Dartk image in SageTV

[Renegade]

Downloaded the trial and installed it. When viewing live TV in SageTV the image is really dark. I did a search in the forum and found a couple of posts about the same thing. Unfortunately, none of the suggestions seem to fix my problem. While viewing TV in the included WinTV 2k app, the image is fine.

Using a PVR-250 and a REALLY old Viper 550 video card. I've cranked the brightness and contrast up and can watch it. But the image is definitely nothing to look at.

Looking for a new video card to replace the existing one, but want to make sure it will correct my problem. Any help would be appreciated.

[malore]

What were the suggestions that didn't work?

[Renegade]

The ones that come to mind were:

Check the source (the cable connection) As the image doesn't seem to have problems in WinTV I didn't think this would help.

Increase the contrast/brightness. I did this so I can at least watch it, but the image is anything but good.

Verify the overlay controls for the video card. I didn't see any, not surprising considering the age of the card. Or I could have overlooked something.

I remember another one about changing some of the "Advanced Setup" options in SageTV. Can't remember exactly what they were at the moment.

I also played around with the different codecs that are listed, none seemed to really work better than the others. If there is anything else you need let me know.

[mlbdude]

That sounds like the overlay brightness is set too low. Have you tried VMR?

[Renegade]

Thanks for the suggestion, switching it to VMR fixed the brightness problem.

For some reason now the performance is awful though. The CPU spikes to 100% and the video is really jerky and out of sync with the audio. I'm guessing this is due to the old video card in the system. I was planning on replacing it anyway, but was hoping to wait a bit.

[dkardatzke]

Renegade,

Are you using the recent beta version or 1.3.8? If it's a beta, please send your log file to support@freytechnologies.com and specify the 100% CPU issue so we can take a look.

Thanks.

[Renegade]

No it's not a beta version, just 1.3.8 according the system info screen. I'd be happy to try out one of the beta exe's if it would make a difference.

[Renegade]

OK, out of curiosity I downloaded the latest beta and it didn't seem to make any difference when using VMR. I played around with the Video Proc Amp settings and have a picture that's ok. It looks a lot better using VMR though. Is there anything else I can do?

My trial is set to run out tomorrow and I'd really like to get everything working before picking up a video card and buying the software if possible.

[wanderer]

I suggest that you download ZoomPlayer. It has controls in it that can allow you to set your overlay colour controls - even if your drivers don't allow you to do so. You can setup your overlay controls to look good via ZoomPlayer, then close that and start SageTV. The settings should stick and SageTV should look OK now.

It sounds like your 100% CPU problem may be related to the age of your card and the use of VMR, as thats a DirectX9 thing. If you go back to standard overlay (rather than VMR) does that drop your CPU usage?

[Renegade]

I'll see if I can download ZoomPlayer and get the settings closer.

Yeah, as soon as I turn off VMR the CPU usage goes back down. I figured it was the video card, guess I'll be replacing it sooner than I was planning on. Oh well... thanx for all the help.