Media Center; WinTV1600

[MPhilly03]

I am new to the forums and I have tried to search as suggested but did not see anything that seemed to address my issue.

I have a WinTv1600 and if I use the WinTv option the picture comes in with no issues. My issue is with trying to use the Windows Media Center that came with Vista.

I have analog cable and a NVIDA GeForce4 MX4000 Graphics Card. For some reason the picture breaks up (green boxes appear) with the Media Center.

I am trying to figure out what I can do to get that same picture quality with the Media Center since that interface seems a good bit nicer.

Any assistance you can provide would be appreciated.

 

[IH8U]

I recommend replacing that old tired GF4 with either:

AGP: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102762
$83 (be sure to remove all the old drivers before installing this)

PCI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131082
$60 (same issue as above)

I listed both PCI, and AGP as I am unsure which is used by the MB in your box. (I assume it is either AGP, or a PCI slot tho) Either of these cards will be a definite improvement, as both are DX10 compliant (very big in Vista). I also suggest getting some more RAM. (Personally I am suprised that Vista even ran on that video card)

I also suggest this Tuner card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122221
$30

 

[MPhilly03]

Thanks for the feedback. Any idea why it works fine with the WinTV program but not the Media Center?

 

[KyleSTL]

^Overhead, maybe.

I have an HTPC with a Hauppauge 1600 and 1800 for a total of 4 tuners and it works fine in Vista MC (albeit with a Celeron 420 @2.6, 4GB DDR2 800, and a HD3650 512MB).

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I have a feeling it has to do with MC using WDDM drivers and requiring the full DX9 (DX8.1+) support to be intergrated into Vista. For the Win TV program it probably works as a layer outside of the OS core (especially since it would be running in basic mode).

It is very likely an issue with the drivers, this was the major issue in getting both the Hauppauge and ATi tuners to work well under Vista. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some aspect of the drivers and WDDM that's causing the problem.

I wish I could help you more, but I'm running an ATi 650 (although I was just looking for the ExpressCard based H WinTv 1500 when in the US as a mobile solution).
Based on my experience reasearching both, my guess is that it's a driver related issue that the WinTV software works around, but that the MediaCentre software doesn't allow the same workaround as easily.

 

[MPhilly03]

Thanks to everyone for their input and feedback.