[mythtv-users] PVR-350 vs. Component video through AA adapter

[Jarod C. Wilson]

Replying to myself... Must be going schizo...

On Feb 1, 2004, at 12:47 AM, Jarod C. Wilson wrote:

> However, I'm honestly not that impressed with the video quality of the 
> 350's TVOut, at least when juxtaposed to the VGA->Component method I'm 
> using to feed my HDTV. My wife participated in the visual evaluation, 
> and she likes the VGA->Component method better also. I did notice that 
> it was a little better with high-motion scenes (sharper edges to 
> everything), but the difference certainly isn't worth giving up the 
> ability to play back all my divx files.

So much for bed. I've got the 350 feeding an analog set now. The 
picture certainly does look excellent, but I thought the GF4's TVOut I 
was previously using also looked excellent. I'll have to watch a few 
things with the 350, switch back to the GF4, watch some more, etc... 
I'm still not seeing what all the hype is about. ;-p (But then too, I 
hear many people saying how crappy they think the output from a GF4 
looks, while I've had excellent results with GF4 TVOut, so...).

I do get noticeable image jitter when using the desktop w/the GF4's 
TVOut, now that I think about it (but I'm usually in MythTV, where 
there's no problem). The 350's picture, even when at the desktop, is 
rock-solid.

> That may change if/when mplayer can play divx files acceptably out the 
> 350, but then I rip all my divx files with ac3 audio and feed a raw 
> ac3 stream to my amp, which then does the 5.1 decoding, so I'm not 
> sure how that would work out... (I presume I could use the 350's video 
> out, and my Audigy audio out, or something).

Forgot to mention -- the VGA->Component hookup also makes text 
on-screen much easier to read, so if you ever browse the web, drop to a 
shell for some reason, etc., the 350 is far less useful. Text just 
doesn't work on an interlaced display, unless jacked up really big in 
size, so couple that with only 720x480 resolution on the 350, and you 
can't get much done. The higher resolution and progressive scan are 
much better in these situations. My HDTV is definitely going to remain 
connected via VGA->Component.

> Tomorrow, I move the secondary system back upstairs to my analog set, 
> where I'll do a bit of GF4 TVOut vs. PVR-350 TVOut comparative 
> analysis. I'm already fairly certain I'm going to stick with the GF4 
> for that system also though, because my kid watches movies up there on 
> a regular basis (divx rips of kids movies, and/or recorded stuff 
> transcoded to mpeg4).

Jury's still out on this one. My kid'll probably have the final say. He 
loves them Wiggles (he's 16mo old now)...

> Now that I think about it though, I wonder if playback through the 350 
> would be better for some of my divx files if I tried using mythtv as 
> the player... (I was able to watch some HQ dvd->divx rips w/mplayer, 
> but they looked like they were playing at about 80% of the normal 
> frame-rate).

Never mind, that resulted in far worse playback.

> More tomorrow, time for sleep...

Okay, now I'm really going to sleep. Tomorrow, MythTV 0.14...

-- 
Jarod C. Wilson, RHCE

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