Adjusting Brightness and Contrast for Vista Media Center Live/Recorded TV

[LaRocaille]

Howdy,

I've had my PowerColor Theater 550 Pro PCIe since it came out several years ago and I've been pretty happy with it. Recently I got an ATI HD4670 1Gb video card with an HDMI out. In order to clean up the cabling behind my TV, I've been trying to get rid of my VGA + SPDIF cables in favour of an HDMI cable into my receiver. The PC's image output is much brighter on HDMI vs. the older VGA connection, so I've had to fiddle with my new video card's brightness and contract settings in CCC->Graphics Settings->Color. The resulting image looks great for everything except Live and Recorded TV in Vista Media Center.

As far as I know, I have the latest drivers for my video and tuner cards:
Video: 8.14.001.0671
Tuner: 6.14.10.364 (02/06/2009)

I'm not interested in using another suite to view and manage my recordings. I have a second Xbox 360 downstairs whose sole purpose is to extend my PCs media center content in the basement living room. All I want to know is whether it's possible to adjust traditional image balance settings like brightness and contrast on the tuner card's captured video. As far as I know, there aren't any settings in CCC that affect my tuner's output. I installed ATI TV Configuration but it's all gibberish to me.

I will gladly supply any additional info or explanations if needed. Thanks!

[LaRocaille]

Ok, maybe this will narrow my question some: I found a post by myrdhinn over four years ago that showed a dialog box titled "ATI AVStream Analog Capture Properties" that had sliders for brightness, contrast, hue and saturation. Does anyone know which program he was using?

ttp://forums.hexus.net/ati-tv-wonder-tuners-ati-theater-550-pro/29031-new-ati-tuner-card-34.html#post410100

[LaRocaille]

I solved my own problem:

1. Looks like my color range was output in RGB Full mode (0-255) whereas my Sharp Aquos TV ws expecting it is RGB Limited mode (16-235). Any colors sent 0-15 were converted to black and 236-255 to white (I think). Catlyst Control Panel under Graphics Settings->DTV(HDMI)->Pixel Format

2. I turned off my tuner's dynamic contrast option to get an overall brighter picture. Avivo Video->All Settings->Enable Dynamic Contrast.

I hope this will help others!