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Replacement for the PVR500
http://forums.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18121		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  victor97 [ Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Replacement for the PVR500
Hi,

I am using KnoppMyth (R5E50) and I am very happy with all the functionality. It is impressive, except one thing: the quality of my TV-card.

I using the PVR500 for watching the cable tv in KnoppMyth. I have tried all the tips to improve the quality of life TV (including changing resolution, change filters). Still the quality is not even near to the quality of my normal television using the same cable.

When I show my mediacenter to friends/family they all like it, but not the quality of the live TV. To promote KnoppMyth I need to change this :wink: and for this reason I want a good replacement for my PVR500.

What do I want:
- I want to use it for cable tv.
- Dual tuners.
- Equal quality as my normal tv
- Standard supported by KnoppMyth (drivers etc, I am not a linux guru so I don't want to do scarry things with my kernel :? )

What is the best option to go for?

Thanks!
Regards,
Victor
Author:  Torrin [ Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:22 pm ]
Post subject: 
Dunno, I have a PVR500 and my picture is as good as regular tv. You are several releases away from current. You might want to try upgrading or wait until the new version is ready with Myth .21. I do not think your capture card is the issue, however it could be the cable going to the card.

You will likely have to replace the PVR500 next year anyway, but you will need a digital tuner and that is a whole different kettle of fish.
Author:  victor97 [ Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:33 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hi Torrin,

I am sure it is not the cable, if I connect the same cable to the tv it give me perfect quality.

Plan to upgrade as soon as possible, need to find a timeslot. Do you really think this should solve this issue?

What do you mean with the digital tuner part? Can I expect problems with this?
Author:  slowtolearn [ Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:55 pm ]
Post subject: 
victor97 wrote:
What do you mean with the digital tuner part? Can I expect problems with this?
In the US the "digital transition" hits Feb 17th, 2009. Many cable companies will decide to not send analog down the cable, opting instead to provide you with a digital-to-analog converter. See http://www.dtvtransition.org/ and http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html (among *many* others) for more information. Also check with your cable company to find out what they are planning.

Of course, depending on where in the world you are located, this may not apply to you.
Author:  mrjackson [ Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:58 pm ]
Post subject: 
he has cable, it most likely wont apply to him as soon as regular broadcast.
Author:  Torrin [ Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
Thanks slowtolearn for covering the digital stuff. Let's start with what kind of TV do you have? On my LCD TV, the PVR500 looks worse, but on my 36" big tube it is as good if not better than what I am using.

Let's start with the basics:

PC Configuration (mobo/memory/video card/hard drive/processor)
TV Type/Size/Connection to Myth
Playback settings (Bob2, etc)

An upgrade might help, since you are using older video card drivers, but let's get the basics first.
Author:  slowtolearn [ Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:24 pm ]
Post subject: 
mrjackson wrote:
he has cable, it most likely wont apply to him as soon as regular broadcast.
Possibly, although Comcast has already eliminated analog in certain regions (Chicago areas, maybe more - http://knoppmyth.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17489).

Point is the changeover is coming, the PVR-xx0's may not be a viable product depending on your location, and if Victor wasn't aware of the changeover he needs to be (dependant on where he lives).
Author:  victor97 [ Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hi,

Thanks you all for your replies on my queries. Hereby some answers.

I am living in the Netherlands, so the changeover to digital is not applicable to me.

I am using a normal Television, not a LCD. But, currently I am thinking of buying one. So possible within a few weeks I do have a cool big LCD screen ;).

My box:
My location: The Netherlands
KnoppMyth version: R5E50
Hardware:
Silverstone LC11S-M300 (silver + multimedia)
Nvidea chipset 6200 videocard
haugpage PVR-500
MSI K9MM-V Motherboard (VIA K8M800+8237R Chipset based)
AMD AM2 3500+
512 MB

The mythbox is connected to my television (the big tube) with scart-cable. The dvd's I watch using KnopppMyth are in good quality, for this reason I think it is the PVR500 with causes the bad quality.

Torrin, I want to give my playback settings, but I have no idea where to find them. If you tell me where I can find this information, I will give you this information.

