ATI Radeon HD 2X00 (2400,2600,2900) series owners thread

[madshi]

I don't think that the Radeon will accelerate any .mkv files at all! Someone correct me if I am wrong.
You're wrong... :)

If you remux Blu-Ray or HD DVD h264 movies to MKV, they will accelerate just fine with the Radeon, in their original 1080p24 format. Problematic are just the x264 reencodes. It's not the container which is the problem. It's the encoding.

[bauerhorscht]

1920x1080 works fine [...] on Vista.

That's the difference. ATI obviously stopped supporting XP in that respect.

[BigMooose]

ATI obviously stopped supporting XP in that respect.

In what sense? My post above (successful HA at 1080p) was an AGP card with XP SP2. The official ATI 7.12 driver gave HA at 720p. Never tried it at 1080p.

[Gaizka]

My systems are PCIe and 1920x1080 works fine, so do custom overscan corrected resolutions on Vista.

Thank you Owen i will try 1920x1080 on Vista Ultimate with new 8.45 driver set from Visiontek.

2 moths ago i try Vista + 7.10 drivers and no HA at all but now with DLL swap and new drivers....

Regards

[Maverikbj]

Hi

I have two different system but same configuration on XP with screen 1680 x 1050
Both have sapphire radeon 2600 Pro 512- PCIE cards (not AGP)
With latest Powerdwd

1) with catalyst 7.10

2) with catalyst 8.1

In none of the two I get HA.
I tried on the system (2) to make modification on sse2-> sse for the dll but I'm not able to get HA also in this way.

mover I noted that when I check the checkbox for HW in ATI catalyst and the movie start the PC automatically uncheck the box of HA. That it's normal?

Instead a 3th system with sapphire 2600 XT BUT vista it's working with HA and catalyst 8.1

In your opinion where can be the problem?

1) XP?
2) monitor resolution?
3) drivers 8.1 or 7.10?
3) something else?

[BigMooose]

Cant see it being 1) as I have no probs with XP.
2) Have you tried native 720p resolution to prove you can get some HA?
3) I got good results from 7.12 and the visiontek latest 8.45 drivers. The 8.1 hotfix did some weird things but the official 8.1 wasn't bad. Still get better results from the visiontek though.

What are you actually trying to get HA from? I've not managed from any wmv files but from the HD .mov trailers linked above somewhere I get HA fine for 720p and 1080p.

[Maverikbj]

I'm trying to get HA from the trailer of "I'm the legend", format MP4 and it's a 1080p

[BigMooose]

Did you apply the registry tweaks posted further up this thread? Forgot to mention I also did this. I'd recommend the latest visiontek driver, applying the tweaks and trying at 720p until you're happy that's working. Although I applied the tweaks when I had 7.12 installed then installed the visiontek driver so no idea if the tweaks are still valid. Give them a go though.

[ToughRowToHoe]

I have no doubt it’s a driver bug, but it’s a bug that has bent there for the 4 months I have owned the 2600 on XP, and after going to a clean install of Vista on a second PC about a month ago the same bug remained, so its more then an aberration affecting certain driver versions. The 1080i 60 Mpeg2 resolution test fails on all the setups I have used.
PowerDVD decoders used in the PowerDVD player and in Zoom Player.
Tried all the deinterlacing options in PowerDVD and in drivers but none passed.
ATI image is clean but always soft compared to 8800GTS.



I can live with levels expansion but I need SD and HD to be the same. How can I achieve that?



Advanced Gamma control is not optional for me. Most displays cant be calibrated properly without it.



Is the “Trdenoise” string in the registry by default or does it need to be created?
I don’t want to disable noise reduction but control over it would be good. I was hoping it might cure the resolution bug, but if not it’s a lost cause anyway until the resolution bug bug gets fixed.

As for reviews, I pay little attention to them. In my experience they are rarely accurate, I only believe what I can see myself. :D

Owen, I have no doubt that you are reporting what you are seeing. I also don't doubt that you have tried multiple drivers. "When it works" is unfortunately an enormous caveat. The size of this thread is a testament to that caveat. A good start is the link in Arfster's signature. Try a few of the latest drivers mentioned over the last ten pages or so. Maybe you'll get it to work. No need to explain to anybody here if you just say to heck with it. You aren't going to be wowed by the difference between the two. It is very questionable if the extra effort is worth it in many cases.

[bauerhorscht]

In what sense? My post above (successful HA at 1080p) was an AGP card with XP SP2. The official ATI 7.12 driver gave HA at 720p. Never tried it at 1080p.

Sorry, I missed that post.

But it doesn't work for me. Tried the latest Visiontek driver (8.451) with the packaged CCC - I guess the original one won't make a difference.

Same results as with ATI's 7.12 and 8.1 [EDIT:] and 7.11:
- no H.264-DXVA at 1680x1050
- H.264-DXVA at 1280x1024 and below

Setup: MSI Radeon 2600 Pro (256MB), PowerDVD 7.3.3516, XP SP2

How much RAM does your card have and is it built by Visiontek?

[BigMooose]

It's a Sapphire - pretty sure it's 256Mb (will check later). It's the 2600XT although cant believe that makes a difference over the Pro? I cant believe either that the CCC version will make a difference. It claimed the original 8.1 was newer than the one with the visiontek driver hence didn't bother to install.

[sangwpark]

Hello, I'm new to this thread... :)

I have a PCIe Diamond 2600 PRO, and just took out my DVI-HDMI cable (which worked fine) and replaced it with HDMI cable plugged in to the card with ATI's HDMI-DVI dongle, so that I can send audio through via HDMI.

Everything works fine, except the color. At 1360x768 (or any Horiz x 768 for that matter) the color of my 37" Samsung LCD TV becomes this horrendous pink color nightmare. Anyone else have a color trouble when sending native resolution to LCD TV using ATI's HDMI-DVI dongle? I have no such problem when using a run-of-the-mill DVI-HDMI cable.

I'm using XP SP2 with the Catalyist 7.1. Had a same issue with the latest driver (8.x), also.

--
Sang

[genro]

Hello, I'm new to this thread... :)

I have a PCIe Diamond 2600 PRO, and just took out my DVI-HDMI cable (which worked fine) and replaced it with HDMI cable plugged in to the card with ATI's HDMI-DVI dongle, so that I can send audio through via HDMI.

Everything works fine, except the color. At 1360x768 (or any Horiz x 768 for that matter) the color of my 37" Samsung LCD TV becomes this horrendous pink color nightmare. Anyone else have a color trouble when sending native resolution to LCD TV using ATI's HDMI-DVI dongle? I have no such problem when using a run-of-the-mill DVI-HDMI cable.

I'm using XP SP2 with the Catalyist 7.1. Had a same issue with the latest driver (8.x), also.

--
Sang

Did you try another HDMI cable? Or verify that the same cable works with other another device? That would be my first troubleshooting suggestion.

[sangwpark]

RE: different HDMI cable: Yup... tried that. Same result. It works fine on other resolutions (1080i, 720p, 800x600, 1400x900, etc) but they're all up/down-converted to 1280x720 when being sent. It's when I'm trying to send 1:1 pixel mapping (and/or sending 768 vt resolution) it gives me the pink color.

--
Sang

[Takenobu]

Hi - i've desperately tried to get help with this problem and I think this thread might be relevant.

Using:
- Sony KDL-40W3000 (extended)
- Windows Vista Business
- Catalyst 8.1 on Asus HD2900XT though HDMI / HDMI (DVI)

The first few times I could run 1080/60, but after a few times deactivating/reactivating I couldn't get any picture and now it says:

"Unsupported signal. Check your device output."

But if I, as suggested in another thread, use 24 Hz I can run 1080/24p although moving pictures around and watching things come with unbearable lag. So is this a driver problem?

I read on Sony support that you could get the problem with blank display if you were using HDMI DVD or AMP but that it was a problem with the DVD and/or AMP and not the television itself...

Everything from 720p to 1280x1024 (60 Hz) works but as soon as I go back to 1080p it only works at 24 Hz - quite frustrating problem!

I hope someone has experienced the same problem and solved it :D

[foraye]

Turn off MKV in ffdshow and coreavc. I can play 720p mkv files on my p4 2.4 ghz @ 7-10% cpu. Also make sure that the files are 4.1

I tend to run Zoom Player most of the time, can i turn off MKV for ffdshow here?

What do you mean by files are 4.1? And how would I verify this?


Please advise,

[KeyMix]

Can anyone address my previous post questions on the multi display setup and the switching concerns?? I really need some advice. See post #4248. PLEASE HELP

[arfster]

I tend to run Zoom Player most of the time, can i turn off MKV for ffdshow here?

What do you mean by files are 4.1? And how would I verify this?


Do a forum search for IDC Changer - it'll tell you if the file is labelled as 4.1, and if not allows you to fix it instantly. Doesn't work for most 1080p files though, that's another problem and can't be fixed without ATI (and maybe not even then).

[Moondust]

RE: different HDMI cable: Yup... tried that. Same result. It works fine on other resolutions (1080i, 720p, 800x600, 1400x900, etc) but they're all up/down-converted to 1280x720 when being sent. It's when I'm trying to send 1:1 pixel mapping (and/or sending 768 vt resolution) it gives me the pink color.

--
Sang
I have kind of the same problem. I can perfectly output my projector's native resolution (1024 x 576), but outputting 720p and 1080p results in bright green and pink colors making it almost very difficult to navigate in windows. I think my 10 meter DVI-cable can't handle the relatively weak signal from the videocard. When my old dvd-player outputs 720p and 1080p to my projector there's no problem at all. I am thinking about upgrading to a full HD projector in the near future, but am afraid I need to fix the weak signel somehow. What lenth is your HDMI-cable? If it's 5 meters or more, you might wanna try a shorter one.

[nbarsley]

I tend to run Zoom Player most of the time, can i turn off MKV for ffdshow here?

What do you mean by files are 4.1? And how would I verify this?


Please advise,

I opened up the properties for ffdshow and coreavc on the codecs page (I think) you can specify what to use for each extention. I turned off ffdshow for mkv. If you can't find the properties for ffdshow or coreavc, play a movie and the two icons should show up in your taskbar. Click on those. I used k-lite codec pack to install my codecs so the properties were located in start->program files->k-lite->configuration->ffdshow video

I think that I always had HA working for me but my cpu p4 2.4 didn't have the horsepower to use ffdshow on my mkv files. As soon as I turned off ffdshow, my cpu went form 100% -> 7-10%.

oh... and I set up the external filter CyberLink H.264/AVC Decoder (PDVD7.x) to high priority mode with Radlight Filter Manager.

[Maier2505]

Hi, Sang & Moondust !

My first post here...

RE: different HDMI cable: Yup... tried that. Same result. It works fine on other resolutions (1080i, 720p, 800x600, 1400x900, etc) but they're all up/down-converted to 1280x720 when being sent. It's when I'm trying to send 1:1 pixel mapping (and/or sending 768 vt resolution) it gives me the pink color.

--
Sang

PC/DVI and HDMI have different color rooms on most Displays/TVs...

So if you use 720p , 1080i, 1080p over DVI or HDMI it is likely, that you need to set your HDMI/DVI input at the TV to color room HDMI...

