Display Rendering Not Clear

[wacole]

My TV output is very unclear; fuzzy and hard to read.

I am running the most current version of SageTV and the Sage Extender software. I am not using SageMC. The server is running XP Pro w/2gb memory using a AMD 64 single core processor. As an example of the problem I've attached a photo of our TV [Samsung 1080p 32inch digital] which is displaying, through the Hauppauge MVP media extender, the SageTV Music screen. It looks out of focus, but it is not the camera, it is the way text is displayed on the TV. If you look closely you'll see a ghost image of the text very slightly to the right of the primary text and of a slightly different color. We're going blind trying to read this and it's starting to be a show stopper.

On the extender [MVP] side, when I go to Setup|Detailed Setup|Multimedia|Output Resolution, I have two resolution choices:

• 720x576i@50
• 720x480i@59.94

Neither of these seem to affect the clarity of the display. Are there other settings that might help this?

BTW, I've used this same MVP on an analog Daewoo TV and get pretty much the same result. When I display SageTV on my server monitor, all is very clear and not an issue.

I would be really grateful for any suggestions about this problem. I don't know if it is MVP or the TV, though I'm inclined to think that it has something to do with how the MVP renders SageTV output.

Has anyone else you may know experienced this problem?

Thanks very much, indeed.

Bill Cole

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by wacole

I am running the most current version of SageTV and the Sage Extender software.

Not according to your sig, which says you're running V6.5.9. The current version as I write is 6.6. A month from now, when somebody else reads this, who knows what the current version will be. It's always best to say specifically what version you're using, by number, so there's no ambiguity.

Also I don't know what you're referring to when you talk about "the Sage Extender software". I would guess you mean HD200 firmware, except that you're posting in the Placeshifter forum, but describing a problem with your MVP.

Keep in mind that the MVP is a standard-def device and the output is going to look grainy on a 1080p HDTV no matter what you do. That said, how are you connecting the MVP to the TV? S-video will probably give a slightly better picture than composite video, but again, there's a limit to how good it's going to get. Your best bet for image quality is to replace the MVP with an HD200.

[wacole]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

Not according to your sig, which says you're running V6.5.9. The current version as I write is 6.6. A month from now, when somebody else reads this, who knows what the current version will be. It's always best to say specifically what version you're using, by number, so there's no ambiguity.

Also I don't know what you're referring to when you talk about "the Sage Extender software". I would guess you mean HD200 firmware, except that you're posting in the Placeshifter forum, but describing a problem with your MVP.

Keep in mind that the MVP is a standard-def device and the output is going to look grainy on a 1080p HDTV no matter what you do. That said, how are you connecting the MVP to the TV? S-video will probably give a slightly better picture than composite video, but again, there's a limit to how good it's going to get. Your best bet for image quality is to replace the MVP with an HD200.

Thank you very much for your response.

First, I plead guilty to not updating my sig file; lesson learned. My current versions are: STV 6.6.2.218 and SageTV3 6.6.2.24. If it makes any difference Java is 1.6.0_18.

Secondly, when I bought STV I paid additional money for software that would allow my to connect SageTV to my MVP. I have probably misunderstood how it is named and packaged [standalone vs. embedded in the STV package], but that was what I was hoping I was referring to.

Finally, I understand that the MVP is a standard definition device. The problem I was referring to - and hoping for a resolution for - first presented itself on an analog standard definition TV. The digital TV I'm now using has the same problem, but just displays it in a larger format.

I think I understand your advice: ditch the MVP and replace it with an HD-200. I'll most likely do that, but I'm still puzzled as to why the MVP is displaying a fuzzy picture. I've looked at the Hauppauge site - and in fact have sent their tech folks this question but never received a reply - trying to find a firmware upgrade, but haven't been able to find where it is located. Hopefully I'm wrong about this as well.

Thanks again for the guidance.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by wacole

Secondly, when I bought STV I paid additional money for software that would allow my to connect SageTV to my MVP. I have probably misunderstood how it is named and packaged [standalone vs. embedded in the STV package], but that was what I was hoping I was referring to.

That's just a license to allow an MVP to connect to the server, FWIW.

Finally, I understand that the MVP is a standard definition device. The problem I was referring to - and hoping for a resolution for - first presented itself on an analog standard definition TV. The digital TV I'm now using has the same problem, but just displays it in a larger format.

Are you talking about the double/ghosted image? If so, I'd say it's a bad cable, that can cause reflections/echos in the cable that can cause stuff like that. If you're unwilling to go to an HD200 with Component/HDMI, then you should look into getting a quality S-Video cable (not necessarily "expensive", but just quality, basic S-Video cable)

I think I understand your advice: ditch the MVP and replace it with an HD-200. I'll most likely do that, but I'm still puzzled as to why the MVP is displaying a fuzzy picture.

If you're not talking about the double image (eg if that's an artifact of the camera/picture not what you see) then well, SD is SD, it's no crisp, text will never look crisp with SD, there's nothing you can do about it.

I've looked at the Hauppauge site - and in fact have sent their tech folks this question but never received a reply - trying to find a firmware upgrade, but haven't been able to find where it is located.

The firmware is loaded off the server when the MVP boots, if you're running SageTV, it loads custom SageTV firmware from the Sage server. There's nothing to download. (The only time the Hauppauge firmware is used is if you're using their MVP server software stuff).

[wacole]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Are you talking about the double/ghosted image? If so, I'd say it's a bad cable, that can cause reflections/echos in the cable that can cause stuff like that. If you're unwilling to go to an HD200 with Component/HDMI, then you should look into getting a quality S-Video cable (not necessarily "expensive", but just quality, basic S-Video cable)

The cable WAS the problem and it was ghosting. I can't believe that after all my technical fumbling that it turns to be a lowly [but really important] cable. Thank you so very much. Obviously, I never thought of that.

Originally Posted by stanger89

The firmware is loaded off the server when the MVP boots, if you're running SageTV, it loads custom SageTV firmware from the Sage server. There's nothing to download. (The only time the Hauppauge firmware is used is if you're using their MVP server software stuff).

Very helpful to know how it actually works. Thank you for this as well.