TheaterTek - can you stop it from upscaling?
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Not really window, desktop resolution. Set your desktop resolution to 720x480 for 16:9 DVD's or 720x576 for 4:3 dvd's. Those are the native resolutions. However if you are running anything other than a crt monitor or multisync crt projector then you're best off just setting the resolution to whatever is native for your display to avoid them scaling it which is almost always worse than having the pc doing the scaling. If you run your computer at a desktop resolution that is not native to your display and not one of the two listed above then you are getting doubly screwed (I mean scaled) by both the pc and the display. For example running the pc at 1080i to a 720p display for 480p material.
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I have 780p lcd tv which has a 1:1 mode. Some of the divx videos I watch do not look good when upscaled to 780p. With other software I watch them at their native resolution with large black bars. I prefer a small clear video to a large blurry one.
It looks like TT won't be suitable for my divx viewing.
It looks like TT won't be suitable for my divx viewing.
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Edit a custom aspect ratio setting and reduce the size of the video by clicking the four inwards pointing arrows until it's small enough. The status bar on top tells you what the resolution of the video frame is.
I need a simpler method that lets you switch between native resolution of the video and upscaled to the resolution of the tv. MediaPortal does that.
MediaPortal is also better for browsing video files.
TT has features I really like but I think it is too techy for some people.
MediaPortal is also better for browsing video files.
TT has features I really like but I think it is too techy for some people.
I've wondered about "upscaling". The way I understand it (from the posts above), if my PC is running 1920x1080 (which is 1:1 with my display) and I play a DVD full screen through Media Center, then the PC is upscaling the video (same as an upscaling DVD player), and the display is doing no upscaling?
Is it actually Media Center doing the upscaling or the MPEg2 decoder, or the video driver?
Is it actually Media Center doing the upscaling or the MPEg2 decoder, or the video driver?
Yeah, that's right. Basically scaling, whether up or down, isn't a mystical process - every single PC and display can do it (admittedly some better than others). If you have a 1080p display and send it anything else, it has to scale. Same when on the PC: if it runs at one resolution and you play a video of another, it must scale it.
Media Center itself and the likes of Theatertek are little more than front ends - it's the software components behind them that do the work. Scaling in windows is done by the video renderer, sometimes/usually accelerated by the graphics card, which is accessed through your drivers.
If you want a better understanding of this, get the MS tool graphedit (tiny, no installation needed). Open it, load a video file, it'll show you what components are being used. Frontends like MCE, Theatertek, Windows Media player, etc etc typically just put the output of this filter chain into a window (although some like VLC use their own internal filters).
Yeah, that's right. Basically scaling, whether up or down, isn't a mystical process - every single PC and display can do it (admittedly some better than others). If you have a 1080p display and send it anything else, it has to scale. Same when on the PC: if it runs at one resolution and you play a video of another, it must scale it.
Media Center itself and the likes of Theatertek are little more than front ends - it's the software components behind them that do the work. Scaling in windows is done by the video renderer, sometimes/usually accelerated by the graphics card, which is accessed through your drivers.
If you want a better understanding of this, get the MS tool graphedit (tiny, no installation needed). Open it, load a video file, it'll show you what components are being used. Frontends like MCE, Theatertek, Windows Media player, etc etc typically just put the output of this filter chain into a window (although some like VLC use their own internal filters).
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