If you use PC resolutions like 1360x768 or so you need to change it to color room DVI, that is a difference !

Best regards

maier2505

[Maier2505]

Hi, Sang & Moondust !

My first post here...



PC/DVI and HDMI have different color rooms on most Displays/TVs...

So if you use 720p , 1080i, 1080p over DVI or HDMI it is likely, that you need to set your HDMI/DVI input at the TV to color room HDMI...

If you use PC resolutions like 1360x768 or so you need to change it to color room DVI, that is a difference !

Best regards

maier2505

And I want to add:

Now using the ATI DVI/HDMI Dongle chnages the signal to HDMI with the different color room I suppose...

Before, with a standard DVI Dongle, it stays as DVI ?

Best regards

maier2505

[sangwpark]

And I want to add:

Now using the ATI DVI/HDMI Dongle chnages the signal to HDMI with the different color room I suppose...

Before, with a standard DVI Dongle, it stays as DVI ?

Best regards

maier2505

I'm using Samsung's HDMI port which is labeled as HDMI/DVI. I've used HDMI-DVI cable with no problem sending 1360x768 resolution in full glorious color. I know....just forget the audio and go back to that cable vs. using HDMI/DVI dongle. I might have to do that, but being able to send audio via HDMI is so nice...

--
Sang

[Maier2505]

Hi, Sang !

It is only a proposal, but the Samsung Input named DVI/HDMI does only mean that it can be driven as DVI and as HDMI.
I do not have a Samsung, but I would try to find a setting in the HDMI Menue of the Samsung which should give the opportunities HDMI/DVI or PC/TV or TV/Monitor. There you can switch the color room...

It is possible that using the ATI HDMI/DVI connector you are switching from DVI to HDMI mode...

Best regards

maier2505

[Maier2505]

Hi folks !

Another thing...

In thsi thread I read a lot on users having generally problems with the HA together with the 2600pro and i.e. 8.1 drivers.

I had the same effect using PowerDVD 7.0 Deluxe as an online upgrade version from 5.0.

This version never accepted patches/updates...

As long as I used a 7600GT no problem, I had HA (only used 1280x1024)...

But when I switched to 2600pro I could not get HD with HD only with SDTV.

After trying several versions of the ATI drivers I contacted Cyberlink...

They sent me the link for a new version of 7.0 Deluxe and all over sudden I had HA on HDTV with ATI Drivers 8.1.

So it may be a Cyberlink problem at a lot of users...

Latest at the weekend I will try wether I will get HA even with 1920x1080...

Best regards

maier2505

[stogie5150]

Please forgive the newbie question, but I just installed a sapphire 2600xp 512mb pci card in my vista pc/panasonic plasma, and I am at a loss in how to play video on the second display ( the TV) without it playing on the monitor. I have it setup correctly, the computer monitor displays as 1, and the TV as 2.

For instance, I have VLC Playing a DVB stream from TSReader, how do I get that to the TV ONLY?

Can you tell I have never used a video card other than NIVDIA? :)

[boiler11]

Hi folks !

Another thing...

In thsi thread I read a lot on users having generally problems with the HA together with the 2600pro and i.e. 8.1 drivers.

I had the same effect using PowerDVD 7.0 Deluxe as an online upgrade version from 5.0.

This version never accepted patches/updates...

As long as I used a 7600GT no problem, I had HA (only used 1280x1024)...

But when I switched to 2600pro I could not get HD with HD only with SDTV.

After trying several versions of the ATI drivers I contacted Cyberlink...

They sent me the link for a new version of 7.0 Deluxe and all over sudden I had HA on HDTV with ATI Drivers 8.1.

So it may be a Cyberlink problem at a lot of users...

Latest at the weekend I will try wether I will get HA even with 1920x1080...

Best regards

maier2505


Can you share the link?

[HT Slider]

Is there a web page that summarises the changes between driver versions?

After reading the posts here, I'm concerned that there may be issues with 8.1 (I'm still on 7.10).

If 8.1 doesn't include sliders for denoise and sharpness, nor fixes the flickering of solid red/blue colors - is there any reason to update the driver?

The issues I have with 7.10 are: flickering of solid red/blue colors and imperfect deinterlacing with some content (all other issues I have worked around through registry tweaks and CCC settings). Are there improvements with 8.1?

Note this is an HTPC and we use Vista Media Center for all of our DVD/TV/PVR functionality (R5000HD 720p/1080i recordings & PVR-250 for 480i SD recordings) and PowerDVD Ultra for all of our Blue-ray/HD-DVD viewing.

[arfster]

Guru3d's beta 8.1 is better than the official 8.1 - far less issues with deinterlacing. Official 8.1 can't VA deinterlace at all, and the automode selection is completely screwed.

[KeyMix]

What does a poor guy have to around here to get a response a post??

[HT Slider]

Guru3d's beta 8.1 is better than the official 8.1 - far less issues with deinterlacing. Official 8.1 can't VA deinterlace at all, and the automode selection is completely screwed.

Which do you feel is the best official release to use? I've learnt to stay away from Beta releases for our dedicated 24/7 HTPC.

Are we forced to use a beta driver if we want it to work properly (does the Gugu3d Beta 8.1 work properly?)?

Does the official 8.1 include sliders for denoise and sharpness (if it does, maybe 8.2 will be the one to wait for...)?

Thanks.

[HT Slider]

I have my 20" LCD Standard Monitor connected to one DVI output. I have the other DVI output (using the DVI to HDMI adapter) connected to one of the HDMI inputs of my HDMI 1.3 A/V receiver. My HDMI receiver's HDMI 1.3 out is connected to my Sony VPL-HS51A projector. I successfully setup the extended desktop for the Sony VPL-HS51A projector for max resolution @ 1920X1080, default HDTV resolution options - 1080i@30hz ( See Question #2)

1. With that said, when I select the input for the Media Center PC input, the Catalyst software doesn't seem to automatically switch to the "extended desktop" properly. It seems to default to a "cloned" display. If I keep my A/V receiver on the HDMI input for my VPL-HS51A projector. Turn the computer off and back on...It doesn't go back to the "extended desktop". However, if I boot up my computer and let's same I am watching my Comcast HD DVR, then switch to the computer HDMI input on the receiver it's back to cloned mode. I have to manually force the video to "extended" desktop. Is there a way to fix this.. This is wreaking havoc on my macro's for my home theater remote and media center launch..

I can't really help to properly resolve this issue other than to say I've seen this sort of thing before and my most functional workarounds have been to create batch files that execute the necessary profiles from the Catalyst Control Center (create these within CCC). You can set these up to run upon boot, upon login, upon recover from sleep state, etc. or even run every X minutes if you want.


2. My second question may be a bit more involved to resolve. It appears when I launch both Media Center and POWERDVD ULTRA 7.3 there's some overlapping of the screen on my projector. The top and bottom parts of MCE is cutoff as well as POWERDVD...It's not by much...but enough to not be able to click on the top windows and bottom channel controls. I know it's NOT my projector screen or my projector as ALL my HD other content is FULLY calibrated and aligned properly ( Went through that pain when I installed it:)). I tried to see how to adjust the size of the display, but I didn't want to loose my FULL HD Res of 1920X1080. How do I address this w/ out sacrificing the top resolution. NOTE: I know I can lower the resolution and see all the screen, but that defeats the point of HD DVD!!!


This sounds to me like normal overscan you are seeing. All TVs, HDTVs, HD projectors, etc. use overscan to ensure no black border and none of the potential "junk" around the perimeter is shown. In order to handle manufacturing tolerances it is typical for TVs to be designed to provide anywhere from about 3% to 10% overscan.

You can often "calibrate" some of this away with the display itself, but often if you try to get rid of too much it introduces flaws in the image. Most agree that the ideal display calibration minimises the amount of overscan, but most displays require some in order to provide the best image quality without flaws around the perimeter of the screen.

Since video cards now output spec compliant video formats when using 720p (1280x720), 1080i/p (1920x1080), 480i (720x480), etc., you will always have overscan when you output to a TV/HDTV/Projector/etc. using a standard TV or HDTV format. You will also see the same amount of overscan when using any other hardware set top box, DVD player, HD/BD player, HD-PVR, etc. to feed your display and again this is normal.

The good news is that this overscan region that is prone to being hidden by overscan is defined as a stay out region that all TV show and movie producers ensure no important content resides in. Even more good news is as long as your TV/HDTV/Projector/etc. naively supports 720p, 1080i, or 1080p that the fact that your ATI video card outputs spec compliant 720p, 1080i and 1080p means that you will have 1:1 pixel mapping for the best possible image quality.

Basically this means when you use your HTPC as a PVR/DVD player/etc. there will always be overscan, this is normal, and allowing this to occur will provide the best image quality.

On the other hand when you use your HTPC as a PC or gaming machine, overscan is highly undesirable. To perfectly fill the screen you need to create a custom resolution for each video format your TV/HDTV/Projector/etc. supports. What the ATI driver does is create a virtual window within the fully spec compliant format with that perfectly fills the screen. As an example it might be that 1188x656 centered within the spec compliant 1280x720p is the perfect fill for 720p.

One thing ATI does very well with their driver is once you create custom resolutions for each format your HDTV supports, the driver now scales all standard PC resolutions automatically into the most appropriate custom resolution. This means that if you play a video game using 800x600 for example, the ATI card will rescale 800x600 automatically into the custom 1188x656 and display it within a "virtual window" within the standard 720p format.

At the same time if you ask the driver to use a standard HDTV resolution, it is smart enough to not do any rescaling and instead to always output 1:1 pixel mapped 720p or 1080i/p and let your HDTV to provide the "as designed/calibrated" level of overscan.

[joeynym]

I know its kind of early to ask this question, but here I ago.

Ok I bought a new HTPC setup, I am basically using my htpc for watching hd movies on 42" lcd & surfing the net a bit. No gaming or dvr.

Which card is better 2400hd or the new 3450?

I would love to use the hdmi connector so I can get audio & I know both support it.

I seen the HIS which looks pretty good @ Tigerdirect
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3244197&CatId=1560



The Setup:
Inspiron Desktop 531s Slim Tower: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4400+ (2.30GHZ)
Dell Optical USB 2-button Mouse
USB Keyboard
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
13 in 1 Media Card Reader with Internal Bluetooth
16X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 677MHz (2 DIMMs)
320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Dell Certified Refurb
Order Subtotal: $245.65

Upgrade:
Corsair 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 677MHz (2 DIMMs) $25 from newegg

Future Upgrades:
ATI Radeon HD 3450 (does anyone know when its coming out???)
http://www.i4u.com/section-viewarticle-368.html

Sound card (need help finding a decent sound card with coaxial or optical output. any suggestions?) The cpu comes with 7.1 sound card, I wonder if I can do anything with that?

Media keyboard or remote (any suggestions?)


I hooked up today & gave it a test run with the 2gb ram installed with OnBoard VGA (wanted to make sure it ran since I have 21 day return with dell), it played very smooth, although the picture is not crisp becuase of card, so CPU is running smoothly, just need the card.

[arfster]

Which do you feel is the best official release to use? I've learnt to stay away from Beta releases for our dedicated 24/7 HTPC.

