[HipsterDufus]

OK Folks:

Can we settle this once and for all? Can the picture coming out of a PVR 250 be adjusted to be indistinguishable from direct live TV?

Here's my setup:

Shuttle SN41G2 (integrated GeForce MX Graphics and Nforce Audio)
PVR 250
Athlon 2400 XP
512 Mb RAM
120 Gig Seagate
Latest update of BTV (I'm at the office here right now and can't check the actual build #)
WinXP
Intervideo for Hauppauge codec

I am sending the signal via S-Video to a Sony 51 inch wide screen projection TV. No monitor is attached.

I am currently using the stock "Best" setting for video output.

I have used NVDVD's codec in the past, but it hasn't been reinstalled since a complete system wipe.

If I watch something from film, such as a movie, the quality is very very close, but not quite as good as the original feed. It's somewhat darker, so the TV brightness has to be boosted.

If I'm watching stuff from live video, or video tape (e.g. golf, football, Survivor, etc), there is a marked difference. The picture is much "softer". I would compare it to the difference we always see between video and film when watching normal TV. The colors are usually off, and are tough to tweak to be consistent from scene to scene or show to show. The motion is not the same either, of course. There's been a lot posted about that, and frankly, I haven't played around a lot with it.

My question is this. Right now I have a pretty stable system. It's quite watchable, but as I say, the picture is better when not watching through BTV. Is there any point in trying for better quality, or will I just be wasting my time? I don't have any problem with it staying as it is (well, not MUCH of a problem), but if I am giving up some quality that I could easily obtain, I'd rather have it :-) I just raise this because I see the odd comment in various threads that the quality is "just as good as live TV". Is this true, or is it just people with less discerning eyes, or different monitor/TV setups, or what?

Any and all comments are welcome.

caz