[mythtv-users] PVR-500 picture quality

[Joey Morris]

I'm new to MythTV, and I've installed a PVR-500 to capture standard
def programming from my cable company. The picture quality of the
captured streams appears to be slightly lower than what I see when I
connect the cable directly to my standard def TV. This is true for the
card's coax connection (connecting directly from the wall) and for its
composite and S-Video connections (connecting from the cable box).
I've made sure the recording resolution is 720x480, I've increased the
bitrates to 7000/8000, I'm using a G210 card with VDPAU enabled, and
I've tried using a signal amplifier. I think I may be maxing out my
PVR-500's performance.

The quality is certainly tolerable. Although I notice the difference
when comparing them side-by-side, I'm not sure I would if I viewed the
card's output in isolation. Is the slight drop in picture quality just
the nature of analog capture? Those of you using the PVR-500s, do you
just live with it so you can enjoy the numerous benefits of MythTV? Or
are there other things I can try to make the picture quality match
what I see when I connect the cable box directly to the TV? If I
eventually move to HD, can I expect a similarly slight quality drop
when using the component output to an HD-PVR?