Are we forced to use a beta driver if we want it to work properly (does the Gugu3d Beta 8.1 work properly?)?


It worked OK on all the test files I use, but who knows how it'll do on a different setup? Besides, tbh the difference between a beta and a formal release in ATI world is hard to discern. They're all betas.

Best official for Vista is probably 7.7 or 7.11. Versions 7.8 to 7.10 didn't work with cyberlink mpeg2+EVR (juddervision deinterlacing), while 7.12 has all sorts of weird problems I've never seen anywhere else. 8.1 is OK, except for the disabling of VA deinterlacing (MA works though, so not totally useless).

I still use 7.7 myself, although the guru3d 8.1 beta is the first that has worthwhile fixes for me. When I have some more time to test it, it might get installed on the main HTPC setup.



Does the official 8.1 include sliders for denoise and sharpness (if it does, maybe 8.2 will be the one to wait for...)?


I think only the crysis hotfix drivers had those. You can emulate their effect by manually changing denoise/detail values in the registry though.

[pc1984]

Is there a meeting of the minds here yet?

For HD (Vista)

HD is meant for Vista not XP

2600 PCI-e series and Vista work?
2400 PCI-e series and Vista semi work?

2600 APG series good luck
2400 APG series try the lottery

APG owners don't blame ATI, blame the spin offs

This thread should be spilt up, APG cards and PCE-I cards

I have been using a 2600XT for over 2 months and have yet to see a problem.

May be moot that the new HD 3450 and 3650 cards are out.

[Mark_A_W]

My 2600XT works fine in XP. Don't know what all the fuss is about - beautiful full res image.

But I run far, far away from letting the video card do any acceleration/deinterlacing/pulldown/fiddling with the image. That is the job of the video decoder filters, not the video card.

You have control when you do it in software (ffdshow/wmv decoder for VC-1, CoreAVC for AVC/x264, Dscaler 1080i version for MPEG2).

I could never get the colour controls in AVIVO to work for Powerdvd - I gave up and now use ZP for everything, and have installed ATiTray tools instead of CCC (ick).

All the display driver has to do is display the desktop and be stable.

And I would want Vista because?...

[BigMooose]

My 2600XT works fine in XP. Don't know what all the fuss is about - beautiful full res image.

Likewise! My 2600XT AGP works fine in XP. I do let it do as much HW Accel as it'll do and have great HD playback. Not WMV though, cant get that to accel.

[DJBlu]

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/updates_112_ENU.html

New Cyberlink PowerDVD Update

Can't try it till later.

[pc1984]

"And I would want Vista because?..."

Mark_A_W I just added Vista too the mix because it looked like most of the problems in this thread are related to XP and APG cards. If XP is working for you great.

But it still seems to me that these APG cards combined with XP are a disaster.

[originalsnuffy]

Methinks you are referring to the bus formerly known as "AGP" not APG.

FWIW, I'm running a 2400 Pro under Vista. I have PowerDVD and the 2400 reasonably stable.

But it looks like I have to limit the resolution of the system to avoid the occasional HD playback "stutter". I can get higher res, but then periodically I get a picture "skip" or stutter. I think the setting for my monitor is 1400x ??? (working from memory) for the max picture. Maybe somebody can confirm the equivalent resolution, but my guess that this is around 720p. These settings refer to the use of HDMI outputs. My monitor does not support this high a resolution under VGA.

[sumster]

I must agree as well -- AGP on XP works great here on a Visiontek 2600. Full DXVA with 1080p as long as I use Catalyst 7.9 or Visiontek 8.43. DXVA at 1080p seems broken with later cataylst releases and visiontek 8.45.


Is there a meeting of the minds here yet?

For HD (Vista)

HD is meant for Vista not XP

2600 PCI-e series and Vista work?
2400 PCI-e series and Vista semi work?

2600 APG series good luck
2400 APG series try the lottery

APG owners don't blame ATI, blame the spin offs

This thread should be spilt up, APG cards and PCE-I cards

I have been using a 2600XT for over 2 months and have yet to see a problem.

May be moot that the new HD 3450 and 3650 cards are out.

[Maier2505]

Can you share the link?

You need to contact the Cyberlink Hotline, because after sending your details on your licensed version you will get a download link especially fitting your version which will run with your existing key...

The different versions are not fitting the different keys I suppose...

But my problems are gone...

Meanwhile I was able to test HDTV in 720p and 1080i in 50Hz all with Hardware acceleration (CPU at 5-7%!, core 2 duo E4500).

Runs smoothly with normal 8.1 drivers on my 2600pro...

But yes, sliders for denoise and sharpness are missing.

I don`t want to judge picture quality finally, it was a 23r71 from Samsung which is not a perfect TV...

best regards

maier2505

[KeyMix]

Thanks HT SLIDER... I appreciate your reply. Guess I need to educate my self in adjusting the overscan.. Quick ?.. Adjusting the overscan, lowers the resolution, but does not affect the HD 1080i, etc.. I always understood HD 1080i/p to be tied to a resolution.. If I understood you correctly..when I use the adjustment feature it will change it to slightly less than 1920x1080, but still be 1080i?

[Gaizka]

hello,
Finally yesterday i reinstall my HTPC with Vista Ultimate Edition and my Radeon 2400Pro 256MB AGP accelerates perfectly H264 movies at both 720p and 1080p sorce resolutions and desktop config.

Remember my config:
Athlon XP 2000+ (1,7Ghz)
Aopen Mobo with via chipset
radeon 2400 pro agp 256mb running at 4x AGP bus
Vista Ultimate 32bits
768Mb ram
Visiontek 8.2 drivers
powerdvd 7.3 Ultra with latest patch 3770
sse sse2 dll swap
registry tweaks

This configuration but with XP proffesional 32bits results that HA only works at maximum 1280x1024 desktop resolution.
On Vista i try up to 1920x1200@60hz and works great!! above this, sound but no image.
I playback, imax mars rovin movie at real 1080p and radeon temp never rises over 39º C. CPU utilization was 10-20%

Recently i purchase new mobo with PiV 3.0ghz sse2 capable on ebay. I will try this new config for WMV playback capacity with no HA of course..

Best Regards :)

[ricabullah]

Guru3d's beta 8.1 is better than the official 8.1 - far less issues with deinterlacing. Official 8.1 can't VA deinterlace at all, and the automode selection is completely screwed.

Can't find beta 8.1.
Would you give me the link?

Another question:
Where can i find out Ati's h264 decoder?

[hithere]

I can't begin to describe my elation after realizing this card (2600) was available in AGP for less than $100, and my rage (no pun intended) after getting one and realizing the drivers were nowhere near stability, and the advertised capability of the card wrt hardware acceleration was unavailable to all but the most dedicated users willing to mix and match drivers, .dll files, registry entries, etc. The state of this card as offered is completely, totally unacceptable.

My experience with it:

-Drivers from the CD it came with are broken, as evidenced by watching the card attempt to draw a 2-d desktop over the space of seconds, and watching it confuse itself over trying to render the "start" menu. Of course, HA is a complete wash, and audio over HDMI not only doesn't work due to lack of working drivers, but the dongle that enables such a connection is not included.

-After sourcing drivers from Realtek, audio problems sorted. HA is hit or miss, but either works in VC-1, etc. and breaks .wmv acceleration, or doesn't work at all (various drivers tried up to and including 8.43 from Visiontek with/without ati .dll from previous and with/without .dll swap in PDVD, 8.1 hotfix, 7 series drivers from ati with/without .ini entries added, etc.

-The closest I've been to acceptable performance is using 8.43 drivers from Visiontek with that ati3 .dll from 8.1 hotfix, and registry adjustments. This gives me HA for h.264, etc. but breaks .wmv playback and raises issues with random black screen, random issues with directX/direct draw.

Question: Is ati the only game in town for VC-1/h.264 acceleration over agp?

[arfster]

Visiontek have beta of cat 8.2 - anyone tested? My IDE card is knackered, so can't get at my secondary install to try it myself.

[Radiophile]

But I run far, far away from letting the video card do any acceleration/deinterlacing/pulldown/fiddling with the image. That is the job of the video decoder filters, not the video card.

You have control when you do it in software (ffdshow/wmv decoder for VC-1, CoreAVC for AVC/x264, Dscaler 1080i version for MPEG2).

I could never get the colour controls in AVIVO to work for Powerdvd - I gave up and now use ZP for everything, and have installed ATiTray tools instead of CCC (ick).

All the display driver has to do is display the desktop and be stable.How does one make sure the video card is not doing any fiddling with the image? When I look in CCC I don't see any "off" settings, just various choices, types of deinterlacing, etc. Do you need ATiTray Tools to be able to disable it all?

[solon]

Hi, I have kind of an small irritating problem that nevertheless won't go away. I have my 2400 pro (PCI-E) hooked up to my HDTV, so I'm using the 720p optimized resolution (16:9) and am using the latest drivers & CCC. Whenever the computer has sat unused for awhile -- it may be entering hibernation, I'm not sure -- the resolution will go back to a 4:3 resolution, and everything looks distorted, kind of like vertical lines are overlapping and doubling. My "solution" has been to reset the resolution every time I use the computer but I'm wondering if there's a more permanent solution? Thanks to anyone who has some insight into this issue!

[TechJunky]

Hi guys. I'm sure you get these posts a lot, but I'll ask anyway in hopes that some kind soul can point me in the right direction. I've got a 2400Pro card hooked up to a JVC 42" 1080p display. When selecting 1920x1080 60hz, the image is underscanned and text looks...um...undesirable. However, when selecting 1776x1000, the image is crystal clear but the underscan remains. About a 2 inch black border all around. I have no options to adjust my scaling in Catalyst 8.1. I've tried reverting back to older drivers and 7.1 will allow me to force different refresh rates. I've read about the 75hz fix for this issue, but it did not help me.

I'm sure this issue has been covered, if you could PLEASE take just a moment and reply with any experiences you have or any fixes you know of, I would REALLY appreciate it. TIA!

[HT Slider]

Thanks HT SLIDER... I appreciate your reply. Guess I need to educate my self in adjusting the overscan.. Quick ?.. Adjusting the overscan, lowers the resolution, but does not affect the HD 1080i, etc.. I always understood HD 1080i/p to be tied to a resolution.. If I understood you correctly..when I use the adjustment feature it will change it to slightly less than 1920x1080, but still be 1080i?

I'm not sure the best way to explain it, but I'll try:

- 480i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc. are all standard video formats used for TV. Each one includes specific timing signals and refresh rates that drive the image as well as specific resolutions (720x480, 1280x720, 1920x1080 - in reality in the analog world only the vertical resolution is actually fixed, the horizontal is more of an effective resolution that has been selected to work with digital video). None of this can be changed if the signal is to remain spec compliant (actually there are tolerances that "can" be used to center the image and slightly alter the scale, but there is very little useable adjustment available).

- Since most HDTVs only support spec compliant video formats (720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc.), the video card must use these formats to output everything to the HDTV. Some digital TVs also allow custom, non-standard digital signals to be sent to it (this allows the digital TV's native pixel resolution to be used in some situations). For the most part, as far as HDTVs are concerned, everything is optimized to work with 720p or 1080i or 1080p.

