Hazy/foggy video playback on TV

[bradlewa]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and have a question for you all. First off, here's my system (dual purpose general computer and PVR):

P4 2.4
1.5 GB DDR-RAM
Hauppauge PVR-150
eVGA nVidia 6800 (AGP)
SageTV v.6 (Windows version)

I have an S-video cable running from the video card directly to my SDTV.

The problem I seem to be having is that the video has this haze over it. I don't know if I can accurately describe this. I guess I was expecting "live" tv and recordings to look like I was actually watching analog TV. Instead you can tell there's a major difference - like I said, a haze or fog over the video. I suspect this may be with the de-interlacing and interlacing of the signal before it gets to my TV.

I installed the nVidia Pure DVD Decoder to see if that would make a difference, but it doesn't appear to (although I don't even know if it's actually working - when I play a DVD on my computer I see the little nVidia logo indicating it's working, but not when Sage is running and playing back video).

I guess ultimately my question is...is there something that can be done to improve the quality of the video so that it is difficult to tell that you aren't watching a "normal" analog TV show. I had previously been using MythTV and the only way I could improve it was by using a PVR-350 (extra card I had lying around - didn't try it with Sage yet) with its onboard decoder. I haven't tried that yet with Sage, but read on the boards that it causes problems. I know others have also mentioned buying the media extender, but that would be a last resort since it's an added expense.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill

[stevech]

I see a "softer" picture on replay via S-Video at 800 x 600.
I assume it's due to the several resamplings that must happen.
At a glance, you cannot see the difference. But a few seconds of viewing and you can.

Viewing the same mpg file with some other means might be telling.

[bradlewa]

So if you're using S-video out to the TV, it's going to look crappy no matter what?

[mechling-burgh]

Anything that is recorded will not look as sharp as live TV. I used svideo cable to the TV from the computer form a while. I switched to and MVP when they started to support it in version 5. The picture quality is much better and I use a svideo cable from it to the TV. In fact I have noticed that the SciFi channel looks better recorded than live with this setup. I record form my 6200 over svideo to the computer all my digital stations and I think they look fine. The problem could be a bad cable, Graphics card settings, or your recording settings. How do they look on the computer? Have you tried Overlay? Unfortunately it is trail and error. To try and get the best picture.

[bradlewa]

The video looks good on my computer when it's not in full screen mode. I tried overlay mode, but only got signal on my computer monitor, and not on the tv - not sure if I screwed something up there, or if it's just a function of my video card. What other graphics card settings are there to change?

Maybe overall I'm just expecting too much. The playback from MythTV using the PVR-350 is very very close to analog TV, so that's the standard I'm basing everything from. Has anyone come close to this without using the media extender for SDTV?

[bradlewa]

I figured out how to get Sage to use the nVidia decoder (in detailed setup, video/audio). Does this decoder work with VMR9 renderer or only with overlay? For some reason, I can't get video to show up on my TV when I use overlay, but it does show up on my computer monitor - and looks markedly better. Does anyone know how to get overlay working on my TV or why it wouldn't be working in the first place?

Thanks for your help so far....I really want to like Sage, so I'm willing to work at it.

[mechling-burgh]

Overlay will only show up on the primary monitor. What card are you using? I was using an old ATI all-in-wonder 7500 when I first started doing this and you could use clone screen so both would be primary. I can not remember if you can do this on a Nvidia Card or not.

A 350 is its own display that is made for a TV just like the MVP so the picture will be better it is designed just for that. While the Graphics card is made for a monitor then a TV as an after thought in my book.

[bradlewa]

Ok, so using Overlay (with my TV as the primary device - thanks mechling) with the nVidia PureVideo decoder seems to drastically enhance the playback of video on TV. I'm still not sure if it's as good as the PVR-350 on MythTV, but it's much closer now.

Does anyone know if the PureVideo decoder works on Linux? If not, have people using the Linux version gotten decent playback on TV?

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by mechling-burgh

Overlay will only show up on the primary monitor.

BTW: overlay will work on secondary monitors; I use it on my secondary monitor all the time. But, some decoders don't properly support it. I just have my desktop extended onto the 2nd monitor & there is no problem w/overlay. It may not work in clone mode.

But, if you have 3D Acceleration turned on, that should be used on the primary monitor because DirectX works in emulation (thus slower) on the secondary.

- Andy

[yacht_boy]

I'm having this issue, too, with the Hauppauge 150 and a GeForce 5200 video card with TV out. I've tried installing the nVidia decoder and it hasn't helped any. If I switch from overlay to any of the other options, I get a really bad stutter.

The haze/fog is very noticeable at all video recording settings--it can be hard to read small text and watching sports is a bit of a chore. Anyone have any other suggestions? Video was much clearer with TiVo using the same cable.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by yacht_boy

I'm having this issue, too, with the Hauppauge 150 and a GeForce 5200 video card with TV out. I've tried installing the nVidia decoder and it hasn't helped any. If I switch from overlay to any of the other options, I get a really bad stutter.

The haze/fog is very noticeable at all video recording settings--it can be hard to read small text and watching sports is a bit of a chore. Anyone have any other suggestions? Video was much clearer with TiVo using the same cable.

It very well could be your video card. Video card video outs have gotten much better over time, but the older ones generally don't look as good. I have seen noticable differences in "generations" of video cards and even manufacturer to manufacturer. It also could be just a bad setting......These are reasons why I recommend extenders over full clients as they take all the guess work out of figuring out the video settings and poor video cards.

[yacht_boy]

It seems that no matter where I turn, there's another opportunity to spend money!

This is where TiVo shines--plug it in and it works. Sage offers so much more, but it's such a huge cost both financially and time-wise to get it all working...Seems like there must be a better way.

Anyway, I guess I'll look into extenders, even though I don't really need one, except to help the picture quality. Thanks for the reply.

[coldtoes]

I think I am experiencing the same thing, but oddly only in SD TV - the new HDTV channels are brilliant and sharp.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by yacht_boy

It seems that no matter where I turn, there's another opportunity to spend money!

This is where TiVo shines--plug it in and it works. Sage offers so much more, but it's such a huge cost both financially and time-wise to get it all working...Seems like there must be a better way.

Anyway, I guess I'll look into extenders, even though I don't really need one, except to help the picture quality. Thanks for the reply.

Completely agree. Tivo quality of recorded TV is the goal.

Tell me, do you have a DVD player installed in your HTPC? If so, how is the output from it - or from Divx or Xvid files played from SageTV's media center? I get great quality out of my GeForce 6200's S-video output to a Sony XBR with DVD's and computer video files from the hard drive that "weren't" recorded Via Sage and the Hauppauge, but any thing that was recorded with the Hauppauge PVR-150 is soft, overmodulated and generally not great.

[yacht_boy]

I have a DVD player but never play DVDs, so I don't know what the quality is. The quality of other video files is better but still not great--just finished downloading the DivX codecs and am going to try that instead, might help a bit.

I'm thinking of going HD soon and will be scrounging the forums for info on how to do it. Any suggestions are welcome. Probably going to go with Hauppauge hvr-1600, Sage HD Extender, and some bigger hard drives. Any other tips for top quality picture and easy setup?