HDTV / SDTV and SageTV

[Ken C]

A question to those out there who are using SageTV to watch HDTV. How much better is the HD pq compared to SD (or analog) ?

Finally got the MyHD card working with SageTV, (thank you, salsbst) but the pq is not that much better. Now, the MyHD card has it's own video output and using that provides much better pq. But, that's a separate video input to the TV and requires the use of the MyHD software rather than SageTV, the MyHD software is not the best.

Ken C

[blade]

What video card and decoder are you using?

[stanger89]

I find the "software" decoded HD (6800 + nVidia decoders) to be better than the MyHD's output.

So...

What Video Card?
What Decoder?
How is the PC connected to the TV?
What resolution are you running?

[Ken C]

Originally Posted by blade

What video card and decoder are you using?

Sapphire ATI X1600 and nVidia Purevideo Component input at 1776 x 1000 resolution

The SageTV 'analog' pq is comparable to straight-in cable. In fact, "she-who-must-be-obeyed" has commented on how close the two are. The HD pq is slightly better but nothing like what comes out of the MyHD card. Maybe I'm expecting too much ?

Ken C

[Ken C]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I find the "software" decoded HD (6800 + nVidia decoders) to be better than the MyHD's output.

So...

What Video Card?
What Decoder?
How is the PC connected to the TV?
What resolution are you running?

Well, maybe it's time to move to the nVidia video card camp. What's the current favorite nVidia card ?

Ken C

[corykim]

I wouldn't immediately blame the video card. I'm running Placeshifter on my Macbook Pro, which has a lowly ATI Mobility x1600, and the PQ is very respectable when viewing HD content. I suspect that your video out is not displaying the resolution you think it's displaying, possibly because of the component video dongle. Are you positive that you're getting 1776x1000 resolution? And if so, how clean is it? For example, if you create a bitmap containing finely spaced lines 1px wide, 1px apart, can you distinguish each line?

[Ken C]

Originally Posted by corykim

I wouldn't immediately blame the video card. I'm running Placeshifter on my Macbook Pro, which has a lowly ATI Mobility x1600, and the PQ is very respectable when viewing HD content. I suspect that your video out is not displaying the resolution you think it's displaying, possibly because of the component video dongle. Are you positive that you're getting 1776x1000 resolution? And if so, how clean is it? For example, if you create a bitmap containing finely spaced lines 1px wide, 1px apart, can you distinguish each line?

Both the ATI Catalyst Control Center and the Windows video properties both indicate 1776 x 1000. The video card doesn't use the dongle, (the 9700 did). The picture looks great, haven't tried the bitmap grid.

Ken C

[corykim]

For your convenience, I've created a quick sample web page. You should see very finely spaced lines when you view this page.

http://www.corykim.com/detail_test/

[jkohn]

The difference between HD and SD should be huge, if the station is actually broadcasting HD programming. But these days almost all primetime programming on the major networks is HD with the exception of news and some reality shows (although even those are mostly HD on FOX).

FWIW I've found that I get much better video quality (and performance) with my ATI X1600 card by using PowerDVD's decoders instead of PureVideo. I've also found that Overlay is slightly better than VMR9 using this setup. With PureVideo and the x1600, the picture is pretty grainy and also performance is borderline when playing 1080i. I haven't been able to get the PowerDVD audio decoder to output DD5.1 over SPDIF though, so I'm using AC3Filter (latest version from the project's webpage).

[corykim]

A reliable program for auditioning HD content is "Good Morning America". It's very convenient since it airs almost every day.