- In order to compensate for overscan, what you are actually doing when connected to an HDTV and creating a custom resolution is only "lighting up" the pixels you can see while still using the spec compliant 720p, 1080i or 1080p format. As an example a 1776x1000 resolution would simply light up the 1776x1000 pixels within the full 1920x1080 spec compliant resolution so only the visible pixels are used. In other words you are 100% correct when you say the video card is now outputting a resolution of 1776x1000 using 1080i. 1080i is the timing format and 1776x1000 are the particular pixels that are being used within the full 1080i pixel set (and of course a portion of the full 1080i pixel set are hidden due to overscan).

- If you are watching a Blue-ray or HD-DVD that uses 1080p, you have a total of 1920x1080 pixels in the video. If you were to output this using your custom 1776x1000, the image would be scaled and pixels mapped from the 1920x1080 into the 1776x1000. This leads to a slightly blurry or at least imperfect image. If on the other hand you output this using the full spec compliant 1920x1080i/p video format, you'd not be able to see the overscanned portion of the image (as expected by the movie producer), but you would have a perfect 1:1 pixel mapped image - thus provide the best image quality.

TechJunky, one scenario that affects some of us (sounds like it is an issue with your setup) is certain HDTVs have a built in "underscanned" modes, specifically designed to be used when overscan cannot be tolerated. In this case the full 1920x1080 is rescaled by the TV and then output using its own virtual 1776x1000 (or something). Generally these "underscanned" modes are highly undesirable for modern HTPC use as they produce a blurry image (TVs don't tend to include good scalers plus the image is no longer 1:1 pixel mapped). If your TV is doing this, and you notice that when you use 1776x1000 the image becomes clear, you want to figure out how to turn off the "underscanning mode" when 1920x1080 is sent to the TV. Some TV's annoyingly are smart enough to detect that a computer is hooked up so they automatically go into underscanning mode when a computer is connected through HDMI or DVI. The TV assumes you are using the computer as a computer and not for video (and assumes overscan cannot be tolerated). The TVs I've seen all have a setup option to turn this off (but I've been told some TVs don't have this so you are forced to use component video or trick the TV by using a non-standard refresh rate to get the best image quality).

[Netjoy69]

Hello everyone.

I am setting up a worksation at work to play Blu-ray movies for our weekly movie night. The computer is connected to a Sony VPL-VW50 via DVI-to-HDMI cable. I am using the latest version of PowerDVD Ultra, which I downloaded today. The video card that comes with my computer (Nvidia Quadro FX1500) does not support HDCP apparently and will not play my Blu-ray content.

Since it looks like I need a new video card, I wanted to ask what is the absolute best video card for quality HD playback on a computer?

[originalsnuffy]

Netjoy69;

I'd experiment with Anydvd before buying a new video card. I bought it because I was having problems the HDMI output from my card going through the receiver. Somewhere in the line the handshaking was not working (even though my card actually does have HDCP).

Anyway, Anydvd solved the problem. So now I can either go direct to the monitor via VGA or through the receiver using HDMI.

And yes, I am using discs that I own!

[KeyMix]

I'm not sure the best way to explain it, but I'll try:

- 480i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc. are all standard video formats used for TV. Each one includes specific timing signals and refresh rates that drive the image as well as specific resolutions (720x480, 1280x720, 1920x1080 - in reality in the analog world only the vertical resolution is actually fixed, the horizontal is more of an effective resolution that has been selected to work with digital video). None of this can be changed if the signal is to remain spec compliant (actually there are tolerances that "can" be used to center the image and slightly alter the scale, but there is very little useable adjustment available).

- Since most HDTVs only support spec compliant video formats (720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc.), the video card must use these formats to output everything to the HDTV. Some digital TVs also allow custom, non-standard digital signals to be sent to it (this allows the digital TV's native pixel resolution to be used in some situations). For the most part, as far as HDTVs are concerned, everything is optimized to work with 720p or 1080i or 1080p.

- In order to compensate for overscan, what you are actually doing when connected to an HDTV and creating a custom resolution is only "lighting up" the pixels you can see while still using the spec compliant 720p, 1080i or 1080p format. As an example a 1776x1000 resolution would simply light up the 1776x1000 pixels within the full 1920x1080 spec compliant resolution so only the visible pixels are used. In other words you are 100% correct when you say the video card is now outputting a resolution of 1776x1000 using 1080i. 1080i is the timing format and 1776x1000 are the particular pixels that are being used within the full 1080i pixel set (and of course a portion of the full 1080i pixel set are hidden due to overscan).

- If you are watching a Blue-ray or HD-DVD that uses 1080p, you have a total of 1920x1080 pixels in the video. If you were to output this using your custom 1776x1000, the image would be scaled and pixels mapped from the 1920x1080 into the 1776x1000. This leads to a slightly blurry or at least imperfect image. If on the other hand you output this using the full spec compliant 1920x1080i/p video format, you'd not be able to see the overscanned portion of the image (as expected by the movie producer), but you would have a perfect 1:1 pixel mapped image - thus provide the best image quality.

TechJunky, one scenario that affects some of us (sounds like it is an issue with your setup) is certain HDTVs have a built in "underscanned" modes, specifically designed to be used when overscan cannot be tolerated. In this case the full 1920x1080 is rescaled by the TV and then output using its own virtual 1776x1000 (or something). Generally these "underscanned" modes are highly undesirable for modern HTPC use as they produce a blurry image (TVs don't tend to include good scalers plus the image is no longer 1:1 pixel mapped). If your TV is doing this, and you notice that when you use 1776x1000 the image becomes clear, you want to figure out how to turn off the "underscanning mode" when 1920x1080 is sent to the TV. Some TV's annoyingly are smart enough to detect that a computer is hooked up so they automatically go into underscanning mode when a computer is connected through HDMI or DVI. The TV assumes you are using the computer as a computer and not for video (and assumes overscan cannot be tolerated). The TVs I've seen all have a setup option to turn this off (but I've been told some TVs don't have this so you are forced to use component video or trick the TV by using a non-standard refresh rate to get the best image quality).

HT SLIDER - I really appreciate that explanation..I thought I understood it that way but wanted to make sure.... So far with out the buttons at the bottom & top of POWERDVD being cutoff, as you said...the movies HD/BD are fine...I'd rather have them in FULL HD 1920x1080 then worry about that... I guess my only work around is in MEDIA CENTER where some of the text is cutoff... Always a work in progress...Again.. Thanks...:)

[Mark_A_W]

How does one make sure the video card is not doing any fiddling with the image? When I look in CCC I don't see any "off" settings, just various choices, types of deinterlacing, etc. Do you need ATiTray Tools to be able to disable it all?

Don't use Hardware Acceleration, and you'll find the CCC settings have no effect.

In fact I've struggled to get them to do anything at all.

These controls belong in the player, not in the drivers.

[ricabullah]

Hi guys,
i put my 2600XT again on Vista machine so as to give it a go again.
I saw hardware deinterlacing does not work with Cyberlink's h264 decoder. (FW 8.1 official)
As far as i understood Ati orients the users to Nero8 for h264 playing.
http://ati.amd.com/technology/avivo/h264.html

Is anyone who has tried Nero decoder with Ati card?

[Tulli]

Hi guys,
i put my 2600XT again on Vista machine so as to give it a go again.
I saw hardware deinterlacing does not work with Cyberlink's h264 decoder. (FW 8.1 official)
As far as i understood Ati orients the users to Nero8 for h264 playing.
http://ati.amd.com/technology/avivo/h264.html

Is anyone who has tried Nero decoder with Ati card?

Yes. I definitely don't get h264 hw acceleration with my 2600xt, Cat 8.1/Vista32 and latest Nero Showtime.

[ricabullah]

Yes. I definitely don't get h264 hw acceleration with my 2600xt, Cat 8.1/Vista32 and latest Nero Showtime.

Thanks a lot tulli; then it's a FW related issue again?

(BTW, can you use h264 decoder filter of Nero externally; for instance on graphedit?)

[mrsteel74]

I'm at my wits end with trying to get Hardware Acceleration off of my HD 2400 Pro. My current HTPC system is Windows Xp Pro SP2, Allendale Dual Core 1.6Ghz CPU, 1GB of PC 667 DDR2, 250GB Western Digital 7200RPM SATA, ATI HD 2400 Pro hooked up to a Westinghouse 37W3 LCD running at 1080P over DVI. I have PowerDVD Ultra 7 installed and I'm using my Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive. No matter what drivers I use I can't get DirectX VA enabled in PowerDVD, before I play a movie the box is checked that says enable ATI AVIVO but after playback starts I have no video acceleration at all. I've tried the Omega Drivers, I've tried the official ATI drivers, I've tried the drivers that came with my card and they all do the samething. Am I missing something like a step so obvious that I would feel stupid. Fresh install of Windows, Service Packs, System Updates, Motherboard Drivers, Direct X, Video Drivers am I missing something or is the 2400 just a waste of silicon? I've read through so many pages of this thread and all I get is headaches. Does anyone here have any pointers?

[Netjoy69]

Netjoy69;

I'd experiment with Anydvd before buying a new video card. I bought it because I was having problems the HDMI output from my card going through the receiver. Somewhere in the line the handshaking was not working (even though my card actually does have HDCP).

Anyway, Anydvd solved the problem. So now I can either go direct to the monitor via VGA or through the receiver using HDMI.

And yes, I am using discs that I own!

My current video card is not HDCP-compliant and I need to buy one that is. I guess what I am asking for is what a HD video card rules them all. Cost not being a factor, what video card do you all recommend, based on experience and market reviews?

I need to order the card on Monday for a presentation on Wednesday, so I do not have much time for in-depth research. Any help would be appreciated.

[arfster]

(BTW, can you use h264 decoder filter of Nero externally; for instance on graphedit?)

Yup. It doesn't support UVD though, and even if it did it doesn't support dxva2/EVR either, so no h264 acceleration in Vista.

8.1 + PDVD worked for h264 acceleration with Vista/2600xt for me though, with the exception that VA deinterlacing was disabled.

[Wo0zy]

I'm not sure the best way to explain it, but I'll try:

- 480i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc. are all standard video formats used for TV. Each one includes specific timing signals and refresh rates that drive the image as well as specific resolutions (720x480, 1280x720, 1920x1080 - in reality in the analog world only the vertical resolution is actually fixed, the horizontal is more of an effective resolution that has been selected to work with digital video). None of this can be changed if the signal is to remain spec compliant (actually there are tolerances that "can" be used to center the image and slightly alter the scale, but there is very little useable adjustment available).

- Since most HDTVs only support spec compliant video formats (720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc.), the video card must use these formats to output everything to the HDTV. Some digital TVs also allow custom, non-standard digital signals to be sent to it (this allows the digital TV's native pixel resolution to be used in some situations). For the most part, as far as HDTVs are concerned, everything is optimized to work with 720p or 1080i or 1080p.

- In order to compensate for overscan, what you are actually doing when connected to an HDTV and creating a custom resolution is only "lighting up" the pixels you can see while still using the spec compliant 720p, 1080i or 1080p format. As an example a 1776x1000 resolution would simply light up the 1776x1000 pixels within the full 1920x1080 spec compliant resolution so only the visible pixels are used. In other words you are 100% correct when you say the video card is now outputting a resolution of 1776x1000 using 1080i. 1080i is the timing format and 1776x1000 are the particular pixels that are being used within the full 1080i pixel set (and of course a portion of the full 1080i pixel set are hidden due to overscan).

