Picture problem on PC TV

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    67

    Picture problem on PC TV

    hi. attached pictures are from my digital tv through totalmedia 3.5 (world channel, tvb news channel). The 4 main channels (jade, pearl, world, home) have poor quality picture but other channels are excellent, which is surprising. I switched my PCI-E tuner card with a USB stick tuner and same problem (so not problem of the tuner?). it is also unlikely to be the video card since it is only on the 4 channels where i get poor quality. this was working ok previously. any idea what could be the problem and what i should do to check? thanks

    My setup:
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz
    Intel D45SG P45 motherboard
    4GB DDR3 SDRAM
    Windows Vista Ultimate
    1TB SATA HD
    Asus Radeon 4850 512MB DDR3 memory
    DMBTH TV tuner PCI-E: Mygica X8506 (switched with Magic Pro ProHDTV USB)
    Total Media 3.5


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    113

    This is just a hunch, but the digital channels can alternately use MPEG-2 or h.264 encoding. It's possible that the h.264 decoding is broken.

    So I would try re-installing the drivers or installing the K-Lite codec pack (Google it) which is a benefit to your system either way.

    You can try recording the channel and playing it back in some other software and find it plays fine in the other software.


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    67

    thanks for the advice. i installed k-lite and when i played the recorded program the picture quality was excellent. what do you reckon is wrong then and how can i watch tv directly through totalmedia with good picture?

    which drivers are you suggesting re-install? i had already reinstalled the display card driver and tuner card driver (as well as totalmedia) but no improvement.

    thanks


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    113

    To me it's a problem with the TotalMedia software because you can't pick which decoders TotalMedia uses. I have a USB-HDTV stick from another manufacturer (Hauppauge) but also using TotalMedia. I went to their HK distributor's website (shooting.com.hk) and got updated software. So I would go the same route - web search, call, or go back to the shop.

    BTW, there is a software update button inside the TotalMedia -> Setup -> General -> About TotalMedia.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    67

    thanks. i reinstalled everything again (display card driver, tuner card driver, total media) and now its ok. i suspect there was a problem with the display card driver as i had updated it not long ago as the older version seemed to have some conflict with a recent windows reinstall (another frustrating story).

    for the display driver reinstall i deleted the existing driver file and installed from the display card cd so it was the original one so now it seems to be working.

    btw, i updated totalmedia, afterwards picture kept stuttering. so i uninstalled, then reinstalled the old version and it was ok. often 'updates/upgrades' are not improvements!