How I stopped VMR9 stuttering (including 1080i) and solved all my sound issues.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by salsbst

My problems are with a Radeon. My 6600GT has no problems (don't recall what ver. of driver I'm using).

My video card which gives me stutter problems is a 7900GT w/256mb.

[mrcandu]

Originally Posted by Ron

My video card which gives me stutter problems is a 7900GT w/256mb.

Ron ...... This may be of help, but I managed to get my 7900GS working stutter free using the Dell driver 84.40. This is the only driver compatiable with my card that gives stutter free playback. It isn't available thorugh the Nvidia FTP, only the Dell site. (the nearest match on the NV FTP is 84.43, and that doesn't work 4 me) You can grab it from here.
Hope that helps.
Mat.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by mrcandu

Ron ...... This may be of help, but I managed to get my 7900GS working stutter free using the Dell driver 84.40. This is the only driver compatiable with my card that gives stutter free playback. It isn't available thorugh the Nvidia FTP, only the Dell site. (the nearest match on the NV FTP is 84.43, and that doesn't work 4 me) You can grab it from here.
Hope that helps.
Mat.

Thanks, Mat. I downloaded that driver and will give it a try a bit later, and report my results. My computer happens to be a Dell Dimension Duo Core 9200, so a Dell driver is actually appropriate.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by mrcandu

Ron ...... This may be of help, but I managed to get my 7900GS working stutter free using the Dell driver 84.40. This is the only driver compatiable with my card that gives stutter free playback. It isn't available thorugh the Nvidia FTP, only the Dell site. (the nearest match on the NV FTP is 84.43, and that doesn't work 4 me) You can grab it from here.
Hope that helps.
Mat.

Unfortunately, my Dell Dimension 9200 would not load that driver nor any other Dell driver in their list. I could not find one specific to the 7900GT/256mb. Thanks, anyway. Guess I'm resigned to overlay in order to prevent stutter.

[Ron]

Just wondering. There haven't been any postings lately in the two threads dealing with stuttering in V6. Could that mean that either the problems have been fixed, or that those whose problems could not be resolved (like me) are resigned to keeping their Sage in Overlay rather than VMR9, which was resulting in stuttering for many.

Just curious.

[astribli]

still using overlay

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by Ron

Just wondering. There haven't been any postings lately in the two threads dealing with stuttering in V6. Could that mean that either the problems have been fixed, or that those whose problems could not be resolved (like me) are resigned to keeping their Sage in Overlay rather than VMR9, which was resulting in stuttering for many.

Just curious.

Just took a look at this thread for the first time in a month and it looks like nothing has been resolved, bummer.

[cummings66]

Originally Posted by Ron

Just wondering. There haven't been any postings lately in the two threads dealing with stuttering in V6. Could that mean that either t

I'm living with what I've got. It's like it was, stutter free on CBS, stutters on ABC, PBS, and NBC. Sometimes NBC is stutter free.

[OttoNP]

My stuttering problems have been gone since I started using the settings in my previous posts (VMR9, FSE on, smart with nvidia decoder). I'm using smart as the selection with the nvidia decoder and sometimes, very rarely, i actually get stutter with SD content (HD is fine). What I found is that the nvidia decoder is swithing between video and film mode every second or so. I then have to change it to automatic, video, or film to solve that issue.

My issue of the day is reception. I get all my channels 99% of the time, but every now and then, depending on weather, I will lose a channel or two. I'm using over the air with two hvr-1600. I recently moved antenna from attic to roof for slight improvement. I've been trying different spots up there, so far no luck. I've got high hopes for the latest position, the channel i usually lose says signal is around 90% compared to about 80% at the best spot i've found before. I believe the problem is reflected signals.

If I had this to do over again, I think I would have got a hd homerun a just capture it over cable. This whole HD has been a nightmare, a part of me wishes I never started down this road...

[bbig119]

Originally Posted by OttoNP

My stuttering problems have been gone since I started using the settings in my previous posts (VMR9, FSE on, smart with nvidia decoder). I'm using smart as the selection with the nvidia decoder and sometimes, very rarely, i actually get stutter with SD content (HD is fine). What I found is that the nvidia decoder is swithing between video and film mode every second or so. I then have to change it to automatic, video, or film to solve that issue.

My issue of the day is reception. I get all my channels 99% of the time, but every now and then, depending on weather, I will lose a channel or two. I'm using over the air with two hvr-1600. I recently moved antenna from attic to roof for slight improvement. I've been trying different spots up there, so far no luck. I've got high hopes for the latest position, the channel i usually lose says signal is around 90% compared to about 80% at the best spot i've found before. I believe the problem is reflected signals.

If I had this to do over again, I think I would have got a hd homerun a just capture it over cable. This whole HD has been a nightmare, a part of me wishes I never started down this road...

I've got both....OTA and QAM with HDHomerun. I'm also able to pull all the major networks OTA without a problem 98% of the time. In my case the antenna position is sensitive to some trees that appear to be a few hundred yards away but are rather tall. When the wind is blowing them around my signal fluctuates more. I'm assuming you've tried an amplifier on the line-- this may help. I also assume that if you're worried about multipath, that you're using a directional antenna.

