[kennethhoeiland]

Hi


I have big problems with stutters on my system. I have tried with winDVD6, TheaterTek 2.11 and VLC and get stutters in all three.

I would preferably want to use TheaterTek for playback.


I am connected to a Sony D50 CRT so any refresh rates given would have to match my limitations on the CRT Pj


I currently run the latest ATI Drivers for MCE (Catalyst 5.7) and Powerstrip 3.50

I use the stock powerstrip 1920x1080i HDTV resolution.


I have also tried some of the resolution settings in the Sticky here for 1080i ( Custom Resolution Guide for 1080i HDTV-HTPC-POWERSTRIP-RADEON)but to no avail. I have tried all the different settings in TheaterTek but did not get any changes. VMR9 was even worse than overlay..


One of the problems is my LCD monitor don't want to display 1080i so clear that I can see what I am doing, and the desktop is too unclear on the CRT to see the small letters of Powerstrip clearly. Poor focus on my D50..


(And yes I know my D50 can't resolve all the lines, but I feel the Picture is better at 1080i than at 720p)


My machine runs at 20-30% CPU when playing 1080i .ts files.


Hardware:


Asus P5GD1-VM I915G mATX PCIe, HD Audio, LAN, VGA,

Intel Pentium 4 530J - 3.0Ghz Socket 775 PC800, 1MB cache

TwinMOS 1024MB DDR PC3200 Dual 512MB x 2, 400Mhz, CL2.5, 184pins

PowerColor Radeon X300SE HyperMemory PCI-Express, supports 256MB, TV/DVI

Western Digital 160GB Caviar SE SATA HD 7200RPM, 8.9ms, 8MB cache, SATA

NEC ND-3520 DVD±RW 16x Dual layer

TerraTec SoundSystem Aureon 5.1 PCI (SPDIF out)

Western Digital USB2.0/Firewire 250GB 8MB Dual Option


Machine is running MCE 2005


I would really apprechiate any good step by step set up descriptions you could give me. Both for the playback software and Powerstrip. And maybe a list of timings I could put into Powerstrip. Both for 1080i and 720p resolutions. And are we by refresh rate talking vertical or horisontal or pixel clock?


I can also go to Powerstrip 3.60 if necessary as I have that somewhere.


Please help as this is getting really annoying.



Any good descriptions on how to get .ts playback in the MCE frontend would also be of help. I have tried installing HDTVPump, but get unsupported file format when trying to click on a file.


This was a lot, but I hope some of you can spare some time to help an idiot. And I even thought I knew my way around computers...


Kenneth

 

[walford]

First I would try using a lower resolution than 1080i with an x300 card and 1080i video source. An x700 is recomended when processing HD source due to its higher memory bandwidth.

For the LCD I suggest running your desktop at the native resolution of the LCD since this will give you best text resolution since no scaling will occur when not using Powerstrip.

What resolutions does your TV support and over which interfaces?

 

[Mark_A_W]

What refresh rate are you running? I assume it's ~60hz as it's based on a stock res.

(It's vertical refresh rate BTW).

You can run anything you want with a D50: 48hz, 72hz, 60hz, or 50, 75hz for PAL, anything - that's the beauty of CRT projectors.


Are you watching film or video based material?


For instance, for film you would pick 48 hz or 72hz (multiples of 24fps) and then run an app called Reclock (do a search here and in Google) which will sync the sound to the video and prevent stutters. I would suggest 1920x1080i at 71.928 hz (you actually enter 35.964hz in powerstrip for an interlaced res). Otherwise go for 1280x720p at 71.928hz.


If you watch video source materials you would stick with 60hz (actually 59.94hz, enter into powerstrip as 29.97hz for an interlaced res) and use Reclock.


For testing ditch the LCD monitor and scrounge a 17" CRT monitor, the LCD monitor is crap as it's fixed at 60hz. Get it all working smoothly on the CRT monitor first.


And go and ask in the CRT projector forum, much more expertise for CRT problems there

 

[kennethhoeiland]

I have tried all the suggested refresh rates except 35.964hz to no avail. I still get microstutters. I haven't tried reclock yet. Or I downloaded and installed the reclock 1.4 filter but it didn't do anything. When I tried it a while back I got an icon in the taskbar when it was running, but now nothing happened.

Quote:

First I would try using a lower resolution than 1080i with an x300 card and 1080i video source. An x700 is recomended when processing HD source due to its higher memory bandwidth.

Strange. i would guess this card/machine would be better than my laptop AMD64 3000+ based with 512Mb Ram and 64Mb ATI Radeon Mobility 9600. Running Win XP Home. On that machine I don't get any stutters.


I saved on the GPU as I bought the machine because my laptop HTPC was in for repairs. Maybe I will have to fork out for a better graphics card.

Quote:

Are you watching film or video based material?

I am watching .ts files of movies and TV Series. When trying yesterday I used a TS of Sopranos season 1. I have no problems playing back DVDs, but I hardly ever watch DVD anymore, just HD.



I will keep researching . Maybe try some Omega Drivers as thats what I'm using on the laptop.


Ant tips on the playback of TS files in the MCE frontend?


Thanks for your help

Kenneh

 

[kennethhoeiland]

I guess my x300 card isn't up to scratch.


I need a recommendation for a new card. The only thing to consider is playback of HD ts files with 1920x1080i or 1280x720p resolution without stutters and annoying artifacts

I don't game, so no need for anything in that regard.


My HTPC is used for 2 things. Downloading and playing HD material in .ts file format.

Will an x700 be good enough and will there be any improvements going to a x800?


Is Nvidia cards better at TS playback? Will a 6600GT with 128 Mb DDR3 ram do the trick?


Kenneth

 

[walford]

Yes a 6600gt with 128mb will do the trick. Read about their PureVideo technology at their Web site it appears to better ATI's techniques for video at this time.

 

[miketech]

The x700 wil be dicontinued soon. Get the vanilla x800.