RC2 Experiences

[turak]

Originally posted by tbpub2
How's the TV connected to the PC?

The video card (cheap radeon 9200) has composite tv out.

[Bubster]

Originally posted by turak
The freeze ups that I get on my client only happen with the RC's. When I roll it back to 2.0.15beta the problem goes away. To me this indicates that Frey does have some control over what I'm complaining about.

Yes, but for some people, the RCs are working better than ever, and this seems to be the problem. Whatever Frey do that makes it work better for some people, seems also to make it worse for others.

It's a bit like solving a huge Rubik's cube: you need to solve multiple things that are pushing against each other; in many cases, solving one of the issues will simply make another one worse. This happens all the time when writing for 3D hardware, so it seems highly likely that it will happen when writing AV software.

It is likely that you can produce something that will work on everyone's machine, but it may also be very difficult. I think this is what we're seeing currently with Sage. My feeling is that Frey are going to need a more rigorous testing/feedback system if they are to eliminate the problems for everyone. Even then, there may still be some configurations that are too problematic, but it would help greatly if they could identify such cases.

- Neil.

[tbpub2]

Originally posted by turak
The video card (cheap radeon 9200) has composite tv out.

I have tried SVideo and Composite out with a GEForce3 and 9700Pro and found the colors washed out and bland relative to the live TV signal, and only the MVP was able to provide good color (even to the point of being a little oversaturated).

My neighbor said even though these are expensive video cards they have crappy video outs. Can you not see this when you compare live TV in the TV vs. TV out from the PC? That's why I was so excited about the MVP; the picture actually looked good.

If your colors are actually good, what kind of TV do you have?

[turak]

Originally posted by Bubster
Yes, but for some people, the RCs are working better than ever, and this seems to be the problem. Whatever Frey do that makes it work better for some people, seems also to make it worse for others.

I agree, but I tend to make complaints hoping that someone else has had the same problem as me and figured out a fix for it. When I whine about performance I'm not trying to insult Jeff or Dan. I'm just trying to work out the issue with other users.

[turak]

Originally posted by tbpub2
I have tried SVideo and Composite out with a GEForce3 and 9700Pro and found the colors washed out and bland relative to the live TV signal, and only the MVP was able to provide good color (even to the point of being a little oversaturated).

My neighbor said even though these are expensive video cards they have crappy video outs. Can you not see this when you compare live TV in the TV vs. TV out from the PC? That's why I was so excited about the MVP; the picture actually looked good.

If your colors are actually good, what kind of TV do you have?

The color is pretty good on that tv. It's just a 27" Flat Screen Curtus Mathes. Nothing special. You can adjust the color settings of the encoder cards. You can tweak the color settings for the TV out on the video card. Out of the box, The pvr-250 v16's that I use now seem to have better color then the pvr-250 v15 that I used to use. I havn't tried the TV out on any of my nVidia cards. The radeon 9200 in my SageTV box actually has a composite jack on the card. No need for an adapter/dongle.

[tbpub2]

... You can tweak the color settings for the TV out on the video card. ... The radeon 9200 in my SageTV box actually has a composite jack on the card.

Yes, I tried adjusting the brightness/color settings with the 9700pro, which has an SVideo jack and comes with a dongle to run as Composite. I tried all the color settings, and it was just never very bright, and the colors were always dead and flat. You might think it was okay, but then you compared it to the live signal and it was not as vivid.

MVP on the other hand, can match signal of live TV. You're not see this? You can match your 9200 TV-out colors to exactly same as live TV? What color adjustments did you make in driver?

[Crowdx42]

Excuse my ignorance "MVP" ? I am presuming this is a hardware encoder box? For me the whole point to Sage is that I can watch live tv and watch recorded shows on the same machine.
The big difference for Tive, Replay etc is that they are specific hardware, NON configurable and very little expansion. Also everything I record can "if I want to" be burned easily to a dvd.
Sage is an excellent product and even though I have had some problems along the way with the beta's and in particular now the RC versions, I still think it is an awesome piece of software. Replay etc don't have the storage capicity in my opinion and not near the flexibility.
I have an XCard which does hardware decoding and it has great colors and sharpness compared to the defualt settings when a PVR 250 records a file, i.e. if I record a show with encoder color calibration at the defualt and then output from the Xcard it looks excellent, whereas on the ati tv out on the video card it looks washed out. I had to make a decision and decide that without OSD on the Xcard it was not the right choice at present and so I tweaked the color calibration on the PVR 250 cards, now I can flick between live tv and Sage and see VERY little difference.
I would still love to use the Xcard BUT at present the OSD is more important to me.
thpub2 if you want to only record shows and play them back on an "MVP" then SageRecorder is the option you should use.

Hauppauge MVP ? I would really think this uses the same decoder as the PVR 350. Something I would miss with the MVP solution is the show information, this is one of the invalualable parts I love with Sage. MVP would pretty much make Sage into a vcr. The better solution if you can get it working would be the PVR350 in a dedicated box.
Patrick

[Crowdx42]

Well guess what, I was doing some color calibration last night and I tried to calibrate the composite channel which it was recording, Sage locked up, retried several times and now it does the same as it did before, i.e. if it is recording on the composite in card it will give a recording conflict, no more hot swapping
Is there a setting in the properties that sets this?
Patrick

[kny3twalker]

I am getting no stuttering or slowdowns anywhere with Sonic or Hauppauge Intervideo. One thing to try is the decoders with DXVA disabled in each decoder to see if that helps. I often run Sonic with it off since I use it with TheaterTek along with ffdshow.

