[Cush1978]

I know I have other topics, but they always seem to start out as one issue then branch into multiple issues and get lost. First my settings:


Pentium 4 2.4GHz (533 MHz FSB)

1GB DDR 400 RAM (Dual channel I think! Long story.)

GeForce 4 Ti4800 SE

Windows XP SP2


ZoomPlayer Pro 4.03

DScaler 5 Video Codec

DScaler 5 Audio Codec

Reclock 1.5b8 Audio Renderer

DirectShow Video Renderer

FFDShow "Andy" version (08012004)

- Blur/Denoise (denoise3D)

- Resize to 1440x960 + Luma Sharpen


Samsung 50" Widescreen DLP 5063W is my HDTV monitor.


Overlay mode.


OK, well the issues I have left are kind of oddball issues:


- No significant improvement on modern DVDs! Older movies with a lot of film grain look 100% better with the Blur/Denoise. Newer movies, I can't tell much of a difference with FFDShow on or off. Are there some recommended "default" settings I can try and most definitely see an obvious improvement?


- Wrong sizing on "odd" sizes. If I have a DivX rip where someone's removed the black bars or rendered the video in a "non-standard" size, the video gets distorted when FFDShow is running. In one instance, the video was widescreen, but FFDShow caused it to be "smooshed" to 4:3. I've already made an aspect ratio tweak to get 4:3 movies to look right on my widescreen TV; the top used to get cut off. Worst case, can FFDShow be disabled for all but DVDs?


- Profiles. I've been told you can set up FFDShow profiles. Do they exist in the 08012004 version? I simply can't find them; I could be incredibly dense, but they're nowhere to be found! I'm using this particular version for CPU consideration.


- "Fake" letterboxing. I'm talking about "widescreen" movies that are really 4:3 movies with the top and bottom masked off. On my widescreen monitor, that results in the left/right black bars (for 4:3) AND the top/bottom bars (for widescreen) and obviously a smaller picture in the center of the screen. It was suggested to me to try overlay zoom. That causes the picture to get bigger, but the left/right black bars don't "move" and the picture starts getting cropped by them. Is there any way to get these movies to be bigger?


- Codecs. DScaler 5 is supposed to be nice; would it be worth it for me to switch to WinDVD 6? That one seems to be preferred, but can I afford the CPU? I don't want to "buy before I try" so I'd like to get opinions so I can at least make an estimated guess before buying something I can't use.


Cush

 

[VBB]

My setup is very similar to yours, except for the display. I use a projector.


The first thing you want to do in FFDShow is set it to "No aspect ratio correction" in the resize settings. Let Zoom Player handle the aspect ratios, and make sure it's set to "Derived". That should work for DVDs as well as all other video. If for some reason a video file gets distorted, just change the aspect ratio in Zoom Player to 4:3 or 16:9 or whatever you need it to be. This always works for me.


The reason why you're seeing these distortions, though, is also due to the fact that you are resizing to a fixed widescreen resolution, 1440x960. My solution to this is to use resize with a multiplier. For example, I use 2.866, which is the highest possible multiplier to use with Andy's version due to the 2048 pixel limit.


I used to be a huge fan of WinDVD, but that was before John came out with DScaler5, which in my opinion is far superior and uses a lot less CPU.


BTW, before I bought my projector I used to have the HLN5065W, and FFDShow was a significant improvement. These days I don't even bother with denoise and luma-sharpen anymore. Resize is all I need to get a much sharper picture without any ringing or EE.

 

[Cush1978]

OK, I checked out my setup. I do already have "No aspect ratio corrections' in FFDShow. I switched out to "multiplier" instead of a fixed resolution. I'm checking it via Remote Desktop, so testing video isn't gonna happen straightaway... I didn't resize over 2x DVD, I don't know if there's a point to it. I was very pleased with "old film" results, but newer DVDs just don't look any different for the trouble.


