3 MCE related questions

richardson2525

1. Whats the best way to connect NTL Digital to a MCE PC?
I'm currently using just regular composite (the single yellow cable).
The MCE TV Card has a S-video connector on it that I think takes an RGB signal.
I tried connecting the NTL to the PC using one of those cheapo scart to svideo adapters but the quality was crap and only came through in black and white. What I think I need to do is get the RGB Scart signal from the NTL box to the s-video input on the PC.
What cable do I use, where can I get it and how much does it cost?
What setup are other people using?

2. Has anyone set up a second STB so as to allow the recording of one channel while watching another?

3. Is sky digital really that much of an improvement over NTL picture quality wise?

Thanks a lot

SouperComputer

1) Svideo, although ive found it to be dodgy on some box's. I cant think of a PVR card that has RGB, but I could be wrong.

2) Haven't had to do it yet, have you tried avforums and thegreenbuttton?

3) It depends on the station. Ive found that articfacts are more visible in some stations that on others. My experience is that generally sky is better.

pH

I tried connecting the NTL to the PC using one of those cheapo scart to svideo adapters but the quality was crap and only came through in black and white. What I think I need to do is get the RGB Scart signal from the NTL box to the s-video input on the PC.

SCART is just a cable arrangement, and a black and white picture is a classic sign of sticking a composite signal into an s-video connector. s-video uses 2 pairs (one for brightness, one for colour) and composite uses just one pair.

The first thing to establish is what signal formats are available on the SCART of the NTL box.

There is no simple way to convert RGB to s-video, so if NTL produces composite and RGB and your capture card supports composite and s-video then you're stuck with composite.

The only capture card I know of that supports RGB is sweetspot, but it doesn't have hardware MPEG encoding.

FrankGrimes

richardson2525 wrote:

1. Whats the best way to connect NTL Digital to a MCE PC?
I'm currently using just regular composite (the single yellow cable).
The MCE TV Card has a S-video connector on it that I think takes an RGB signal.
I tried connecting the NTL to the PC using one of those cheapo scart to svideo adapters but the quality was crap and only came through in black and white. What I think I need to do is get the RGB Scart signal from the NTL box to the s-video input on the PC.
What cable do I use, where can I get it and how much does it cost?
What setup are other people using?

2. Has anyone set up a second STB so as to allow the recording of one channel while watching another?

3. Is sky digital really that much of an improvement over NTL picture quality wise?

Thanks a lot

1. I had the same problem - NTL STB to PVR 500MCE over s-video gave terrible resultswhen using a crappy adaptor. I'm currently just using composite and it does me fine, but I have a RGB to s-video converter box I bought from Maplin that I've been meaning to setup. Had it working for a few minutes before and pic was class, but then the pic started hopping like mad. THink its a graphics driver issue, but I'd need to get a second converter box aswell, so it aint cheap - one needed for each STB.

2. I have two NTL stb's setup in MCE. An stb only outputs one channel at a time, so you need two stb's (€5 extra a month). Of course you'll need either two tv tuners or a dual tuner like the excellent PVR 500MCE (with additional backplate, which Wavey bought off me but does not actually need). Once you have 2 stb's connected to two tuners setup is foolproof - just select 'Two Tuners' in tv setup.

3. NTL digital pic is perfect for me. I'm even happy with the composite pic when watching through my xbox 360 (extenders do seem to give a more natural tv pic than the MCE machine does, though I never played around with drivers/codecs on MCE machine as I don't actually use it for watching tv - I use extenders for that). For those few minutes I had the s-video converter working the pic was great, so I don't think Sky+ would be an improvement.

SouperComputer

The first thing to establish is what signal formats are available on the SCART of the NTL box.

Nail on the head, some of the Pace STB'sI have had to use didnt seem to have SVideo on the SCART plug

Should I call NTL and tell them to get me a decent box?

