Best video quality option?

[nyle]

Ok, I'm looking to get the best video quality from my HTPC and my Time Warner Cable source.

I currently have a HP 250 and the quality on my 50 inch Panasonic is terrible. My hardware is good and I'm using an Nvidia 7600GS with Purevideo decoder, VMR 9, FSE.

I did get a slightly better picture from the 1600s analog tuner but not much.

Can someone recommend an analog tuner with great picture quality or would I be better with a video in from a cable box?

Thanks.
-Nyle

[pat_smith1969]

I have the Hauppauge 150 and 500. I used to use the built in tuners but did not like the pic quality, not one bit.

I switched to usign the SVideo out from the cable box, to the SVideo In on the tuners and am MUCH happier.

There is still room for improvement however.

[nyle]

Originally Posted by pat_smith1969

I have the Hauppauge 150 and 500. I used to use the built in tuners but did not like the pic quality, not one bit.

I switched to usign the SVideo out from the cable box, to the SVideo In on the tuners and am MUCH happier.

There is still room for improvement however.

Thanks for the advice. Has anyone else seen the same behavior. I'm thinking it's time for a cable box and IR blaster.

Thanks,
-Nyle

[bjterry62]

SD on a big screen will always leave a lot to be desired. Especially if you get an HD tuner and start watching some HD. I use an HVR-1600 for OTA broadcasts and when I turn to an SD station, it's pretty hard to take.

BT

[Yooper]

I think the video cards are real sensitive to video signal strength and quality. I replaced all of my RG59 cable in my house with quad-shield RG6 and had the cable company run RG11 underground feeds to my house. I eventually put the video server with video cards in the basement as close as possible to the video feed into the house. A splitter added to the cable will make a big difference since this reduces the signal strength in half. My video signal goes straight into the video card - no splitters. I use an MVP at my TV so the video is transmitted digitally without loss.

I get a really good picture quality. I have a Hauppauge 500 and a 1600 cards. The picture on my TV is better thru the video server than thru the RG6 cable in my house.

[nyle]

Originally Posted by Yooper

I think the video cards are real sensitive to video signal strength and quality. I replaced all of my RG59 cable in my house with quad-shield RG6 and had the cable company run RG11 underground feeds to my house. I eventually put the video server with video cards in the basement as close as possible to the video feed into the house. A splitter added to the cable will make a big difference since this reduces the signal strength in half. My video signal goes straight into the video card - no splitters. I use an MVP at my TV so the video is transmitted digitally without loss.

I get a really good picture quality. I have a Hauppauge 500 and a 1600 cards. The picture on my TV is better thru the video server than thru the RG6 cable in my house.

I hear you on signal quality. I have RG6 thought my whole house. The signal is split after being amplified by an HDTV, two way compatible amplifier and then sent through only 1Ghz splitters. There are only two splitters in the path and the cables going from the wall to the HDTV and HTPC are both shielded cables which did make a difference in the picture quality.

However, that said the HTPC and the HDTV are fed from the same splitter. The built in tuner shows SD at a very acceptable quality wheras the HTPC using the Purevideo Decoder, VMR9, FSE on an NVidia 7600GS DVI to HDMI connection at 1280X720 shows has a really grainy appearance.

This all looks to be from the codec but I didn't see it on my Sony 32" HDTV at the same resolution. I'm really at a loss as to how to fix it and I thought skipping the analog tuner might help.

Any other advice is welcome.

Thanks,
-Nyle

[joey3002]

Originally Posted by nyle

I hear you on signal quality. I have RG6 thought my whole house. The signal is split after being amplified by an HDTV, two way compatible amplifier and then sent through only 1Ghz splitters. There are only two splitters in the path and the cables going from the wall to the HDTV and HTPC are both shielded cables which did make a difference in the picture quality.

However, that said the HTPC and the HDTV are fed from the same splitter. The built in tuner shows SD at a very acceptable quality wheras the HTPC using the Purevideo Decoder, VMR9, FSE on an NVidia 7600GS DVI to HDMI connection at 1280X720 shows has a really grainy appearance.

This all looks to be from the codec but I didn't see it on my Sony 32" HDTV at the same resolution. I'm really at a loss as to how to fix it and I thought skipping the analog tuner might help.

Any other advice is welcome.

Thanks,
-Nyle

Nyle,
Any luck on your problem? If so, what did you do?

Thanks

[nyle]

Originally Posted by joey3002

Nyle,
Any luck on your problem? If so, what did you do?

Thanks

No luck, I'm really stuck. I love the power of a HTPC. Especially, with how I can just add more storage space as I need. The software is realyl evolving but getting the video in and the codec quality seems to be stuck at a certain level.

At this point what I'd like is an easy, reliable, simple way to get good quality HD video into my PC. The HD-PVR looks like it could be neat but all I see is bug reports on it. The cable companies are happy locking us out of their system so that they can force you to buy their HD DVRs and TiVo won't read from my server to play back my media library. So, I guess I'm in a holding pattern with my crappy grainy anlog MPEG2 video.

My wife more and more frequently skips SageTV and goes directly to the built in TV tuner which shows SD very acceptably. It looks 40% better than SageTV on my machine.

[TallMomof2]

I've used the HD-PVR since August with very few problems in the past 4 months. The component output from the HD200 on my 36" Sony Wega is indistinguishable from the STB HDMI unless you're sitting 3 feet away. The QAM recordings off the HDHR are even better than the HD-PVR but that's because it's strictly digital.

Not all the HD-PVR users are plagued with problems and bugs.

[paulbeers]

Been using mine since July (or was it June, I can't remember), with no problems whatsoever. Although playback has been with extenders only, so I don't have a lot of issues with getting the right decoders/tweaking/etc. that many do.