Sound but no video on Freeview-T with MediaPortal

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michaelhewson

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Topic # 30474 9-Feb-2009 23:08

I thought it would be fairly easy to plug my UHF aerial into my new Dell PC with Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1200 tuner and watch Freeview. Now I've learnt that Windows Media Center wont play Freeview Terrestrial'(wouldn't identify digital channels), and so installed MediaPortal. This is promising - the channels were identified, the epg mostly worked first time. But although I get crystal clear sound'for all channels, the picture is black.

Have I got something wrong in the mediaPortal configuration settings? The Television video decoder settings are as follows:
MPEG-2 Video decoder = MPV Decoder Filter
H.264 Video decoder = CyberLink H.264/AVC Decoder

I have tried other decoders with no success

My computer is Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 @ 2.66 GHz with 3 G RAM
Graphics Card is ATI Radeon HD3450

Any suggestions?

Michael

sbiddle

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Reply # 195038 10-Feb-2009 06:41

Where did you get the Cyberlink codec from? PowerDVD7 or powerDVD8?

michaelhewson

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Reply # 195057 10-Feb-2009 08:43

Well I got it from http://docs.cyberlink.com/cinema/ati/h264_decoder/enu/index.jsp (the try before you buy option). Have also tried ffdshow video decoder as my H.264 decoder. Michael

sbiddle

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Reply # 195068 10-Feb-2009 09:06

I'm positive I've read in the past that others have tried that download and it doesn't work.

michaelhewson

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Reply # 195081 10-Feb-2009 11:43

So is it likely to be the video decoder causing the problem, and if so which one will work? And how do I get them? So many questions... Michael

sbiddle

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Reply # 195087 10-Feb-2009 12:17

I can't conclusively say it's the video decoder but everybody uses either PowerDVD7 or PowerDVD8 for their H.264 codec.

michaelhewson

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Reply # 195852 14-Feb-2009 21:44

I do have Power DVD DX 8.1 installed (bundled) but now, having deleted the older cyberlink codec, no h.264 codec appears in the configuration menu for mediaportal. Maybe my bundled power dvd is not the same as the version that sbiddle is talking about.
Michael

mm1352000

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Reply # 195866 15-Feb-2009 02:10

Hi there

I'm a mediaportal user like you. I would recommend either the CoreAVC codec or PDVD codec. The ffdshow one would not work for me - maybe a codec conflict? Anyhow there are a number of PDVD codecs that will work including 7 and 8. If you want a free one then I would point to one that I found which is delivered free in Twinhan's DigitalTV program (http://www.twinhan.com/download_driver&software.asp). You really only need to the cl264dec.ax file and the dll files named 264***.dll . Chuck them in a folder, register the ax file using regsvr and you should find a new codec in mediaportal. I do believe that this free codec is only a software decoder like the coreAVC codec (so you'll need a reasonably powerful machine if you want to use it).

Other than that, there are the latest DivX codec and the Media Player Classic video decoder. I haven't tried these myself, and I haven't heard if anyone else has got them working either. However the MPC one apparently has hardware acceleration and is free!

Hope that helps...

michaelhewson

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Reply # 195968 15-Feb-2009 22:44

Thanks - very helpful - simple install of the CoreAVC codec and I have pictures and sound - good quality. Thanks again. Michael.

toprob

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Reply # 199994 9-Mar-2009 01:39

Michael --
This has been very helpful, my system is the same -- HVR-1200 and HD3450 -- and I've been having the same problem. Installing the CoreAVC codec obviously puts me on the right track, in that I can record the HD channels, which play back beautifully.

However in MediaPortal I get just a flash of video, then nothing. Could you run through your setup, so that I can try to match it?