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

[Torsten Schenkel]

Am Fr, den 02.01.2004 schrieb Chris Germano um 11:07:
> 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.

> 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?

This is the biggest problem with PC based Multimedia boxes. The TV-out
on most(all) graphics card is a low quality add-on. I don't know of a
VGA card that has a good hardware TV encoder.

> 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?

Scan converters might be a possibility; haven't tested it.  

> I hear the PVR 350 is a great card, anyone compare the tv out quality on
> that compared to a straight through connection?

That's the way I went. I wasn't content with the tv-out of the Epia
board (which is not that bad, compared to others I've seen) and tried
the pvr350. There are worlds between them. The PVR uses a dedicated H/W
TV encoder as does your DVD player. For me the PVR encoder was even
better than my TV's, so the picture quality from the mythbox is higher
than from my TV's built-in cable tuner. 

For your setup I'd expect a slight degradation, since you use the same
components in your settop box and you TV and indroduce a device into
that chain. But it might well be not noticable.

Torsten

> 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.

Myth doesn't use X fonts, IIRC.
-- 
Config files for PVR350 TV-Out:
http://www-isl.mach.uni-karlsruhe.de/~hi93/ivtv-pvr-350-conf.tgz
Walkthrough: MythTV on Epia with PVR350 using Debian:
http://www-isl.mach.uni-karlsruhe.de/~hi93/myth/mythtv_debian_epia_pvr350_walkthrough