Well I have not had an pauses but the microstutter factor is definitely there for me
I have resolved to not use VMR 9 or 3D acceleration and the microstutter (well it is not really stuttering as much as choppy movements on screen that I do not see without VMR9 and #D accel) is gone

I will try out the mpeg audio decoder to see if it helps when using fastfoward and rewind but that is still a big issue

I guess right now I have a bigger one
trying to get some use out the client I got to run over wireless g?????????

I am beginning to think Frey should endorse the Xcard, you can get one for under 50 dollars and it does on monitor decoding, TV output decoding, and DVD decoding
that cheapier than a software decoder

[mlbdude]

I am beginning to think Frey should endorse the Xcard, you can get one for under 50 dollars and it does on monitor decoding, TV output decoding, and DVD decoding

Woah where can I get for for $50? I would buy it just to try at that point .

[kny3twalker]

I saw them on Ebay for that much
Real magic Xcard
it has been a while now
I think it was in january of the year

went to the website and saw them for a hundred

I did not look there before
most manufactures do not sell directly from there site or they are overpriced was my thought

and look on ebay and only saw hollywood plus decoders which are really cheap

[kny3twalker]

mlbdude did a little searching and here you are
http://www.provantage.com/buy-110SIG...s-shopping.htm
http://www.gigapc.com/index.asp?page...&product=70773
http://www.dealtime.com/xPO-Sigma_De...EALmagic_Xcard
http://price.ibuyernet.com/productpr..._VCR_49402.htm
http://www.epinions.com/Sigma_Design...cs_Cards_49402

and a nice review at toms hardware
http://www6.tomshardware.com/video/2.../sigma-01.html


buy.com has the best price of around 80 with free shipping

at ebay or most places you pay shipping so about 20 dollars off
sorry
-Robert

[stanger89]

Originally posted by tbpub2
I have tried SVideo and Composite out with a GEForce3 and 9700Pro and found the colors washed out and bland relative to the live TV signal, and only the MVP was able to provide good color (even to the point of being a little oversaturated).

My neighbor said even though these are expensive video cards they have crappy video outs. Can you not see this when you compare live TV in the TV vs. TV out from the PC? That's why I was so excited about the MVP; the picture actually looked good.

If your colors are actually good, what kind of TV do you have?

I get extremely good colors on my 36" HDTV via VGA, colors are also very good on the 46" Mits via the Component dongle (1080i). If the colors are good on the MVP then the files are probably good too. You say you've messed with the video card settings, was that the color settings or the Overlay settings. It could also have something to do with your decoder.

[tangfj]

I am getting pausing every minute or two on my client as well. It didn't happen on .15, but as soon as RC1 came out it started happening. Has anyone figured this out? Thanks.

[Crowdx42]

For me also I get stutters when I have the info up in overlay mode. Once I clear the info display all works smoothly. Does not do it in VMR9 mode but still get some tearing in VMR9.
Patrick

[turak]

Originally posted by tangfj
I am getting pausing every minute or two on my client as well. It didn't happen on .15, but as soon as RC1 came out it started happening. Has anyone figured this out? Thanks.

Do your pauses last for about 30 seconds? If so see this thread:
http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...&threadid=4893

[Chilli]

I seem to be lucky with both RC1 and RC2. Everything works sweet in both live TV and record/playback. OSD works too without any stutter/pixelation. The only complaint is that the PC slows down alot when Sage is recording something - it still seems to be a memory hog despite the RC memory optimizations. I'm using the default Intervideo decoders in VMR9 mode.

SageTV RC2
Athlon XP 2400+
512MB PC 2100 Spectek Memory
A7N-266VM/AA with nforce chipset
Radeon 7200 Video Card
PVR 350 (Hauppauge driver 1.17.390.21283)
40GB + 80GB drives
USB-UIRT transceiver
XP SP1 all updates

[Crowdx42]

Chilli,
are you using the OSD on the PVR 350? I have the same motherboard as you have and it really seems once of the best out there, I am considering the purchase of the 350. Do you have any advice?
Patrick

[Chilli]

Yes, I'm using the 350 OSD. My only gripe now is that the OSD doesn't come on until you've played a recording/live TV. I've set the video background to 'Always On', and this used to initialize the OSD when I take Sage out of sleep. But I'm sure it's a minor bug that Narflex could easily crush

I'd say go for it if DVD playback and HDTV are not on your sights.

[Crowdx42]

Cool,, sounds so much like I have been lucky in chosing this motherboard, I too have had very few problems with this board, had more problems with a newer nForce2 board. I know with my present setup, the background video does not display until I watch a show, then it plays on whatever show I watch, so if this is what you are describing, it works the same with video out from a Ati Vivo 64 card.
You are a godsend, have been looking to see if my config would work with a 350 and you have near identical board and cpu to myself and so I am now much more confident about a purchase of a 350.
For DVDs and Divx playback I already have an Xcard which does an excellent job. It could also be used for HDTV but I have no current plans for that.
BTW why do you use the intervideo codecs? Do you not do all your viewing with the 350?
Thanks again
Patrick