7MC not displaying 720x576?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › 7MC not displaying 720x576?

skiwi

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#35884 16-Jun-2009 13:38

Hi all

1st post, so please be kind.....

I've travelled a long way in the last 3 weeks after my decision to build a HTPC. A week of evenings was wasted on trying to get Vista to understand a DVB-T (Freeview) signal before i realised that "broke" means "broke". Voila Windows 7 MC and that issue is solved.

Kit is an Athlon x2 6000, Gigabyte m/b with integrated ATI 3200, and an AverMedia DVB-T (duo hybrid) card, with Sony Bravia panel.

The EPG is a frustration and TBD as I’m investigating my options.

The real issue is that the Freeview screens on all but TV1, 2 & 3 are crap. Green screens and major pixel-ation. Conventional wisdom seems to be to blame the video drivers (in my case ATI Catalyst 9.5) - however the blame doesn't lie there as the AverTV software shows all channels perfectly. To be clear, the issue occurs with 7MC unable to display signals that are 720x576. 1280x720 and 1920x1080 are both fine.

So i was looking for someone to help me understand what the issue might be? Underscan and overscan don't help - and fundamentally the AverTV software shows me that the system is operating very well, it is just the 7MC software that seems to be being recalcitrant.

If I can't get this solved, I'll probably trust AverMedia Center with the HTPC duties (wife acceptance factor) - which would be a shane as I like the 7MC UI.

Thanks for the help!

shermanp

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#225599 16-Jun-2009 14:09

The problem IS the ATI drivers I'm afraid.

The difference between the Avermedia software and 7MC is that the latter will be using hardware acceleration/deinterlacing while the former won't be.

If your budget can afford it, I highly recommend getting a NVIDIA 9400GT graphics card. This would set you back ~$100 and works perfectly with 7MC and Freeview|HD.

For EPG in 7MC, I am currently using Big Screen Epg from http://bigscreenglobal.com/defaultbg.aspx
It is currently in a free beta phase and loads XMLTV easily into 7MC. Be aware that this will probably become a paid product sometime in the future - but hopefully by then there will be free alternatives around...

skiwi

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#225740 17-Jun-2009 07:44

OK, I'll take your advice - at least I won't need to junk a video card, just the mobo one.

Thanks!

skiwi

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#226040 17-Jun-2009 23:32

It never rains, but it pours.

Took the advice, got a $115 9400GT card and installed it. Connected the SPDIF cable (carefully) from the Mobo header. Great video, problem with displaying the 720x576 chanels has disappeared.

To be replaced by NO AUDIO. Yes, the SPDIF cable is connected correctly to the 9400GT, but the TV is not getting an audio signal. WIth the on-board ATI port audio and video mixed correctly across the HDMI.

Reading the forums, you get a disconcerting hint that this is a known problem with nvidia, and they aren't doing anything about it. Is this correct?

I am puzzled that there is not an HDMI audio driver to install for the Nvidia card. Have I missed it?

Help!

skiwi

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#226042 17-Jun-2009 23:36

To be more specific, the forums suggest that Nvidia require a TV able to decode an ANALOGUE audio sugnal over the HDMI, not a digital one. Hence most TV's won't work.

Is this the experience of the experts on this forum?

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#226054 18-Jun-2009 06:30

No never heard of anyone having issues providing their video card supports SPDIF -> DVI/HDMI. As for being analogue that is rubbish. It is SPDIF which IS digital. Not possible to be anything else.

Are you sure a) your video card does support SPDIF to HDMI? In the last series cards (8xxx) not all cards could do it. b) are you sure you have connected it to the right header on the videocard. There is normally two headers on cards that support it. One for the video card fan which on passive cards is unused.

Also just thought does SPDIF need to be enabled in the bios?

The reason that the card does not have any drivers for the sound is because it is a always on hardware function of the card it does not involve the rest of the PC at all.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

skiwi

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#226076 18-Jun-2009 07:46

I've spent way too long on this, so the card will go back for chaeking today.

However, a thougt that occurs is that I have enabled the on-board sound on the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, but that is Realtek. There is no specific option for SPIDF in the BIOS (althought there are the headers). I wonder if I have to disable onboard sound for this to work?

BTW, the video card is a GV-N94T-512I.

