why does recorded tv look poor in vista media centre?

ArchAnGeL

ArchAnGeL

ArchAnGeL

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when I record dvb-t using vista media centre and my nova-t 500, it looks fuzzy and a bit blurred (especially football) when I play back in media centre.

I looks fine in wmp11

codecs installed

ffdshow (mpeg2 disabled in options)
coreavc
ac3 fliter

I also downloaded a codec checker/swapper for media centre and it says it is using the microsoft decoder

the tv settings in media centre are for a tv, 720p

I am connected via hdmi to my tv and have had to correct overscanning from the amd drivers so my res is something like 1220x688 (can't remember exactly)

hd vid (x264, wmv) etc looks fine though media centre
 
Does live tv look blurred too? If so, the only thing I can think of is that you try the nvidia decoder.

Install it and then use the checker to set it as the default.
 
ArchAnGeL said:
when I record dvb-t using vista media centre and my nova-t 500, it looks fuzzy and a bit blurred (especially football) when I play back in media centre.

I looks fine in wmp11

codecs installed

ffdshow (mpeg2 disabled in options)
coreavc
ac3 fliter

I also downloaded a codec checker/swapper for media centre and it says it is using the microsoft decoder
the tv settings in media centre are for a tv, 720p
I am connected via hdmi to my tv and have had to correct overscanning from the amd drivers so my res is something like 1220x688 (can't remember exactly)
hd vid (x264, wmv) etc looks fine though media centre
Click to expand...


Why even bother with Media Centre.
Its all overrated, cordless mouse click the fiile and play it with your fave app, bingo?
 
Mr Latte said:
Why even bother with Media Centre.
Its all overrated, cordless mouse click the fiile and play it with your fave app, bingo?
Click to expand...

I use vista media centre so my wife only has to use the remote control and a simple interface so that she can watch recorded eastenders


the nvidia codec seems to have helped, thanks.
 
If you want to give something different a try, try MediaPortal with some plugins

It's better in every way apart from the TV side, which is a bit clunky, but still works fine.

MP + Monochrome skin (atm) + MyTVSeries + MyFilms = win
 
jellybeard999 said:
If you want to give something different a try, try MediaPortal with some plugins

It's better in every way apart from the TV side, which is a bit clunky, but still works fine.

MP + Monochrome skin (atm) + MyTVSeries + MyFilms = win
Click to expand...

yes, I've got that downloaded and ready to go. A big issue I have with vista media centre is poor fast forwarding of .ts in particular over my network (wired). Is media portal any better in this respect?
 
ArchAnGeL said:
yes, I've got that downloaded and ready to go. A big issue I have with vista media centre is poor fast forwarding of .ts in particular over my network (wired). Is media portal any better in this respect?
Click to expand...

Yes, ffwing in MP works as 2x, 4x, 8x - 64x with each press of the ff button. Works with EVERY format, while MCE reacts differently depending on the format.

Persevere - v2.0 is in progress and it DOES get better with updates.
 
ArchAnGeL said:
I just had a look and can't say I'm that impressed with the interface
I will keep and eye on it though
Click to expand...

If you mean MP then I tend to agree. There's far too much rubbishing of MCE on these forums (and others). If configured properly it does the job absolutely fine and the interface is light years ahead of most other products. Yes, some other products might be better for one specific task, but none of them do everything MCE does as well as MCE does it.

Just the usual fad for rubbishing everything MS does imo.
 
Vertigo1 said:
If you mean MP then I tend to agree. There's far too much rubbishing of MCE on these forums (and others). If configured properly it does the job absolutely fine and the interface is light years ahead of most other products. Yes, some other products might be better for one specific task, but none of them do everything MCE does as well as MCE does it.

Just the usual fad for rubbishing everything MS does imo.
Click to expand...

I completely agree. Whilst Media Center has its flaws, it does generally do everything you want it to with ease and style.
 
Vertigo1 said:
If you mean MP then I tend to agree. There's far too much rubbishing of MCE on these forums (and others). If configured properly it does the job absolutely fine and the interface is light years ahead of most other products. Yes, some other products might be better for one specific task, but none of them do everything MCE does as well as MCE does it.

Just the usual fad for rubbishing everything MS does imo.
Click to expand...

MCE is very very poor in most respects..

I've spent 3 days messing around with Vista X64 Home Premium..

The big sticking point is the interface, yes it's animated and glitzy, but OMG it's so badly implemented, the whole menu is just a mess..
WHy have Videos lumped together with Pictures, then put TV and Movies together as another menu item, lumping in DVD just for good measure..
It's not customisable to any degree, the missus just got lost immediately..

Then it can't play MKV/TS/DIVX without serious messing around, and even then if you use Vista 64, you need the 64 bit codecs and these are buggy, meaning I can't play all my files from VMC, I have to go to windows and use WMP in isolation..

Don't get me wrong, the animated interface is pretty, and apart from the awful menu layout it is smooth.. but it's very poor at being an easy to use media front end..

I used to have MP and that is customisable enough, has more logical menu structures, i.e. Pictures, Videos, TV etc.. it just lacks animated glitz.. possibly coming in MP II?

I don't often knock MS, Vista 64 is working well enough, and it does everything I need, but MCE is just a big mess, possibly it works better as a TV recorder, but since I have SKY HD, I just want it to be a media front end, and for me it scores very low..
 
You double click one registry file to associate all video files with mce and install a codec, doesn't seem too hard to me.
 
Again, I agree. MCE2005 was good, Vista has been improved again and is very easy to use. It just works.

I have given MP a try before but it always unimpresses me. MPII even more so. Looks complete gash!

The only thing I find a pain with media center is its dvd playback of some titles. Through a normal player, the whole screen is filled without any zoom (just normal 16:9). Through MC either 2k5 or vista I get vertical borders and its more like a stretched 4:9.
 
chrismox said:
You double click one registry file to associate all video files with mce and install a codec, doesn't seem too hard to me.
Click to expand...

It's even easier then that, just install the Vista Codec Pack, this does it all for you... BUT This doesn't work for Vista 64, you need to install the Vista 64 components pack after the vista codec pack.. but there aren't enought 64bit source filters to get most things working..

Vista 64 uses 64bit WMP in the VMC, this 'requires' 64bit codecs/source filters, the ones that exist are too limited at the moment.. you have no choice over this..

And then you are still left with the awful menu groupings and also the fact that if you want 'quality' video you still need to 'hack' about a little more to get the correct codecs to work, using VMCD to set the MPEG2 decoder, and registry hacking coreAVC for H264..

I still want to use VMC, but it's just a real shame it's such a pain for 64 bit users..

I'll be putting Vista 32 on shortly, as the codec packs/reg hacks do work for just about everything.. but I've gone as far as you can with Vista 64 and it's not good enough..


I have Media Portal installed, it's no where near as glitzy as VMC, and it will take an age to configure.. but people are just testing things like the BR/HD-DVD plugin to allow them to be played like DVD's, it's this type of development and configuration that does give MP some relevance..
 
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No, media centre.. on Vista 64... :)

Media Centre, becuase they've ruined the interface somewhat, with regards to the Menu ordering/structure,
And Vista 64/MC because you can't play as much HD media types as you would like until the codec issues are sorted..
 
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