Ffdshow FAQ - Page 4

And that's before you start playing with CO2 cooling, Owen...

read the FAQ, and also did a search for FFDshow, but couldn't find an answer..

program shuts down immediately at very low resize settings.
I have the ffdshow version from jan. 02, as I was told it was a good one.
am trying resize only, testing on a 400x300 avi file quality is 160 kbps.testing in wmp9, but ZP is behaving the exact same way.
the highest res I can NOT get is 672x432, testing +16 in each step.
clearly there must be something I am missing, since I have seen MANY others with slower procesors than mine using way more resizing..
I have AMD Athlon 2400+ 2,0 Ghz, 512 MB RAM

are there any settings in XP that could be the problem?
anything I can test to find the root cause?
one more thing, when this happens, the usage is only at 40% max....

Please help...

Owen,

I am using an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro on a Sony 11-HT which has a native resolution of 1366x768. My HTPC uses an Asus P4P800 mb with P4-2.4C and 512mb RAM.

I resize to 1440x960 then scale to 1366x768 on the video card and therefore bypass the Sony scaler.

I don't use reclock as I don't have any audio problems with the Audigy2.

The PQ is stunning...I am very pleased.

_______
Rick

oh, and this is on an LCD projector with native resolution 1024x768...

Burre, remind me: Could you use it on DVDs?

Millerrj,
Have you tried resizing to 1366x768 in ffdshow and avoid scaling in the Radeon as well?
Give it a try, and let me know how you like it.
Don't forget to try the LANCZOS resize method.
I use the P4P800 as well, with 2.8c overclocked to 3.3G with CPU cooling fan on only 7volts (no noise) and 1Gig Corsair duel channel DDR.

Burre,
Does the player crash with other, more normal size video? Say 720x480 etc.
Can you play DVD's using ffdshow and resize?

Owen
____________________________
The ffdshow resize - sharpen dude

LANZCOS is great, especially when paired with gradual denoise. However, its extremely CPU intensive, and I only have an Athlon Tbird 1.4GHz(sometimes clocked to 1.5GHz), so this option is almost impossible if I resize to XGA(my projector's native resolution). Even on my main system, a P4 2.4B clocked to ~2.8GHz, it can be really really taxing when I LANZCOS resize divx/xvid movies to 1600x1200(my desktop resolution) with gradual denoise, but the results are really good looking.

On some I have problems seing too much of a difference between Lanzcos and bicubic. What values do you guys use on sharpen? And what is Parameter? It's on Default on my setup, I don't think I've touched it.

Also I have mine set to 1280x960 (I believe after advice in this forum some time long ago). Is that a good setup for a CRT-projector that's run at 1024x768 with a Radeon 9500?

I use default parameter(not sure what parameter is or does), and ~1.00 luma/chroma sharpen. One of them does more than the other, I can't remember which is which, but anyway, this amount depends on the material you're viewing too. Some require more sharpening, some don't require that much. As for the resize resolution, I believe it would be better to scale it to your projector's native resolution rather than to scale it larger and then have your video card's hardware scaler downscale it again.

Eh...read again. CRT-projector, mate. Doesn't have a native resolution. I thought the point was to scale it as large as possible and then let the Radeon scale it down to desktop resolution. Have I been sleeping in class?

And it's the top sharpen that really does the trick, I agree that the bottom one does not really do anything. Also, I usually stay with 2 on the most dramatic sharpener, but that's just because I'm the kind of guy who boosts color as well...and treble and bass on all my sound systems!

update: have tried to play DVDs, all I got was an error message. tried to follow each and every step of the xp help function, tested directdraw, direct3D, set desktop res. to 800x600, reduced colors to 16 bit, downloaded new Nvidia driver. nothing. same problem. does it matter that screen is set to plug and play?
haven't tried reducing hardware acceleration, so ill try that next.

Owen, as for more normal size video, I have tested on a file with size 624x368, max scale I can not get is 640x480, so obviously there is something strange going on.... tested 720x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and every multiple of 16 from 400 and up.....

Which DVD filter are you using? There are certain registry entries that has to be added for some. I think Sonic's Cinemaster filters are the easiest to get to work, while PowerDVD are a lot worse. WinDVD are possible to use, I know several members of the board use it.

DVD filter? U mean player?

I seem to have Win DVD, I also have ZP, WinDVD won't even open....

grrrr....

I'm using Sonic Cinemaster video filter and WinDVD5 audio filter. I haven't tried the PowerDVD5 filter yet but I might. I've added the AllowAllRenderers registry entry in the Sonic Video Filter section to make it work, without this ZP wouldn't even work with the setup.

Sorry I missed out the CRT part, but you mentioned that you're running it at 1024x768, so I would think that rescaling your video material to that resolution would be good enough, or in fact, optimal. It doesn't make sense to scale any higher if ultimately you're gonna use 1024x768.

had no idea I needed that!
could You point me to where I can DL this cinemaster?
thar would be great...

Goi, if that last post was for me, 1024x768 is my desktop res, and also native for the proj, but cant get near that for resizing, I cant even get 640x480!!!!!!

No, Burre, that was for me. And I assumed (maybe foolishly) that you were only using ZoomPlayer, since that's the best way to use ffdshow. ZP is a player, but it has no filters. The filters are what decodes video and audio, so if you're on Zoom, you'll have to be using WinDVD filters if you haven't got PowerDVD or Cinemaster's filter pack installed. You should do a search here for WinDVD and ffdshow, maybe you'll find the right registry settings. As for Cinemaster that's something you buy (15 dolalrs, or something, I think) online.

