Hardware Suggestions..

[Sidster]

I am currently using SageTV as a tryout to replace my BeyondTV. I am trying to configure Sage to work with no shuttering or audio issues however I am having some trouble finding the correct settings.

My Hardware Specs are as follows.

2 1 Terabyte drives
1 duo core intel cpu 2.8 ghz
Nvidia 8400 GS video card
3 haupauuge cards ( 150 - 2 418)
1 HD HomeRun
On board audio with intel MB
2 gig of ram

Should I replace my Nvidia 8400 GS with something that has more video ram?

I am trying to play OTA HD, MKV files and such and am finding that playback is difficult to configure correctly. I get shuttering and sometimes when i select channels the video shows up in a smaller box.

Any suggestions on a video card or codec I should use?

[SWKerr]

I would expect that you hardware is fine and that you just need to tweak you playback settings.
With My HDHR I found I got my best results with the Cyberlink Codec. I had strange sound issues with anything else but I am running everything through HDMI and digitally into the stereo.
I have an Nvidia 8500 on one machine and it is rock solid at 720p. That TV does not do 1080 so I can’t be certain how that would look. Also OTA playback can have drop outs due to signal problems. Are you certain the playback files are good.

Was the playback ok in BeyondTV or any other program OK this hardware? Is it just HD?

What is in the MKV files. Are they h.264 ??? h.264 files are a whole different challenge.

Can you post your current Video\Audio setting under the Detailed Setup?

[Sidster]

I did not have any major issues with BeyondTV. I just was limited to what I could do with it as their support for media files was pretty much non-existent.

I did drop some money this evening to pickup a better video card. I got an Nvidia 9500 GT with 1 gig of ddr2 ram. I am still trying to figure out how to get these codecs to work correctly on sagetv. Even with the new card I still notice some shuddering and freezing. Not as much but it is still there.

Can I run this in 3D mode or should I just use overlay?

[Djc208]

I had shuddering on fast motion with VMR9 on HD when I used my clients. This was with the nVidia codec.

Have you tried the new EVR option?

[Polypro]

What OS are you running? What exactly is "shuttering"? (judder, jitter, stutter...there seems to be a lot of terms for different playback problems). What audio decoder are you using? (audio problems can also manifest themselves in video playback).

P

[Sidster]

I was using the Nvidia decoder. I also was using the AC3 for audio decoding. In regards to shudder. The best way I can describe it is that when I play video sometimes the video will freeze and the sounds will keep skipping in one place like a machine gun. TATATATATATATA then the either the video will remain frozen or it will continue then the sound will be normal again. I have seen this both when I am watching something while also recording and the same when watching something while not recording.

I guess my main question is what would be an ideal setup for me in regards to codec and if I should use 3d or overscan.

BTW what is EVR?

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by Sidster

I was using the Nvidia decoder. I also was using the AC3 for audio decoding. In regards to shudder. The best way I can describe it is that when I play video sometimes the video will freeze and the sounds will keep skipping in one place like a machine gun. TATATATATATATA then the either the video will remain frozen or it will continue then the sound will be normal again. I have seen this both when I am watching something while also recording and the same when watching something while not recording.

I guess my main question is what would be an ideal setup for me in regards to codec and if I should use 3d or overscan.

I can't help with the codec, it seems to be a gamble on which will work best with any one setup. I think you mean VMR or overlay, and that will have to be trial and error. VMR provides some cool effects but if you can't get it working right it's a moot point.

As for the "shudder" if the audio codec issues don't help it sounds like it could be a hard drive issue, or background process. You say it happens whether you are recording or not so you might look at other processes (anti-virus, comskip, etc.) that is tying up the HDD or taking too many resources. Have you watched CPU usage while this is happening?

BTW what is EVR?

It's essentially the next generation of VMR 7/9. It's a default Vista feature but can be added to XP.

[Polypro]

I still don't know what OS your on, but if it's Vista SP1, try disabling ReadyBoost, Superfetch, and turning off Network Throttling via the registry.

P

[Sidster]

Thanks Polypro

I am currently using XP SP3.

I forked over 70 dollors yesterday to get the ARCsoft codecs and I tried to use them and it seems to have caused more bad then good. I couldnt view online content anymore such as youtube and google video. I had to remove thoes settings and go back to what I originally had. I will check up on the whole hard drive thing. I am using AVG for my anti-virus. I think I did set comskip to low on the peak times I record which are between 7pm CST and 1am CST