Poor AVCHD playback - hardware or software?

[MJ Peg]

I've had a machine for a couple of years that used to be OK for Windows Movie Maker and MJPEG, but then I started using a PC at work in my lunchtimes instead, so my home PC was relegated to web/music/photos duties.

Now I've left that job I'd like to use my home PC again, for AVCHD Lite, but to my dismay I find that VLC plays the mts files really badly, and even Media Player Classic isn't producing a good frame rate, with blockiness and other artifacts that I wouldn't have seen on the previous PC at work,

Is my hardware up to it?

OS : Win XP SP3
Proc : Intel Core Duo E6550 (2 X 2.33GHz) 1333MHz FSB/4MB L2 Cache
RAM : 2048 MB CORSAIR DDR2 667MHz (2x1GB)
Motherboard : ASUS P5K SE: DDR2, SATAII, PCI-e x16, 2 PCI, 3 x PCI-e x1
Video : NVIDIA GeForce 7200 GS 128MB PCI Express
Disk : 250GB and 500GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB & 16MB CACHE (7200rpm)
Sound : 8 Channel Realtek ALC883 High Definition Audio (P5K-SE) and M-Audio Audiophile

Or is it a software problem?
I have the K-Lite codec pack but it's an old one from March 2008 - klcodec380f.exe - I have just downloaded klcodec570f.exe and wonder if it's worth uninstalling the old one and putting this new one on?
VLC is version 1.0.5 Goldeneye
Media Player Classic is 6.4.9.1
QT player is 7.6.5 - strangely this now plays MJPEG .mov files slowly - like at half speed (as does MPC), when it used to play OK

Many thanks for any help - it would be very nice to get up and running again

[greymalkin]

try the splash media player.

I don't know if your video card supports hardware acceleration of h.264, but you can get some ati 4500 series cards for under $50 that will do the job.

My processor is well under yours in the horsepower department and I have the integrated ATI HD 3200 chip and splash plays my avchd files flawlessly.

[MJ Peg]

Thanks - I'm just puzzled why my home PC does so much worse than my old work PC when I don't recall that one being significantly better, and I had K-Lite codecs on it too. Also puzzled why my MJPEG MOV file playback is suffering compared to how it used to be,

BTW I updated the NVIDIA drivers but that hasn't helped.

[guns1inger]

When you get a spare few seconds, can you put all the detail you have in your first post into your profile so your computer specs are available in future ? Makes life easier when you can just wave your mouse over someone's profile and see what hardware they are working with.

[themaster1]

You need a good graphic card preferably Nvidia with Cuda Cores and the CoreAvc codec to use these cuda cores.For the audio decoding you need ffdshow / the K-Lite codecs suite.
I bought a GT220 recently and it's working like a charm for hdtv not sure about mjpeg mov (HD) but if it's x264/h264 there is no reason. The only reason i see would be the container .mov

[MJ Peg]

When you get a spare few seconds, can you put all the detail you have in your first post into your profile so your computer specs are available in future ? Makes life easier when you can just wave your mouse over someone's profile and see what hardware they are working with.

If I get this thing up and running I will do.... otherwise I'm giving up on video and won't be here again

It won't take much for me to give up, considering that YouTube is still destroying 25fps video by converting to 29.97, and without broadband at home I'm depending upon free wifi while out and about and can't see how big uploads are ever likely to be successful. No audience = no point.. I don't make videos unless there's a chance people might watch them, So it's all up in the air at the moment,

[Soopafresh]

I bought an Nvidia GT 210 card for around $50 and it works perfectly for DXVA acceleration. 1920x1080 AVCHD works without a single stutter.

[MJ Peg]

I've just put the newer klite pack on, it has made no difference

[muskgrave]

how many of these codec packs do you have installed on your computer? It's generally not a good idea to bulk load codecs when you aren't sure exactly what each one does. You may have too much "junk" loaded on your computer..so even if it's got better hardware, it won't work as good as your cleaner work loaded PC.

[MJ Peg]

Thanks - my work PC had exactly the same codec pack and software loaded
I uninstalled the prior K-Lite pack and put the new one on. It still didn't play anything at the right speed in between doing that, either.

[creamyhorror]

Do you get the same problems with other H.264 material, e.g. stuff produced by x264? Your CPU is much more than sufficient to decode 720p H.264, so it's clearly a problem with either 1) your software setup or 2) your MTS files.

Posting a short sample might allow us to see if 2) is the case.

[jagabo]

You need either a dual (or more) core CPU and a multithreaded h.264 decoder, or hardware h.264 decoding by the graphics card. The GeForce 7200 doesn't have hardware h.264 decoding. You have a dual core CPU so you need a multithreaded h.264 decoder. Use CoreAVC Pro, ffdshowmt, or MPCHC's internal h.264 decoder.

Also note there are some h.264 features that aren't supported by graphics card decoders so you should have software decoding as a backup.

[MJ Peg]

Please see my new thread
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/317307-All-video-playing-half-speed-!
- as I've found that whatever it is, it's affecting all video

UPDATE : solved - see that thread for details
Thanks