- If you are watching a Blue-ray or HD-DVD that uses 1080p, you have a total of 1920x1080 pixels in the video. If you were to output this using your custom 1776x1000, the image would be scaled and pixels mapped from the 1920x1080 into the 1776x1000. This leads to a slightly blurry or at least imperfect image. If on the other hand you output this using the full spec compliant 1920x1080i/p video format, you'd not be able to see the overscanned portion of the image (as expected by the movie producer), but you would have a perfect 1:1 pixel mapped image - thus provide the best image quality.

TechJunky, one scenario that affects some of us (sounds like it is an issue with your setup) is certain HDTVs have a built in "underscanned" modes, specifically designed to be used when overscan cannot be tolerated. In this case the full 1920x1080 is rescaled by the TV and then output using its own virtual 1776x1000 (or something). Generally these "underscanned" modes are highly undesirable for modern HTPC use as they produce a blurry image (TVs don't tend to include good scalers plus the image is no longer 1:1 pixel mapped). If your TV is doing this, and you notice that when you use 1776x1000 the image becomes clear, you want to figure out how to turn off the "underscanning mode" when 1920x1080 is sent to the TV. Some TV's annoyingly are smart enough to detect that a computer is hooked up so they automatically go into underscanning mode when a computer is connected through HDMI or DVI. The TV assumes you are using the computer as a computer and not for video (and assumes overscan cannot be tolerated). The TVs I've seen all have a setup option to turn this off (but I've been told some TVs don't have this so you are forced to use component video or trick the TV by using a non-standard refresh rate to get the best image quality).

Hi HT Slider,

This is a very nicely written explanation :)

While I already knew this, I read it anyway for two reasons. Firstly because it's nice to see someone articulate this information and secondly because I was hoping you were going to go on to explain the difference in the scaling methods between using the "Add" button under "HDTV Support" and using the "Scaling Slider" under "Scaling Options".

I have my own views on this and which works best in which scenario but I'd like to see someone else’s understanding written down clearly. Fancy having a stab at it? :)

Cheers,

Wo0zy

[HT Slider]

HT SLIDER - I really appreciate that explanation..I thought I understood it that way but wanted to make sure.... So far with out the buttons at the bottom & top of POWERDVD being cutoff, as you said...the movies HD/BD are fine...I'd rather have them in FULL HD 1920x1080 then worry about that... I guess my only work around is in MEDIA CENTER where some of the text is cutoff... Always a work in progress...Again.. Thanks...:)

This is fairly easy to fix in Media Center, but I haven't found a solution for PowerDVD (PowerDVD seems to be written for use where a PC is hooked up to a PC monitor, not where a PC is hooked up to an HDTV, nor where it is used from a 10' user interface - or the couch).

For Media Center through "TV Setup" in "settings" you can enable default overscan margins, but if you want it set up perfectly for your HDTV/Projector you need to configure the overscan margins through the registry. Mat Goyer's blog tells you how to do it:

http://mediacenter.mattgoyer.com/2004/12/02.html

The particular numbers that work the best for our rear projection HDTV are:

MarginLeft:46
MarginRight:36
MarginTop:4
MArginBottom:5
MarginSaved:1

I expect you'll find some slightly different numbers will work best for your system. All you need to do is exit Media Center, change the numbers in the registry and restart Media Center. Tweak until you are happy with the Media Center GUI.

[HT Slider]

Hi HT Slider,

This is a very nicely written explanation :)

While I already knew this, I read it anyway for two reasons. Firstly because it's nice to see someone articulate this information and secondly because I was hoping you were going to go on to explain the difference in the scaling methods between using the "Add" button under "HDTV Support" and using the "Scaling Slider" under "Scaling Options".

I have my own views on this and which works best in which scenario but I'd like to see someone else’s understanding written down clearly. Fancy having a stab at it? :)

Cheers,

Wo0zy

For some reason I don't see a "Scaling Options" form in my CCC. My guess is that only shows up with certain HDTVs and certain physical connections. Our HDTV is hooked up digitally using DVI.

Does this show up with Component connections or something?

If so, possibly ATI is increasing the front and back porch timing signals to shrink the image with analog displays. You can't shrink the vertical very much this way (without loosing lock), but in horizontal it is easy to change the effective zoom by altering the video timings.

[Fellini8.5]

Been reading this thread 'til my eyes bleed these past 2 weeks. I figured I'd chime in with my experience/testimonial for those that follow.

I just upgraded from a 720p to 1080p RPTV (Sony KDS60-A3000) and wanted to bring my trusty 3.2ghz+AGP homebrew along for the ride -- buying an HIS 2600Pro before reading this thread, unfortunately. :(

That said, it seems to have been my only reasonable choice as an AGP+HDCP solution, and at the moment (knock on wood) I've got it working, after trying lots of different things in the thread, cursing, reverting, cursing some more, etc. Did I mention that I "upgraded" to Vista while I was at it? Cursing, cursing, oh the humanity...

Upgraded specs:
- PC4-800e Dlx mobo w/ 3.2ghz Prescott (no O/C), AGP 8X
- 3 GB + ~2.2TB HD
- LG BD+HDDVD
- Auzentech Mystique (w/ DD-Live)
- WinTV PVR-150MCE (yanked my Fusion 5, didn't use it anymore)

I'm currently running the 2600Pro with the HIS 8.43-0 drivers (7.7?). I had started with these, and couldn't get the custom timings to work (I need something in between unscaled 1080p and the 1700x1000 option), so I tried the Visiontek 8.2 that was just released, and added the registry tweaks for resizing.

That gave me my custom res, but my existing collection of 720p h.264 MKV files were a stuttering mess pegging my CPU -- which meant I was doing something wrong with my filters too, but it also uncovered a serious airflow/coolilng problem that just compounded my problems with BSODs and lockups.

I fixed that, and finally got a hold of an actual BD disc from Netflix, tried it in the OEM PDVD, and it was a stuttering mess too.

Tried to revert to the original drivers, but I kept getting ".INF Not Found" errors. Took a whole evening brute-forcing my way around that before I finally managed to get it all in there again. Couldn't tell ya how I did it, as I'm a bit of a shotgun troubleshooter... But suddenly I was successful. The BD disc played back flawlessly. My vid collection played back fine, the CPU stayed cool (well, for a Prescott). Even WMC behaved itself.

But I have to use 1770x1000 w/ the "black borders" to do anything but watch vids without driving me crazy. Ah well, the tradeoffs.

Now that I'm stable, at least for now, I'm going to leave it alone until I run into any more issues. My advice to any fellow newb trying to do 1080p w/ an AGP card -- which echoes advice from earlier in the thread -- is to stick with the original manf. drivers off the disc for now and get that stable, do a proper backup, and *then* experiment if you want to prove it futility to yourself.

[KeyMix]

This is fairly easy to fix in Media Center, but I haven't found a solution for PowerDVD (PowerDVD seems to be written for use where a PC is hooked up to a PC monitor, not where a PC is hooked up to an HDTV, nor where it is used from a 10' user interface - or the couch).

For Media Center through "TV Setup" in "settings" you can enable default overscan margins, but if you want it set up perfectly for your HDTV/Projector you need to configure the overscan margins through the registry. Mat Goyer's blog tells you how to do it:

http://mediacenter.mattgoyer.com/2004/12/02.html

The particular numbers that work the best for our rear projection HDTV are:

MarginLeft:46
MarginRight:36
MarginTop:4
MArginBottom:5
MarginSaved:1

I expect you'll find some slightly different numbers will work best for your system. All you need to do is exit Media Center, change the numbers in the registry and restart Media Center. Tweak until you are happy with the Media Center GUI.

HT SLIDER - I NOMINATE YOU FOR THE AVS FORUM GURU OF THE YEAR!!!!!!

GREAT POST.. Thanks for you knowledge.. I read goyer's message... FIXED my Media Center ISSSUE PERFECTLY!!!!! Thanks..

One thing off the list of getting the HTPC 100% correct... AGAIN... Thanks..:)

[luojs]

Yup. It doesn't support UVD though, and even if it did it doesn't support dxva2/EVR either, so no h264 acceleration in Vista.

8.1 + PDVD worked for h264 acceleration with Vista/2600xt for me though, with the exception that VA deinterlacing was disabled.

The MPC HC later build Can do bitstream(DXVA) under vista EVR.I uninstalled PowerDVD after that.

[ricabullah]

Yup. It doesn't support UVD though, and even if it did it doesn't support dxva2/EVR either, so no h264 acceleration in Vista.

8.1 + PDVD worked for h264 acceleration with Vista/2600xt for me though, with the exception that VA deinterlacing was disabled.

When you watch live HDTV with Ati with a combination of 8.1 and Cyberlink (or worse Nero), it becomes a really big torture...
After seven months, i see nothing has been solved by Ati...

[luojs]

For some reason I don't see a "Scaling Options" form in my CCC. My guess is that only shows up with certain HDTVs and certain physical connections. Our HDTV is hooked up digitally using DVI.

Does this show up with Component connections or something?

If so, possibly ATI is increasing the front and back porch timing signals to shrink the image with analog displays. You can't shrink the vertical very much this way (without loosing lock), but in horizontal it is easy to change the effective zoom by altering the video timings.

For my philips TV.If I set output to 60Hz I can use the "Scaling Options" to compensate the under scan on my TV.If I set output to 50Hz "Scaling Options" been disable,I Can't change the setting.But screen is prefect full screen and 1:1 pixelmaping.

[ricabullah]

The MPC HC later build Can do bitstream(DXVA) under vista EVR.I uninstalled PowerDVD after that.

Could you even tell me any h264 filter which i can use with a DVB player software with Ati?
But do not forget it's gonna make HA and hardware deinterlacing with an Ati card. (FW 8.1)

[arfster]

The MPC HC later build Can do bitstream(DXVA) under vista EVR.I uninstalled PowerDVD after that.

So it can - thanks! Seems not to need x264 run through IDC Changer either? Quite convenient, although buggy: it doesn't work with 1080p h264 files at all, regardless of whether they're compliant or not.

[arfster]

Could you even tell me any h264 filter which i can use with a DVB player software with Ati?
But do not forget it's gonna make HA and hardware deinterlacing with an Ati card. (FW 8.1)

I play DVB-S h264 with pdvd's decoder no problem, w/ hardware VA deinterlacing and acceleration. Latest DVBviewer, Vista32, Sapphire 2600XT, 7.7. Works fine with several other drivers (although 8.1 is buggy as hell in numerous ways). It's only recently DVBviewer supported EVR, but I was using acceleration fine for many months via DVBviewer GE.

As far as I know, PDVD is the only decoder that supports VLD decoding (ie total offload acceleration) in external apps. Arcsoft and MPC-HC work for h264 files, but their filters can't be used outside the apps themselves.

[ricabullah]

I play DVB-S h264 with pdvd's decoder no problem, w/ hardware VA deinterlacing and acceleration. Latest DVBviewer, Vista32, Sapphire 2600XT, 7.7. Works fine with several other drivers (although 8.1 is buggy as hell in numerous ways). It's only recently DVBviewer supported EVR, but I was using acceleration fine for many months via DVBviewer GE.

