Surging DVD Movie Playback Help Request

[Ryton]

G'Day all, any and all help would be appreciated...

Problem: During movie playback, I experience a surging problem (speeds up and slows down at a frequency of about every 2 seconds, frame skipping?). Could this be a codec problem? If yes, please provide your recommendation(s).

Software/Hardware: XP SP3, Windows Media Player/Media Player Classis/PowerDVD, Acer Travelmate 200T (550 MHz Celeron, 192 MB RAM, ATI Rage Mobility - Acer (X2 AGP, 4 MB, latest XP supplied driver), Panasonic UJ-840D 8X DVDRW.

Things I've tried without improvement:

1. Checked AMD/ATI site and they state the 4 MB Rage Mobility should properly support DVD Playback.
2. Tried multiple original and ripped DVDs played from DVDRW and HDD.
3. Changed display properties: Resolution, color depth and refresh rate (Native - 800X600, 32 Bit, 60 Hz),
4. No XP specific video driver available from Acer or AMD/ATI.
5. Tried three different media players (see above).
6. No issues identified in "Device Manager" and malware free per latest Hijack This, Spybot and Avast.
7. Shut down all background applications that are not required.

I would like to use this older notebook for a DIY Home Theatre Projector but it's unacceptable as it is. TIA

[guns1inger]

I would try the lowest overgead software I could find - Media Player Classic - and I would try ripping the DVD to the HDD and playing from that. It might be that your DVD drive is the problem, even though the rest of the machine is also in the barely capable section.

[Ryton]

G'Day, since my original post, I've changed the ATI Rage Mobility (Acer) driver to the latest Win2000 one from Acer and installed Reclock. Reclock reports CPU usage during playback of only 5-6% and that it cannot sync Frame Rate to Refresh Rate. Reclock recommends changing the refresh rate to a multiple of 24 Hz (i.e. 72 Hz). Unfortunately, the notebook's display is locked at 60 Hz. Does anyone know if is possible to override this and obtain 72 Hz? TIA