Color Calibration

[JMTBerserker]

Can anyone provide some good starter settings for color calibration? I have Comcast cable, HD-PVR, and HD200. My recordings look washed out.

I've messed with the SageTV color calibration settings for the HD-PVR but haven't really seen much of a change. I'm assuming this is where I'm supposed to do it, in the SageTV configuration wizard under Setup Video Sources for the HD-PVR.

[JMTBerserker]

Actually, I'm not sure the PVR is recording at the highest possible quality. On both SD and HD channels I can see some pixelation and the overall picture just looks worse than through the receiver directly.

I'd still like advice on color calibration if anyone can provide it, but it looks like I also need help configuring the HD-PVR and/or Sage. I do have Sage set to "Best" recording quality as a default setting.

[briands]

Originally Posted by JMTBerserker

Actually, I'm not sure the PVR is recording at the highest possible quality. On both SD and HD channels I can see some pixelation and the overall picture just looks worse than through the receiver directly.

I'd still like advice on color calibration if anyone can provide it, but it looks like I also need help configuring the HD-PVR and/or Sage. I do have Sage set to "Best" recording quality as a default setting.

HDNet has runs a 10 minute test loop on some Saturday mornings (including this week). It is a good chance to adjust the color settings for recording devices.

For playback, I'd suggest using one of the calibration discs available.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by briands

For playback, I'd suggest using one of the calibration discs available.

Where can I get/find a calibration disc?

[MitchSchaft]

Avia is a popular one for TV/monitor calibration. You can get it anywhere from Amazon to Demonoid.

[darcilicious]

Thanks!

[stanger89]

If you cruise over to AVSForum, there's AVS 601 (SD) and an AVS 709 (HD) test discs created by forum members. They're free and have most every test pattern you'd ever need.

[JMTBerserker]

I can try it, but how do I make this work with the PVR? Sorry, I'm a newb, so I may be asking the wrong questions. The picture looks fine when I hook the Comcast receiver up to the TV, but completely awful through the HD-PVR.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by JMTBerserker

The picture looks fine when I hook the Comcast receiver up to the TV, but completely awful through the HD-PVR.

I'm in a similar boat though I think it's more of a SageTV playback issue. For example, if I view an x.264/mkv file through SageTV, I get a similar washed out look, especially compared to Boxee's playback. It's really evident with shows like Burn Notice that seem to be higher in saturation than a lot of shows.

This gives an inkling -- it's noticeably worse when SageTV is fullscreen (47" 1080p) and the shot was taken with my iPhone so NO, not great "quality". The best spot to compare is the fan in the background between the heads



SageTV upper left, Boxee lower right.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by JMTBerserker

I can try it, but how do I make this work with the PVR? Sorry, I'm a newb, so I may be asking the wrong questions. The picture looks fine when I hook the Comcast receiver up to the TV, but completely awful through the HD-PVR.

Download the MP4 version and extract it to a folder in your import paths. Then just play the test patterns and adjust your TV like you would with any other calibration patterns.

It's quite common for people to have poor/different results with PCs, usually because they've not calibrated the TV to the PC's playback.

[Opus4]

Since SageTV doesn't have access to those settings for the HD PVR, the Color Calibration option is being disabled on the Source Details menu when the tuner is the Hauppauge HD PVR. This will be in a future version of SageTV.

- Andy

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by Opus4

The Color Calibration option is being disabled on the Source Details menu when the tuner is the Hauppauge HD PVR. This will be in a future version of SageTV.

- Andy

OH.

I take it you mean, you can change the settings but nothing actually happens (which seems to be what I experienced the two times I've tried make changes)

Is there a list of documented limitations in SageTV for the HD-PVR tuner? I'm about to pay for a license but may look at other options and/or wait to purchase until this and any other features are enabled...

[JMTBerserker]

Well if the color calibration for the HD-PVR doesn't work, I guess that would explain why I've been unsuccessful fixing it through that interface.

Is there somewhere else I can go in the Hauppauge software to adjust the settings? I really don't want to mess around with the color settings on the TVs because I have them set already the way I want them for stuff like a connected blu-ray player.

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by JMTBerserker

I really don't want to mess around with the color settings on the TVs because I have them set already the way I want them for stuff like a connected blu-ray player.

My TVs all have seperate independent color/contrast/brightness/tint etc adjustments for each set of inputs.

I always have to set them up differently for my Blu-ray player, PC, Sat STB and HD200.

On my system they all are virtually identical to watch.

But having the ability to adjust the recodrings themselves would be a nice touch.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

But having the ability to adjust the recodrings themselves would be a nice touch.

Not only that but my TV currently is fine for all other PC applications (games, Boxees, etc). But video playback within SageTV is substantially different than all those other applications.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

But having the ability to adjust the recodrings themselves would be a nice touch.

Yeah, I use an extender but the HD PVR recordings are very close to everything else. So I would say that if my HD PVR is representative, it's out of the box calibration is pretty good.

FWIW, here's what I find after extracting a frame of the colorbars from the HDnet test pattern mentioned earlier:

HD PVR:
White: 238, 238, 240
Black: 17, 17, 17

Reference:
White: 235, 235, 235
Black: 16, 16, 16

And the colors look just about right as well.

Originally Posted by darcilicious

Not only that but my TV currently is fine for all other PC applications (games, Boxees, etc). But video playback within SageTV is substantially different than all those other applications.

Games and desktop vs video are "supposed" to be different. Video is mastered to what's casually called "video levels", where black is digital 16 and white digital 235, vs desktop apps (including games) that use "PC levels" where black is 0 and white 255.

It's a predicament HTPC users have been dealing with for ages, with both set to be "correct" one calibration can not work for both, you either have washed out video or crushed/clipped/clamped black/white in desktop/games.

Of course it's even more complicated than that, since different video drivers handle video differently, and even within the same drivers, different types of video or different renderers are sometimes handled differently. Sometimes video is expanded to PC levels, sometimes not.

My experience has been that with VMR9 and nVidia hardware, Sage properly retains video levels. IIRC with my ATI card, HD material was expanded while SD was not (without a registry change).

It sounds like Boxee and Sage are using different renderers, you might want play around with the video renderer setting in Sage to see if you can make it match.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by stanger89

It sounds like Boxee and Sage are using different renderers, you might want play around with the video renderer setting in Sage to see if you can make it match.

Thanks for that -- I will definitely take a look!