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Hauppauge HD-PVR picture problems


JoeH

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Thanks a lot for adding support for the Hauppauge HD-PVR!

 

I was able to get it up and running using the add-on which you posted for the HD-PVR on the members site. However, the picture is distorted (with major blocking taking place, usually towards the bottom of the screen) ever few seconds. I tried adjusting all the options in the HD-PVR add-on and nothing seemed to make any difference. I also tried changing the DirectX options, turning custom rendering on or off, changing decoders, etc. and always the same (although with custom renderers off I wouldn't get any picture at all, which is fine as I always use the custom renderers).

 

I am sure that it is not a problem with the HD-PVR because when I open it up in Windows Media Center or in the Acrsoft Video Capture program the picture is perfect.

support.zip

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Well the DVBViewer itself does not do anything at all to change the signal quality. For the DVBViewer resp. Recordingservice it is just another DVB device (if you ignore the fact that it is a weird da/ad convertor). You might record a frequence in order to make sure that the stream is correct (there are a bunch of editors available which could tell you if the stream is fine).

Also make sure that you set the output options properly and keep in mind that usb problems could cause also glitches and damaged data.

Further on try to avoid using the Microsoft Decoder for Audio or Video.

And please make sure that the cables between your stb and the hauppauge is fine.

 

Christian

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  • 9 months later...

I have exactly the same problem. Major glitches/blocking usually at the bottom of the screen. I've tried different decoders: ffdshow, LAV, Cyberlink PDVD11, ArcSoft Video Decoder, DiVX Decoder, the result is always the same. Likewise I have to use custom renderers either EVR or VMR 9 but again get the same result.

 

I'm using Window 7 64bit. It doesn't seem to work at all in XP 32bit but thats an old OS I guess.

 

I have no problems using the software thats supplied on CD with - ArcSoft Total Media Extreme. It works fine with that, no blocking or glitching, just perfect recordings. Unfortunately its very basic and there simply isn't any other software that works with it.

 

I'm using the latest version DVBViewer and I have the latest HD PVR drivers from the Huappauge website.

 

example video clip: http://uploading.com/files/get/a3ee6ddd/07-04_12-26-38_Channel%2B12_.ts

 

support.zip

Edited by Soupdragon
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  • 3 weeks later...

Just wanted to confirm that I continue with the same problem. In DVBViewer, the HDPVR gives major macroblocking always, regardless of what DirectX settings I choose.

 

Interestingly, I also get the macroblocking mainly at the bottom of the screen, as Soupdragon. Am using Win 7 - 64, latest HDPVR drivers, latest DVBViewer versions, etc. I tried switching the USB cable as well.

 

In both Total Media Extreme and in Windows Media Center the HDPVR picture is and always has been perfect.

Edited by JoeH
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I have the default settings. To make sure, I clicked on the "Default" button, and everything stayed the same - Constant Bitrate, for SD it's 5MB/s, for HD it's 9MB/s, AC3 audio.

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  • 1 year later...

I just wanted to follow up on this, because I am currently using a Colossus, which is not compatible with DVBViewer, but which gives similar macroblocking problems with some programs. My conclusion has been that it is a problem related to codecs -- a good number of H264 codecs / renderers are not quite up to the challenge of the Hauppauge encoding of H264. Some handle it perfectly. So, if anyone has this problem I would suggest making sure that your codecs are the latest, and then play around with the decoder codec / renderer settings until you find one that works properly.

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  • 2 months later...

Hello everybody, I bought this box last week and tried to run it with DVBViewer. I have similar problems as JoeH and wanna see if there is solution already. Here below my observation in brief:

 

- picture of DVBViewre is clear (the Arcsoft software is simply incomparable), but there are glitches/blocking every few seconds (when viewing)

- the loading of the recording thru DVBViewer (for playback) takes longer than normal, around 5 seconds after pressing the button

- no audio from the recording done by DVBViewer; checked thru MediaInfo and found no audio track

- playback of the recording (recorded by DVBViewer) by other media players also shows glitches/blocking and no audio

- however, the recording done by Arcsoft software is fine, either playback by DVBViewer or other media players

 

A bit background, my PC has been used for HDTV (h264; 1080) with low level of CPU utilization (Xeon 4 cores 8 threads) and I am using DVBViewer 4.9.6.20, recording service 1.26, with LAV filters (0.58.2). So I don't think the problems are hardware related. Arcsoft's codecs were also tried but in vain. My wild guess is that the problems could be due to DVBViewer, how the transport packets from Hauppauge are handled by the source filter, or the compatibility with the Hauppauge box.

 

DVBViewer is a pretty reliable software and would be very grateful if the problems can be fixed.

 

 

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I am currently using the Colossus with MediaPortal, as the DVBViewer support for this type of recorder is still partial. I have no easy way to test with the HDPVR again. I was never able to get the HDPVR to work properly in DVBViewer (well, it worked properly except for the macroblocking).

 

The strange thing is that the issue seems to be present prior to when it hits the DirectX rendering engine in DVBViewer. I say this because when the DVBViewer records the HDPVR, the macroblocking is present, but when other recorders, such as ArcSoft, MediaPortal or Windows Media Server record, there is no macroblocking in the recording.

