Some HD problems.

[te4vass]

Ok so here is the problem. I have a computer im trying to play ripped bluray movies on and i have tryed everything. I have tryed ffdshow, mplayer home cinema, nero, power dvd and more. The high def movies starts then sutters all the way through the movie. Sometimes stopping or freeezing completly.

Here are my specs:

p4 3ghz cpu
2 gig ram
nvidia 7800 gs vid card
connected to a 2 phillips hdtv 1080p

standard dvd rips play just fine using windows media center. I know high def movies are more cpu aggressive but what I am running should suffice shouldnt it? The cpu usage only shows around 20 - 40%

I know its not the tv cause when i hook it up to my monitor (gateway HD display) its the same thing. I also have a gateway with a

quad core q6600
3g ddr2
running a 8500 geforce

running vista home premium. and this plays the high def just fine with no hiccups. I really dont want to use this computer for my media center but if the other computer is lacking hardware then i might have to. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Baldrick]

1080p or 720p material?

Try latest ac3filter, ffdshow or coreavc and play with media player classic.

[jagabo]

P4 3 GHz probably won't be sufficient to play 1080p AVC, even if it's hyperthreaded. In MPCHC go to View -> Options -> Internal Filters -> Transform Filters. Make sure H264/AVC (ffmpeg) is enabled. Double click on it to bring up that decoder properties. Set Decoding Thread Number to 2. Shut down MPCHC. Next time it starts it may play more smoothly.

If that doesn't work, disable the H264/AVC(ffmpeg) decoder and install CoreAVC. If that doesn't give you smooth playback get a new graphics card with hardware h.264 playback.

[te4vass]

Thanks for the info guys.

Baldrick its both 720p and 1080p vids that it chops on. I have tried all the latest codecs. "ac3filter, ffdshow or coreavc and play with media player classic."

Still wont work

Jagabo

I went to the Transform Filters and it was laready checked and set to thread number 2. I tryed disabling H264/AVC(ffmpeg) decoder and install CoreAVC. Still no go guess ill have to look for other options.

If i do go with a vid card that supports h.264 playback will my cpu still bottleneck my system?

oh and sorry about the crosspost i saw i posted in the wrong forum so i posted it in the htpc forum. Can u delete the other one for me.

[jagabo]

I went to the Transform Filters and it was laready checked and set to thread number 2. I tryed disabling H264/AVC(ffmpeg) decoder and install CoreAVC. Still no go guess ill have to look for other options.

Bring up Task Manager while playing. You'll probably see the CPU pegged at 100 percent.

If i do go with a vid card that supports h.264 playback will my cpu still bottleneck my system?

No -- not for HD video playback anyway. I have a Nvidia 8600GT and a Q6600 CPU (quad core). Without DXVA (hardware acceleration) CPU usage for 1080i runs around 25 percent. With DXVA it drops down to 1 percent. You'll drop down in the single digits.

There is one other possibility. What output driver are you using from MPCHC? View -> Options -> Playback -> Output. Overlay Mixer will usually use less CPU. Try the others too. (You have to exit the program and restart it for these changes to take effect.) Be sure video overlay is enabled in your graphics card's drivers. Set Video Acceleration to Full (the highest setting in the Troubleshoot section). Also be sure "write combining" is enabled if you see the option. You may have to reboot for these to take effect.

[te4vass]

Thanks again jagabo.

I changed my output driver to overlay mixer and still no go.

Changed everything with the video card and nothing better.

[poisondeathray]

You can use mediainfo to check if your blu-ray is VC1 (instead of h264) (~30% of them are VC1, ~50% h264, 20% MPEG2), then do the same thing that jagabo suggested with VC1 instead of h264

I think your video card has VP1 engine (1st generation), and I'm not sure if it works with VC1 material, but the newer cards that have VP2 do for sure (basically 8000 series and up)

[jagabo]

Oh, and with CoreAVC, make sure you tried CoreAVC Pro, not the standard one. Only the Pro version is multithreaded. This is only if your P4 is hyperthreaded, of course. Do you see two CPU graphs in Task Manager? If so your CPU is hyperthreaded. Hyperthreading can squeeze about 10 percent more performance out of a P4 CPU.

Task Manager with four graphs (quad core CPU):

[te4vass]

poisondeathray
Thanks for that program very cool. Where do i find if its vc1 or h264?
Mine says Matroska on the format! It also says avc on the video stream!

jagabo
Thanks again
I did not try the pro version i will give that a try. And it is a hyperthread. it shows two graphs

[jagabo]

blu-ray... ~30% of them are VC1

Really? I was under the impression that hardly any were VC1. But I don't really know.

[te4vass]

no go on the pro version jagabo. Guess ill be using my quadcore for the media center and the pentium 4 for the main computer

[te4vass]

i am running the old xp media center. If i upgrade to vista on the p4 machine do you think this will make a huge difference?

[jagabo]

If you aren't gaming graphics cards with hardware VC1 and h.264 decoding can be had for well under US$100.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3420

[te4vass]

can u suggest one for me? has to be agp tho

[jagabo]

Ah yes, AGP. That makes it a harder. Note I added a link about some low end ATI cards (PCIe though). Start looking around there or at Nvidia 8500GT and up. I'm pretty sure you'll find some.

You might consider swapping for a dual core CPU instead if your motherboard and power supply can take it.

[te4vass]

thanks for ue help jagabo

[edDV]

I got into that quandry with my P4 2.8. Every part needed another part to be upgraded to play HD. I just started over with new case/ps, motherboard and memory. Kept the disks, keyboard and mouse.

Actually the P4 lives on as a capture machine.

[jagabo]

Yeah, a while back I had to bite the bullet too. A CPU upgrade (Socket 478 P4 to C2D) required a new motherboard, memory, and graphics card.

[edDV]

Yeah, a while back I had to bite the bullet too. A CPU upgrade (Socket 478 P4 to C2D) required a new motherboard, memory, and graphics card.

Also power supply typically.