New ATI Tuner Card.

[hrlslcbr]

New Drivers ATI has just posted updated drivers for the Theater 550 Pro

I was just going to post that... I'm downloading them now.

[spacded]

tried the new drivers could be my imagination but the picture seems a bit better!!
cant see if there is a sharpness control however.

ATI released no note with the driver so cant tell what improvements these drivers bring

[Octavean]

I too updated to the latest drivers,….cautiously and somewhat against my better judgment to leave well enough alone.

It seems relatively unchanged IMO but I have noticed that the radio is now unable to start on its own. In order to get radio functioning I have to change the station after starting the radio app in MCE 2K5. This is not an improvement in this respect since the previous driver version finally managed to get the radio working right.

I may have to roll back the drivers.

Good to see ATI take a stab at new T550P drivers though!

[spacded]

THATS FUNNY!!

I just noticed yesterday that i have a radio option in MCE2K5!! and i have had the 550
card for a couple of months now!!
I dont listen to the radio and i can access all radio stations via my STB anyway.
But i never noticed it was added in!

[thatdude90210]

I'm not sure about this, but the new driver might look a little sharper. I'm not sure about this because I haven't used the 550 pro much lately. Since I got a MyHD 130, I've been mostly watching HD programming.

This one I'm sure of... the sound volume is still very low.

[Octavean]

Yeah, I don’t really use the radio function in MCE anyway and I can see how many a user would overlook it altogether. However, I raise an eyebrow to the new 6.14.10.82 drivers partially braking it in MCE when the last version was good to go.

Mind you, had some useful feature(s) been added (sharpness control) or known bug fixed (low volume) I would be willing to overlook this small caveat.

[wiak]

MMC 9.3 can be downloaded here...

http://www2.ati.com/drivers/mmc-9-03-0-0.exe

You will need the drivers from your CD since ati's web site doesnt have them for download! Shame on ATi! Slow folks...

And I belive you will need the DAO / MDAC components, But I am hoping these can be found on the CD as well... But it doesnt really matter... ATi officialy claim there 550 Pro boards suport MMC so they will have to provide links for the downloads for that card! I think they just havnt updated there site...

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...estionID=10135

[wiak]

[Question]

Hello!

I’m back from an earlier post about the 3D comb filter to let everyone read a response I received from ATI.


Solution
Solved:
(6/8/2005 12:00 PM EDT) Hey Brian, sorry for the late reply...
I've asked around about this and the word from the product specialists is that the 3D comb filter is only applied to the Tuner portion of the TV Wonder Elite. The actual Theater chip is (from what I'm told) capable of 3D filter on composite but the TV Wonder Elite does not do this.

The reason why the S-video looks better is because the its using a "S"eperated luminance and chrominance signal.

End of Solution


Does anyone at ATI know anything about the TV Wonder Elite!!!

Why have a 3D Comb filter if your not going to use it?

[dutchfudge]

Hello!

The actual Theater chip is (from what I'm told) capable of 3D filter on composite but the TV Wonder Elite does not do this.

Bring on the class-action suit! The reason I bought this was to capture laserdiscs through composite with best quality possible(without spending a fortune). IF the 3D filter is unused for composite, I could have bought a cheaper(at the time), more robust card!

[Myrdhinn]

hmmm a drive by Question. Well I'm confused, 'cause others have said 3comb does work on output but Question gives no source 'cept a susposed response from ati. ok, no biggie, just s-video and composite are not the same. s-vidio is supposed to use luma/chroma seperation where composite does not so of course s-vid looks better..

[Question]

Myrdhinn: The susposed response from ATI is realy what they sent me.

I don't know how to prove it to you but there it is!

dutchfudge: I purchased the card for the same thing!

Please read my earlier post!