As far as I know, PDVD is the only decoder that supports VLD decoding (ie total offload acceleration) in external apps. Arcsoft and MPC-HC work for h264 files, but their filters can't be used outside the apps themselves.

My friend,
You are here from the early beginning of this thread and i took in from time to time.
As you guess i know it works with 7.7 and the only working decoder which is capable of HA is Cyberlink decoder.
But what i expect from Ati is a real innovation but never a decline.
After seven months we are again at the same point where we started, aren't we?
I say Ati guys are getting more and more panic when they read this topic.
Lots of guys with their 2400 cards in their hands which need reg. tweaks are hoping a final fix.
Ati guys solved lots of problems to me with this 8.1 except HA.
They solved many problems but this time broke main feature.
Anyway, no need to be a fortune-teller for saying this topic will be a candidate to Guinness with its 1.000.000 readings in the very near feature with Ati's uninterrupted FW issues:)

[ricabullah]

Finally i do want a FW:
Same as 8.1 but including full HA and fixing 2400 issues.
Simple...

[arfster]

Hrrm, try this one:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1825#download

I had h264 acceleration with it fine.

Most 2400 issues I suspect are hardware/bios ones, but the manufacturers' have no real incentive to fix them :-(

[ricabullah]

Thanks Von, i'll try.

[KeyMix]

:confused:

Folks,

As I enter this HTPC world as a young rookie... I find this completely baffling... I have read this posts, other forums, with great interest, but not with great comprehension.

I have a older P4 3.2 that I made some slight upgrades on... 4GB RAM, VISIONTEK HD 2600 PRO AGP 512MB, LG HD/BD Combo Player GGC-H20L. That I decided to plug into my HD Home theater I've had for about two years now. Powered by a Sony VPL-HS51A on a 110 Stewart Screen.

Thanks to some great post,replies from the educated folks here in this forum, I've integrated my HTPC somewhat pretty successfully, now I am just trying to tweak some things. A couple comments though to make to support some previous post.

The new ATI drivers have NOT given me anything but grief. Every time I've attempted to upgrade for one troubleshooting issue to another ( Media Center, Tuner Card, PowerDVD HD/BD Comp, etc..).. I've ALWAYS ended up reverting back to my original CD disks that came with my card, which aren't too old but never the less...seems stupid you can't use the latest and greatest.

Anway...currently...Media Center works at 1920x1080, PowerDVD Ultra can play both HD and BlueRay at 1920x1080 - 1080i@30Hz ( haven't made it to 1080/24ps yet) full screen without any stutter, picture is very clear...but doesn't seem to be with any hardware acceleration at all.....CPU is being TACKED!!! HD DVD is not as bad 65-75 % CPU, but BD is 90-95% CONSTANT ( Video Card GPU Meter is less than 12 %, would expect this to be the opposite??)... No video stutter though in HD/BD playback. But I know the CPU usage can't be healthy over the long haul...All options are checked per previous post, help files, etc...NO CLUE how to make it work... CODEC being used is the CYBERLink HD/BD that comes w/ 7.3 Ultra current patch....


Any ideas?:rolleyes::eek:

[KeyMix]

For some reason I don't see a "Scaling Options" form in my CCC. My guess is that only shows up with certain HDTVs and certain physical connections. Our HDTV is hooked up digitally using DVI.

Does this show up with Component connections or something?

If so, possibly ATI is increasing the front and back porch timing signals to shrink the image with analog displays. You can't shrink the vertical very much this way (without loosing lock), but in horizontal it is easy to change the effective zoom by altering the video timings.

HT Slider - One ? on this based on what this sounds like it may be related to... Any previous knowledge, posts on how to different HD Formats created? Example. Currently, I've successfully gotten everything to work @ 1920x1080 -1080i-30Hz.. HD, Blue Ray plays clear,without stutter... However..My Sony VPL-HS51A only has ONE 1080P mode... which per the manual via the HDMI is 1080/24PsF - Preset #9. However, the ATI card only gives me the 1080@30,60.. Which basically to my project is 1080i/60 - Preset 7 and 1080i/50 Preset 8... Is there a way to customize a 1920x1080 - 1080/24PsF so I can get the 1080p v/s 1080i? Or I am fundamentally missing something?

[ricabullah]

Hrrm, try this one:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1825#download

I had h264 acceleration with it fine.


Thanks arfster, i've tried with my 2600XT.
It is really much better than the official one.
HA is ok and hardware deinterlacing is %75 better. (there are still issues)

Best.

[Socio]

As far as I know, PDVD is the only decoder that supports VLD decoding (ie total offload acceleration) in external apps. Arcsoft and MPC-HC work for h264 files, but their filters can't be used outside the apps themselves.

Actually they can, I get BSOD's with Arsofts sofware so I use Arcsofts filters in ZP and MPC instead, there is also CoreAVC (http://www.coreavc.com/) touted as the world fastest H-264 decoder that can be used in third party apps like ZP, TheatreTEK and MPC.

[arfster]

Actually they can, I get BSOD's with Arsofts sofware so I use Arcsofts filters in ZP and MPC instead, there is also CoreAVC (http://www.coreavc.com/) touted as the world fastest H-264 decoder that can be used in third party apps like ZP, TheatreTEK and MPC.

Weird, I couldn't get a single pin connection with arcsoft. Maybe different versions.

CoreAVC can't do dxva last I looked? (let alone VLD).

[TechJunky]

If your TV is doing this, and you notice that when you use 1776x1000 the image becomes clear, you want to figure out how to turn off the "underscanning mode" when 1920x1080 is sent to the TV. Some TV's annoyingly are smart enough to detect that a computer is hooked up so they automatically go into underscanning mode when a computer is connected through HDMI or DVI. The TV assumes you are using the computer as a computer and not for video (and assumes overscan cannot be tolerated). The TVs I've seen all have a setup option to turn this off (but I've been told some TVs don't have this so you are forced to use component video or trick the TV by using a non-standard refresh rate to get the best image quality).

thanks for the insight HT Slider. I've tried everything on the TV, and can not find any options for removing underscan on HDMI. I found the service menu, but its just a lot of incoherent options, and i'm too scared to just randomly change things. I've also tried evey refresh rate and combination with every resolution. No dice, 1776x1000 with the black border is still my cleanest setting. At this point, i've almost concluded its my tv (a JVC LT-42x688) that automatically underscans the DVI-HDMI input from my 2400 Pro.

My next step will be to call JVC and see what their thoughts are (probably unhelpful). After that, I'll purchase a DVI-Component adapter, and see if I can output 1920x1080 that way. My only concern with this is that I know that my set can only accept 1080p over HDMI, I think the max res for component is 1080i. We'll see.

[arfster]

By the way, was just catching up on doom9, and casimir has said he'll put MPC's internal h264 decoder into standalone directshow filters.

Thus: we will have a freeware equivalent of cyberlink h264 that supports UMD acceleration, and one that doesn't need IDC Changer to fix the 20fps bug either.

[Wo0zy]

For some reason I don't see a "Scaling Options" form in my CCC. My guess is that only shows up with certain HDTVs and certain physical connections. Our HDTV is hooked up digitally using DVI.

Does this show up with Component connections or something?

If so, possibly ATI is increasing the front and back porch timing signals to shrink the image with analog displays. You can't shrink the vertical very much this way (without loosing lock), but in horizontal it is easy to change the effective zoom by altering the video timings.

Could well be limited to some HDTV's but I do get the option when connecting via digital (DVI>DVI or DVI>HDMI). The ability to enable it seems to be a bit "hit and miss". It appears that it isn't available for any refresh rates other than 60Hz (I'm in PAL land so typically use 50 or 25HZ but discovered that the scaling slider works with 60Hz by accident). It could also be something to do with whether you are using a timing listed in your EDID or not.

Obviously scaling for video is a "NO NO" but for desktop use the scaling slider produces far smother edges than using the "Add" button and changing the active pixels within an HDTV timing. There are a couple of Vista desktop wallpapers which demonstrate this perfectly.

Has anyone else experimented with this?

Cheers,

Wo0zy

[sugatam]

Isn't anyone else having issues with VC-1 acceleration? Looks like we're all set with h.264 in external apps, with the cyberlink filter and soon MPC-HC usable in directshow apps, we have a lot of playback choices: ZoomPlayer, MPC, etc. My problem is VC-1. My AMD 3200+ can't play them without some h/w acceleration, and I feel like I regressed when I bought a 2600XT. With the Microsoft decoder, with my old 1900 I could get partial acceleration and get playback with 50% - 70% cpu, but with the 2600XT I get nothing! I understand this is a known issue, but I'm surprised not to read too many complaints about this. Is there a solution in sight? Will MS release an updated VC-1 decoder anytime soon? Is there a way to make the cyberlink VC-1 decoder work in directshow apps like their H.264 decoder?

[arfster]

Is there a solution in sight? Will MS release an updated VC-1 decoder anytime soon? Is there a way to make the cyberlink VC-1 decoder work in directshow apps like their H.264 decoder?

Respectively: doubt it, and no.

Best possibility is the MPCHC crew, who are hard at work on VC1.

Alternatively, ATI might update the AVIVO decoder, which internally claims to support VC1 VLD decoding. This happens pretty rarely though (last update middle 2007).

[TechJunky]

At this point, i've almost concluded its my tv (a JVC LT-42x688) that automatically underscans the DVI-HDMI input from my 2400 Pro.



It looks like it now might be the fault of the ATI 2400. Found another thread where someone with the same model has successfully connected an x688 to a nvidia. the first post says he has text problems, but someone else gets a perfect pic at 1080p. so why can't i get rid of the 'black border of death'? ugh.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=877615&highlight=37x688

[arfster]

Respectively: doubt it, and no.

Best possibility is the MPCHC crew, who are hard at work on VC1.


Nice timing:

http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1095588&postcount=960


Edit: lol, just looked at the timestamps, he posted his VC1 version of MPC exactly 1 minute after my post. That's some quick coding.....

[sugatam]

Nice timing:

http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1095588&postcount=960

Wow, thanks for the link! :)

[Mark_A_W]

arfster, do you know if this decoder is able to be used outside MPC - like a normal direct show filter?

[arfster]

Casimir has said he'll do that at some point :-)

[luojs]

thanks for the insight HT Slider. I've tried everything on the TV, and can not find any options for removing underscan on HDMI. I found the service menu, but its just a lot of incoherent options, and i'm too scared to just randomly change things. I've also tried evey refresh rate and combination with every resolution. No dice, 1776x1000 with the black border is still my cleanest setting. At this point, i've almost concluded its my tv (a JVC LT-42x688) that automatically underscans the DVI-HDMI input from my 2400 Pro.

It is under computer ATI CCC\DTV HDMI\Scaling option.For my Philips TV it only work with 60Hz output(set to 0%).If I set putput to 50hz,this option is disiabled by driver.for 50Hz there is no any under scan and prefect 1:1 pixel mapping.

