MKV newbie - video slightly skips using MPC

[captenblack]

I've lurked for a while and finally have a problem of my own -- I recently started learning about x264 and mkv files and when I try to play any of them with MPC I'm getting a slightly jerky playback: about every 6 seconds the video seems to slightly "skip" or "jump" ahead. It is noticeable throughout while playing a file, especially when there's credits or text on screen.

I have all current versions of all software files. I tried switching renderers but it didn't matter. All settings are default.

It does not seem to happen using VLC. Just curious as to why it is happening using MPC. I'm guessing it's a setting somewhere.

Thanks for any help.

[Baldrick]

What decoders are you using? The built in or ffdshow or? It might work much better with a newer version of ffdshow to decode h264 for example(deselect the built in decoders in the mpc options). And you can also try also mpc-hc.

[captenblack]

Thanks for the ideas Baldrick. I am using ffdshow and mpc-hc. Perhaps a more "technical" explanation is that the MKV files are skipping frames (ever so slightly) every 6 seconds or so if that makes sense.

I researched my issue more and I think I may have figured out what is causing this -- it's DTS audio. Any file with DTS has this problem. Not sure how audio would affect anything (and if anyone thinks it just can't be the audio let me know, maybe it's just coincidence?).

I'm going to fiddle with audio settings, but if anyone has ideas please post (including what to set for audio). Thanks.

[redwudz]

I had a few problems with MPC-HC and my MKVs, sounds similar to yours. It did take a bit of adjustment. Don't recall exactly which ones I did, though.

I do have a DXVA capable video card and that helped a lot with Blu-ray playback and MKVs, though the MKVs do seem to work fine on one of the other computers without DXVA.

Some of my MPC-HC settings:

In 'Player>Formats: No checkmarks for File Extensions.

In 'Output':
VMR7 (renderless)
DirectShow Audio: System Default (I output the audio through a S/PDIF port via coaxial to my surround sound amp.) I'm guessing my Realtek HD Audio Manager is handling that and just passing the audio through to the amp.

Internal Filters: All source filters and all Transform filters checkmarked.

Audio switcher: Enable built-in audio.... (It doesn't show my 6.1 channel setup here, but that works perfect with DTS audio, so those setting are elsewhere.

I don't think I have FFDshow installed, at least I don't see it on my software list. But I do have Haali Media Splitter and DScaler 5 installed. But I don't know if they are involved at all.

[captenblack]

Thanks for all the advice -- after a bunch of comparisons of settings I figured it out. The problem was the ffdshow audio decoder. For some reason it was causing frame issues when using DTS. I disabled DTS in that software and started using AC3 filter without problems.

Thanks again.

[redwudz]

Just remember to note down your settings if you have to reinstall the setup. I use VLC, MPC-HC and Zoom player and they have all required a bit of adjustment with my HD MKVs and DTS audio.

But glad you got it working.