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+---- Thread: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build (/showthread.php?tid=132444)
[WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - pandabur - 2012-05-26
Hi Guys,
I just built an HTPC yesterday after months of researching and reading up on forums here. I went with one of Eskro's suggested builds changing a few unavailable parts:
[CPU] Intel® Pentium® Processor G620
[MOBO] ASRock Z68M-ITX/HT - http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68M-ITX/HT
[GPU] Palit GT430 1GB DDR3 - http://www.palit.biz/palit/vgapro.php?id=1399
[CASE+PSU] Silverstone Sugo SG-06 with PSU
[HDD] Patriot Torx2 32GB SSD
[RAM] Corsair Vengeance 2x2GB 1600 Low Profile
[OS] Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
[XBMC] XBMC for Windows EDEN v.11
other components:
[DISPLAY] LG 42" LED
[NAS] Synology DS212j
I build the HTPC to upgrade my setup from a Desktop PC streaming to my PS3 connected to my LED. I was hoping that a dedicated HTPC running XBMC would improve the quality of the playback with a much better interface.
So far the build was successful, was able to install OS and XBMC correctly. Was able to add share folders from my NAS and scrape data properly. But once I started playing the video files, I noticed that it was worse quality than my PS3. To be sure, I played the same file on both PS3 and using XBMC and the result was pretty obvious. But then I tried to play the same file on Windows Media Player, and it was still less quality than PS3. Am I doing something wrong or did I miss anything in the setup or configuration?
Screenshots:
XBMC
WMP
PS3 with PS3 Media Player on my PC
PS3 with PS3 Media Player on my PC (2nd pic)
The screenshots show the difference, but it doesn't really do it justice. While watching the video it is much,much more evident. Like having a pair of glasses on for PS3 and without glasses on XBMC. Very blurry, pixelated and fuzzy.
Notes:
- PS3 and HTPC are using HDMI
- TV Info shows both are playing at 16:9 1080p 60HZ
- VidCard is updated to latest driver
I really hope I'm missing something here, coz I don't want to end up spending for something with less quality. Hope you guys can help me out. I was very excited to set up my HTPC, but now I'm getting a bit frustrated.
Thanks guys and hope to hear from the experts here.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - MassIV - 2012-05-26
What settings you using under video -> playback?
Could you test with true fullscreen vs windowed full screen mode. (driver)
Or switch resolution to something else and then switch back. (driver)
Not saying i can't see the difference because it is pretty clear. But mine is sharp and crisp (Win7 + Eden + HDMI). I mean to say that i doubt it is XBMC taht is the problem. Weird though that WMP looks even worse then XBMC. So it might be more general, something with graphics settings on the card.
Have you played around with that yet? Letting NVIDIA do the brightness/contrast ect?
Is is happening with all video containers? Mkv, avi, mp4. All codecs? DivX, Xvid, h.264.
Could you do a test with VLC as well?
To be honest though, my guess is the driver for the video card. Try to find an older version of the driver (64bit). Or a new beta or something.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - pandabur - 2012-05-26
Hey MassIV, thanks for the quick reply.
As far as I have seen with the files I have, it affects all containers, regardless of codec.
I will download and try with VLC now.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - pandabur - 2012-05-26
Ok, I've checked with VLC.
If the PS3 is a 10, VLC playing the same file is about an 8-9
WMP is around a 4
and XBMC is a low 2...it's blurry, pixelated, fuzzy, and i think it has artifacts, not sure but basically it seems like there is some sort of spotty areas all around the video.
Any ideas why my XBMC has so poor playback quality?
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - MassIV - 2012-05-26
What settings you using under Settings -> video -> playback? (plz list them)
Could you test with true fullscreen vs windowed full screen mode.
Or switch resolution to something else and then switch back.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - bluray - 2012-05-26
(2012-05-26, 23:16)pandabur Wrote: Any ideas why my XBMC has so poor playback quality?Have you try to increase quality in Nvidia control panel as shown below-
Windows 7 control panel-
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - pandabur - 2012-05-27
Hi Bluray,
Thanks for the advice. I've read all your posts and updates on the hardware forum All very helpful, thanks. I checked both items you mentioned, and they are both optimized for quality.
MassIV.
Please see settings I have for XBMC:
i also tried the windowed mode and changing the resolution. No change on quality.
so in terms of quality
1. PS3 with my NAS DLNA server
2. VLC
3. WMP
4. XBMC - but by a far, far, margin. Its "unwatchable" with its being pixelated and blurry
Hope you guys have some ideas on how to help me.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - scudlee - 2012-05-27
Try setting Deinterlace video to Auto, rather than forcing it on, maybe?
If the source isn't actually interlaced, deinterlacing could diminish quality.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - pandabur - 2012-05-27
tried setting it to audio, still blurry.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - DDDamian - 2012-05-27
@bluray - that first pic for nVidia settings applies to 3D graphics e.g. gaming. It's more for 3D vector graphics and textures, not 2D video.
@pandabur - use true fullscreen (not a fullscreen window) if possible - performance drop with a fullscreen window and possible issues with refresh rates. Have you tried disabling the post-processing or the other deinterlacing methods?
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - bluray - 2012-05-27
@pandabur-
Since you are having video quality issue with all media players, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with XBMC at this point.....my GT430 is comparable to my PS3, and I tried it with PDVD 11, TMT5 and XBMC.....
1. Did you install the latest Nvidia driver from here- NVIDIA Driver Downloads
2. You can try different video settings as shown below
3. If it still doesn't improve anthing, you might want to consider un-install Nvidia (wipe it out entirely), and re-install it...
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - MassIV - 2012-05-27
Far as i can see most things have been mentioned. Make sure to use Nvidia settings, latest driver.
Try some different render methods then DXVA like: Auto detect / Pixel shaders / software, whatever you have available.
Don't crop black bars.
Try some different view modes. Specially interested to hear if "Original size" makes any difference (if it looks small but sharp).
Still feel it is either bad scaling settings somewhere or a bad driver.
But you could also try:
Deinterlace: auto
deinterlace method: auto
Sync playback to display: yes
A/V sync method: video clock
And plz let us know if anything changes for the better. As it might indicate where it is coming from.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - Livin - 2012-05-27
pandabur
If you can trim that video down (don't re-encode, just trim it) to the few seconds around the spot of your screen shot and post the trimmed video we can run some tests on our systems too.
I have not seen a blurriness issue with XBMC so by posting it we can determine if it is your settings or something with that video & XBMC interacting.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - DJ_Izumi - 2012-05-27
I wonder if this is a subjective issue, with the PS3 doing some cleanup automatically and unspecified to the end user, and him taking that as it 'looking better' while the XBMC machine isn't touching it and showing video closer to the original.
RE: [WINDOWS] Worse quality on XBMC than PS3? (SShots inside) - new build - bluray - 2012-05-28
For my GT430, I set it to "video player setting" as shown below. It's comparable to PS3.....
