Quality issues with PVR-500's

[White94Cobra]

I have two PVR-500's and one PVR-USB2. The video from the USB2 is via sat. and looks great. I'm having issues with the PVR-500's though. Has anyone seen a problem with the video looking like it has cross hatches over the entire screen? It doesn't happen all of the time, but when it does it ruins the show. I upgraded from three PVR-250's and did not have any problems with video quality on those. I'm using the same source and cables as I did with the 250's (cable split 2 ways with a Rat Shack gold series 4-way splitter - I also tried a 2-way splitter and the issues remained).

I'm also experiencing a problem where the top third of the screen goes haywire on certain scenes. The top third starts flashing rapidly and almost looks like it looses sync. It mainly appears on Fox during the commercials for American Idol or 24. It seems to mainly happen when the top portion of the screen is very bright and the lower portion of the screen is darker. Again, I did not have this issue with any of the PVR-250's.

I'm beginning to wonder if I have a defective PVR-500. Has anyone with a PVR-500 noticed similar issues? Thanks.

[kendryk]

hey White94cobra,

I seem to have similar issues. on the 500 card I have, I get what I call a barbershop effect. strange vertical lines, that look sometimes like an old barbershop pole.

I am still trying to find out the strange image quirk, but so far it only happens during live tv.

I can start watching a show, basically live, and have similar distortions.

BUT if I record a show like "American Idol" and let it go for a few minutes, then open up the file for viewing... it looks perfect.

I get this behaviour using VMR9 with Sage/Intervideo/Nvidea decoders.

I am wondering if the same thing happens to you? can you set something to record then open it up a few minutes later and get better picture quality?

[White94Cobra]

My video quality issues appear to be in the actual recorded file. I get the same results playing them back on different PCs with different decoders. I'm going to start documenting which tuner shows were recorded on to see if it is one card or both.

[mkelly4ca]

I'm having the same problem with my new PVR-500. Did you find a solution?

[White94Cobra]

Unfortunately, no. The crosshatch issue mainly appears on one channel, so I try to avoid recording that channel with the PVR-500's.

The brightness issue has become very annoying. Anytime something in the top 1/3 of the screen is brighter than the bottom portion of the screen (like a stadium shot during a daytime football game), or sunlight coming through a window, the top portion of the screen goes crazy and flickers and flashes. I will be replacing the PVR-500's as soon as a new dual-tuner card comes out with good reviews.

Linked below are two small mpeg samples. The top portion of the screen flashes and flickers. The first example shows a minimal example and the second example shows a moderate example of when it happens. And before you ask, this is not my kind of show. My wife just happened to complain about it when she watched it so I knew it had the problem.

http://207.55.226.58/samples/brightnesssample.zip

http://207.55.226.58/samples/brightnesssample2.zip

[Wheemer]

Have you guys contacted hauppauge about these issues?

[mkelly4ca]

I haven't seen the brightness thing you're seeing, although I haven't been using the card very long. That looks like a bad card to me.

Is this the "crosshatching" you've been seeing?



It may seem subtle here, but it's a lot more noticeable when watching a show. I see it on both tuners, on every channel, in every show. It's more noticeable in some shows than in others, but if you look for it you can find it in every recording.

I see it on my computer, watching through Sage with the NVidia decoder, on my computer watching it with Windows Media Player, and most importantly on my TV watching through an MVP.

I suspect it's compression artifacts, which makes me think there may be some magic settings that will significantly reduce or eliminate them.

The picture above is part of the screen - here's the whole picture: http://www.mike-kelly.us/crosshatch.jpg

And here's the picture with some lines drawn on top to indicate what I'm talking about: http://www.mike-kelly.us/crosshatchEnhanced.jpg

I'm sending this to Hauppauge. If I get a solution I'll post it here. I fear the only solution though is to trash the 500 and get a couple 250's or USB2's.

Mike.

[mkelly4ca]

FYI, this is Hauppauge's response. I plan to try it this weekend.


