[kamla]

hi all,
i had set up an HTPC for XBMC using

ASRock H61M/U3S3 Intel H61 Micro ATX DDR3 1333 Motherboard
Intel Core I3-2105 Dual-Core Processor 3.1 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80623I32105
so far it being working great.
but when i use it for SD movies, the up scaling is not that great

Plus when viewing HD movies and they is dark scene the blacks on the screen are pixleated.

some suggested i add a Video card.

will adding a Video card help with the up scaling and give better blacks in very dark scenes.

i am planning on getting this Video card if it helps..
ASUS GeForce 210 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Low Profile Ready Video Card, EN210 SILENT/DI/1GD3/V2(LP)

Thax

[zxz0O0]

What do you mean with 'the upscaling is not that great'? What do you expect?

The other issue (dark scenes are pixelated) should be related to the video quality and not with your build.

[00b5]

What OS?

Do you have another PC you can test the files on (like a primary desktop PC with a different video card) ?

I'd make sure that your SD content looks better "somewhere" and that the HD movies aren't pixleated elsewhere as well, before you go spending money.

A lot of times, less than optimal encodes will have pixelated blacks, since they probably narrowed the amount of colors to something more reasonable (or to keep filesize down) and a lot of times this shows up as not being able to show 200 different shades of black in a very dark scene **


** This was an off the cuff explination, so its probably not 100% accurate, but it should be close enough for you to use to do further testing.

[Dougie Fresh]

I am guessing you really mean de-interlacing. As in, you get a lot of combing (horizontal lines) when viewing SD content?

[pjtpjt]

As I understood, he was asking about upscaling lower resolution videos to 1080p, like some Blu Ray and DVD players do more than just stretching 576p to 1080p, but running some interpolation algorithms to make the picture sharper.

[bluray]

As I understood, he was asking about upscaling lower resolution videos to 1080p

Exactly!

To OP- I used this "Radeon HD 6570" with this "Setup guide for MPC-HC + madVR" in my previous HTPC. It worked great.....