PVR-250 recording quality issues

[mcbain]

I am having some issues getting acceptable picture quality.

At first I thought it was a decoder/player issue, but I have the same issues when playing the mpeg file on a media mvp.

Basically the problem is that I get "smearing" sometimes when objects move across the screen. It is worse when they move faster, but when all objects are standing still (or usually moving very little), pq is perfect.

I have tried messing with the capture settings which did help a bit (mostly reducing brightness and contrast), but I still have the problem and it is really annoying me. I am still playing with the settings but cannot get anyting to work well enough.

I have tried different recorder rates, but bumping up the bitrate does not seem to help (currently I am using the dvd 2.5G rate).

I am running the PVR250_18_22037.exe drivers (which are the latest from what I can see).

From what I hear the pvr-250 is the best hardware decoder for this application, so I am starting to wonder what to do.

Ideas?

[Crowdx42]

Are you using VMR9 ? The smearing sounds like the tearing people get when using VMR9 overlay instead of standard overlay. What video card are you using to output with?
Patrick

[mcbain]

currently I am using vmr9 but have the same problem with overlay. I have an nvidia 5200.

However as I said if I use the mediamvp to playback the mpeg file (bypassing any playback setup I have setup on the main box), it has the same issues, so I do not see how it could be my video/decoder setup, unless the hardware decoder/output in the mediamvp box has the exact same issues as my other box, but that seems very unlikely.

[Crowdx42]

What quality setting are you using?
Maybe try Windows Media player 9 or WinDVD and see if you have the same problems. What cpu are you using. More system specs would make things clearer.
Patrick

[mcbain]

I have tried powerdvd with the same issues. Is there a reson that I am getting decoder/display suggestions? I was pretty certain it was a recording/encoding quality issue since playing on the mvp had the exact same issues, or is there something I am missing here?

My specs:
2 pvr-250 (16's)
p4 2.2G
1G ddr
asus p4b266 mb
nvidia 5200 (asus)
sb live audio
realtec 8139 nic

tv:
panasonic 4x3 hdtv (well, hdtv compat.), no dvi input.
using svideo output (tried composit out with same issues).

[mcbain]

I also forgot that I played a recording that I extracted with my tivo (through sage), and it did not have the problem, so I do not think it is player/decoder related.

[Crowdx42]

Well a suggestion to see if it is encoding quality problem would be to burn a small file to DVD, you would need something like DVD lab Here and see how the file looks on a standalone dvd player. Are you recording at 3.25gig per hr? This seems min spec for good playback.
Patrick

[Crowdx42]

ooppss... we posted same time...
So you are recording at 3.25gig per hour?
Patrick

[mcbain]

For the longest tme I was running 2.5G, but then I recently went down to 1.8 and didn't notice a difference (at least for a little testing). I went to 3.25 as you suggested but the problem was still there (although it might have been less, I'm not sure), and in addition I had some skipping issues. I tried to go back to overlay and change some other things, but since the original problem was still there, I decided not to mess with it any more and went back to the lower bitrate.

[mcbain]

This is getting really annoying. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to get this problem fixed. I have been messing with this for weeks now, and although I can make it a little better I cannot get rid of it. With no resolution in sight, it looks like I will have to go back to tivo

[kny3twalker]

try using powerdvd 5 with overlay and 3d acceleration
mpeg mode D which from what I could understand at window's website
does the best presentation and also deinterlace mode bob and weave
picture quality is much better than a standard TV I think but it is on a PC monitor
3d accel I think is only available in 2.015
finally sports use 5.6 GB, cartoons 2.5, and everything else 3.25 or 3
if your problem is with sports my PQ is not the greatest
but cartoons and everything(normal TV shows/Movies look great)