 

That having been said... even recordings done with those products will often play back with macroblocking if your codecs are out of date / not properly configured. The HDPVR H264 stream is obviously a little bit "dirty".

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Thanks JoeH, though it's not a forum for MediaPortal, is Colossus working well with MediaPortal ? What should I take special care for the set up ? I guess Colossus and HD PVR are fairly similar and in the same generation. Many thanks.

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Yeah, it works perfectly, as should the HDPVR. The main thing to do is to search around on their forums for the setup guides for HDPVR and follow them carefully at the beginning. It will take a bit of work for you to get it set up, but the guides are pretty good.

 

I even have MediaPortal sending channel change commands to the settopbox, and after some playing around with the settings got it to work perfectly, allowing me to program recordings using the TVGuide. Pretty nice. I am also using their rudimentary web portal to manage everything.

 

That having been said, I continue to use DVBViewer for all normal satellite reception. I much prefer DVBViewer's Recording Service browser interface to MediaPortal's, and much prefer DVBViewer's interface to MediaPortal's. I would switch the Colossus over to the DVBViewer and uninstall MP in a second if the Colossus worked in DVBViewer (and if I could send channel changes to the IR Blaster... I don't think that is possible yet in DVBViewer).

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Well does somebody really use the Hauppauge PVR to watch tv? I never got the IR sender working with at least one of the set top boxes here i had for testing. The last time i worked with it was in 2012 and nobody ever complained it since then.

 

Keep in mind the box is nothing else than just a big AD converter which returns the a ts stream created by its internal encoder. If you see glitches there are most likely only two reasons:

1. USB connection causes interference (e.g. if you put the box to a USB 3.0 port)

2. the selected decoder for audio and video is not working.

 

If the DVBViewer is recording a stream it does not change the content and stores the stream as is. Except the fact that i put a virtual SDT with channel information to the stream if required and since the box has an awful delay of a couple of seconds i send during this time some dummy information in order to "simulate" a lock. This is probably done by Haupauge to avoid encoding the osd of the settopbox connected with the pvr device.

 

You have to use the Hauppauge PVR tool in order to configure the box and the virtual station list This is required otherwise the box does not use the correct audio encoding.

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I use the Colossus to watch / record TV because currently Sky Italy has disabled the possibility of using their (legal) cards in CAM decoders. So, the only way left for me is the HDPVR / Colossus.

 

Hackbart, is it possible to turn off PAT / PMT correction for the HDPVR? Could that be the cause? I can assure you that my codec settings are just fine, totally up to date, etc. and that the Colossus / HDPVR video streams playback just fine in outside of DVBViewer (not everywhere, however. e.g. TotalMediaTheatre 3 cannot play them back without major macroblocking).

 

What I find most interesting is that if I record a stream, without watching it, from the HDPVR through DVBViewer, and then I play it back in Media Portal or Media Player Classic I get macroblocking. But, if I record a stream from the HDPVR in Media Portal or in Media Server I can replay it in Media Portal or in Media Player Classic (latest versions, latest codecs) with perfect video. Maybe the PAT/PMT correction is not compatible with the HDPVR stream???

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BTW, the IR Blaster included with Hauppauge's products does not work for me. I needed to buy the USB-UIRT (http://www.usbuirt.com/) and that worked perfectly. I use the IR Server Suite as the software that sends the commands to the USB-UIRT.

Edited by JoeH
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Hello Hackbart, I can confirm JoeH's observation as I also tried something similar over the last couple of days, incl unchecking the "Adjust PAT/PMT" button, changing to another USB port and using the configuration tool as you suggest. Not being a programmer myself, I ask for your help and I believe without doubt that DVBViewer could do much better than the bundled software. As we said, the picture from DVBViewer is perfect, if without the glitches/no audio/slow response.

 

About the demand, I have no doubt, otherwise the capture box itself would not have been available, and there are newer versions too. Perhaps, JoeH and myself are more advanced users and are hence able to try more options and then reflect more comments, and our intention is for the good of DVBViewer. There might be applause from other users if there is a solution, who knows ?

 

Many thanks again.

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I see, that was as far as i remember also my conclusion. I tried three regular boxes and none of them worked. Concerning the audio issue: I never got an sdk from hauppauge for the device so it is important that the pvr configuration tool i made is used and the settings are set correct. If you check AC3 make sure that the device delivers AC3. You should click on the property button and set the correct output values. I suppose Arcsoft can change these values if required.

 

It should look like this:

pvr.png

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I had a lot of stability issues with the HDPVR randomly stopping working, but the Colossus has worked perfectly and is very stable.

 

The audio worked fine for me in the HDPVR in DVBViewer as long as I had it correctly set in the Hauppauge / Arcsoft configurations.

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Thanks Hackbart and JoeH, I have that configuration set on the tool. The thing on my list (long list) which I cannot try is the source filter, I wanna ask myself what if for example LAV splitter is used. I have that thought because of the glitches, which happen every few seconds like pulse, so there may be something to do with the way the transport packets from the box are handled and then the operation of DVBViewer is affected accordingly, with no audio/slow response as a result. Best.

