I have finally got X to work on 350's tv-out. Live TV-Quality is as good if not better than my Dish Network's reciever.

However, the X gui (720 X 480) is too big. I don't see the Red hat start menu button on the task bar (Running FC4). and When in Myth gui, I can't see any buttons that in the setup section... you know, the cancel, prev, next, finish.

Live-TV is perfect no problems there. However, since x gui is too big, running xine or mplayer for avi files results in picture being cut on both left and right sides of the screen.

I have tried changing the device and monitor resolution in my xorg.conf file to 640X480 but that did not change the x resolution at all.

Then I tried changing the mythgui using the gui px values in appearance settings. That does bring mythgui in visible range, however, now I see the X gui's task bar at the bottom of the screen.

I would really appreciate if someone can help. I would like to use the tv-out on 350... that is the only reason why I paid more to get 350 instead of a 250.

Thanks.

I think all pvr-350 owners have this problem. I set the myth GUI size and position to fill my screen.

The only problems are:
1) using other X applications (I never do this so no problem)
2) using mplayer/xine (particulary a problem if there are subtitles in the video)

I havn't had much problem since I adjusted the myth gui size. But I would like a solution to change the pvr-350's overscan.

You are correct. After googling for couple of hours I have come to the same conclusion that all 350 TV-Out users have overscan problem.

I got the myth gui to fit the screen, however mplayer and xine are clipping video very badly, over an inch all around. Since these two take the resolution from the X server, there is no way to fix it.

I think the creators of ivtvdev (X driver for ivtv) need to add overscan control. I read in alot of posts on different sites and forums that overscan is a TV issue. Some TVs do it more than others. Well, No TV that I have used ever came with an oversan control.

Another thing that I noticed is that for ntsc the ivtv x config file is set for 720 X 480. That is NOT 4:3 aspect ratio. I know that is the dvd resolution.

So either an overscan control and/or the ability to use different resolutions with the ivtv X driver will solve this problem.

Most TV's have a hidden service menu where you can adjust stuff like overscan. I have done it on mine before to watch indivuial movies. But the best solution would be in fixing the output.


Yes it is. NTSC doesn't define the pixels as being squares.

Have you tried messing with the setting in mythtv "use gui size for tv playback" or something like that? Just so you know, I watch videos on the pvr-350's tv-out with no clipping problems so I know it can be done.

Are you saying your Xfree86 desktop doesn't overscan off the screen? Because that is the subject of this thread.

Videos recorded by the pvr-350 display correctly because tv shows are designed to overscan. The problem only shows up if you try playing back an .avi/mpeg with subtitles that were added for viewing on a computer monitor. Many groups add subtitles assuming you will view the file on a conputer, so they use the entire width of the video.

An other way of thinking about it is that the .avi/.mpeg file with the subtitles has been cropped to remove the overscan area. But when played back mplayer scales it up to the sull desktop resolution.

no i get overscan too... sorry bout that, you're right the avi's do overscan. I hadn't noticed this phenomenon till you mentioned it, as 99% of the avi's i watch are letterbox.

I just experimented with using the -x <xres> -y <yres> -zoom options to see if mplayer could do some handy resizing and fix the problem. Hypothetically, that should have worked, but it didn't. The resized picture still appeared to be clipped, even though it did not fill the screen. it's almost as though the picture is clipped inside the mplayer gui window, regardless of how big you make it... i dunno, see if you get the same thing. the mplayer command i used was:

mplayer -framedrop -fs -zoom -x <xwidth> -y <ywidth> -vo x11

To partially fix the overscan problem with the PVR-350 (R5A30.2), go to:

Setup->TV settings->Playback

On the 8th screen, you can adjust the "Horizontal over/underscan percentage". I set mine to 5%. Now at least the 1st OSD (on-screen-display) that pops up when I press the "Guide" button on my silver remote is not overscanned. Unfortunately, the actual guide itself, Myth setup screens, and desktop are still overscanned

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R5D1,Intel D865GVHZ,3.06GP4 Cel,512MDRAM,PVR350,Maxtor 7L300R0,NEC ND-3550A