Easy Performance Increase for Hauppauge Users

[Mike Young]

One thing you could try...just to see. download the Windvd 5 demo and try that....you can set it in the controls In WinDVD to use DXVA. Then check your registry settings again. WinDVD 5 install will use the OLDER version of the registry keys listed above (the Intervideo keys), in Sage it should show up as just 'Intervideo" I found the picture quality and deinterlacing to be really good with that codec and cpu usage was between 5% and 10% when viewing TV.
That should be the highest by the way, since you are allways recording when watching. I'm experiencing these usages with a Athlon 2500 which I think is roughly equivilent to your processor.
I found when I was not using DXVA my usage was similar to yours, but with codecs that were implementing DXVA there was a dramatic difference.
In anycase, if you can get the WINDVD codec to work with DXVA and a dramatic CPU decrease, then you will know if something is not working with the others for sure.
Interestingly, I found that the plain Intervideo codec only went into DXVA when OVERLAY was used, cpu with VMR was 50%, the non css intervideo drivers where the exact oposite.

[ditohead]

Thanks for the suggestions. I FINALLY had a chance to tinker a little more and try your suggestions but still have not had any luck. Upon donwloading the WinDVD 5 demo I did have Intervideo available within Sage but I could not find DXVA in WinDVD's control's. Another interesting thing is that after installing the WinDVD 5 demo I did NOT have a "Custom" folder under Intervideo in the registry but only had a "Common" folder. I changed the DXVA and HWMC values in its corresponding sub-folders but it had no effect. Unfortunately using just the plain Intervideo within Sage actually bumped my CPU utilization back up to around 50% with either overlay or vmr.

A few more questions...

I have tinkered with registry settings before but never added any and I am definitely not a registry expert. Would there be any harm to me ADDING the registry values to the Intervideo folder in the registry?

I re-read the original post where Narflex says "The only requirement is that your video card has some sort of MPEG2 acceleration". I went to confirm this about my video card (GeForce2 MX series). On Nvidia's site the product overview page says "video acceleration for DirectShow, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and Indeo" which sounds to me like it should work. Would you agree?

I have 256 meg of ram in my machine. I know that more ram can never hurt, but from your experience do you think more ram would help in this situation?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

[mlbdude]

DXVA is usually comprised of two hardware acceleration settings. I used to use WinDVD5 and in the video properties there are two check boxes listed near Hardware Acceleration. Those are what you are looking for.

The Hauppauge Intervideo 4 codecs are pretty much the same thing so perhaps matching the registry entries for the Intervideo (WinDVD) 5 codec would work. I would suggest trying it through the interface first though.

[falchulk]

ditohead, that card will definitely have acceleration. I have an old nvidia tnt2 card (a gen before the geforce2) that supports it.

[mangriotis]

Can we compile a list of card known to have DXVA and HWMC acceleration capability?

I am wondering if it is worth it for me to change out my video card. I own a Radeon 9200 that is NOT capable of DXVA acceleration, and feel like I am missing out on better picture quality because of this. I am currently using Elecard Dscaler with Two Frame, which is acceptable for most things but dithering is still noticeable on fast-motion scenes.

I know that I cannot go to an nVidia card because I have tried both a GF4 mx, and an FX5200 in my system. Neither of them could achieve the same output resolution (even with Powerstrip) that works with my JVC RPTV (1120x630). This resolution needs to stay because it provides me with 720 and no overscan.

So my real question is: Which ATI cards have DXVA and HWMC capabilities? 9500 and up?

[mlbdude]

ATI 7500+ (maybe even older) are capable of DXVA. Your 9200 and my 9000 certainly are.

If you are having isues with DXVA enabled on any decoder, make sure you are running an ATI driver version that does not have DXVA broken. 3.8 and 3.9 seem to be fine.

[mangriotis]

I get the MPEG decoding error box when trying to play anything after enabling DXVA in the registry. This happens in all modes (default, A,B,C,D, overlay and VMR, bob, weave, etc.).

Why is this? I thought that was the indication that DXVA was not present.

I am running Catalyst 3.8 right now, but will upgrade to 3.9 to see if anything improves...

[mlbdude]

Yeah, you have something wrong. I had issues with 3.7 and DXVA but nothing before it or after. I can run default on everything Overlay or VMR and a couple of the Mpeg Modes (but I run default).

I also use the Sonic decoders using DXVA and they work fine as well.

Maybe an upgrade of DirectX will help too.

[mangriotis]

Turns out I was using Cat 3.7. I upgraded to 3.9 and tried it again. Similar results... I also upgraded DirectX to 9.0b (from 8.1). No change.

When trying Overlay with default, A, or B, the result is an mpeg error (sound but no picture).

When trying Overlay with C or D, Sage simply quits back to desktop with no error or warning.

Not sure how to resolve this... Cyberlink and Elecard Dscaler still seem to work fine.

[sudipto]

I have a ATI Radeon 9600 (non-pro). Will I be able to use this performance enhancement ? I don't know if this card support DXVA ...

[Mike Young]

Absolutley. Since your Card is an ATI - why dont you download and try the ATI cyblerlink Codecs as well - DXVA will be enabled by default and should achive the same or better performance - on my system they performed better than the Non CSS codecs.
- one note you will have to add them to sage properties manually, there is a thread somewhere about that or I could send you the line.

mike/

[sudipto]

Thanks Mike for the super fast reply

I will surely try the ATI Cyberlink codecs; are they available separately or will I have to install PowerDVD to get these ?

[mangriotis]

Can you please post a link to these ATI Cyberlink codecs? I can't find them anywhere...

[gplasky]

The ATI Cyberlink decoders would be available on the ATI web site. Look for the MMC software. In there you would find the DVD decoder. You must own the software CD to get the latest version of it. Hope this helps.

Gerry

[Mike Young]

Yes, It will ask for you to put your Catalyst CD in the drive. I want to make the distinction that this will get you ATI cyberlink codecs, which I belive are tweaked for the Radeon, I noticed a definite improvement over the generic ones.
Sage will NOT automatically install these drivers, you have to add them manually.
I suggest running them in overlay with default deinterlace and mpeg modes, and tweak-up all your video card deinterlacing.

mike/

[sudipto]

Mike: Can you tell me what line I need to add to the sage properties file to enable use of the ATI Cyberlink decoders.

Or if you can point me to the post you mentioned before that will do as well.

Thanks !

[mangriotis]

Also, when you say 'tweak up your video card deinterlacing', can you elaborate and be very specific about this? I have a Radeon 9200 and would like to know exactly how to get the most out of it.. I am not satisfied with the Elecard DScaler I am currently using.

[sudipto]

Okay, I found this thread that, I think, Mike was talking about --

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...=ATI+Cyberlink

Will try this out tonight.

[mangriotis]

I think I found the codecs here under the Install ATI MMC section b)...

However, I have a Sapphire Radeon 9200 (powered by ATI) and it does not recognize the CD. Does this mean legally I cannot own this codec?

[sudipto]

The Sapphire CD only comes with the Catalyst drivers and NOT the ATI MMC software, right ? If so, then I don't think you will be able to use the codecs ... because you need to own the original ATI DVD Player which is part of the MMC package ... which, unfortunately, comes only with original ATI cards AFAIK.