HDPVR Jerky Playback

[Jackal24]

Ok, just got my HDPVR installed. First, system specs:

Core2Duo E4500 @ 2.20GHz
2GB RAM
GeForce 8600GT
Windows XP 32bit

When I try using VMR9 and the Arcsoft codecs or the Intervideo codecs, HD files are jerky. If I try Overlay, I get an error (-4,0x80040217). I know that overlay is probably what I want, but I can't get past the error.

[Clift]

Disable Full Screen Exclusive (FSE) mode, enable overlay, exit sage and restart sage.

[Jackal24]

That was a fast response. Unfortunately, it did not work. I am still getting the same playbackexception.

[Jackal24]

I noticed that I can choose Arcsoft for the mpeg2 decoder, but my only choices for MPEG4 are directshow and sage. Isn't the hdpvr mpeg4?

[Jackal24]

Also, the playback in ArcSoft Total Media is flawless.

[Jackal24]

I have set the following in Sage and restarted the service with no luck:

videoframe/h264_video_decoder_filter=ArcSoft Video Decoder

[ghostlobster]

OK...the HD-PVR is a bit picky, but onces it's running it's pretty solid. Here are a few tips that worked for me and others:
1 - This is a Vista statement, I'm not certain about XP, but do not use the VRM9 renderer, use overlay. There are posts all over the place about that one.
2 - Go into Total Media Extreme and in the video options, disable hardware accelleration.
3 - Lock your STB in at either 720p or 1080i. Try one, if it's still jerky, try the other. I've had the best luck with 720p, others are reporting that 1080i works best.
4 - Update your vide card drivers.
5 - Get the hd-pvr 1.1 drivers.
6 - If it's playing back, but is jerky, pause it for about 2 seconds, then unpause it. Give it a second to "settle in" and see what it looks like. If that does the trick, then there's a setting in the Sage.Properties file to increase the buffer/wait time before playback. I'll find it aorund here somewhere.

[Jackal24]

Originally Posted by ghostlobster

1 - This is a Vista statement, I'm not certain about XP, but do not use the VRM9 renderer, use overlay. There are posts all over the place about that one.

That's the problem. I can't use overlay without getting playback exception errors

2 - Go into Total Media Extreme and in the video options, disable hardware accelleration.
3 - Lock your STB in at either 720p or 1080i. Try one, if it's still jerky, try the other. I've had the best luck with 720p, others are reporting that 1080i works best.
4 - Update your vide card drivers.
5 - Get the hd-pvr 1.1 drivers.
6 - If it's playing back, but is jerky, pause it for about 2 seconds, then unpause it. Give it a second to "settle in" and see what it looks like. If that does the trick, then there's a setting in the Sage.Properties file to increase the buffer/wait time before playback. I'll find it aorund here somewhere.

None of this seemed to help.

[ghostlobster]

Originally Posted by Jackal24

That's the problem. I can't use overlay without getting playback exception errors

None of this seemed to help.

I'd open a ticket with Sage support. They are pretty good about these things.

[Clift]

I've had this error a few times when first setting up the HD PVR and couldn't figure out what i did wrong. What i did to fix it was a bit extreme but it worked:

I renamed the sage.properties and the sage.properties autobackup. i restarted sage and did the whole config from scratch. That's a bit extreme but for meI didn't have any other tuners set up or anything ...

Sorry i'm out of fresh ideas on what could be causing it. The only other thing would be for you to enable debugging and make sure Sage is using the ArcSoft decoder and not trying to use another decoder.

[Jackal24]

Originally Posted by Clift

I've had this error a few times when first setting up the HD PVR and couldn't figure out what i did wrong. What i did to fix it was a bit extreme but it worked:

I renamed the sage.properties and the sage.properties autobackup. i restarted sage and did the whole config from scratch. That's a bit extreme but for meI didn't have any other tuners set up or anything ...

Sorry i'm out of fresh ideas on what could be causing it. The only other thing would be for you to enable debugging and make sure Sage is using the ArcSoft decoder and not trying to use another decoder.

I tried that and still no go with Overlay mode. I am not sure how to read the log file, so I have attached it below if someone can help. I have opened a trouble ticket also.

[Jackal24]

Found the problem

I had a secondary video driver installed for UltraVNC. Once I removed that driver, overlay works great.

[sdsean]

hey ghostlobster, (or anyone else)

do you know the setting for adding delay after channel change.

my playback is fine, but when i change channels its jerky, and if I pause it for a couple of secs its fine. . .

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by sdsean

hey ghostlobster, (or anyone else)
do you know the setting for adding delay after channel change.
my playback is fine, but when i change channels its jerky, and if I pause it for a couple of secs its fine. . .

in Sage.properties:
videoframe/time_to_start_into_tv_file_playback=5000 for 5 second delay
1000=1 sec

it's on page 234 of the SageTV pdf manual

[Opus4]

That one just starts playback X seconds into the recording, skipping the video before that.

Check out:
videoframe/local_encoding_to_playback_delay=2000

I think there is also one for network encoders:
videoframe/network_encoding_to_playback_delay=

You may also want to change:
videoframe/time_behind_live_to_disable_fast_forward=6000
videoframe/time_behind_live_to_disable_skip_forward=4000

Set them to the millisecond values you want.

- Andy