PQ with FFDSHOW for Live TV or Playback

[DKT]

This is my first ever post to a Forum.

Thanks to this forum, I have SageTV working with FFDSHOW. My system has an old motherboard, and I'm thinking of upgrading. I have limited CPU to do much FFDSHOW processing.

My question - is there a significant increase of PQ using FFDSHOW on recorded analog cable TV? If I upgrade I was thinking of getting Powerstrip, probably the Crescendo transcoder (card) and do some resizing with FFDSHOW, but if the original signal isn't very good, I'm not sure the additional expense will produce a much better PQ. I have a PV250 and the replay PQ now is very close to the original signal, but it is analog. I have a Mitsubishi 55" 16:9 HDTV.

I am very pleased with the PQ of DVD playback using FFDSHOW, but haven't seen any posting on what can be done on recorded TV. Right now just using S Video, but even with that and some denoise and sharpening, the PQ of DVD's is very good.

[stanger89]

Regardless of ffdshow, going from S-Video to component-HD will give you a big boost in PQ.

And FWIW, you shouldn't need a transcoder with that TV, it should have an RGBHV (5 RCAs) input, so all you should need is a breakout cable, and probably powerstrip if you want to run > 640x480.

[DKT]

Thanks. If I understand this right, I think I need the transcoder to get from my Nvidia video card (MX 440), which only has VGA and S Video out, into the HDTV.

But I may not understand what a breakout cable is.

EDIT
I did a Google search on breakout cable and now understand. I have an older HDTV and think that it only has the 3 component inputs, but will check this evening.

My basic question is can FFDSHOW produce a higher quality picture than the original signal?

[stanger89]

On the connection, we've got a WT-46809, and it has an RGBHV input, not sure when Mits added it though.

And FWIW, instead of a transcoder, I'd just get a new video card, it will cost about the same amount, (maybe slightly more) but you'll get a better picture.

You could get a Radeon 9800 Pro for $165:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-369&depa=0
Then get the component dongle:
http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2537967

As for ffdshow, yes it can help, there are denoise and sharpening filters that can reduce noise and softness. How much will it help, not sure.

[kny3twalker]

that price on the 9600 PRO is out of line
you should be able to find a 9600XT for about 140

I paid less than that(150) in January for my 9600XT

[DKT]

I checked the TV last night and it does have the RGBHV (5 RCAs) input. Thanks, I'll order the breakout cable today.

From reading this forum and others, I was under the impression that Nvidia cards were the preferred video cards, with the "must have" being the new 6600.

[stanger89]

I'd tend to agree, the 6800 is the current "must have", but the 6600s are looking very promising, especially for the money.

FWIW, Joe Kane (of DVE fame) uses an FX 5950 to show off stuff. Right now I think the 5900XT is the best value (~$200).

[DKT]

I have been reading over at the AVS forum and they describe a problem that I am having with live TV and TV playback. They refer to "greasy" or "floating" skin tones. I believe my problem is similar to this. I was watching the Ryder cup this weekend and when the golfers were shown walking up the fairway the stripes on their shirts were being dragged up and down. Their facial expressions were also being dragged.

I tried different recording qualities to see what impact this had but didn't seem to affect it either way.

In the AVS Forum, denoise3d was blamed, but so were the Sonic decoders.

I don't use denoise3d as on my machine this seems to worsen the problem.

I am using the Sonic decoders, but tried the Intervideo decoders without Ffdshow and the problem still exists.

Sometimes it seems worse than others. I think it might be related to my processor speed as I have an AMD XP 2000+ which is at 70% load when using Ffdshow to sharpen.

Has anyone else experienced these problems, and if so, any solution?

[kny3twalker]

Yeah I can just turn on ffdshow in SageTV(setting it as the decoder) and the CPU usage is like 50 or 60% with no boxes checked
ffdshow seems impractical without an extremely fast machine with SageTV
I used sharpen and denoise and CPU usage made it hard to navigate the menu system