[Gary Lightfoot]

Is there a way of getting the menu's to display in 24bit mode yet? I can set it up in 16 bit mode, and then switch back to 24, but after a while it gets a bit of a pain. Maybe I like to fiddle too much.


The aspect ratio selection is excellent, but there only appear to be options of having the letter box in center, top or bottom.


Is there any way of having it in a custom position? My 4:3 pj sits higher than the center of my 16:9 screen, so I can't get the image to sit on the screen properly.


I use YXY for DVD playback, so that solves the positioning problem there, but YXY and Dscaler seem to glitch when used together. Any help appreciated.


TIA


Gary.

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

Any help in getting the menu's to work properly in 24bit mode?


I managed to get it positioned properly with YXY, but if I have to do any adjustments when in 24bit mode, I can't see YXY because the video image is always on top - so I have to go back to 16bit to adjust.


TIA


Gary.

 

[Yvonus]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gary Lightfoot I use YXY for DVD playback, so that solves the positioning problem there, but YXY and Dscaler seem to glitch when used together

Actually, DScaler aspect ratio module was designed with YXY in mind and with the hope that this tool, which is still quite mandatory for some dvd players, won't be useful for DScaler.


It has quite a lot of AR options out there. Did you try to do what you want without YXY ?

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

Thanks for the reply Yvonnus,


My 4:3 pj (Davis DLS8) sits above center of my 16:9 screen, so the DScaler options of top, middle or bottom positioning don't fit it in quite the right place.


Is there a YXY type tool in DScaler that I've overlooked?


The main problem for me is the lack of menus' in 24bit mode. It seems that the video in Dscaler has priority, and no other program can overlay on top of this, including Dscalers own menus.


Having to go back to 16 bit mode allows access to menus', but as I'm just starting to really play with Dscaler now, it can be a bit of a bind, especialy as DScaler in 16bit mode has vertical lines which distort the image, so any adjustments can't be judged properly untill viewed in 24bit mode.


Other than that, I think the program is fantastic, and certainly makes viewing digital tv and video possible which is something I didn't think I'd be able to do when I initialy set up my htpc.


Thanks again.


Gary.

 

[Ricardo Cruz]

Gary,


Even with v3.09, you can't use Dscaler in 24 bpp and have the menus, due to overlay restrictions on this card (I'm also using one). You can either set color to 16 bpp or pull Dscaler's window to the bottom of the screen; then menus will open upwards, on top of the desktop instead of the overlay, and you'll be able to use them. Note that before v3.08 Dscaler wouldn't even run with the Mpact2 (only with the older v2.3 would it work) but John Ad managed to fix this.



To get the best out of this card in Dscaler, you should have your card RFI modded (at 1024x768 in particular), and you should use "Even" and "Odd Luma Peaking" enabled under "Advanced settings".



The distortion you mention with vertical lines may be due to Overscan settings. In Video Adjustments, you may want to turn off overscan and try it.


Hope this helps (sorry if I didn't see your thread earlier),

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

Thanks Ricardo,


I'll try those settings, as I've yet to get really involved in the finer details. I need to read through the faq again, as well as the detailed instructions for the .ini file. I couldn't find it last time I looked - got a url please?


Any help to give me a better picture without spending ages fiddling and tweaking would be appreciated.


Many thanks.


Gary.

 

[Yvonus]

Gary ; the ini file documentation can be found here http://www.dscaler.org/IniFile.HTM


Ricardo has a point here. Since early 3.x.x versions, Mpact support is broken and John Adock spent quite some time on it. This is one of the thing that has delayed an official 3.x release.


So you can already be happy it works a bit, despite I understand this is not satisfactory from a user point of view.


Regarding YXY, no there's nothing hidden. But I wanted to mention our source of inspiration. Everything aspect ratio related is inside the aspect ratio submenu.

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

Thanks for the url Yvonnus. Something for me to read in bed tonight.


I'm really happy with DScaler - it allow me to watch stuff I didn't think I would be able to on my pj, and at a greater quality level too. It would be nice to have menus in 24bit mode, but I'd rather have it as it is than not at all!


John has done a stirling job of allowing us Mpact owners to enjoy dscaler in its' latest version, so I can only say thanks John.


I'll check out the aspect menu again just to see if I can move the image to where I want it. If not, YXY seems to be able to do this now (I think I had glitches with 2.3 now that I think about it), so it could be a mute point.


Many thanks.


Gary.

 

[gireesh]

Gary,


I move the image to a position on my screen, so that the menus pop up outside of the overlay. This can be accomplished by making the DScaler window small for example.


John did spend some time debugging the issue with MPact2! Thanks a lot to John.


Gary, like you, I use the card with Davis DLS8, as I am yet to come across a card that does better job at 800x600!


Hope this helps.


Gireesh.

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

Excellent tip Gireesh, I didn't think about making the window small!


Something else for me to try tommorow or Wednesday!


Cheers.


Gary.

 

[Ricardo Cruz]

Quote:

I move the image to a position on my screen, so that the menus pop up outside of the overlay. This can be accomplished by making the DScaler window small for example.

Quote:

Excellent tip Gireesh, I didn't think about making the window small!

mmm, isn't that what I just said??? I mean, is my English THAT bad?

Quote:

You can either set color to 16 bpp or pull Dscaler's window to the bottom of the screen; then menus will open upwards, on top of the desktop instead of the overlay, and you'll be able to use them.

well, to be fair, I didn't mention you could also make it run in a small window...






BTW, Gary, I noticed you use the Davis, probably at 800x600 like Gireesh. If you're going higher than this res (I don't know the Davis' native res) you should have RAM cooling on the MPACT (such as the T WIngs).


Other Dscaler settings you might want to fiddle with are "Full luma range", "Overlay sharpness" and if you use the noise filter set it conservatively to avoid posterization (mine is at 4, 4). Oh, and on my Mpact I have to turn down contrast quite a bit from the default, but this is probably due to my cable feed.

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

Hi Ricardo,


Lol, no, there's nothing wrong with your English, but I do tend to skip read sometimes and miss some things.


Thanks for the tips too. I'm running at 800x600, so I don't think I need the extra cooling.


many thanks to you all.


Gary