[*canister*]

I've been looking everywere for a definitive answer but couldn't find anything. When I open Media Center I get a black screen w/ audio. I know this is a driver problem w/ my ATI 2600PRO but I can't find one that works. Does anyone know of a driver that will fix this?

[Wo0zy]

It is under computer ATI CCC\DTV HDMI\Scaling option.For my Philips TV it only work with 60Hz output(set to 0%).If I set putput to 50hz,this option is disiabled by driver.for 50Hz there is no any under scan and prefect 1:1 pixel mapping.

This is expected (see my previous posts). Use the "Add" button under "HDTV Support" instead.

A couple of pages back HT Slider wrote a good explanation of what this will do.

Wo0zy

[Maier2505]

Hi, Folks !

I hope that some of the very experienced guys here coul help me..

My configuration:

HIS 2600pro Card PCIe
Technotrend C1500 budget with newest drivers..
Windows XP
Catalyst 8.1
Cyberlink PowerDVD7.0Deluxe
DVBViewerPro3.9.2

As I wrote before HA is running in PDVD as well as in DVBviewer.
But occasionally I have stuttering in video in DVBviewer.

If I look into DVB Stream I clearly see a Discontinuity every stuttering. ( one a minute...)

If I analyse the channels with Transedit I get no lost packets and 100% quality reported.

Is it possible, that I have BERs and UNCs even if transedit reports 100% quality ?
How can I measure BER ?

Or are these stutters the result of the earlier reported A/V sync problems under XP ?
(I already ordered Vista to compare...)

Best regards

maier2505

[Owen]

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3900/2600onvistaud7.th.jpg

http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2600onvistauk3.jpg

2600XT on Vista

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/8845/8800gtsonxpog3.th.jpg

http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=8800gtsonxpog3.jpg

8800GTS on XP

Clip is 1080i 60 Mpeg2 and played on Power DVD in both cases.
The loss of vertical resolution on the 2600 is plainly obvious.

Several driver versions have been tried for the 2600 on XP and Vista, but the resolution problem has always been there.
The driver used for the test is Catalyst 7.11

The levels expansion on the 2600 is also obvious in this comparison, just look at how much brighter the 2600 is.
The 8800 is displaying the image accurately.

[ricabullah]

Hi, Folks !

I hope that some of the very experienced guys here coul help me..

My configuration:

HIS 2600pro Card PCIe
Technotrend C1500 budget with newest drivers..
Windows XP
Catalyst 8.1
Cyberlink PowerDVD7.0Deluxe
DVBViewerPro3.9.2

As I wrote before HA is running in PDVD as well as in DVBviewer.
But occasionally I have stuttering in video in DVBviewer.

If I look into DVB Stream I clearly see a Discontinuity every stuttering. ( one a minute...)

If I analyse the channels with Transedit I get no lost packets and 100% quality reported.

Is it possible, that I have BERs and UNCs even if transedit reports 100% quality ?
How can I measure BER ?

Or are these stutters the result of the earlier reported A/V sync problems under XP ?
(I already ordered Vista to compare...)

Best regards

maier2505

If you are on XP with an Ati card, you should choose Overlay as video renderer.

[originalsnuffy]

Sometimes the discussions on this thread go way over my head. I suppose it is an artifact of being a power user vs. semi-pro like many on this board.

Anyway, now that my system is fairly stable, I've been doing normal things like watching videos rather than monkeying with the system. I have been trying to find a resolution that works both over HDMI and VGA. Somehow, however, when I drop my resolution down on the hdmi, I get think lines scrolling up through the picture. They seem to be less frequent or go away at higher resolutions (above VGA resolution).

Any thoughts as to what is going on, and what I should do about it?

[Socio]

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3900/2600onvistaud7.th.jpg

http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2600onvistauk3.jpg

2600XT on Vista

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/8845/8800gtsonxpog3.th.jpg

http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=8800gtsonxpog3.jpg

8800GTS on XP

Clip is 1080i 60 Mpeg2 and played on Power DVD in both cases.
The loss of vertical resolution on the 2600 is plainly obvious.

Several driver versions have been tried for the 2600 on XP and Vista, but the resolution problem has always been there.
The driver used for the test is Catalyst 7.11

The levels expansion on the 2600 is also obvious in this comparison, just look at how much brighter the 2600 is.
The 8800 is displaying the image accurately.

Just looking at the text "Digitize the experience" you can see it is blurry on the 2600 pic compared to the 8800GTS, not to mention how much brighter the image is, does not look good at all for we 2600 owners.

[Tulli]

Yes, tested with another 1080 pattern and can confirm loss of vertical resolution with the ATI (ATI 2600xt/Vista32/Cat 8.1 vs. 8600gts/Vista64/158.36).

As far as I remember this problem is "traditional" with ATI drivers. But it's definitely shocking that it's still there.

OTH I get levels expansion with all 16x.xx Nvidia drivers too (only on SD).

[zicoz]

Anyone got the driver CD for the Sapphire 2400 Pro card?

I have one Sapphire CD, but I have had a couple Sapphire cards, so I'm not sure if it's the right one.

Mine says:

"Catalyst Driver Suite version 7.5"
"Driver Ver.: 12-072 (XP/Vista only)"
"(8.38)"
"P/N: 0930F041"

[arfster]

Yes, tested with another 1080 pattern and can confirm loss of vertical resolution with the ATI (ATI 2600xt/Vista32/Cat 8.1 vs. 8600gts/Vista64/158.36).

As far as I remember this problem is "traditional" with ATI drivers. But it's definitely shocking that it's still there.

OTH I get levels expansion with all 16x.xx Nvidia drivers too (only on SD).


We need to settle on a standard test pattern - anyone suggest one?

Tulli: have you tried DXVA checker? When I used it on 8.1, it showed VA deinterlacing was disabled.

[Tulli]

We need to settle on a standard test pattern - anyone suggest one?

Tulli: have you tried DXVA checker? When I used it on 8.1, it showed VA deinterlacing was disabled.

Arfster, I don't get HW acceleration with any Catalyst version except 7.7. So I went back to 7.7 and now get FULL 1080 vertical resolution! :):):)

If I uncheck HW acceleration in PDVD I lose vertical resolution. And the same thing happens with the NVidia without HW accel.:eek:

This is with 1080 resolution, and I get the patterns from this page:

http://www.w6rz.net/

So good news for us, ATI owners. OTH HW acceleration seems to be mandatory to get full 1080 vertical resolution with PDVD Ultra.

[hithere]

Isn't anyone else having issues with VC-1 acceleration? Looks like we're all set with h.264 in external apps, with the cyberlink filter and soon MPC-HC usable in directshow apps, we have a lot of playback choices: ZoomPlayer, MPC, etc. My problem is VC-1. My AMD 3200+ can't play them without some h/w acceleration, and I feel like I regressed when I bought a 2600XT. With the Microsoft decoder, with my old 1900 I could get partial acceleration and get playback with 50% - 70% cpu, but with the 2600XT I get nothing! I understand this is a known issue, but I'm surprised not to read too many complaints about this. Is there a solution in sight? Will MS release an updated VC-1 decoder anytime soon? Is there a way to make the cyberlink VC-1 decoder work in directshow apps like their H.264 decoder?

I am (that is, if this is what my 1080p .wmv files are encoded in)...I used to be able to play them acceptably on my lowly htpc system, with no dropped frames, UNTIL I got this 2600pro AGP...now, I can play 1080p h.264 no problem whatever, but none of my high-rez .wmv files work at all...I either get a blank screen or a slide show.

Edit: Seems I jumped the gun wrt the new mpc, will try when I get home.

[arfster]

Arfster, I don't get HW acceleration with any Catalyst version except 7.7. So I went back to 7.7 and now get FULL 1080 vertical resolution! :):):)

......

So good news for us, ATI owners. OTH HW acceleration seems to be mandatory to get full 1080 vertical resolution with PDVD Ultra.


Ahh, OK - yes, that's generally true. If hardware acceleration is broken due to some driver screwup, hw deinterlacing almost certainly won't work either.

However, using ffdshow (possibly coreavc too?) you can make it decode in software, then deinterlace in hardware - just force output to NV12, and set bob flag on. You can tell if this is working by looking at the GPU% in CCC or rivatuner, as hw deinterlacing eats a fair amount more on a 2600xt, and an enormous amount on a 2400.

[Raza]

I have ATI 2400 HD card installed. I am running through Yamaha sound system. It works fine except the surround sound (5.1). When I run audio test file for 5.1 sound. I do not hear back-left and back-right sound.

What do I have to do to fix this issue?

Thanks for your help in advance.

[KeyMix]

Not sure If anyone read my previous post #3160, but it seems that a majority of the post here center around the same thing... HA acceleration in PowerDVD... Is it really that much of a crap shoot? I really need to understand some basic things on HA to be able to properly troubleshoot..Anyone willing to help? See previous post for details..But I can play HD and BD with no stutter but CPU is being taxed.. HD - 75-85%, BD -85-95%.. The CCC GPU meter never gets above 15%!!!. AVIO HA is checked in PowerDVD...:confused:

[KeyMix]

Correction to the post being referenced above..Its not #3160, but # 4328..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13013160#post13013160

[arfster]

The CCC GPU meter never gets above 15%!!!.

That doesn't mean anything - decoding is handled on the UVD, a separate bit of the hardware. The GPU meter measures the shaders, which do deinterlacing, scaling, denoising etc.

[gthelen]

I have a 2600XT connected to an HDTV with an DVI-HDMI cable. Using Windows XP and Catalyst 8.1 drivers with CCC Scaling to 0%, my screen is perfectly filled and looks great. Under Mythbuntu 7.1, I see big black bars around all four sides of the image.

Is anyone using a 2600 on Mythtv without having these annoying black borders? If yes, how?

Thanks.

[Gaizka]

I have lost my last post!! I think there was forum BD problem...

Resume of my post:

On windows XP i can enable Mpeg2 HA and H264 at maximum resolution of 1280x1024
On windows Vista i can enable H264 at Full HD 1920x1090 but not Mpeg2 accel at all

Drivers 7.7 for Vista seems that are better than new ones because image quality is better on full hd playback

Regards

[arfster]

Being trying to test a driver upgrade from 7.7, and found a stupid bug with all 8.1 versions (at least on Vista): once you enable a secondary display, all hardware acceleration on either screen is broken. You have to disable it and reboot to get it working again.

[agruman]

Heya,

I have been trying to get image from my hd2600 xt to my Panasonic th42px70 plasma, however i cant seem to get any picture.

Now this is not the first time ive been trying this and i have had picture before, all the way from POST to win fully started.

So i thought it might be the cable that was broken (had a cheap one to test) so i got myself a new supra 1.3 2m but no that didnt help :(

The strange thing is that my monitor flickers when using dual head and i change to the hdmi input on my plasma.
The tv doesnt flicker at all it just stays all black.

And i also get the full EDID data from my tv.

Now i have tried every possible resolution but no change.
And i have also tried a different gfx card with hdmi out (no picture but EDID data).

I dont have any other hardware with hdmi out but im starting to think that it might be my tv that is broken or something.

Any hints on what might be wrong is greatly appreciated.

