[mythtv-users] Bitrate questions (tuning/quality/standards)

[Steve Smith]

On 08/01/2008, Brad Dillon <brad.dillon at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'm afraid I am also encountering similar problems.  My parents used to
> have a Pioneer DVR appliance, but they decided to get rid of it.  I built
> them a MythTV unit with the following specs:
>
> Capture card : Hauppauge PVR500
>             --> Capturing through the SVideo port at 720x480
> CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+
> Video Card: GeForce 7300 GS
>             --> Outputing to 42" HDTV by SVideo out
>
> My father has commented repeatedly that the quality of the MythTV box is
> no-where near the captures of the Pioneer DVR Appliance.  The Appliance was
> also connected to the TV via the S-Video.
>
> I am at wits end about where I should be looking to improve the quality.
> I thought that the Hauppauge cards were supposed to have great capture
> quality.  I also did some reading on the MythTVology website and Jarod
> Wilson mentioned using an Audio Authority 9A60 VGA to Component Video
> Converter.  This would allow me to connect to my TV with Component cables.
> Would this improve the quality that appears on the TV?
>
> I must admit that I am perplexed how the signal can come in to the MythTV
> box via SVideo, but need better cables for output it properly.
>
> Any advice, comments, or suggestions you could give would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> - brad
>
>
>  On Jan 8, 2008 10:08 AM, Steve Smith <st3v3.sm1th at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > On 08/01/2008, Scott Traurig <straurig at comcast.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I'm a new mythtv user, having purchased a setup from MonolithMC. I am
> > > transitioning from a Pioneer DVR appliance that I loved and the
> > > teething
> > > pains are pretty severe. I've got 3 serious problems left to solve,
> > > not
> > > including verifying stability of the configuration.
> > >
> > > Environment: Comcast Moto DCT2224 STB inputting to PVR150 via NTSC
> > > composite, Nvidia outputting to Sony 32" NTSC CRT monitor via
> > > composite.
> > > Myth 0.21.
> > >
> > > Top of the list is fixing video quality. The quality of set-up is
> > > nowhere
> > > near that achieved with the Pioneer unit. Detail is substantially
> > > lacking
> > > and motion artifact is severe. I turned off de-interlacing since it
> > > has no
> > > meaning in my setup and this helped a little. More importantly I
> > > simply
> > > doubled the default live TV bit rate settings from 4.5 avg/6 peak to 9
> > > avg/12 peak (I left the default 720 x 480 resolution alone). This
> > > helped a
> > > lot but is things are still not as sharp as the Pioneer and a lot of
> > > motion
> > > artifact is still evident on scenes that have a lot of change.
> > >
> > > Don't be blaming it on the rest of the setup: I literally plugged the
> > > myth
> > > box in where the Pioneer used to be, same video cables and all.
> > >
> > > So...
> > >
> > > a) I don't care about disk space. What bit rate should I run?
> > > b) Is this bit rate a "standard"? Shouldn't it be?
> > > c) Or am I well and truly screwed, i.e. am I limited by the intrinsic
> > > quality of the available codecs, PVR and Nvidia hardware regardless of
> > > what
> > > bit rate I run?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Scott
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > mythtv-users mailing list
> > > mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> > > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> > >
> >
> >
> > Scott,
> >
> > I'm afraid my friend you are limited by the intrinsic poor quality of
> > the TV-OUT available on most video cards including Nvidias.
> >
> > If you only have a PVR-150 as your input you could try adding a PVR-350
> > card and using the TV-OUT of that. The quality is much better, probably more
> > what you're used to. If you were in Europe I'd suggest using the RGB/Scart
> > input on your TV which will put your Panasonic to shame, but alas....
> >
> > (Another option is to use a Hauppauge Media MVP if you don't mind the
> > less rich interface. This also has great output)
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Steve
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> >
> >
>
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>
>
Brad, Scott,

There's 2 sides to this:
  1) Quality of the encoder. The Hauppuage cards are pretty good (though
apparently there are better cards out there that may or may not be Myth
compatible).
      I can't say whether these are going to be better or worse than the
Panasonic DVR.


  2) Quality of the output card. Unfortunately whilst computer video cards
produce fantastic results using their VGA outputs (which are a type of
component video). It is well known that their TV output quality leaves a lot
to be desired (in most cases).
    This is where I'd start to try to get better quality first. If you can
get your hands on a PVR-350 then I'd have a go with that. The converter box
you mention might be OK, it's hard to say.

    Also try connecting an ordinary monitor to the Mythbox to see if the
mpeg recordings are as good as you'd like.

Cheers

Steve
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