Thin blue bar at bottom of recordings

mattporco · #1 03-08-2006, 10:38 PM

Running SageTV 4.1.3 with a PVR-150 and PVR-350 connected to two DirecTV D10 receivers via S-video/composite audio.

I'm getting small think blue bar across the bottom of every recording. It shows up on all recordings regardless of where I play them back and it's definitely on the recordings because when I play back the .MPG files through Windows Media Player it still shows up.

Anyone have any ideas how to get rid of this thing?

Opus4 · #2 03-09-2006, 12:13 AM

How thin a line? Does the same svideo output show the bar when the cable is connected to the TV instead? I'm just guessing, but if it is quite thin & not visible on the TV via a direct connection to the box, maybe it is in the overscan area of the video & you can try adjusting the Aspect Ratio Settings in the Detailed Setup -> Multimedia section.

- Andy

mattporco · #3 03-09-2006, 06:01 PM

Would the overscan settings actually affect the recordings themselves, or just the playback of the recordings? The thin blue bar is actually recorded right along with the video in the .MPG file, and it shows up even when I play back the .MPG file using a non-Sage player like Win Media Player.

Regardless, I tried all of the aspect ratio modes and the thin blue bar remains on all. Also tried setting the vert offset in the aspect ratio settings to -10 and +10 to no help. Also tried changing the vert stretch to no help.

One thing I noticed is that the blue bar is present even when I'm changing channels and the receiver is tuning and is showing just a black screen. It's almost like it's interference or something.

Any other ideas? Thanks

Opus4 · #4 03-09-2006, 06:17 PM

The overscan settings are for playback only; they don't affect the recording. I'm familiar with CC data in the overscan area at the top, but I don't know anything about such a blue line (thus my comment that I was just guessing, above).

But: changing the Aspcet Ratio Settings didn't remove or affect the blue line at all? Is the blue line really in the recording -- does it show up if you play the file on a different computer? What about if you use a different decoder or renderer on the same computer?

- Andy

mattporco · #5 03-09-2006, 07:35 PM

The blue line shows up if I play a recording on any computer with any player (NVDVD, Media Player, Sage, etc.)

Wheemer · #6 03-09-2006, 10:18 PM

it's probablt put there by your DTV receivers... My SA stb has a thick black bar on the right using any one of the 4 I have.

You can't get rid of it in the recording. You need to adjust the overscan settings so you don't see it with Sage... For other players or with sage in a window, you will not be able to stop it from playing back.

My 2 cents.

mike1961 · #7 03-10-2006, 06:05 AM

Very strange - I can't get rid of it even when I set the overscan settings. I also believe it is from DTV but how can we get rid of it if the overscan is not working?

Mike

Wheemer · #8 03-10-2006, 09:11 AM

The overscan setting in your display adapters driver is what I'm refering to... You can definately zoom in so that that blue bar goes off screen.

ke6guj · #9 03-10-2006, 12:10 PM

"overscan" in Sage controls the UI, what you need to tweek is the "aspect ratio" settings.

mike1961 · #10 03-11-2006, 12:36 AM

Okay - it seems like I can adjust it in Sage but I'm not sure if you have used Nero Showtime and how to adjust it in that. (edited: never mind: I see Nero Recode allows you to crop it out when making mp4 files).

Thanks,
Mike

springgrove1 · #11 03-12-2006, 01:12 AM

I'm running Sage TV 4.13 and a Direct TV Huges D10 and a PVR 150 S-video setup like yours. I had the same blue line.

I set the TV (PC video driver ATI) to max overscan. I then went into sage and pulled the TV screen back in (Advanced, Video). No more line on TV normal output or recorded playback. Haven't played a recording back in Windows Media Player.

Thought it might ease your mind knowing your not the only one.

mike1961 · #12 03-12-2006, 02:22 AM

Spring - I fixed it all too - I just set the aspect ratio settings. It's no problem in another player if I compress it to mp4 because I can crop it out.

Mike

gndprx · #13 08-08-2006, 12:51 PM

Okay, I have the same line

Sage 5, D10-100, serial control, svideo out from a PNY 6200 component out.

It's there on live and recorded shows. Any channel.

It also shows in both full screen and window, so it's definately being generated by sage or the rendering.

Has anyone discovered what is the actual cause of this yet? I don't want to start messing with the overscan since I had a really hard time getting a good resolution on my 50H82.

Thanks!

blade · #14 08-08-2006, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gndprx

Okay, I have the same line

Sage 5, D10-100, serial control, svideo out from a PNY 6200 component out.

It's there on live and recorded shows. Any channel.

It also shows in both full screen and window, so it's definately being generated by sage or the rendering.

Has anyone discovered what is the actual cause of this yet? I don't want to start messing with the overscan since I had a really hard time getting a good resolution on my 50H82.

Thanks!

The above discussion is in disagreement with your conclusion. When you run your STB directly into the TV 4-6% of the video is going to be cutoff the screen due to overscan. So if the previous posters are correct, the blue line is always present. You just can't see it with the STB connected directly to the TV because it's in the overscanned area.

I've seen various artifacts at the top, bottom, left and right side of analog cable when the overscan was set too low. It's pretty common for an edge of a video feed to have some sort of artifacts that typically isn't viewable.

mattporco · #15 08-08-2006, 03:21 PM

My problem went away when I switched from DirecTV to Verizon FIOS. I think it is a problem specifically with the D10 receivers. I ended up just using overscan to work around the problem. I never actually found a solution. Good luck!

AngelofDeth · #16 08-08-2006, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattporco

My problem went away when I switched from DirecTV to Verizon FIOS. I think it is a problem specifically with the D10 receivers. I ended up just using overscan to work around the problem. I never actually found a solution. Good luck!

It's not specific to the D10. I don't have a D10, but see the same thing when playing captured videos on a PC media player.

Wheemer · #17 08-08-2006, 04:50 PM

it would be nice if sage was able to apply a standard cropping to get rid of this problem.

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