Picture quality problem - shadows on big TV set

[maf]

Hello,

I recently installed vdr-plugin-vompserver 0.3.0-2 and vdr-vompclient-mvp 0.3.0-1 on a VDR machine on top of c't VDR 6.2 and tested a MediaMVP with two TV sets.

With my small TV set (Grundig, 17'', 4:3) the picture quality is great. With my big TV set (Loewe Xelos, 32'', 16:9) the picture quality is poor: There is a pale shadow picture offset to the bottom by a couple of millimeters. This is especially obvious with the startup dialogs.

The SCART connection probably is not the culprit. Both TV sets show a flawless picture when connected to a regular VDR client PC with FF card. The same SCART cable was used with both TV sets.

What might be causing this problem? And how can I get rid of it?

Thanks in advance, Malte

[Lutz]

Hi Malte,
did you switch to RGB-Mode?
I just can tell that I'm using my MVP (Rev. E1) with a 32" Sony, and the picture quality is absolutly comparable to a vdr with an FF-card, also to my Sony DVD player. I also tried out several MVPs, my Rev. H3 for example is slightly worse, but still very good.
Cheers
Lutz

[maf]

Hi Lutz,

yes, I had selected 'RGB + composite' for the 'TV connection type' option. There does not seem to be a 'RGB' value with my box. My MediaMVP is a revision E1 as well.

Also, I tried all values of 'TV connection type', 'TV aspect ratio' and 'Use WSS' without improving anything. 'S-Video' gives a nice greenish taint, though :-)

Looking at it again, the shadow picture is not just offset to the bottom. It is also slightly larger than the original picture. So the more you look towards the the left (or right) edge of the screen, the more the shadows are offset towards the left (or right). Nice 3D effect. Unfortenately, not suitable for every kind of programming :-)

Malte

[Lutz]

Hi Malte,
if you select RGB + composite, you get both RGB signalling and composite output (standard video out) on different pins of the scart connector. Your TV input should also be set to RGB input, some scart inputs (mostly video recorder inputs) are not capable of RGB. So try to change the scart input of the TV set, change the cable, if that doesn't work, try to get another mvp to test...
If the picture is green when using the s-video setting, you should switch the input of the TV set also to s-video. S-video should also give you a good picture...

So, there's a lot to try out, good luck!

Lutz

[maf]

Hi Lutz,

Thanks for your help! I tried every imaginable combination of 'TV connection type', 'TV aspect ratio', '16:9 on 4:3 display mode', and 'Use WSS'. None seems to influence the shadow. Also, none of the many settings for input signal type on the TV set would prevent the greenish taint with the S-Video setting of 'TV connection type'. So I settled for 'RGB+composite', '16:9', 'Chop sides', and 'No' to the above options.

Luckily, I happened to have a second MediaMVP, which is a revision D3A. And that box produces a shadow-free picture. Also, I noticed that both boxes produce a shadowed picture during boot (the MediaMVP screen). But with the D3A box, the shadows disappear once the VOMP dialog pops up. May be these observations could help to identify the problem with the E1 box?

I'm tempted to test both boxes with the Hauppauge firmware. Could I just use the DONGLE.BIN from within a Hauppauge MediaMVP installer?

Malte

[carsten]

Jep, you may specify the dongle that is uploaded in the vomp-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx.conf file.

BR,
Carsten.

[maf]

But can I simply use the file DONGLE.BIN from within the Hauppauge installer archive? Or are there different versions of that file in Hauppauge installer (e.g. for boxes with and without wireless interface), or potential incompatibilities with the vomp upload procedure?

Thanks, Malte

[Lutz]

Hi Malte,
I never tried the original dongle from Hauppauge, but I think you just set up the Software on a windows machine connected to your network, disconnect or shutdown the vdr, and it should load the right dongle...
But I presume a hardware problem with your Rev E1, also I also see a slight shadow on the red-blue-green boot screen, which is not visible even in the higher contrast vomp menu...

But keep us informed...
Lutz

P.S.: The WSS setting has nothing to do with RGB, its Wide-Screen-Signalling, just to tell you TV set the aspect ratio, but should work without probs with a 16:9 tv set, Chop Sides is only valid if you select 5:4 mode; but the greenish picture is typical for a s video signal connected to standard video input, perhaps you could try an scart to s-video adapter to connect directly to a s-video input of your tv set...

[maf]

Well, I wouldn't want to set up a Windows machine for this if I can help it. I hoped I could temporarily replace the vomp dongle on the TFTP server with a dongle form the Hauppauge installer archive. If someone could just confirm that its okay to simply extract that dongle and use it...

The E1 box can't be all bad. With other TV sets, the picture is fine including the boot screen. And even the D3A produces a shadowed boot screen on the big TV set. So I guess its some unfortenate interaction between the MediaMVP(s) and the Loewe TV set.

Cheers, Malte

[Lutz]

Hi Malte,
you probably could load the original dongle from your linux setup, but you can't feed it with any content I presume, I think the dongle needs to be fed from a windows machine with the hauppauge software installed...
Lutz

[maf]

Hi Lutz,

That's my guess, too. If only I can see some screens produced by the Hauppauge dongle, I might be able to tell whether their software produces shadows as well.

I just don't want to break die MediaMVP by making it boot the wrong image. So unless someone can confirm that its save to extract the DONGLE.BIN from a Hauppauge installer archive and use it in place of the VOMP dongle, I'll play it safe and setup a Windows server.

Malte

[Lutz]

Hi,
I'm shure that you can't break the MVP with a wrong dongle, it is only stored in RAM, if you disconnect power, the box resets completly. This might be differen for revision >H3, because they have also a flash mem.
There was also a different software for VDR, which was using the original dongle; vdr_plugin_mediamvp, but never tried this... http://www.vdr-wiki.de/wiki/index.php/Mediamvp-plugin
But I think its not developed anymore, but maybe you can use it for testing purposes...
Lutz 

[maf]

Hi,

I tested both MediaMVPs with Hauppauge's MediaMVP 3.3.25032 software.  Results are the same als with VOMP 0.3.0: Both boxes produced a shadow while booting, but the D3A recovers when the application is started.

I've written a support request to Hauppauge, asking whether there is anything I can do. I'll let you know what the reply was.

Thanks for your help,
Malte