Here is a copy of my trouble ticket:

Ticket Details Back

Ticket Summary
Ticket #: 737-765030
Status: Response Sent
Date Created: 3/6/2005 6:29 PM EDT
Date Updated: 6/8/2005 12:00 PM EDT


Ticket Description
Is this regarding a product you currently own?: Yes
Manufacturer:
Product:
Bus Type:
Operating System: WINDOWS XP SP2
Other Operating System:
Driver Version:
Driver Version: Other
Other Driver Version: 6.14.10.52
Category: Solve a Problem
Driver Version:
Topic: Features and Functions
Trade-up to product
(Trade-up FAQ):
Have you moved since submitting the rebate?:
Order number:
Sub-topic:
Multimedia Center Component:
Multimedia Center Version:
Other Multimedia Center Version :
Other Promotion:
Other Topic:
Application Name: All capture applications
Application Version: All
Which retailer did you purchase your ATI card from ?:
Offer/ Department #:
Was this purchased over the Internet?:
Other Retailer:
Purchase Date:
Rebate Amount:
New Address
Street Address:
Address 2:
City:
Country:
Postal Code / Zip:
Province:
State:
State / Province / Division:
Postal Code:
Zip:
Summary: 3D comb filter not working
Details: The 3d comb filter doesn’t work using the composite input.

That is the main reason I purchased the card.

The card is supposed to have a 3d comb filter, right?

I can’t return the card without paying shipping and restocking fees.

So if I can’t use the comb filter using the extern inputs then ATI needs to state that and give me a refund.

Please read the attached test and I’ve also posted it here:

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.p...802#post411802

Attachment: 3d Comb filter(1).pdf


Solution
Solved:
(6/8/2005 12:00 PM EDT) Hey Brian, sorry for the late reply...

I've asked around about this and the word from the product specialists is that the 3D comb filter is only applied to the Tuner portion of the TV Wonder Elite. The actual Theater chip is (from what I'm told) capable of 3D filter on composite but the TV Wonder Elite does not do this.

The reason why the S-video looks better is because the its using a "S"eperated luminance and chrominance signal.



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History
Action Date Action CSR /Customer Comments
6/8/2005 12:00 PM EDT Updated Solution Michael L. (See solution)

6/1/2005 7:55 PM EDT Customer Reopened Brian The time out period should be increase!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm tired of typing and losing my info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is not resolved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still have problems with the rainbow effect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here what it says on your web site:

Sharper video capture is achieved through an industry leading 2D 5-line comb filter.


Professional quality 3D comb filter which is used to separate the luminance and chrominance components of video. The 3D filter works best on still areas of video because it is able to scan ahead a frame and determine whether the image has changed or not. It then uses this information to properly separate the luminance and chrominance parts of a composite or TV tuner signal to eliminate color bleeding or other artifacting.


This dosen't look to professional to me.

Actually it un usable with all the rainbow effect I get.

Also what did ATI find out with the testing I wast told about earlyer?


4/19/2005 9:56 AM EDT Responded Michael L. Just an update to let you know we will be looking into/replicating this issue soon.

4/8/2005 10:00 AM EDT Posted Comment Brian Hello!

Any news on fixes?


3/23/2005 12:59 PM EDT Posted Comment Brian Any news?

3/15/2005 5:27 PM EDT Posted Comment Brian I connect my VCR up to the TV Wonder Elite but I was getting a ghosting image.

The Images looked about the same as the built in tuner (without ghosting) except the built in tuner seemed to give a better picture.

I also did some more testing using my laserdisc player and the ADVC300 yesterday.

I’ve attached a PDF file with some examples of noise, funny wavy pattern, pixilated areas, and rainbows from the composite TV Wonder captures.

I’ve also notice that the ADVC300 might be doing an 8bit conversion because the TV Wonder gives greater detail but with more artifacts.

Have you been able to reproduce my assumption that the 3D comb filter isn’t working?

Why does the S-video input look cleaner then the composite?

Is it the comb filters?

noise.pdf

3/11/2005 12:33 PM EDT Customer Reassigned Brian I captured some video using Comcast cable and the built-in tuner.

Most of the graphics are pretty clean of the rainbow pattern but I think if the source was at a higher resolution it would be more pronounced.

I’ve attached a pdf with some examples from the captures.

The areas I’m going to point out should all be static.

Picture 1: This is from CSPAN and you will notice the rainbows on Majoras clothes.
The glass of water to the bottom left should be clear.

Picture 2: The text about the simulated picture.

Picture 3: The score text.