[camus]

Originally Posted by jkohn

I find it interesting looking at you guys' graphs that when using the NVidia Demux you have to use the NVidia Audio Decoder. At that point I'm not sure what the point if of adding AC3Filter; it's just a redundant filter if it's after the NVidia Audio Decoder in the filter chain. I can't see how that could possibly help with any stuttering.

I was curious about this too. Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

I guess GollyJer got it to normalize his audio with SPDIF, which I haven't had any success with.

[Ron]

After months and months of "trying this and trying that" with no resolution to stutter, I tried one of the new line of Nvidia video cards. I removed my 7900GT w/256mb and replaced it with an 8600GTS w/256mb. Voila -- no more stutter.

So the conclusion here is that while not everyone had stutter, it's obviously dependent on a combination of ones computer, video card and display. Since we're all using different displays, it's real difficult to exactly nail it down. I'm not all that technically inclined, but all I can report with certainty is that the new video card, at least in my setup, solved my stutter problems.

[Underfunded]

OK. I have followed the steps on my HTPC (recently upgraded to handle HDTV).

I am running a:
3 ghz Intel Pentium D
2 Gigs DDR2 RAM
OS on IDE HDD
TV Recording to SATA HDD
ATI X1800 256MB PCI-Express
Envy24 based sound card outputting to a Receiver via SPDIF
wired ethernet
HDHomeRun configured properly

I have all drivers and programs up to date and have followed the setup instructions earlier and the rest of my viewing experience is awesome (SD and DVD) but my HD viewing (QAM) gets random glitches (95%+ signal) with stuttering. The audio remains smooth and doesn't skip when the video does. Any suggestions?

EDIT: OK. It appears that I have tearing in there too. I was watching a SD broadcast through my hdhomerun and it was happening still. any suggestions? Looks like it might be an issue with my hdhomerun and pc connection?

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by Ron

After months and months of "trying this and trying that" with no resolution to stutter, I tried one of the new line of Nvidia video cards. I removed my 7900GT w/256mb and replaced it with an 8600GTS w/256mb. Voila -- no more stutter.

So the conclusion here is that while not everyone had stutter, it's obviously dependent on a combination of ones computer, video card and display. Since we're all using different displays, it's real difficult to exactly nail it down. I'm not all that technically inclined, but all I can report with certainty is that the new video card, at least in my setup, solved my stutter problems.

Swapped in the very same card Ron did and my stuttering problems appear to be gone as well.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Keenan

Swapped in the very same card Ron did and my stuttering problems appear to be gone as well.

I believe there's a cheaper card - 8500GT. Maybe someone with stutter might want to give that one a try. I just personally decided to go with the one with the higher core clock and memory clock.

[CanadianEh]

Interesting news on the 8600GTS line... out of curiousity, do you still need to leave FSE on with this card for stutter-free playback?


Thanks!
-Jay

[Ron]

Originally Posted by CanadianEh

Interesting news on the 8600GTS line... out of curiousity, do you still need to leave FSE on with this card for stutter-free playback?


Thanks!
-Jay

Yes. VMR9, 3D acceleration and FSE. And it's completely stutter free.

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by Ron

Yes. VMR9, 3D acceleration and FSE. And it's completely stutter free.

Same here. Card sure is noisy with that fan though, my previous 7600GT was fanless. I'm going to have to try some noise reduction schemes. I wonder if there's any after-market, quieter fans for this card.

I should say that I'm really not sure how much fan noise the card has added since I haven't used my system in months. I do know that the fan noise was there before, but if my memory serves me this card seems to have a fair amount more.

Ron, what have you noticed regarding the fan noise?

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by Ron

I believe there's a cheaper card - 8500GT. Maybe someone with stutter might want to give that one a try. I just personally decided to go with the one with the higher core clock and memory clock.

I wonder if the core clock and memory clock are what made the difference, I noticed the numbers as well, in fact the card is marketed as an OC'ed card.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Keenan

I wonder if the core clock and memory clock are what made the difference, I noticed the numbers as well, in fact the card is marketed as an OC'ed card.

We've got two threads going - the one that I started and the one from GollyJer, and questions are popping up in both places.

As for the fan, I noticed that when the computer starts up, it's really loud, but once XP starts up and Sage loads, it quiets down to a level that I can no longer hear. However my 7900 did the same thing, and that was also manufactured by BFG. Bottom line - fan noise is a non-issue for me.

Someone in the other thread asked about display resolution. I'm running 1360x765, or at least something close to that, which is the native resolution of my display.

From what I've been told, the 8500 and 8600 are made for HDTV, while the 8800 is more for gaming. And I would also think that perhaps the OC may have something to do with it. Whatever, all that matters is that it works. I'm convinced that when Sage was trying to duplicate it, they were probably using a computer monitor, not a home theater display. Reason I say that, is that I'm running two clients. My main HTPC which is where I put in the new video card and the display is my plasma, that's the one that was giving me fits. On the computer I'm on right now, which is my desktop, I also have set up as a Sage client, and my display is a 22" widescreen monitor, resolved at 1680x1050, the video card is an Nvidia 6800, and I have this at VMR9, 3D and FSE, and never had a stutter issue. That's why I believe it's got to be the display/video card combination.

BTW, what's your display that's now stutter free?