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I finally got my old c64 up and running on the box. Unluckily i had to use the soldering rod in order to repair some contacts on the output of the computer. Anyhow i can confirm that the audio is not stored on the recording. I check this out, hoping to find the reason for :( I suppose i also found the reason for the glitch.

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There is a workaround to enable audio in the recordings. Open options->hardware, select the hauppauge and check the whole transponder checkbox. If you want to record the stream you have to select whole transponder. I have no idea (yet) why it does not record the audio otherwise. The pids are correct.

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Thanks very much Hackbart, I fully understand the pain of the procedure, as I also compiled a long list for myself trying hard for a solution. BTW, what's the reason for the glitches ? I wanna see if I can help relieving the pain thru my observation:

 

- I noticed from Task Manager that the CPU usage surged at intervals, like the pulse I said before, when DVBViewer is running with Hauppauge PVR, while no other programs were in use.

- I also observed from the properties box in the config tool that the "signal detected" and "lines detected" jumped from 1 and 1080 (respectively) to zero, on and off like pulse again.

 

Best.

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Actually the glitches are history. The reason for missing audio seem to be quite simple: The Audio PES header is not detected in the stream, seem to be a bug inside the encoder. Will take a while till i found the reason, till then use the record whole transponder function.

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No the blocks are caused by a bug inside the DVBViewer Hauppauge class. I inject SDT information, but forgot that the encoder does not deliver ts packet by packet. So it comes to glitches. This has been fixed. The ac3 issue is caused by the audio encoder of the box. The PES header is not flagged as Private and ignored by the software (yet), but you can override this by using AAC instead (or the mentioned whole transponder should also work). Since the whole transponder contain only Audio+Video+PCR and PAT resp. PMT it is not a problem to record it completely.

 

I'm quite confident that the next update of the software will run fine. I probably also will ask Hauppauge if there is a way to program the encoder via interface.

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Fantastic news, thanks hackbart.

 

BTW, I know you don't have a Colossus, but it seems to work using the HDPVR settings in DVBViewer. It might be interesting for you to pick one up and double check so as to be able to check off the Colossus on your official support list. :)

 

For these things to really be highly functional in DVBViewer (i.e. to be able to program recordings), I think now the only thing left would be some sort of IR Blaster integration for changing channels (which would be a pretty major feature of course).

 

Either way, thanks for the great support!

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Audio recording is now also working, i hope to get some additional information to set the AC3 or AAC mode automatically. Colossus should also work like the old Hauppauge PVR. Technically it is just simple Directshow *magic*. You have a crossbar filter which you use to define the source, as explained in the MSDN specs + the capture device filter from the vendor (e.g. hauppauge pvr) and this filter is connected to a hardware decoder filter also from the vendor. The output is a ts mux which can be handled like a regular dvb stream. The DVBViewer (actually 99.9% of the DVBViewer) does not know about this and handles the device like a normal dvb device.

 

sample.png

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Thanks Hackbart, our efforts eventually pay off. One more thing for your info, the device seems not recognized by Recording Service, and I manually added it under svchardware.xml, which however was deleted after I rescanned by "Hardware - Scan Devices" under "Configure".

 

Once again many thanks and I am eager to try the next update.

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I've uploaded the HauppaugePVR Editor tool. Even if i do not have a Colossus i assume it should run now fine in the next DVBViewer update. The PVR Tool should be able to detect it properly. Maybe somebody with such a box might check it out? You should also see more than 3 Audio and Video Inputs listed with a Colossus.

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Audio recording is now also working, i hope to get some additional information to set the AC3 or AAC mode automatically. Colossus should also work like the old Hauppauge PVR. Technically it is just simple Directshow *magic*. You have a crossbar filter which you use to define the source, as explained in the MSDN specs + the capture device filter from the vendor (e.g. hauppauge pvr) and this filter is connected to a hardware decoder filter also from the vendor. The output is a ts mux which can be handled like a regular dvb stream. The DVBViewer (actually 99.9% of the DVBViewer) does not know about this and handles the device like a normal dvb device.

 

attachicon.gifsample.png

Oh, wow. I thought you were joking when you said you got your C64 up and running again... :)

I'll try to test the Hauppauge HDPVR tool with the Colossus within the next week or two. Thanks!

Edited by JoeH
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I tested it here with the service and it runs fine. keep in mind the box has a built in delay of 4 seconds if you set a channel. A timeline for the update is not available yet. There are a couple other things not ready yet.

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Good news - the Channel Mapping tool works perfectly with the Colossus, detects all the video and audio option (which in fact are more than 6), etc.

 

Now, I think, the only thing that would be missing for full support would be IR Blaster integration.

 

Thanks for your help on this, hackbart! It's great to have this working properly.

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  • 3 weeks later...

By the way i received two weeks ago the Hauppauge SDK and it runs fine. I can set AAC or AC3 directly, so i do no longer depend on the fact that the user did not changed it while using another tool.

 

Christian

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