Recorded TV quality in Vista HP much worse than in XP MCE 2005 -- suggestions?

[Karaktu]

All I can say is...argh...once again, foiled by Microsoft. :roll:

I upgraded my HTPC from XP MCE 2005 to Vista HP (SP1) for no other reason than to be able to use the new v2 MCE Extenders.

Everything works, and the new MCE interface isn't bad once you get use to it, but the thing that is most important to me is, of course, the thing that isn't right.

TV quality sucks, both analog and HDTV.

I've Googled this problem, and only found a couple of unanswered questions on other Forums.

So, I thought I'd see if anyone here has any experience to share.

My hardware:

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
AMD BE-2350 CPU
4 x 1GB Crucial DDR2-800
2 x WD 1TB "GP" hard drives
Vista View DA-1N1-I dual tuner card
Vista View DA-1N1-E dual tuner card
Edit: I should mention I tried a single AverMedia PCI-E Combo card, and the results were similar, if not slightly worse.

Downloaded material is absolutely gorgeous, and movie rips are definitely better than recorded TV, so it has to be something with how Vista is recording/coding/decoding television sources. I'm going to guess with recording/encoding since I tried changing my MPEG-2 decoder to PowerDVD 7 and it didn't make any difference.

Thanks!

:heart:

 

[erwos]

My recommendation would be to ask on thegreenbutton.com. Other than that, make sure your recording quality is set to "best" (or whatever).

 

[Shawn]

That's the strangest thing I've ever heard. I'm not sure how the operating system would make a difference. Maybe the drivers are buggy, I dunno. Have you tried using the software that comes with your tuner to see if there is a difference. If there isn't then it could be a driver problem. If there is Media Center might have gotten screwed up somehow. If I were you I'd just do a reformat.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: Shawn
That's the strangest thing I've ever heard. I'm not sure how the operating system would make a difference. Maybe the drivers are buggy, I dunno. Have you tried using the software that comes with your tuner to see if there is a difference. If there isn't then it could be a driver problem. If there is Media Center might have gotten screwed up somehow. If I were you I'd just do a reformat.

I would suggest a reformat as well.

 

[Tegeril]

Considering OTA HD is simply an MPEG-2 transport stream and the "quality" cannot be changed, I imagine something else is at work here.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Video card/TV out driver issues maybe?