The reason for this requirement for me is that I direct the audio from the Sony LCD to my Naim amps (I don't use the TV speakers) - this gives me the ability to simultaneously control the video and audio by turning off the TV. If I route the audio separately to the TV, I then have to use 2 control signals to turn off (TV off and amp mute). Can be done, but a pain.

This HTPC stuff isn't straight-forward (says he with a quickly diminishing wife-acceptace-factor)

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek

#226213 18-Jun-2009 11:15

skiwi: I've spent way too long on this, so the card will go back for chaeking today.
However, a thougt that occurs is that I have enabled the on-board sound on the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, but that is Realtek. There is no specific option for SPIDF in the BIOS (althought there are the headers). I wonder if I have to disable onboard sound for this to work?

BTW, the video card is a GV-N94T-512I.

The reason for this requirement for me is that I direct the audio from the Sony LCD to my Naim amps (I don't use the TV speakers) - this gives me the ability to simultaneously control the video and audio by turning off the TV. If I route the audio separately to the TV, I then have to use 2 control signals to turn off (TV off and amp mute). Can be done, but a pain.

This HTPC stuff isn't straight-forward (says he with a quickly diminishing wife-acceptace-factor)

Well I did some reading and you will need to make sure you have the following setup. It sounds simple but according to the gigabyte website the cables are optional so might not come with the motherboard or graphics card.

Motherboard SPDIF (internal connector) displayed on pages 29 of this manual http://asia.giga-byte.com/FileList/Manual/motherboard_manual_ga-ma78gm-s2h_e.pdf

Needs to be connected to the Video card SPDIF connector displayed on page 10 of this manual http://asia.giga-byte.com/FileList/Manual/vga_manual_n94to1g(5i)(n94t5i)_e.pdf

With what looks like an optional cable you may or may not have. Gigabytes part number for the cable is 12CF1-1PW011-01R and it is listed here http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/VGA/AccessoryList.aspx. This also seems to suggest it is a graphics card accessory.

I would assume the cable will come with one or the other (motherboard or graphics card). As I have one sitting at home I am sure of it.

Once this is connected the HDMI and/or DVI-D port on your video card will carry the sound to the TV. If this is not connected you will only get the picture.

Hope this helps.
cheers
db

Home Server: AMD Threadripper 1950X, 64GB, 56TB HDD, Define R6 Case, 10GbE, ESXi 6.7, UNRAID, NextPVR, Emby Server, Plex Server.
Lounge Media Center: NVIDIA Shield TV 16GB: Kodi18 with Titan MOD, Emby.
Kids Media Center: NVIDIA Shield TV 16GB: Kodi18 with Titan MOD, Emby.
Main PC: Ryzen 7 2700, 16GB RAM, RX 570, 2 x 24"

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browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek

#226219 18-Jun-2009 11:20

skiwi: However, a thougt that occurs is that I have enabled the on-board sound on the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, but that is Realtek. There is no specific option for SPIDF in the BIOS (althought there are the headers). I wonder if I have to disable onboard sound for this to work?

Do not disable the onboard realtek soundcard. This will be used for the audio. The Nvidia card does not have audio capabilities it will just pass the signal through to the TV via the HDMI/DVI connection.

Also note the motherboard SPDIF connector is 5 pin and the video card connector is 2 pin. You will have to connect the right 2 pins to get the output to the video card.

cheers
db

skiwi

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#226252 18-Jun-2009 13:01

FIXED.

The issue was that W7 loaded an incomplete set of Realtek Audio drivers. Going back to the original motherboard drivers fixed the problem. The Realtek application then exhibited another tab which allowed the setting of the type of audio output. This was defaulted to 48k. Resetting to 44.1K and the Bravia woke up.

So the issue appears to be that the Bravia will only accept 44.1Khz audio and the motherboard defaults to 48K.

Thanks for the help people!

skiwi

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#226596 19-Jun-2009 10:19

Not fixed....

I now have the audio dropping out for a few deconds every 5 minutes or so. Playing around with various options in the driver doesn't solve it. Removing the drivers and going back to W7 drivers doesn't help.

It appears that the audio synchronisation between the SPDIF on the Gigabyte card and the Sony Bravia is the issue - and one that did not occur with the ATI HDMI drivers and the motherboard HDMI slot. This appears to be a pretty common issue out there in HDMI-land with various comments about HDMI versions and the like (how do I check that?)

Looks like I will have to go the component Audio output route - although at this point with SWMBO starting to forget what I look like, the idea of a dual Freeview STB is looking appealing....