Although it will support only one tuner, for a test, install the PVR 150 driver update:
http://hauppauge.lightpath.net/softw...0_22_23257.exe

WinTV 2000 application:
http://hauppauge.lightpath.net/softw...k_47_23045.exe

and MPEG decoders:
http://hauppauge.lightpath.net/softw...r/hcwsmd05.exe

See if the same problem occurs in the WinTV 2000 application as well, which if this is the case, would indicate a hardware issue with the board.

[aperry]

I have been having problems with cross-hatching with my PVR-500's since I got them over a year ago. I assumed it was my cable system, but now that I see this, I'm thinking that perhaps it may be the PVR-500 cards.

I'm going to grab the files that were mentioned, install them and see if there's any improvement.

One weird thing I've noticed is that the cross-hatching is not universal. That is, if I record channel X with a given encoder, and then with a different encoder, one may have the cross-hatching and the other won't.

[mkelly4ca]

For me the crosshatching varies from very noticeable to imperceptible to normal human beings (I can always find it if I look hard enough). I've seen it on both tuners and on every channel.

I broke down and bought a USB2 last weekend. Works great, no quality issues. And of course easier to install than the PCI card, and no worries about adding another heat source inside my computer case. If only the price per tuner wasn't double that of the 500...

[AWS]

I have the same crosshatching problem on my PVR-350s. So I guess it's not just the 500s. I just always thought the crosshatching was some soft of interference / cross talk across the cables (picking up interference in the PC, in the splitter, in the walls, etc).

For those of us with this problem, does anyone have a signal booster being used *after* the splitter to see if for some reason the splitter is causing signal loss? I haven't tried removing the splitter from my setup because I've tacked it all down and to move the entertainment center cabinet would require a Herculean effort.

I am already using the Hauppauge driver update package. I also have these PVRs in a brand new HTPC - fresh build, new other hardware. So it wasn't a "machine-specific" problem.

[White94Cobra]

Hmm... for me, the crosshatch issue is only on one channel (CBS). If I watch the channel live, it looks fine. I have removed it from my cable lineup so that CBS only records on my PVR-USB2 (via DirecTV). Let me know what you guys find on switching the drivers.

[Polypro]

I just upgraded my drivers to hauppauge's latest for the 500, and notice this too. I'm going to try reverting back because I don't recall seeing this with the March release drivers. I'd be interested in a solution also, for the current drivers.

P

[mdmint]

Originally Posted by AWS

does anyone have a signal booster being used *after* the splitter to see if for some reason the splitter is causing signal loss?

ALL splitters cause signal loss, it's just their nature. The signal is split and hence signal strength is also split. Quality splitters less signal loss and cleaner output signal than cheap splitters. Personally I'd never use a splitter from Radio Shack! That includes a signal loss is also caused by the internal 500 splitter if inputing coax.

[coolpup32]

I have a similar problem, 1 500 in my sage box... Mine seems to happen when the screen is mostly white. The worst i've seen was a cingular commercial with a totally white background and one of their new phones in the center. Anyway! My symptoms are much like yours "White94Cobra" but much much more obvious. I even get audio distortion. The video is horizonal black lines mostly.. the only way i can explain it is much like watching a vhs tape that had been eaten in the past and you're trying to watch it. I too have a splitter, I have not had a chance to remove it yet i will do so asap and keep you up to date.

[AWS]

I had crosshatch on LOST last night for the first 12 minutes. I was watching it "live". Then it went away.

[Polypro]

What is everyone's Sharpness set at? Lowered mine from 170 to 100 and it seemed to help.

P

[AWS]

You knocked yours down to 100? I had to bump mine up to 200. But that is also my TV's fault since my TV basically sucks.

[mkelly4ca]

My crosshatching never goes away, and it doesn't matter if it's live or not. My sharpness is at the default 63 - I played with it a while ago and it didn't make a difference that I could see.

[Polypro]

Originally Posted by Polypro

What is everyone's Sharpness set at? Lowered mine from 170 to 100 and it seemed to help.

P

False Alarm...they're still there. Black scenes and right at a scene changes make it more noticeble for me. Think I'll drop back to thr .2053 drivers.

P