Picture 3 zoom: I’ve zoomed into an area in picture 3 and you can see a rainbow effect across this image.
Also if you look at the Blue circle you will see some vertical streaks that I’ve seen on almost all captures along with the rainbows

I’m going to try and capture the Laserdisc through the tuner using a VCR this weekend.

TV Frames.pdf

3/10/2005 4:39 PM EDT Posted Comment Brian The reason I tried MMC 9.06 is because of the Solution sent to me yesterday said to and that the manual states it’s compatible with MMC 9.03!

I haven't tried the tuner because I only need the capability to capture from the composite input.

I'll connect my cable and capture a little of the credits of a show or maybe some static graphics from a news show.

The problem is that the rainbows should not be present on any of the static frames from my test captures if the 3D comb filter was working like the ADVC300.

I've attached an image from there site for an example.

b_3dyc.jpg

3/10/2005 2:55 PM EDT Responded Kurt J. The TV Wonder Elite doesn't support MMC 9.06.



Just to clarify your issue, are you finding that the 3D comb filter works with the TV TUNER, but not with inputted video sources?


3/10/2005 8:50 AM EDT Customer Reassigned Brian I tried installing MMC 9.06 and it would not install.

This is the only ATI product in my system.

This is a driver or hardware problem not a software problem!



3/9/2005 7:34 PM EDT Posted Comment Brian I'm downloading and going to install MMC 9.06 but how can this solve my problem when MMC 9.06 doesn’t support the TV Wonder Elite (Theatre 550 Pro) board.

Or does it?

Do I need a key for MMC 9.06?

3/9/2005 5:09 PM EDT Responded Customer Care ATI released CATALYST 5.3 including new display drivers and Multimedia Center 9.06 on March 9, 2005. This release applies to all RADEON series graphics boards in Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Before continuing with advanced troubleshooting with your current installed configuration, we ask that you try this new release in the hope that it will correct the issues you experience. To obtain this update please visit http://support.ati.com and choose Drivers and Software.

We highly recommend that you read the driver release notes for installation instructions.

Should your issue persist with the latest CATALYST 5.3 package installed, please respond to this ticket and attach a new ATI Problem Report. Steps for doing this appear below.

How to create a problem report in Windows

The following article describes ways of creating a problem report for ATI Customer Care.
A problem report provides ATI with a snapshot of your system configuration which assists in troubleshooting any technical issues that you may be experiencing.

To create a problem report:
Download and install the ATI Adapter Utilities. You will find installation instructions on this page.
Once the utilities are installed, browse to this default install directory C:\ATI\SUPPORT\ATI_UTILITIES and run the program listed as “atiiprxx.exe”. Follow the prompts on the screen until finished at which time the problem report will be saved in a text file.
Once the report is created please include it with your ticket submission to Customer Care.

[SHSPVR]

3d comb filter doesn’t work using the composite input

Hmm that odd 3D comb filter work for me using the composite and tuner with 6.14.10.66 drivers, but I have not tested the latest 6.14.10.82 drivers becuase I take out my ATI 550.

[Octavean]

You know,…

Now that I have slept on it, it is really starting to irk me that the low volume issue wasn’t fixed. I mean, its not like ATI isn’t aware of the problem. It is hardly a secret,….right!?! Its also not like it only effect a few cards out there,….AFAIK,…the low volume issue effects ALL T550P cards.

Either the driver wizards over there ignored this noteworthy problem on the “to do list” or they cannot fix it!!! Frankly, either way it doesn’t look good,…IMO,…

Perhaps its best to simply,……..abandon all hope,….

[3Cs]

Well, I do not have any low volume issues. The volume of a dvd, recorded with my Sapphire Theater 550 Pro card is normalized with my tv - and it is much higher than the volume on my Leadtek WinFast TV2000 XP Expert and MSI TV@nywhere Master cards. Just to let you know.
With the new drivers, I am beginning to be quite happy with the 550 card - the black line is gone, and the noise reduction is better (changed from 'medium' to 'adaptive'). But I still may not have any IR receivers connected to my USB 1.1 ports - it is a minor annoyance, but I would like to be able to use the remote control.

[spacded]

No sound problems for me either on 550pro

picture seems better with new driver as well