very dissapointed in TV quality so far

[idvsego]

I don't know if it is sage client or the hauppauge card, but my TV quality is what I consider poor. I am using basic cable and the recordings and "live" tv look much more grainy than the straight cable feed to the TV. I also have blockiness that looks like encoding artifacts.

I have a server setup and am running the client software to my 52" tv and a monitor. even at lower resolutions, the quality is not comparable to the straight cable. I am running the most current hauppauge drivers for my PVR-150.

Is my quality being affected by running through the sage server or is it just some settings I need to tweak?

[kny3twalker]

the best thing you can do is: use a good decoder

most of us, use the nvidia decoders

then record a high enough quality
by default it is set to good
change it to best or even max or make your own recording quality
look at FAQs

next what type of output are you using from the video card to the TV???

DVI, VGA, and component make a huge difference in comparsion to svideo

use a directx9 video card is also preferred

[idvsego]

I am using the Nvidia codecs. I am recording at DVD standard. I am going DVI out to the TV. My video card is an ATI 9600. I have read the FAQ's and haven't seen anything that mentions my problem. I am about to just start trying the fixes for other problems and see if it happens to change mine.

[kny3twalker]

what kind of video rendering are you using?

VMR9 looks so much better than default aka VMR7 or overlay

[Drinyth]

Honestly, you're not going to get as good of a picture as you're going to get with a straight cable to your TV. I think the problem really is two fold.

One, you're compressing the data as it comes into your computer. Even at the highest quality setting, you're still losing something. The more the data is compressed, the more the image is going to be affected. That's just the nature of encoding video.

Two, even though the nVidia decoder is pretty good, it's still not as good as say running a hardware decoder like the video out of a 350 or the Xcard. You can find the technical details for why this is by searching the forum, but it's my understanding that having a hardware mpeg decoder will make a world of difference in playback. I've been debating getting one myself since even with the nVidia decoders (which are pretty good), I still get some fast motion blurring and some problems with news tickers and stuff like that when I do picture in picture comparisons using my TV tuner and/or TiVo.

[idvsego]

I have tried using VMR9 and overlay.

drinyth, this is what I am thinking. I am going to try it out at a friends house that has digital channels. As for the hardware decoder, I would do it if it will help. any suggestions on a card? How about one of the newer Nvidia cards that has hardware decoding.

[mdmint]

Originally Posted by idvsego

I am using the Nvidia codecs. I am recording at DVD standard. I am going DVI out to the TV. My video card is an ATI 9600. I have read the FAQ's and haven't seen anything that mentions my problem. I am about to just start trying the fixes for other problems and see if it happens to change mine.

Back in May04 I originally built my HTPC Client using ATI 9600. Component output to Toshiba 55" 55HX70 via dongle (don't have DVI support on the 3yr old Toshiba). I never could get display that I was really satisfied with trying half dozen decoders including Nvidia. About a month ago I switched to a MSI GeForce NX6600GT AGP (still component output). I am now very happy and satisfied with display. My "normal" recording is DVD Standard Q and use Mpeg2 Max Q for sports.

Not saying it's your solution, but it certainly works very well for me.

[idvsego]

I will consider that. I am goign to need a new video card anyway. 6600 might be my answer.

[mdmint]

Originally Posted by idvsego

I will consider that. I am goign to need a new video card anyway. 6600 might be my answer.

If my TV had DVI capability I would have also considered the fanless 6800(GT?). (ASUS version IRRC) I know some people on the Forum have them. I put the ATI 9600 in my workstation (pulled ATI AIW Radeon, don't need it's TV tuner anymore anyway!)

[krutaw]

Originally Posted by idvsego

I will consider that. I am goign to need a new video card anyway. 6600 might be my answer.

I personally went with a PVR-350 for the bedroom (server) and a media mvp for the living room.

The PVR-350 has drawbacks in that it has been known to have wierd interactions with hardware. The Media MVP also has a drawback in that it requires a client to be running as well as the server. They both have another drawback in that they cannot natively play DVD's without ripping them first.

Now for the good news, the video output is extremely impressive on both. The reason for this is because they both use a hardware chipset for decoding the video instead of software decoders. I have yet to see a video card / software codec match them, and I've spent thousands on video cards (thank god I was able to return them) to try and find one that beat hardware decoding.

As far as easy to setup, the Media MVP is the absolute easiest of the two to setup.

Just my 2 cents.