How does SageTV build a Directshow graph?

[gtdave]

Can anyone provide some insight or explain how SageTV uses Directshow filters to build a graph and play media files?

I continue to be perplexed as to why some files play perfectly using graphedit and stutter like crazy in Sage's player. The problem I'm having now is playing HD-PVR recordings. I can get them to play fine in Windows Media Player, graphedit, and Zoom Player. But once again, in Sage's player with everything configured to use Directshow (including having always_use_dshow option set to true in the properties file), the graph is clearly different and I get stuttering or freezing of the video.

For example, when I play one of my HD-PVR h.264 files using graphedit or Windows Media Player, I see the Haali Media Splitter and AC3Filter icons in my system tray. When I play the same file in SageTV, I only see the AC3Filter icon, so I have to assume it is using something different for the splitter. What else is Sage doing with the graph???

Thoughts? Ideas? Rants? ;-)

Dave

[gplasky]

Sage will always use it's own splitter. You can't change that. I don't think it does anything else differently.

Gerry

[jerryt]

Originally Posted by gtdave

Can anyone provide some insight or explain how SageTV uses Directshow filters to build a graph and play media files?

I continue to be perplexed as to why some files play perfectly using graphedit and stutter like crazy in Sage's player. The problem I'm having now is playing HD-PVR recordings. I can get them to play fine in Windows Media Player, graphedit, and Zoom Player. But once again, in Sage's player with everything configured to use Directshow (including having always_use_dshow option set to true in the properties file), the graph is clearly different and I get stuttering or freezing of the video.

For example, when I play one of my HD-PVR h.264 files using graphedit or Windows Media Player, I see the Haali Media Splitter and AC3Filter icons in my system tray. When I play the same file in SageTV, I only see the AC3Filter icon, so I have to assume it is using something different for the splitter. What else is Sage doing with the graph???

Thoughts? Ideas? Rants? ;-)

Dave

Add "debug_logging=TRUE" line to sage.properties and sage will create sagetxt0 file after each use showing which filters were used for playback. Editing filter merit values and forcing certain filters generally create stuttering in Sage.

Which h.264 video decoder are you using? Cyberlink (7 & 8) and Arcsoft are reported working with other h.264 files.

[gtdave]

I've been tinkering with this and finally have h.264 files playing well with the ArcSoft Video Decoder, Mainconcept AAC Decoder, and AC3Filter. One of my clients still stutters with HD-PVR h.264 ts files, but everything else plays fine.

I've been editing the properties file to specify decoders on the various videoframe lines, but often I see an error of sorts in the logfile, something to the effect of "Unable to use specified decoder." Also, the directshow graph line in the logfile is quite different than what I see in graphedit. I assume this is because Sage uses its own splitter/demuxer...

[brainbone]

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but, I've always had this same problem.

Why is it that HD recordings (Mpeg2 in my case) made with Sage will playback beautifully in WMP, but be choppy as hell in SageTV? It seems to somehow be related to the deinterlacing method SageTV chooses (I use a ATI HD4350 GPU).

I've recently upgraded to windows 7 in an effort to fix this, and still have the same problem I had in vista (following instructions from this thread to get Sagetv to use the MS decoders)

I can either have relatively smooth video, but half the vertical resolution (again, from the deinterlacing method sage tv chooses) when using the SageTV decoders, or choppy video with MS decoders. Other decoders (PoweDVD 7, ect.) seem to have the same problem as the MS decoder -- again, I believe because of the deinterlacing method SageTV is forcing.

Emails with Sage support did not end in a resolution to the problem - in fact they don't seem to think there is a problem -- but after reading these forums it seems pretty obvious that this is a wide spread issue. Most people either aren't picky enough about video quality, give up and get an extender, or just live with it.

Why can't sagetv just build a graph the same as WMP would??