OK, windvd was damaged so I am now searching for the disk, to reinstall.
Could it really be the reason I could not play DVDs?
and also the reasi\\on I could not resize?
as for registry entrys, I found some sttrange numbers, do I have to enter them somewhere, or can I adjust it, in winDVD?

sorry, I am so not into this....

If the installation was faulty that could very well be the reason for a lot of things, yes. No, we're not talking about registration here, we're talking about a bunch of settings in the Windows registry. If I'm not mistaken I saw them some time here written by Vern Diaz, but I might be wrong. Can't anybody help this fresh, young man from a cold country?

well I now have managed to fix windvd...
that didnt do it either..
I understand these windows settings are pretty important...
Mastiff, couldnt find this "Vern diaz" when searching for user, could you tell me the exact username, or post a link here, if you happen to stumble upon it...
think im almost there...

Thanks a lot to all of you,
to Mastiff: tusen, tusen takk.....from a fellow "Viking"

Just thought I would get some clarfication in fact ffdshow is working correctly. My current desktop is set at 864x768, I launch TT w/ ffdshow selected to output at 1152x648. I have the OSD enabled via ffdshow and this is what I have,

Current Frame -1
CPU Load ~70
Inputsize 720x480
Outputsize 1152x648
Accurate deblocking 0
Frame Type 1
Decoder Uncompressed

I really can't tell if my res is switching from the desktop res to the one selected in ffdshow of 1152x648. Should I believe the OSD from ffdshow? What is confusing, even though the Outputsize indicates 1152x648, when I right click in TT and the menu pops up for TT it is in the same res as my dsektop not 1152x648. Is this normal and by design?



TIA

You can believe it

Burre,
I have no problem with Divx or Xvid of 720x576 resolution.
Your Athlon 2.4 should resize to 1024x768 without problem.
Remove and reinstall ffdshow and / or try a different version.
WinDVD filters need a registry change to play PAL DVD's in Zoom Player.
You need to add a new Dword DXVAPAL = 1 from memory.
Maybe its time to do a clean install of XP.

Regards,

Owen
____________________________
The ffdshow resize - sharpen dude

Mastiff,

Have I been sleeping in class?

Yep.

Have a read of this old post by me.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...63#post2345263

I would encourage you to try resizing to your desktop resolution as well as double DVD resolution and see what works best for your display.
Double DVD res sounds good, but does not always give the best results.
I find that double DVD res gives a smoother or softer image. Good for digital displays but not so good for CRT.

Please post your results.

Regards,

Owen
____________________________
The ffdshow resize - sharpen dude

Regarding PAL playback, is it a concern if I use ZP with Sonic Cineplayer video and WinDVD5 audio filter, with reclock and ffdshow? I was trying to playback a PAL DVD a few days ago(25FPS) and I noticed that ZP could not play it with that setup - it would either crash with an generic error message, or the video would be all mangled/torn up with lines all over the place. The DVD played back ok on WinDVD5 and PowerDVD5, and I started experimenting with ZP to see where the error occured by starting off with the basic filters, then adding Reclock, then adding ffdshow. It turns out the playback is find until I added ffdshow to the mix...

Owen, thanks! I'll try those and report back. Probably during this weekend, I might try to sqeeze out the final ounces of PQ before I watch "Fellowship of the Ring" agan ("The Two Towers" comes out on tuesday, and I have to have continuety).

Goi, I have used that combination extensively without any problems.

Goi,
Sonic video filters need Dword AllowAllRenderers =1 added to Sonic/Video Decoder part of registry for use with ffdshow.

WinDVD4.5 or 5 video decoder is the best quality. It's what I use.
Search for the posts by Vern Dias on how to get it working.
You need to use the Abstract DMO filter set to zero to avoid freeze problem with WinDVD.

Regards,

Owen
____________________________
The ffdshow resize - sharpen dude

Govnah,

I really can't tell if my res is switching from the desktop res to the one selected in ffdshow of 1152x648. Should I believe the OSD from ffdshow? What is confusing, even though the Outputsize indicates 1152x648, when I right click in TT and the menu pops up for TT it is in the same res as my dsektop not 1152x648. Is this normal and by design?

ffdshow is resizing to 1152x648 and then your video card is resizing that to 864x768 for display.
Why not try resizing directly to your desktop res?
The other option is double DVD resolution in ffdshow and let your video card resize to desktop res. Give both a try.

Regards,

Owen
____________________________
The ffdshow resize - sharpen dude

I have that registry setting, if not it wouldn't work at all. Strangely the problem sets in when I enabled ffdshow. Which version are you guys using? As for video filters, I find the PowerDVD5 is even better than WinDVD5 nowadays. WinDVD5's black levels are quite appalling, but its sharper than Sonic

Burre, I have the solution! Look at this thread that explains the registry settings you need. You will also need the 23.05-version of ffdshow, and you need two registry files from bbq's webpage, which is here. Download the ffdshow.reg and abstract.reg and run those on your setup (don't worry, they're not dangerous!). Then fire up ZoomPlayer and go to options. There you need to choose Intervideo's filter for video, ffdshow and a filter in the same window as ffdswho (it's called additional filters) by the name of DMO_V InterVideo Abstract. Close that window and try. It should work, at least it did on my system! So have yourself a bottle of your favourite beer and start to compare picture quality before and now!