hauupage quality

[Vman94]

i purchased the hauppauge pvr a few weeks ago and haven't been happy with some of the results. I have it hooked up to my hd pvr and the files always look rather crappy once i capture it to my computer and it doesn't look as nice or crisp even when i use the 13.5 max quality setting. Anyone have any tips or ideas to make this look better? i have been using 1080i quality.

Vman

[jagabo]

Note that the HD PVR only captures in the source's format. So if your source is 480i you will get a 480i cap. Be aware that some HD broadcasts are simply upscaled SD. Those won't look any better than SD.

What are you viewing on? If you don't have less than a 1080p display you won't see the full quality of the 1080i caps. Deinterlacing might also be an issue for you.

[Vman94]

wouldn't hauppauge settings tell you that when your taping? it just doesn't look near as good as it does on tv when i download it to the computer.

[jagabo]

What's wrong with the display on the computer? Not as sharp? Bad contrast? Bad colors?

[tkolt]

LOL, actually the software does tell you what format your capping in as well as the source resolution and sound setting. i dont cap using the wintv app. i use the Arcsoft software that comes with it. MUUUUUCH better. "it just doesn't look near as good as it does on tv when i download it to the computer" <--- your commment doesnt make any sense to me...its already on your PC when you cap it..what do you mean by down load it to your pc. i cap from Directv HD channels at least once a day in full 1080I @ anywhere from 8-12mbits and all my caps look amazing whether its in mp4, mt2s or ts. its a great card. maybe your pc oisnt fast enough

[Vman94]

It looks a bit foggy to me. looks quite interlaced and a bit foggy. Not at all as nice as what the orginal source looked like. Could my computers performance be doing this? is a quad core and only maybe 8 months old. I used to use sony vegas and such and it did quite well. Just seem to be having problems getting the source from the hauuppage properly. I have it set to 13.5 quality and mt2s for the type. Any other suggestions or ideas? ill listen to anything at this point.

[tkolt]

what cables you using??? what software to cap...whats the source??? dtv, cable??? we need more info

[Vman94]

sure no worries thanks for helping guys, just using the standard cables that came with hauupage the 5 composite cables(y, pb, pr). have it hooked up to my digital cable box, then usb2.0 to my computer. 1080i settings with 13.5 max quality in the arcsoft software. maybe using too many programs at once is killing it? when i run the raw file on my vlc media player in raw format in runs quite choppy but i figured that was because of the settings and its in raw format.

[Vman94]

here is a current look at a 22 sec raw clip.
http://movies.adailymovie.com/2011_9_7_20_43_59.M2TS

tell me what you think.

ps i know i said its a bit cloudy and it happens they are flying in clouds but after that you get the idea, just a coincidence
Vman,

[Vman94]

and its arcsoft total media extreme, i have a 2.4 quad core cpu. Thanks again for your help guys this was frustrating me.

[jagabo]

That M2TS file looks like upscaled SD to me. Try recording a true HD channel.

[Vman94]

It was HBO Canada so i dont think your right. But you see what i mean right? no as clear as it should be.

[jagabo]

At best it's upscaled, poor quality, 720p. Record some real 1080i streams.

Some other things to keep in mind: Televisions generally have better deinterlacers than computers. Televisions typically apply sharpening filters, computer monitors don't.

[Vman94]

Could it be an issue with a cable somewhere?

[hech54]

You can't get blood from a stone.

[jagabo]

Could it be an issue with a cable somewhere?

No.

[Vman94]

here are a few more from different channels, hbo , tmn and A&E
http://movies.adailymovie.com/2011_9_8_11_36_57.M2TS

http://movies.adailymovie.com/2011_9_8_11_40_21.M2TS
http://movies.adailymovie.com/2011_9_8_11_41_12.M2TS

[Vman94]

sorry youll have to cut and paste in browser.

[jagabo]

The last clip ..11_41_12.M2TS looks like a full 1920x1080 channel. There are lots of MPEG compression artifacts -- but those are probably in the cable/sat broadcast.

[Vman94]

Better example. ive included two pics. The first one is what i see on my screen in realtime. the second is the file i end up with recording it and saving it to my hard drive. I cant figure out how it ends up like this.


http://movies.adailymovie.com/Sample1.jpg
http://movies.adailymovie.com/Sample2.jpg

notice how bad the second one looks.

[TimA-C]

Is your monitor even vaguely calibrated or is it still running with the same defaults it arrived with?

I think one of your problems is probably with the de-interlacing in VLC. The first clip looks a LOT better in MPCHC using ffdshow than it does in VLC on my screens.

[Vman94]

Ive played around with the settings a bit, but everything else seems to look fine in vlc, plus i can view the source fine in the arcsoft software and as they other guy stated he vid examples look quite poor on his end too.

[jagabo]

What resolution is your monitor running at? What is it's native resolution? What type of monitor? LCD? CRT?

[Vman94]

asus 21.5 LED 1920 X 1080. I just tried the format TS instead of MT2S and it looks better. Could that have been the issue all along? not perfect but definately closer and i dont see the interlace.

[jagabo]

asus 21.5 LED 1920 X 1080.

That should be fine.

I just tried the format TS instead of MT2S and it looks better. Could that have been the issue all along? not perfect but definately closer and i dont see the interlace.

The video that comes from the HD PVR is already h.264 encoded. Whether you put it into a TS container or a M2TS container shouldn't matter -- it's still the exact same video. You have a playback problem, not a HD PVR recording problem.

[jagabo]

Try these two files: M2TS and TS. Do you see every black and white line in the "1" area?

[Vman94]

looks like, i included the attach just in case
Vman

[jagabo]

Did you view the videos full screen? Not in a maximized window, but full screen with no borders.

[Vman94]

not usually. I know you think its a media player problem, but it seems more of a hauppage problem to me. keep in mind i can view in fine in the arcsoft player when im recording, it just looks messed up after i end up with the file when its done. im at 13.5 max quality. is that messing it up? or maybe a setting in there im not thinking of? what settings do you use? i will clone them and see what the result is.

thanks again
Vman

[jagabo]

not usually. I know you think its a media player problem, but it seems more of a hauppage problem to me. keep in mind i can view in fine in the arcsoft player when im recording, it just looks messed up after i end up with the file when its done.

No. It's the exact same data. The video arrives from the HD PVR already compressed. The ArcSoft Capture Module simply writes that compressed data to the TS or M2TS file while at the same time decompressing it for display.

To view the videos I posted you should set the graphics card to output 1920x1080 to your 1920x1080 monitor, then view the video full screen (double click on the VLC window to switch to full screen). That way you will get pixel-for-pixel mapping and a perfectly sharp image like the sample I posted. Your sample images are showing moire artifacts from resizing.

This is the first step in getting you set up properly.