't see myself using any of the more advanced features in Sage like Placeshifting and I don't like the fact that BTV makes you pay a bunch more for the DVD, Music etc players. Maybe I should just use the GB-PVR free thing until Vista's out?

[rickgillyon]

I'm not sure that this is the best place for such a query. This is a Sage forum and most people here have already been through the process you're going through and have chosen Sage. You'll probably get better up-to-date responses on a general HTPC forum rather than one dedicated to one of the solutions. I'm not saying you should clear off, just that if you wanted a new car, you wouldn't go to a single dealership and ask their opinion on all their competitors...

[mayamaniac]

I think we can help him out since he clearly presented what he wanted.

TabsAZ, I started out kinda like you. I bought a TV tuner years ago and found out the software that came with it is crap. I went online and started looking for alternative softwares. I settled on BeyondTV because of its simple interface. At the time thats what I wanted, something simple. But as I started using the product more, I wanted more functionality that BTV lacks. At the same time BTV increased their prices which made it less attractive choice. I ended trying SageTV and found out its a better product and has a great community in this forum.

Anyway, I think if you want just basic recording and watching TV, then any of the three softwares you are considering will work (SageTV, BTV, MCE2005). They all do the job well. Once your needs become more advance with things like commercial skipping, video compressions, placeshifter, media extenders, etc, you'll find that SageTV stands alone in terms of features, stability, and cost. This is why people chose SageTV over BTV and MCE.

As for SageTV's look, yes its not the most attractive among the three, but its very functional. BTV has a simpler interface because most of the advanced settings are hidden in the web interface, and it doesn't have DVD, Music, and Photos support, they have a separate software for that (Beyond Media).

I think you should get the software that works best with the hardware you have. If the decision is between BTV and MCE, I would suggest you choose MCE. If SageTV runs smoothly without issues with your hardware, I suggest to get SageTV.

[blade]

People are trying to copy MCE's interface because they like the way it looks. I like a nice interface, but functionality matters more to me than looks.

Sage is the only PVR software I've used, but I've always heard (even from many MCE users) that Sage is the best as far as the PVR functions go. Also I don't see why anyone would restrict themselves to using a PVR app to a single computer when low cost extenders are available that allow viewing on a TV. Sage's distribution abilities was the selling point for me.

As rickgillyon said, this is a Sage forum. The people here have either never ran other PVRs or they've tried them and settled on Sage. So the majority of people are probably going to tell you Sage. Just like if you went to an MCE or BTV forum they'd probably tell you their product.

[TabsAZ]

Ok thanks guys!