[mythtv-users] TV Picture and DVD playback quality

[Lars Ove Claesson]

>> I use a digital set-top, and when connecting a SCART directly to my
TV
>> the image is excellent. This box also provides me with RF-signal to
use
>> with my Hauppage, so the signal is good (as verified when connecting
RF
>> directly to my TV). But the image produced by the Hauppage is
terrible.

> Using the RF signal is probably the worst possible way to get the
picture 
> from the set top box - you really want S-Video if possible, or you
could 
> just about get away with composite if you don't mind the quality drop
from 
> that - RF will always give you a terrible picture. 

OK, I will try using SVideo. Would just like to have been independent of
the set-top box' channel-selection, that's why I was trying RF. I would
need a descent SCART->SVideo, since the box does not have SVideo OUT.  

>> It does not fill the entire TV-screen, and the image is noisy with
>> blurred edges (yes, I've set PAL). Is this just a matter of
fine-tuning
>> the frequency? Can I at all expect to reach the image quality
produced
>> by the SCART-cable connected directly to my TV from the digital box?

> You haven't said how the TV is connected to the PC - if you're using
RF 
> then yes, I would expect the quality to be terrible.  Use RGB or
S-Video. 
> (Note: I'm not at all familiar with the PVR500 cards so don't know
what 
> output options they have).

By VGA cable from the NVIDIA video card. I tried DVI, but afaik DVI
cannot support 1366 x 768 (this is a Dell 37" LCD). Oh, well, haven't
figured out how to set that resolution through VGA yet either, but I was
getting to it. If anyone has achieved that, I would greatly appreciate
the configuration :-) Anyway, the video card supports SVideo OUT as
well, so maybe I'll go with that, then. 


>> Second, regarding the DVD playback, how to explain this... the movie
>> "freezes" for one second, then use the next second to run through
those
>> two seconds in fast forward, then freezes again... over and over.
Also,

> Sounds like it hasn't got enough CPU - check the cpu usage with "top".

> Maybe you're not outputting the video through XV?  Look at mplayer's
-vo 
> option.

Thanks, I will check it out.

>> the image fills the width of the screen, but only about 50% of the
>> height is used (centered vertically). Could this be just a matter of
>> tweaking mplayer? The sound seems continuous, though.

> The aspect ratio of your display is set wrong (it's probably a 16:9
screen 
> being treated as a 4:3) - check the physical display size configured
in 
> /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

Thanks, again!


/ Lars