Why this blog?

I had a very difficult time getting my HTPC to a) look good on my 42" 1080p monitor due to the fact that I'm recording SD content and trying to display it on HD monitor and b) get the system to pass the undecoded dolby signal directly to my stereo receiver via the SPDIF connection for decoding on the receiver instead of inside the HTPC.

Here is a flow chart of what I was trying to accomplish:



PLEASE NOTE: While these settings worked great for me, they may not work for you at all.

One thing that I've learned while playing with this stuff is that what looks good to one person looks terrible to another and also settings can and need to change drastically between different setups, especially when the TV/Monitor changes.

I ran a SD 27" tube TV with this HTPC and mostly default settings for about a year but after I upgraded to the 42" LCD I had to spends countless hours tweaking every last detail to get the picture to where it is today. Hopefully, this blog will keep me from ever having to do that again and also help someone else who is in the same position.

Enjoy!

Video decoders, etc

all of the decoders and utilities that I use are free and can be found in the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack

GB-PVR settings

One setting changed so that I can adjust the screen size
with my remote.

Miscellaneous utils

I run anydvd on this machine to a) break dvd encyption because
my free dvd decoder doesn't and b) skip advertisements, etc
at the beginnning of the movie.
Publish


Microsoft's useful DECCHECK utility. This guy will tell you
what decoders you have installed and which one is being
set as the default.

FFDSHOW - video

I don't use FFDSHOW (video) because my cpu doesn't have the horsepower to support it. I just use it to control which codecs are used for each type of video. Here is a link to what I consider The FFDSHOW guide. - look under "guides" on the left hand side.



My settings:

FFDSHOW - audio

The next two shots show the codecs that I use to decode
each signal type.







This increases the volume of the output.






The settings below force all audio to be re-encoded
and sent to my receiver as a Dolby Prologic II signal.

Soundblaster settings

Because my sound card has a dolby/dts decoder
built in I have to turn it off in order to send the
undecoded signal to my stereo receiver.

AC3 Filter

The settings below are the most important. The SPDIF
pass through option sends the digital signal directly
to my receiver for decoding.

Hauppauge Tweak Tool

Please note that the settings are what I use for my Westinghouse 42" 1080p set. When I ran GB-PVR using a 27" Zenith SD set they were drastically different. Please feel free to these settings but they could definitely effect your picture quality.







The setting below played a major role in the picture quality.
They almost completely removed the image blur and ghosting that
I was experiencing when I first made the move to the LCD screen.

Current Setup

System Specs

• ECS K7S5a Motherboard
• AMD Sempron 2600+ (underclocked to 1.47ghz because the motherboard doesn't recognize Semprons)
• 1gb ddr ram
• SB Audigy 2 ZS (wasted because I only use the SPDIF output)
• ATI Radeon 9600 pro 256 mb
• Antec Overture Piano Quiet PC Case
• Maxtor 120gb hard drive
• 2 x Hauppauge pvr150
• Windows XP Pro
  

DVR Software

• GB-PVR

Audio

• Onkyo HT-S780 Home Theater System

Video

• Westinghouse 42" 1080p LCD monitor (resolution is a full 1920x1080)
  

PVR-150 Drivers

I am using version 2.0.24.23025 of the Hauppauge PVR-150 drivers.


Drivers can be found here