So, I've been at this for weeks now!


First of, here are the specs for my newly built HTPC:

ASUS M2N AM2 NVIDIA nForce 430
Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3 Ghz
2GB Corsair XMS RAM
Gigabyte GeForce 8500 GT
Vista Ultimate (SP1 Pre-Release)

HDTV: Samsung DLP 46" @ 720p via DVI to HDMI

Codecs:
FFDSHOW (default settings) + Halli Media Splitter
AC3Fliter (S/PDIF @ 5.1)


THE PROBLEM:

Full screen video in WMC gets this really annoying flicker in contrast/brightness during mainly dark scenes in various formats (MKV, MPG2). I have confirmed it is a full screen issue with Media Center because it plays perfectly in both Windows Media Player and Media Player Classic. The second I put Media Center in windowed mode the problem goes away.

Now, after adjusting the brightness settings on the NVIDIA driver in conjunction with some tweaking with the TV's video settings I have gotten rid of most of the flicker, but it's still there in small bursts and shows up worse in certain movies. The opening scene in 310 to Yuma for example. The problem is I end up with a much darker black level then I am used to.

I've tried multiple re-installs, many drivers, CoreAVC,  even a diffrent mobo and video card, issue remains!


Here's an example of my issue:

Goes from this:


To this:


And then back to:



Thanks in advance to everyone and I hope this is the place to end this massive calibration headache! :p