I will try to make some time free this weekend for the upgrade.
Author:  datobin1 [ Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:15 am ]
Post subject: 
The PVR-500s was built with two different tunners. One of them is know to have bad PQ.
here is a link with pictures (Just ignore there pvr solution, they don't know any better :) )
http://forums.snapstream.com/vb/showthread.php?t=33675


The other thing to check is your recording settings under setup. Try higher settings if you havn't already. That will make a good improvement if they are at the default.
Author:  datobin1 [ Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:27 am ]
Post subject: 
One other thing, even if your tv gets a good enough signal, it still may not be good enough for the pvr 500.

Since the 500 has two tuners it has to split the signal coming into it so each tuner will receive half the signal strength that your TV receives from the cable.

To make the test more accurate you would need to put a splitter before your TV to simulate what the 500 tuners receive.

Let us know what tunner you have and if you have a splitter you could give that a test.

If you have the good tunner but the signal is to weak you could add an amp. If you try an amp, make sure to put in the right place. Most of the time you are better off putting the amp further up stream instead of right behind you mythbox. So I would try the amp at the point the cable comes in your house.

BTW not all amps are created equal, you want one with a low signal to noise ratio.
Author:  mrjackson [ Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:51 am ]
Post subject: 
you can also have too much signal strength and would then need an attenuator to lower it, but that isnt generally a problem with cable.
Author:  slowtolearn [ Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:44 pm ]
Post subject: 
victor97 wrote:
Torrin, I want to give my playback settings, but I have no idea where to find them. If you tell me where I can find this information, I will give you this information.
Look under Utilities/Setup -> Setup -> TV Settings -> Playback

Also keep in mind datobin1's point regarding too weak a signal, and see 3) under Known Issues here.
Author:  victor97 [ Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:28 pm ]
Post subject: 
Thanks for all the feedback, but I am not sure how to use it. How can I test if my signal is too weak or too strong? What kind of equipment do I have to buy to make to lower or higher the signal? Maybe a stupid question, but I just don't know... :?

My playback settings (thanks slowtolearn for the directions):
Thirst pager:
Algorithm: Linear blend
No custom filters
Preferred MPEG2 Decoder: Standard
Enabled:
- Realtime priority threads
- Audio buffereing
Aspect Override:On
PIP Video Location: Top Left

Second page:
Action or playback exit: Save position and exit
Enabled:
- Prompt at end of recording
- Clear saved position on playback
- Alternate clear saved position
- Enable warning about missing audio output
UDP Notify Port: 6548

Third page:
List newest recording first is enabled
Sort Episodes: Record date
Display thumbnail preview images of recordings disabled
Time offset for thumbnail preview images: 64
Enabled:
- Generate preview image from a bookmark if possible
- CPU friendly preview of recordings
- Start in Title section

Fourth page:
Password required to view all recordings: <blank (no password entered)>
Default group filter to apply: All programs
Enabled:
- Save current group filter when changed
Default view: Show categories and Recording groups

Fifth page:
Not enabled

Six page:
Smart fast forwarding and Sticky keys not enabled
Fast forward/rewind repostion amount: 100
Reverse direction in fast forward/rewind enabled
Seek to exact frame disabled

Page seven:
Automatically skip commercials : automatically skip
Comercial skip auto rewind amount: 0
Commercial skip notify amount: 0
Maximum commercial skip: 3600
Skip blank frames after commercials enabled

Page eight:
Everything is 0

Page nine:
OSD Theme: Retro-OSD
Fonts are not important I guess
Anly Always use browse mode when changing channels in liveTV is enabled

Page 10:
Text zoom percentage: 100
Default caption font type: monospaced serif

Page 11:
Not important for my issue I guess

Datobin1:
In the setup I see you can change some settings for Recording. But what setting do I have to make higher? Is it the bitrate, max bitrate, Sampling rate, type?

Thanks again,
Victor
Author:  slowtolearn [ Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:44 pm ]
Post subject: 
victor97 wrote:
Datobin1:
In the setup I see you can change some settings for Recording. But what setting do I have to make higher? Is it the bitrate, max bitrate, Sampling rate, type?
The width/height, as mentioned in
slowtolearn wrote:
see 3) under Known Issues here.
I set my PVR-[1,3]50s to 720x480, didn't touch the bitrates (but you can play with them) and the image looks fine.
Author:  victor97 [ Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:21 pm ]
Post subject: 
Slowtolearn, I have the same width/height setting as you have (720x480)
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