MPEG2 Playback on CPU without MMX - Possible?

[obvious]

I've got a pentium 166 system and have installed the elecard mpeg2 directshow filters but I get no picture - just sound (zoomplayer)

Just wondered if theres an mpeg2 filter that doesn't require mmx?

Thanks in advance

Regards
Obvious

[Sefy]

Install PowerDVD or WinDVD, that will fix up your problem, although I would recommand older versions, cause I beleive the new ones require MMX.

[obvious]

Thanks. I've tried PowerDVD 4.0 XP. I'll hunt down an older version.

[obvious]

Well it was worth a try. I've had no luck with powerdvd 3 or the codecs from powerdvd2

WinDVD was just as bad.

Anyone got any other thoughts (apart from 'get a real pc' :roll: )

[khelms]

You're probably a couple hundred megahertz short of the minimum needed for MPEG video. I once established that a Pentium 120 was the bare minimum CPU I could play MP3s on. I had to turn off all the animation in Winamp to get it to play on that system without skipping. Considering that video moves way more bits around than audio, I think you're just out of luck.

[Sefy]

I disagree with that, but not fully, i've played a VideoCD on a Pentium 133, of course since he is playing MPEG2, more CPU power is required, but 166 will do the trick, but then again, you would require a strong Display Card to be able to process atleast some of it playback so not everything will go down on the CPU itself.

Your best choice if you don't want to spend too much money, is getting a RealMagic Hollywood Plus (or the new Xcard) and that way it will playback the files with no requirement (or very minimum requirement) from the CPU.

[khelms]

I guess it depends on whether we're talking full-screen, smooth motion DVD playback, or SVCD played in a window. When DVD-ROMs first appeared, they came with hardware accelerator cards because the 266-300 mhz PCs at the time couldn't handle software MPEG2 decoding. If my memory isn't totally wacky, it wasn't until the 500-600 mhz level that you were able to get smooth full-screen DVD playback with a software only decoder.

[Sefy]

I do believe you are correct, which is why I recommanded him the MPEG2 Decoder card

[obvious]

Well thanks a lot for the input guys

Its pretty much as I expected except it would have been nice to find a software decoder that didn't require MMX just to prove whether FS playback would be viable in software.

[SatStorm]

I have the "luck" to mess up with an ancient Pentium @90Mhz a year before. I wanted to play mpeg 2 files, svcd, etc. So I can say that it is possible, but don't expect THE quality!

First, you need Windows 95SE. Don't use later window versions, they are "heavy" for those machines.
Then, install Elecard to get the mpeg 2 codec to your pc and Herosoft's STSHDVD mpeg player. You gonna find this wonderfull piece of software as a freeware in the "usefull tools" page of VCD Help.
I was able to play DVD-Video discs to a pentium 90Mhz with those programs, no mpeg card, and 64MB total Ram!
Give it a try!

[obvious]

Thanks but it looks like the only version of STHSDVD I can find requires a 300MHz MMX CPU


I got the following error "No MMX : Can NOT RUN On No MMX CPU"



STHSDVD Readme

1.support all regions
2.autoplay DVD
3.support video keys
4.auto select china language ang English caption and Audio
5.DirectDVDROM technology to acclereate DVD access.
6.Free software
7.thanks for all people that provide DVD technology.

ENV:
CPU: MMX300
MEMORY:16M
VideoCardupport YUV
VideoMemory:2M
System:Window 9X/NT(On NT DirectDVDROM maybe failure,install a CD-Rsoftware may fixedup)

[Sefy]

Try finding really old software, before the days of how MMX took over, and i'm quite sure you will find something that will play MPEG2 on your PC.

[obvious]

This is becoming a quest now. I was originally just trying to play a specific clip on the GFs old PC.

For reference, I'll post here if I find anything.

Thanks again.

Obvious

[bbb]

I have PowerDVD 1.2 lying around somewhere. Maybe I can let you test it when I find it.

[obvious]

I have PowerDVD 1.2 lying around somewhere. Maybe I can let you test it when I find it.

Thanks that would be good