Can't get studder-free play

[DRB]

I can't get decent playback with Sage. What is the problem? Even with VR9 off and 3d dissabled I get 95-100% CPU usage resulting in the spining sage icon and lock-ups The same set-up seems to work perfect in Beyond TV, usually in about 40-55% CPU useage.

First off here is what I got. I am running the latest verison of Sage [6] on XP pro. I have Happ. 1600 HD tunner card. AMD XP 2400 processor with 1024 ram. The video card is ATI Radeon 9600pro, 128mb 8x AGP. Is this enough to run Sage? Do I need a better processor or video card?

Before my HD card I had trouble with Sage 4 after I installed the MC 16x9 STV. A lot of lock-ups, so many I just stopped using Sage. Now I moved the box to my work-out room I thought I try to get it running again. Total uninstal of Sage and then installed verison 6. I have sage tv service off.

Why does Beyound work so well? Can't I use the same settings for Sage? Please help.
Thanks

DRB

[GTwannabe]

What video decoders are you using?

Are you using current drivers for your video card?

Did you disable antivirus scanning of your recording directories?

Are your recording partitions formated with 64k clusters?

Are you having trouble with SD, HD, or both?

[DRB]

What video decoders are you using?

I was using SageTV Default, now I switched to default and maybe this helped some. I am getting better playback, no lock-ups but Beyond seems to be giving a sharper pic. I have many decoders to chose from, I guess I will keep trying different ones.

Are you using current drivers for your video card? Did you disable antivirus scanning of your recording directories?

Yes,yes

Are your recording partitions formated with 64k clusters?

NO. Can I use Windows and just formatt some free space on the drive? I know I can do this with a 3rd party app but haven't had much look in/with the XP tools. I idealy would only like to formatt maybe a hundred gigs or so of the drive for recordings. I already have a couple hundred gigs of music and videos that I don't want to move so I can format.

Are you having trouble with SD, HD, or both?

SD plays fine, but I need HD to play, SD looks bad just cause that is what it is.

What about VMR9 and 3-d acceration, I perfer to use this if I can. Would any upgrades in video card, processor or memeory help at all? Do my basic compoents lack or should they be able to handle this?

Thanks
DRB

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by DRB

I was using SageTV Default, now I switched to default and maybe this helped some. I am getting better playback, no lock-ups but Beyond seems to be giving a sharper pic. I have many decoders to chose from, I guess I will keep trying different ones.

SageTV doesn't have default decoders, "Default" for any of the Audio/Video options in SageTV means system default, which really is a crapshoot for what you actually get.

It's always best to explicitly choose decoders in Sage.

NO. Can I use Windows and just formatt some free space on the drive?

Windows can format to 64k clusters, but that's all it can do.

I know I can do this with a 3rd party app but haven't had much look in/with the XP tools.

3rd party tools, like Acronis Disk Director will allow you to convert an already formatted partition to 64k clusters without losing data.

I idealy would only like to formatt maybe a hundred gigs or so of the drive for recordings. I already have a couple hundred gigs of music and videos that I don't want to move so I can format.

One thing you're going to have trouble with, is you can't format part of a partition, it's all or nothing. To do what you want, it sounds like you'll need to re-partition your drive to get new space for 64k clusters.

Basically sounds like you're going to need 3rd party software regardless of what you do.

SD plays fine, but I need HD to play, SD looks bad just cause that is what it is.

What about VMR9 and 3-d acceration, I perfer to use this if I can. Would any upgrades in video card, processor or memeory help at all? Do my basic compoents lack or should they be able to handle this?

What decoders/renderer is Beyond TV using?

[GTwannabe]

First, you need video decoders that will offload some video processing to the GPU. Give the nVidia PureVideo decoders a try (free 30-day trial). You can also try another codec (Cyberlink, InterVideo, etc) if you have additional DVD software installed on your computer.

Second, you should use 64k clusters on your recording partition. Partition Magic should be able to do this without any trouble. Back up your data first if you're not absolutely sure what you're doing.

720P should be OK, but you might run into trouble at 1080i.

[DRB]

Both Sage and Snapstream have trouble with 3-D acceration enabled. Sage has a much tougher time with it.

First, you need video decoders that will offload some video processing to the GPU. Give the nVidia PureVideo decoders a try

While the decode will work with all cards, I thought the offloading function only worked with Nvidia cards. I give it a shot anyway.

720P should be OK, but you might run into trouble at 1080i.

I take this refers to my processor and video card. Which replacement would help me more, the CPU or the video card?

What decoders/renderer is Beyond TV using?

I am not at home now, but it listed as something like "SnapStream Video Decode SP" This option does not show up in Sage as avaiable though.

DRB

[GTwannabe]

Video card is your best bet for an upgrade. None of the Socket A Athlons can handle high-res HD decoding without GPU acceleration. There is a 7600GT available in AGP. I think Newegg still has it.