what drivers to run 1080i from DVI via 6800?

[kny3twalker]

are you using spdif output to a reciever?

maybe that could do it?
are you using powerstrip or built in driver support?are you using smart mode and pixel adaptive?

[kny3twalker]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=493322
this confirms it
SageTV needs one thing for me to be happy exclusive fullscreen mode

[mlbdude]

Originally Posted by edgley

My CPU is a 2.4

So how come when I am using ZP and ffdshow and the CPU is maxing out, I still dont get any tearing?

What video card are you using?

[mlbdude]

Originally Posted by kny3twalker

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=493322
this confirms it
SageTV needs one thing for me to be happy exclusive fullscreen mode

I hope they add this, but I hope they make it configurable. I hate having this in MCE. Switching between modes makes my RPTV unhappy. I would hate to get stuck with this in Sage just so the nVidia users get better performance.

[edgley]

I have a 6800, am using smart and adaptive or ffdshow (can really see a differance between the two). No powerstrip, I have a native 1280x720 display using the 71.24 driver.

I am also outputing spdif to a receiver.

[mlbdude]

When not using ffdshow are you using hardware acceleration in your decoders?

[kny3twalker]

could also be the 1280x720p display
are you running it at 720p or 1080i
if 1080i why?

and got no problem with configurable exclusive mode
my TV happens it well except with media player
it does not like windowed exclsive mode

[edgley]

I have tried with and without hardware accel, make no differance (apart from cpu usage).

Hmm, I will have to admit to being slightly confused as to whether I am 720p or 1080i.
What I do know is that I am running at 1280x720, so I am guessing 720p.

[GbrNole]

Originally Posted by edgley

My CPU is a 2.4

So how come when I am using ZP and ffdshow and the CPU is maxing out, I still dont get any tearing?

you're lucky!

[GbrNole]

mlb - for the brief time my 6600gt worked i had it hooked up via component dongle and dvd playback through mediator was superbe in 1080i. in sage using vmr9 it wasn't so nice though.

i can't remember it tearing but it stuttered like crazy (with dxva) switching to overlay provided a nice picture though (much better than my 5900xt overlay mode)

i can't really comment on the sage playback fully though since i wasn't able to keep the card on long enough to try different driver sets. 67.03 work very well for some whereas the 71.24's work better for others.

i was using the 71.20's when i got my stuttering.

hopefully my rma card should be back soon and i'll have better luck this time. if not i'll be switching back to ati and component adapter since i have a 1080i tv. if i had a dlp or some such then i'd stick with the nvidia without question.

[GbrNole]

your 720p res is the reason. if you tried 1080i you would get tearing and stutter again. 720p over dvi works well into my tv (my tv natively converts that signal to 1080i) except sporting events tend to be choppy using 720p.

my processor is only a lousy old p4 2.0 with a 100 quad pumped FSB (i OC it to ~2.2ghz though) so that could be a chunk of my problem.

full screen exclusive would a very welcome addition for me. especially when i consider how much higher i can pump up ffdshow settings when i use mediator compared to ZP.

[mlbdude]

Originally Posted by GbrNole

mlb - for the brief time my 6600gt worked i had it hooked up via component dongle and dvd playback through mediator was superbe in 1080i. in sage using vmr9 it wasn't so nice though.i can't remember it tearing but it stuttered like crazy (with dxva) switching to overlay provided a nice picture though (much better than my 5900xt overlay mode)

i can't really comment on the sage playback fully though

since i wasn't able to keep the card on long enough to try different driver sets. 67.03 work very well for some whereas the 71.24's work better for others.

i was using the 71.20's when i got my stuttering.

hopefully my rma card should be back soon and i'll have better luck this time. if not i'll be switching back to ati and component adapter since i have a 1080i tv. if i had a dlp or some such then i'd stick with the nvidia without question.

Keep us posted on this! I am waiting for your report on the component out. I am almost tempted to just buy one, but I would hate to start getting tearing or stuttering when everything is working so well right now. If only I could kill the tinkerer in me!

