[mythtv-users] tv out quality not as good as straight through

Joseph A. Caputo jcaputo1 at comcast.net
Fri Jan 2 10:32:50 EST 2004


On Friday 02 January 2004 05:07, Chris Germano wrote:
> I've now setup two Myth systems on the network here, and all looks
> good. One thing that I notice is that if I go directly from my
> DirecTV receiver's Svideo -> My TV then it looks noticeably sharper
> then when using MythTV's livetv even with the encoding is turned up.
>
> These are the cards that I have tried:
> ATI Wonder VE Composite In 640x480 MPEG4 6mbps
> WinTV 401 dbx Svideo In 640x480 MPEG4 6mbps
> WinTV PVR250 Svideo In 640x480 MPEG2 12mbps
>
> While the PVR250 showed a bit better picture, it still can't be
> compared with a straight through connection. This leads me to
> identify my video card as the culprit. I'm using a new GeForce 4
> MX440 SE with Svideo out I believe running at 1024x768. The card I
> think uses Nvidia's onboard TV encoder. So, What are my options at
> this point if I want a sharper picture?
>
> Does MythTV, X or anything have settings/filters for sharpness?
> Would a scan converter produce any better of a picture? If so can
> someone recommend any?
> I hear the PVR 350 is a great card, anyone compare the tv out quality
> on that compared to a straight through connection?
>
> Also if someone can quickly explain how to add/change fonts for
> X/mythtv that would be greatly appreciated, i just emerged my gentoo
> system and mythtv only shows like two terrible fonts.

For the best possible picture out of your computer, you probably would 
want a PVR-350 (or a DVI output, if you have a TV with DVI-in).  The TV 
encoders on most consumer video cards are not all that great.  But, you 
might get better results if you play around with your output video 
resolution... 1024x768 is well beyond the resolution of most analog 
TVs.  640x480 or 800x600 are closer to NTSC or PAL resolution.  If 
you're good with tweaking XF86Config, you might try setting your X 
resolution to an exact NTSC or PAL resolution (i.e., [n]x576 or 
something like that).  Also you might try playing with the brightness/
color/contrast controls for both your incoming (tuner card) signal and 
your outgoing (video card/tv encoder "Xv") signal.

-JAC



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