HDMI shutting down if not used ????

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aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#22776 7-Jun-2008 22:08

Hi all!

I got all the gear today and assembled the htpc. I know some basic stuff, and did upgrades here and there, but never bought all the parts and actually build a machine from scratch...

All installation smooth, no problems, dvb-t channels all working for several hours by now...

But something strange happens: if I switch the tv from HDMI input to other input and watch something there for only few minutes, there is no signal on the HDMI when switching back to it !! Looks like the HDMI is shutting down if not in use, or something like this? Could be a Power Saving feature? I set the pc to "Always On" (Control Panel -> power settings).

Nova-t 500 installed with no errors, PowerCinema displays all the channels OK. I dare to say the chanel switching is a bit faster that on the tv itself... Overall, I am pleasently surprised with the PQ. TV1, TV2 and HD channel keep the CPU at 30 - 40%, on TV3 it stays at 50-60%. I found this very high, considering it is dual core 4800+. What did I miss, in order to get the 5-10% loads I hear talking about?

I still need to play with all the settings in PowerCinema (and the graphic card?), like others did, for the next days (weeks?).

Besides the HDMI thing, there is something elese bothering me: If there is not a lot of movement in the picture, it is a good quality picture, even on SD shows. The HD channel is very nice, indeed. But if there is lots of moving elements in the picture, then it is kind of blurry during the transition and comes back instantly when the movement in the picture stops. I will try the VGA cable soon, maybe is the $25 HDMI cable... but a lot of forums said that for 1m, there is no bad HDMI cable... if you want to run it for 10m, then we talk about more expensive cables... I hope is not the tv...

Got sound and image through HDMI from first attempt, no problems, just need to activate HDMI in BIOS (it is set by default to DVI). It appears the mobo does no accept component from DVI through adaptor... hm... did anyone really try it?

mobo Intel DH55PJ, RAM: 4GB RAM, Nova-T 500 HD + Avermedia Trinity tuner card, Geforce 520 video, 120GB SSD Sandisk + 640 WD + 1000SG, Win7 Home Prem 64-bit, Media Portal 1.15.0; BTC 9019URF Cordless Keyboard, Panasonic 55" (HDMI cable), HTPC Case Silverstone Grandia GD05B.

FreddyK

84 posts

Master Geek

#136578 9-Jun-2008 04:00

A lot of views but no post's. Im guessing its because the questions have already been answered in many other threads

Firstly, your screen blanking problem. Im unsure as to whether you're running VISTA or XP, but in any case, you need to set "turn off display" to "never". By default I think it blanks out in 20min.

As to your high CPU usage, thats happening because you're not using hardware acceleration. Afaik, Powercinema doesnt support this out of the box, but if you're running VISTA, then you might find a fix is this thread. You havent said what graphic solution you're running, so I'll take it you are using the onboard video. The bad news is that ATi currently doesnt support hardware acceleration for interlaced video, so once you sort out hardware acceleration, you will find that the interlaced channels get broke (ie. TV3,C4,TVNZ6 etc). Until ATi can sort their driver issues out, the only fix seems to be an investment in nVidia.

Finally, the problems you described with fast moving objects on screen is a VMR9/EVR issue as I found out in this thread. Basically, if you want smooth playback of video from the Freeview digital service, then you need to be running a Vista/EVR/DXVA2 setup.

aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#136678 9-Jun-2008 15:26

FreddyK,

thank you for the reply.
I am so confused regarding thios mobo not being able to deliver quality picture after all the reviews I found on the net before deciding what to get.

Please have a look here :
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/03/04/amd_780g_integrated_graphics_chipset/8
The test was run in March, with AMD Athlon 64 5000+ (I have 4800+) and standard Catalyst drivers supplied with the mobo. It appears the mobo performed very-very well.

Is this a marketing stunt from the manufacturer / supplyer ??
If it is so good, why so many users have to get a discrete video card?
While researcing before buying, I did not find a single word about the hardware acceleration issue.

What they have diferent from my setup, is Vista Home Premium and they are testing with PowerDVD Ultra. Is this making such big diference? Vista + PowerDVD instead of XP/Powercinema ? Any ideas if this configuration might help?

Thnk you in advance.

FreddyK

84 posts

Master Geek

#136833 10-Jun-2008 03:51

There's nothing wrong with that review. The onboard video handles hardware acceleration very well. The problem you're having is Powercinema does not. Like in the review, many HTPC users also use PowerDVD because its h264 decoder supports HW acceleration.

If you want HW acceleration, then you'll need a supported decoder and a media player that runs it. For the h264 decoder, I suggest you download the trial version of Arcsofts TotalMedia Theatre since its free and works very well. Next you'll want to install mediaportal or GB_PVR etc since these will allow you to use the decoder with the Freeview broadcasts.

The problem however, as I pointed out in my last post, is that the ATi chipset doesnt handle interlaced video too well so half the Freeview channels wont work. Until ATi provide a fix, the only way around this is to use nVidia hardware.

The last problem regarding slow/jerky playback of fast moving images is fixed by using EVR/DXVA2 which only works under VISTA.

The road to Freeview HTPC heaven is a bumpy one, but I'm sure the journey will be worth the effort ... but I'll let you know since Im still travelling down that road myself.

Good luck!

Vorbis

176 posts

Master Geek

#137107 10-Jun-2008 18:48

I have no problems with any freeview channels using the 780G chipset and onboard vid. Are you just talking about the HD feeds?

aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#137204 10-Jun-2008 22:58

Vorbis,

I have only one DVB-T card in the computer, Nova-T 500 HD. The issue bothering me is the picture quality especially when displaying moving objects, or panning, both vertically or horisontally. Everything is pointing towards an incapability of the ATI chip to deal with deinterlacing (tv3 and others). If the image is still or slow motion, is perfect.

I will give it a go with an nVidia as advised by all the members.

TV is connected through D-sub as the HDMI shuts off when switching tv to other source... and is not coming back on unless you reboot the pc. The issue was resolved overseas by installing a device called "DVI Detective", I am sure there is a HDMI Detective as well. This device sends a signal to the pc all the time so it thinks the tv is still connected, thus preventing the HDMI port to be deactivated. The issue could not be resolved so far by other means. The device is not cheap.

rhysb

435 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#137573 12-Jun-2008 11:26

aucklander, have a look at this little utility. It should help you with your HDMI prob http://thydzik.com/hdmion-a-solution-to-loss-of-dvi-video-epid-signal-on-hd-tvs/

aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#137590 12-Jun-2008 12:13

Rhysb,

it sounds wonderful, i will see how it works.

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aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#138681 17-Jun-2008 12:39

Vorbis: I have no problems with any freeview channels using the 780G chipset and onboard vid. Are you just talking about the HD feeds?