Hauppauge PVR 250 Overly Bright Whites

[SmokieStover]

I know there are several Hauppauge PVR 250 NTSC users on this forum. Some have mentioned adjusting the brightness and contrast and perhaps the sharpness settings in the registry so as to improve recorded video quality (whites tend to be too bright.......especially noticable when recording Black and White TV).

When viewing live TV, I can always make adjustments to were the video looks very good on the PC monitor. But this has no affect on the recordings, and only one parameter (brightness...default = 137) corresponds with the decimal equivalent found in the registry. This setting in itself seems odd as it does not agree with any black level scale that I have seen.

I had big problems with the audio on this card, especially the line in volume. But by using a VHS tape and trial and error registry edits, I fixed that problem to were the audio is very good. Video adjustments via trial and error look to be much more time consuming because there are several variables and I can't really test the results without burning to DVD....just too much difference between PC CRT and TV CRT.

If anyone has tweaked there NTSC PVR 250 or PVR 350, using driver 1.18.21.23257 and WinTV2K (I have version 4.7.23033) and fixed or improved the overly bright whites issue via registry edits, I would sure like to give them a try.

My card info is as follows:

Model 32062 Rev. C199
Serial #XXXXXXXXXXXX
Tuner Model/Formats: TCL 2002N_5H // (M/N)
Tuner Audio: Stereo (MSP3445)
Video Formats: NTSC ( M ) PAL ( B G H I D K M N NCOMBO ) SECAM ( L L' )
Audio Outputs: None
External Inputs: 3
S-Video Inputs: 2
Teletext: Yes (Software)
Radio: None
Decoder: SAA7115
IR: Yes

EEprom Contents:
84 09 00 04 20 77 00 40 eb 93 82 00
73 05 8c 00
84 08 00 06 3e 7d 00 00 59 16 8d
72 07 70
73 09 13 5f
73 0a 08 63
74 0b 98 18 0c
72 0f 01
72 10 01
72 11 00
79 50

Default registry keys are as follows:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Globespan\Parameters\ivac15\Driver]
"OutType"=dword:0000000e
"Bitrate"=dword:00000640
"InType"=dword:00000000
"VideoRes"=dword:00000000
"TVFormat"=dword:00000000
"AudioDataRate"=dword:0000000e
"GOPSize"=dword:00000f03
"ClosedGOP"=dword:00000000
"SamplingRate"=dword:00000001
"AudioOutputMode"=dword:00000000
"AudioCRC"=dword:00000001
"BitrateMode"=dword:00000000
"BitratePeak"=dword:00004e20
"TrickMode"=dword:00000000
"InverseTelecine"=dword:00000000
"OldEncoderBitrateInterface"=dword:00000001
"HueValue"=dword:00000000
"BrightnessValue"=dword:00000088
"ContrastValue"=dword:00000048
"SaturationValue"=dword:00000047
"SharpnessValue"=dword:00000002
"DownloadFWAtBootTime"=dword:00000000
"EncPauseBuffSize"=dword:00000000
"EncCheckVSync"=dword:00000000
"EncoderFrameSize"=dword:00008000
"EncoderNumberFrames"=dword:00000032
"AudMode"=dword:00000002
"CurrentPgm"=dword:00000010
"HcwAudioScart1Prescale"=dword:00002a00
"HcwAudioScart1PrescaleFM"=dword:00005000
"HcwAudioScart1Volume"=dword:00007701
"HcwAudioNicamPrescale"=dword:00005800
"HcwAudioFMAMPrescale"=dword:00002401
"FltDnrMode"=dword:00000000
"FltDnrSpatFltLevel"=dword:00000000
"FltDnrTempFltLevel"=dword:00000008
"HcwAllowVideoDiscontinuity"=dword:00000001
"HcwForceEnableIRClock"=dword:00000001
"SetInitialSCR"=dword:00000001
"InitialSCR"=dword:00006993
"HcwRadioBitrate"=dword:00000fa0
"HcwRadioBitrateMode"=dword:00000000
"HcwRadioBitratePeak"=dword:00001f40
"CpChoice"=dword:00000003
"hcwRunningRestrictions"=dword:00000003
"YUVTimeStamps"=dword:00000003
"PCMTimeStamps"=dword:00000003
"EnableMultiGraphSupport"=dword:00000000

[SmokieStover]

Just in case anyone else is interested, lowering the brightness setting from 137 decimal (default) to 120 decimal seems to work well thru the tuner and even better thru the s-video input. Using a sharpness setting of 2 for VHS thru s-video and a sharpness setting of 3 for analog cable thru the tuner and thru s-video.

Still prefer my ATI Wonder Elite at the "better" setting (6000 kbs) for home movie VHS and the "Best" setting (8000kps) for Hi-8.

Given the integrated EPG (Titan TV), a good 2 hour recording mode, and custom VBR profiles, the PVR 250 is now my choice for recording TV and converting pre-recorded VHS tapes.

Here's what the registry keys look like now:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Globespan\Parameters\ivac15\Driver]
"OutType"=dword:0000000e
"Bitrate"=dword:00000640
"InType"=dword:00000000
"VideoRes"=dword:00000000
"TVFormat"=dword:00000000
"AudioDataRate"=dword:0000000e
"GOPSize"=dword:00000f03
"ClosedGOP"=dword:00000000
"SamplingRate"=dword:00000001
"AudioOutputMode"=dword:00000000
"AudioCRC"=dword:00000001
"BitrateMode"=dword:00000000
"BitratePeak"=dword:00004e20
"TrickMode"=dword:00000000
"InverseTelecine"=dword:00000000
"OldEncoderBitrateInterface"=dword:00000001
"HueValue"=dword:00000000
"BrightnessValue"=dword:00000078
"ContrastValue"=dword:00000046
"SaturationValue"=dword:00000047
"SharpnessValue"=dword:00000003
"DownloadFWAtBootTime"=dword:00000000
"EncPauseBuffSize"=dword:00000000
"EncCheckVSync"=dword:00000000
"EncoderFrameSize"=dword:00008000
"EncoderNumberFrames"=dword:00000032
"AudMode"=dword:00000002
"CurrentPgm"=dword:00000010
"HcwAudioScart1Prescale"=dword:00001194
"HcwAudioScart1PrescaleFM"=dword:00005000
"HcwAudioScart1Volume"=dword:00007301
"HcwAudioNicamPrescale"=dword:00005800
"HcwAudioFMAMPrescale"=dword:00002401
"FltDnrMode"=dword:00000000
"FltDnrSpatFltLevel"=dword:00000000
"FltDnrTempFltLevel"=dword:00000008
"HcwAllowVideoDiscontinuity"=dword:00000001
"HcwForceEnableIRClock"=dword:00000001
"SetInitialSCR"=dword:00000001
"InitialSCR"=dword:00006993
"HcwRadioBitrate"=dword:00000fa0
"HcwRadioBitrateMode"=dword:00000000
"HcwRadioBitratePeak"=dword:00001f40
"CpChoice"=dword:00000003
"hcwRunningRestrictions"=dword:00000003
"YUVTimeStamps"=dword:00000003
"PCMTimeStamps"=dword:00000003
"EnableMultiGraphSupport"=dword:00000000