[rant c@NTL] Whats the point in having digital if you are using composite. Its "okay" for a small screen, but if you are using a large one or projector the difference is very noticeable. [/rant @NTL]

richardson2525

Thanks for the replies, i really want to get better picture cause it's looking really crumby on my Philips 32" LCD (by the way NTL has always been crumby picture on the TV!)
I have the small NTL Pace Box that is supposed to offer RGB output over Scart so maybe my best option is to try that RGB to S Video converter thingy from Maplin -has anyone actually managed to get it working?

I do have a dual tuner TV card so I will enquire about getting a second STB

So the general issue is as pH put it. NTL box outputs composite and RBG and Tuner card accepts composite and S-Video. I need to get the S video and RGB working together for best possible quality I think

Thanks for the suggestions

richardson2525

So I went and spent my €59 on that RGB to S-Video converter in Maplins. And for once something actually worked out for me! It works a treat. Significant improvement on NTL Picture quality through the LCD (via MCE PC). I have never had picture quality as good as this through the LCD. So thanks for all the advice.
Anyone experiencing similar problems to me this should sort it out somewhat.
Now just have to wait until someone launches HDTV in Ireland!!

SouperComputer

richardson2525 wrote:

So I went and spent my €59 on that RGB to S-Video converter in Maplins. And for once something actually worked out for me! It works a treat. Significant improvement on NTL Picture quality through the LCD (via MCE PC). I have never had picture quality as good as this through the LCD. So thanks for all the advice.
Anyone experiencing similar problems to me this should sort it out somewhat.
Now just have to wait until someone launches HDTV in Ireland!!

Cool thanks for posting back, ill keep this in mind.

Can I ask what model of Decoder you have?

Smoggy

the answer for me was :

VGA to RGB cable
and a
RGB to SVideo convertor

a few tweaks with the Media center registry settings and hey presto a great pic from

NTL Digi and PVR150

richardson2525

SouperComputer wrote:

Cool thanks for posting back, ill keep this in mind.

Can I ask what model of Decoder you have?

Heres the specs;
Decoder: NTL Pace DC221KN (The very small silver one that they are currently issuing in Dublin)
TV: Philips 30PF9946 30" LCD
PC: Advent DHE 1000
RGB to S Video: Shinybow SB-3680 (From Maplin)

I have the NTL box connected straight to the TV using SCART (crap quality) and alternatively through the PC using the RGB to S Video converter and then from PC to TV using VGA cable (Doesn't have HDMI or DVI unfortunately). After using it for a while, the resolution is quite good, but I'm gonna have to play around with my NVidia settings to get a good colour pallette, the colours seem too artificial and I'm not really happy with the black colours I'm getting, more of a dirty brown. Overall happy though. DVD is great through the MCE PC

SouperComputer

few tweaks with the Media center registry settings and hey presto a great pic from

for the aspect ratio or what exactly?

Smoggy

the tweaks did loads of things , the main ones rendered a better picture ( over CPU usage ) and increased the recording quality. Have a hunt about on the net for them. I did about 10 tweaks , with a noticeable difference in the end.

SouperComputer

Smoggy wrote:

the tweaks did loads of things , the main ones rendered a better picture ( over CPU usage ) and increased the recording quality. Have a hunt about on the net for them. I did about 10 tweaks , with a noticeable difference in the end.

Definately will. Ive used the MCE tweak tool alright.

Smoggy

yup - its not in the teak tools I seem to remember and they were mainly related to bit rates.

Eurochild

FrankGrimes wrote:

2. I have two NTL stb's setup in MCE. An stb only outputs one channel at a time, so you need two stb's (€5 extra a month). Of course you'll need either two tv tuners or a dual tuner like the excellent PVR 500MCE (with additional backplate, which Wavey bought off me but does not actually need). Once you have 2 stb's connected to two tuners setup is foolproof - just select 'Two Tuners' in tv setup.

I'm looking to emulate this setup - can FrankGrimes or anyone else tell me where I can get the additional backplate for the PVR-500? Thanks!