Greetings

[da1likew00t]

I experienced similar results as Moondust while trying to hook up my Panasonic PT-AE900 beamer on a DVI->HDMI converter and 10m HDMI cable. The card does not even recognize the beamer. There is no picture at all. Also tried to fool the driver by switching from automatic to manual device detection, but it didn't help. Also tried resolutions like 1024x768 instead of the beamers native 720p, that also didn't help.

My card is an AGP MSI Radeon HD2600Pro. There is no issue when hooking up the beamer on this card with a 5m VGA cable... though I'd rather like to move the beamer in the future to another room. Before I switched videocards I also tried the 10m HDMI cable setup using an aging Hercules Radeon 9700Pro which worked without a problem.

Probably I'll get a 1:2 HDMI splitter to solve this issue. I could as well opt for a repeater to gain extra signal strength, though for a few extra bucks a splitter yields a total of two output ports with a good signal on it. :)

In the end though, it seems like the 1$/€ MSI saved on their cards production costs... results in me spending hundreds of $/€ to get a decent signal on a 10m cable. :(

[plympton]

Hey all,

I've dabbled in this thread for a few months, but don't have the sense of where these cards fit with regards to MCE 2005 - basically, what's the verdict? What combination of drivers/tweaks/registry hacks/etc made these cards usable in MCE 2005?
(Preferably I'm thinking about 1080i decoding of OTA ATSC broadcasts)

I ask mainly because I'm getting a 3450, and early reports say it's not quite there yet for 1080i. Oops - it's already on a truck towards my house! :-)

Thanks!
-Dan

[KeyMix]

That doesn't mean anything - decoding is handled on the UVD, a separate bit of the hardware. The GPU meter measures the shaders, which do deinterlacing, scaling, denoising etc.

OK.. Arfster...Kinda still lost here... Is there some Calc equation needed to get HA to work?:p I also read you're post below about the dual display... I am indeed running dual display....With One DVI/HDMI driving the projector which is the HDCP compliant display device and then the other is my main 20" LCD screen.. Could this be related?? What's the affects of my CPU being taxed at 95% when watching BLUE RAY??? Please anyone...HA is my last hurdle...

[luojs]

Being trying to test a driver upgrade from 7.7, and found a stupid bug with all 8.1 versions (at least on Vista): once you enable a secondary display, all hardware acceleration on either screen is broken. You have to disable it and reboot to get it working again.


Exact the same problem here. "Casimir666" said this only happen under vista.Do you tested if the 7.7 working ok?

[s174955]

Hey all,

I've dabbled in this thread for a few months, but don't have the sense of where these cards fit with regards to MCE 2005 - basically, what's the verdict? What combination of drivers/tweaks/registry hacks/etc made these cards usable in MCE 2005?
(Preferably I'm thinking about 1080i decoding of OTA ATSC broadcasts)

I ask mainly because I'm getting a 3450, and early reports say it's not quite there yet for 1080i. Oops - it's already on a truck towards my house! :-)

Thanks!
-Dan


For me it hasn't worked. Last driver version I tried was 7.12. Just get a black screen inside the MCE2005 application.
The problem is described here: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=648459

[[Europe]Boogiem]

Hi all

I have been trying several different soultions for my:
Saphire AGP HD2600XT, but still dont seem to get Hardware accel.

Setup:
MoBo: Asus A7m266
Processor: AMD XP1900+
GraphCard: AGP Sapphire Radeon HD2600XT
Screen: Sony HS-50 projector, native 1280*720 (FED VIA VGA FROM G-CARD)
Operative: Windows XP SP2
Catalyst driver: VisionTek 8.45 SAVE TARGET AS - Only installed the catalsyt driver of the package, not CCC or the other stuff included in this full driver package (http://www.visiontek.com/teksupport/drivers/DOWNLOAD/8.452/8.45_XP_nw/Full/8.2_XP.exe)
CCC: Catalyst 8.1 Windows XP (32/64-bit)(multilanguage) SAVE TARGET AS - Only installed CCC, not driver (http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/driverfiles/416.zip)
Player1: MPclassic
Player2: WinDvd Ultra 8.34? (not at home so unsure about last figures)
Codecs: CCC codec pack (full install)

I hoped to be able to get HW accel for high res files of type:
- H264 (which type of files can be encoded with this, I mean can a MP4 or a MOV file be H264?
- X264 (extension AVI)
- mp4 (extension mp4)
- mp2 (extension mpeg, mpg)
- mov (extension mov)
- WMV (extension wmv)
but maybe this is not possible?

In WindDVD Ultra i just get black screen
In Mplayer Classic i can play the files for a while then sound starts to stutter due to 95-100% CPU load, so no HW accel here. Have tried setting the WinDvd codecs but same thing.

I must be missing something here?
Can someone that has gotten this working please post the codecs they have used with version nr and if possible download link. Then this could be posted on first page to help others than me as well :D

Best regards
Boogieman
----------------------------------------------------------

FILL IN PLEASE

Setup
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MoBo:
Processor:
Prcessor utilisation (if you wish):
Graphic Card: AGP _____________ Radeon HD2?00??
Screen and signaltype (i.e. HDMI, VGA):
Operative system: Win XP
Catalyst driver:
CCC:
Working Player1:
Working Player2:
Codecs:

Other needed stuff?

[s174955]

Hi all,
just wanted to say that the newest MPC-HC version is really super for me!
Only tried with 720p files yet, but played several .wmv's and .mkv's USING HA with mpc's new decoders. One .wmv file did not play well, got green blocks.
But I've definetly got HA on .wmv files now, first time since I've got this AGP HD2600!
And x264 without 20-fps bug, and no need for PowerDVD!

The file was already posted here some posts ago,
got it from (last post on the page)
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=123537&page=48

Try it!
(sorry if this is old news, didn't follow this thead that much lately, kinda gave up upon HA)

[arfster]

Exact the same problem here. "Casimir666" said this only happen under vista.Do you tested if the 7.7 working ok?

Yeah, 7.7 works fine, that's what my HTPC box with 2 screens still uses. Perfect acceleration on both.

[sumster]

Arfster -- do you have the link for the Visiontek 8.2 beta? I can't seem to find it on their site.

[arfster]

They renamed it to 8.452. I couldn't get it to work properly though.

Guru3d 8.1 beta is the best of 8.1 versions I've tried - still has the dual display acceleration bug, but at least it deinterlaces properly.

[MikeSM]

They renamed it to 8.452. I couldn't get it to work properly though.

Guru3d 8.1 beta is the best of 8.1 versions I've tried - still has the dual display acceleration bug, but at least it deinterlaces properly.

How well does 8.1 work under XP? Should I try it as an upgrade from 7.7?

[pnyberg]

Hi you all, been following this thread a long time - which have saved me a
bunch of work getting my Sapphire Ultimate HD2600XT (passive) work with
720P HDTV h.264 DVB-T decoded with ATI.

Especially arfster - thank you !!

Now to my problem...
Currently using Mediaportal and using PowerDVD decoder to watch live DVB-T
720P using EVR and DXVA via HD2600. It works great except for occassional
stuttering at irregular interval.. Sometimes I can watch it for 10-15 minutes
with absolutely no stuttering at all, and then it just stutters (very slightly but
still) for a couple of seconds but sometimes up to a a minute or so. But then
it just "settles" and I can continue watching with no problem for another 5, 10
or 15 minutes until it happens again...

The thing is that when I disable DXVA in PowerDVD it never occurs - so it is
not the signal.

I've tried ATI versions from 7.11 up to my currently used driver 8.1 (guru3d
beta, fixes red-shift problem and pulldown-detection). I'm on Vista SP1.

Otherwise I am very happy with my card (deinterlacing is great with Vector
Adaptive, compared to my old Nvidia 7900). And since I'm not watching any
other HD material except this broadcast - this is my only problem left...

Is this some kind of heating problem? Or the 20fps bug (which I must admit
don't know what it is actually..)? I've read somewhere that there is some
powersave mode of the card that could occassionally kick in that would lower
the frequency ..?

Anyone with any clue?

[[Europe]Boogiem]

Now to my problem...
Currently using Mediaportal and using PowerDVD decoder to watch live DVB-T
720P using EVR and DXVA via HD2600. It works great except for occassional
stuttering at irregular interval.. Sometimes I can watch it for 10-15 minutes
with absolutely no stuttering at all, and then it just stutters (very slightly but
still) for a couple of seconds but sometimes up to a a minute or so. But then
it just "settles" and I can continue watching with no problem for another 5, 10
or 15 minutes until it happens again...

Anyone with any clue?


I dont think that this will help, but anyway.
Enable "TaskManager - Performance" before starting MediaPortal.
Then look at the broadcast until the stutter appears and write down the time (synch PC time with your watch).
Then shutdown MediaPortal and see if you get a CPU peak or PageFile PEAK.
If you do, then....hmmmm...something is eating CPU-power or MEM...like DXVA shortly not working or MemLeak?
Then check system log for the time it happened and see if there is anything reported (probably not, byt sometime luck strikes ;) )

If you want to take it one step further then Download Process explorer from Microsoft (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx) and graph even more stuff like Comitt Charge, Own CPU usage, Own .NET processes, Nr of handles and so on. No install needed, just an EXE file.

Im a real newbie on the area but its a first step (that you probably allready tried but nevertheless if its of any help I am glad :) )

Regards
Boogieman

[pnyberg]

Thanks, [Europe]Boogiem for the suggestions.

However, I has never encountered the problem when DXVA is turned off. Also
when using CoreAVC it never happens - so I don't think it is something "3rd party" app or driver that is eating resources...
I think it is related to driver or perhaps the "20 fps" bug? Powersave of the card?

Is there anybody who don't experience this ? (and even use Mediaportal perhaps?)...

Maybe I should try 7.7 (how about red-shift, pulldown and automatic deinterlace problem with that one?)

Regards,

[arfster]

I think it is related to driver or perhaps the "20 fps" bug?


That's something else, and only happens in one specific circumstance (x264 encodes played with pdvd decoder using VLD acceleration).

Your problem is going to be near impossible to track down without a base line to compare from. Thus, the only suggestion is to get a second hard disk, and reinstall windows from scratch. Only install the minimum needed (updates, drivers, pdvd), and see if you can get it working there.

If you can, you've proved the problem is with your software - ie your current install has something slightly screwed, or an infrequent process interrupting things, etc. If not, it's more to do with low level stuff, drivers/bios/pcie timing etc.

[pnyberg]

Well, okay arfster.

What about the 7.7 - would it be worthwhile to test? (if the red shift, pulldown, automatic deinterlace isn't a problem that is...).

Have you heard about the "power save" mode of the HD2600? I can't recall where I read it though (i found some info when googling about this), but I do remember that it was definitely an issue in some circumstances...

Thanks

[arfster]

Well, okay arfster.

What about the 7.7 - would it be worthwhile to test? (if the red shift, pulldown, automatic deinterlace isn't a problem that is...).


I've yet to play a full movie with 8.1, so can't say the problem isn't there, but I kinda doubt it. You see these "occasional stutter every 10 mins" type posts quite often with all sorts of setups, and there doesn't seem to be a common thread :-(



Have you heard about the "power save" mode of the HD2600? I can't recall where I read it though (i found some info when googling about this), but I do remember that it was definitely an issue in some circumstances...


Power save depends on the manufacturer of the board putting it