[GbrNole]

if i was you i'd wait for albatron to release their 6600 non-GT agp card. it's not too far away and it's performance will flatten your 9600 in general testing terms much like the 6600gt whups up on a 9800 pro.

now whether that card will have tearing i'd most likely say yes since nvidia is so hung up on you having to use exclusive full screen.

incidentally nvdvd 1.00.67 also requires that you use renderless full screen exclusive so that you can unleash the full extent of purevideo so it's unlikely that nvidia will address this in their drivers since they seem to have decided to set a precedent.

hopefully i'll be able to put this speculation to rest soon but playing with my dad's new mce 2005 box on the weekend sure did give me that urge back again. the only thing i did notice with his mce 2005 install was that exiting video back to the main menu was kind of sluggish but he does only have an fx5200 (via svid) in the machine for the time being (he's currently moving house) and my fx5900xt will eventually be in there connected via dvi at 720p to his toshiba dlp.

[mlbdude]

That MCE issue you are noticing is why I would want it optional in Sage. It is horrible switching between certain items. Also, when you bring up a music visualization it switchs to normal full screen too causing lag and stutter. Also when the screen saver kicks in. All very annoying.

Since I can get full screen playback fine with the ATI I just wish it would allow me to run it without the exclusive full screen components.

The DVD player in MCE is so bad I would end up using ZP or TT anyway.

[GbrNole]

i gotta ask about that dvd player -

obviously you can't use ffdshow with it but pure video at 1080i w/ dxva looks pretty darn good without it.

for my dad (he's quite the simpleton where htpc is concerned hence mce 2005 being the best choice for him) he's loving the dvd playback now since he can do the simple zoom to get rid of the bars (as he prefers) and has enough control to fast forward and skip chapters etc.

what exactly else would you like to have from the dvd player? just better zoom and blanking controls etc?

[mlbdude]

Originally Posted by GbrNole

i gotta ask about that dvd player -

obviously you can't use ffdshow with it but pure video at 1080i w/ dxva looks pretty darn good without it.

for my dad (he's quite the simpleton where htpc is concerned hence mce 2005 being the best choice for him) he's loving the dvd playback now since he can do the simple zoom to get rid of the bars (as he prefers) and has enough control to fast forward and skip chapters etc.

what exactly else would you like to have from the dvd player? just better zoom and blanking controls etc?

Better Zoom/AR control is needed for sure. What I hate is that you can't change the language or subtitles being used or turn them on or off. You have to use the DVD menus for that. So, for ripped DVD's you are out of luck unless you rip the entire DVD.

Lack of ffdshow is also killer for me. ZP looks so much better running the DVD than MCE with just the ffdshow resize alone.

[GbrNole]

my dad's setup uses windvd5 (i'm not enamoured but it's what came with his bundle and was working so i certainly wasn't going to start screwing around with it!) and for subtitles it allowed me to set subtitles on when the sound is muted.

it works well enough for him and while the zooms could be better (tend to leave a very thin bar still which could be nudged a little more with some overscan compensation) they again suit his needs.

as far as a 6600 card goes this may well be where things may improve for you since ffdshow resize still does provide image improvement but it's quite marginal over the dxva feed. at least from what i experienced.

a lanczos resize by the card would be nice but i was really happy with the bicubic it put out considering how little cpu was now required for very smooth playback.

[mlbdude]

Subtitles on when muted is great unless the show is in another language . I am surprised they don't have menus for those items as they are basic DVD player things.

I was never really an advocate for ffdshow until I got my HDTV a few months back. I must admit I was blown away with how good the resizing is.

[GbrNole]

i always find that ffdshow best shows its ability when you resize .avi's from whatever res they're compressed to up to 960x540, 1280x720 or 1920x1080.

that was really my biggest impression from the 6600gt was that ffdshow finally didn't provide that significant punch you've become accustomed to.

[kny3twalker]

ffdshow cann be used in fullscreen exclusive renderless VMR9
you can do this in mediator
configurable or not
SageTV will be isolating its users if they do not add this
the fact that meny members of the AVS forum use mediator (an unfinished simple app with ugly UI) as there main DVD app
says that people want this
SageTV can certainly catch up with MCE by adding good playback
this will improve image quality as well for more users will be able to use VMR9
basically it comes down to less people complaining about image quality and motion blurring
and more users trialing SageTV for the first time and being WOWed
better reviews by online sites
etc....

the benefit of SageTV adding this outweighs any short delays caused by using exclusive full screen mode