I was reading in another post that DScaler 5 has bad interlacing artifacts from stuff like TV recordings. I noticed some when watching something I recorded from ATI Multimedia Center via my ATI TV Wonder Pro. If the CPU difference is significant, I'll probably stick with DScaler; I think the CPU is the most significant bottleneck for me.


Your solution makes sense for solving the "sizing" issue; I'll give that a shot. While I'm remoted in; here are my specific FFDShow settings:


Blur & NR - denoise3D 5.0, 5.0, 5.0

Resize - 2x, Lancoz 4, Luma Sharpen 1.0

Output - YV12


Cush

 

[Briands]

Quote:

Originally posted by Cush1978 ------------ I was very pleased with "old film" results, but newer DVDs just don't look any different for the trouble. --------------- Cush

This is because good source material is pretty clean and there is little that these algorithms can do. You are probably seeing the limitation of the DVD format.

 

[Cush1978]

I was hoping for something like what they show in that FFDShow tutorial...

http://htpcnews.com/main.php?id=ffdshowdvd_1


I assume the original source is from the AotC DVD and the "after" image is after FFDShow. Is that doctored or do other people see differences as drastic as that?


Cush

 

[VBB]

So what you're saying is that you don't notice any improvement when using FFDShow with newer DVDs? For me, the results are pretty much exactly like in that screenshot of Yoda, a much sharper, more detailed image.


Anywho, did you make sure your Sammy is giving you 1:1 pixel mapping?


Also, why don't you try VMR instead of overlay? Gave me much better results. Just keep in mind that you will have to change you TVs brightness accordingly.


For kicks, my FFDShow settings are as follows:


- Resize to 2048x2048 with Lanczos 4, no sharpen (I don't use a multiplier currently, because I only watch DVDs, but if I did, I would use 2.866)

- Output to YV12 (which happens automatically because DScaler is set to output to YV12, so no need to even change that in FFDShow)

 

[Cush1978]

Correct, I don't notice any difference with newer DVDs. In fact, the only noticable difference on any movie is film grain from older movies. That's instantly noticeable when I turn that filter on/off while the movie is running.


Pretty sure I'm getting 1:1 from the Sammy; the desktop is clear and sharp. Odd resolution; 1248x702 and I use an older 61.XX driver because I can't get 1:1 with newer drivers. I get about an inch of black around the desktop and fuzzy text with newer drivers.


VMR is supposed to be more CPU-intensive than Overlay, so I ended up using Overlay. I can try VMR if that's going to make a significant difference.


So you're just doing a resize and a YV12 output? When you turn on/off the resize filter in FFDShow while the movie is playing, does it change on the spot like Blur/NR? I'd really like to get a before/after screenshot or comparison on my setup to see if my memory is telling me the truth.


Cush

 

[VBB]

Yes, all I do is resize. You cannot change that on the fly, because it would just make the picture in ZP very small.


The best comparison you can do is probably with a DVD that has the THX Optimizer, like any of the Pixar, Disney or Lucasfilm movies. The THX optimizer has a lot of white text on black background, which looks slightly blurred without resize. After resizing, the text is crystal clear.


Keep in mind that I'm not talking about denoise, just resize using Lanczos with or without sharpen. On my old Sammy DLP, I could most definitely see the difference. Everything just looks much clearer.

 

[Cush1978]

OK, I think I'm beginning to see the difference. I rewatched a Back to the Future movie today and it did look sharper than I remember it before. I think I'm fairly convinced.


Unfortuantely, I also noticed minor stuttering with panning scenes. I guess I don't have Reclock set up quite right. 1.5b8 didn't come with a readme, but I did read the readme for 1.4. Very confusing. Can anyone get me started tuning that issue? Or is Reclock even the problem?


The 2x thing worked wonderfully for odd-sized movies. Is bigger better? Should I go for the biggest resize I can get? 2.866? If my CPU can handle it that is...


Soundcard's a ChainTech AV-710.


Cush