Hdtv

[djg]

I'm using software decoding on both. I generally use the Intervideo decoders installed with WinDVD 4 but sometimes use the Elecard when the Intervideo have problems decoding the stream. Intervideo decoders though will just stutter but the Elecard will occasionally crash Sage for me.

I've tried running Sage and accessDTV app simultaneously - Sage will change the channel but it often locks up so it really isn't usable together.

Dave

[mikesm]

Neat. Have you tried looking at the Fusion series of HD cards from DVico? They have their own software for TS software decoding, but you don't have to use it. Using an AccessDTV for just demodulating the bitstream seems like overkill, but then this seems to be the way technology is leading for HD cards.

Using software playback and a simple HD card should make for a pretty low cost implementation.

I'm not surprised at the CPU utilization you are seeing for HD playback. Most of the codecs for DVD's haven't really been optimized for HD yet, so maybe we'll see improvement in the future.

Also, does your video card have DXVA acceleration enabled? That can make a big difference in CPU time for MPEG decoding. Not that big a deal for DVD's, but it really helps with HD.

Thanks,
Mike

[djg]

I've looked at the Fusion cards but I already had one accessDTV and it worked well with Sage so I decided to get a second to be able to watch one program while recording another, all within Sage. If Sage had support for the Fusion, which may happen someday, I would have considered that.

As far as DXVA, I really don't know how to tell if Sage is using it or not. The server has an ATI 9600 Pro, which is capable, but whether the codec is using it, I don't know how to verify. If you can give me some pointers, I'd appreciate it. I'm using Catalyst 3.4 drivers with DirectX 9.0b.

Dave