MediaPortal - TV3 not working

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aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#23430 29-Jun-2008 12:12

I got MP working (I think) except TV3 and C4, where it stutters every 5 sec. All the settings as per the tutorial. I also spent many days trying codecs combinations. EVR enabled. TV3 quality is good, no excessive motion blur, but it stutters and this makes it unwatchable. When the image freezes, the picture is quite clear. It appears that if I let it run for a while (20-30 min), the stutters reduces a lot, occuring only briefly every 2 minutes or so.

CPU load is 40% on any channel !! TV1,2,3, HD, etc...

Before using MP, I finally got PowerCinema working and the CPU load dropped to 12-17% on any channel after HA enabled (as per instructions I found on this forum). Before this, I was having 35 - 60% CPU load (without HA). CPU load would not worry me too much provided I can watch all the channels...

I see most people using MP are not having any trouble, but I do not know what settings to alter anymore. Please help me with some ideas, as I am going back to PowerCinema. Too bad it has only 2x ffwd speed...

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.

aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#141536 30-Jun-2008 15:31

I fixed this this way:
MediaPortal setup -> Television -> TV Client -> Audio settings tab, and UNTICKED the "Prefer AC3" option. Now it does not stutter anymore... and the sound is ok on all channels.

TBH, there is a very small ocasional stutter, bearly visible. I also noticed this happening more during HD movies than non-HD movies... I do not get the connection, as the system has no idea how the image was created, by shooting in HD or upscaling a non-HD content... the bandwith used is the same... right?

heppy

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#141585 30-Jun-2008 17:06

What H264 codec are you using? In vista make sure you are using EVR not VMR9 for hardware acceleration.

Also I found that the latest nvidia drivers made HD tv skip. I reinstalled the 75.16 drivers and its all good again.(make sure you turn off windows updating other things apart from vista to stop this happening again)
Download them from here
http://www.pixelrage.ro/downloads/Nvidia-Geforce-175.16-WHQL-driver-download-vista-32-3714.html

aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#141761 1-Jul-2008 07:56

I am using 177.40, got it from Guru3D.com
I will "go back" to 175.16 and will see what happens. I have EVR enabled in MP setup. The codec is a Cyberlink one, Could be the PDVD8, not sure.

However, the post regarding the stutter every 5 sec was done BEFORE installing the 177.40 driver. The image when watching TV3 looks like a very low framerate. Picture quality (colour, detail, etc) is good, but appears to run at a very low framerate.

The funny thing is this: I watch TV3 and it looks like low framerate. I record the same show (while watching). When I play the record, the image is flawless. It happened with both Bones and Dexter. This "low framerate effect" is not so strong on non-HD shows, I believe, but is still visible.

I downloaded an application named FRAPS which displays the framerate on the screen while playing any video. I got exactly 50fps all the time, watching any tv channel. For tv is fixed on 50, for playing tv3 HD recording (Bones) it varies between 47-50. Playing recorded HD from TV2 is again 50. During menu navigation in MP, sits at around 40.

What would be a good value for the framerate for watching TV?
And most importantly, what can I do to increase it?

I will start a new topic about this...

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

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Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#141763 1-Jul-2008 08:00

aucklander: I am using 177.40, got it from Guru3D.com
I will "go back" to 175.16 and will see what happens. I have EVR enabled in MP setup. The codec is a Cyberlink one, Could be the PDVD8, not sure.

However, the post regarding the stutter every 5 sec was done BEFORE installing the 177.40 driver. The image when watching TV3 looks like a very low framerate. Picture quality (colour, detail, etc) is good, but appears to run at a very low framerate.

The funny thing is this: I watch TV3 and it looks like low framerate. I record the same show (while watching). When I play the record, the image is flawless. It happened with both Bones and Dexter. This "low framerate effect" is not so strong on non-HD shows, I believe, but is still visible.

I downloaded an application named FRAPS which displays the framerate on the screen while playing any video. I got exactly 50fps all the time, watching any tv channel. For tv is fixed on 50, for playing tv3 HD recording (Bones) it varies between 47-50. Playing recorded HD from TV2 is again 50. During menu navigation in MP, sits at around 40.

What would be a good value for the framerate for watching TV?
And most importantly, what can I do to increase it?

I will start a new topic about this...

What sort of TV or monitor are you using and what is the refresh rate set to?

aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#141815 1-Jul-2008 10:57

sbiddle,

the setup is like 8600GT -> DVI/HDMI -> HDMI cable -> Sony Bravia 46", sound (on-board) through separate RCAs.

The tv has a native resolution of 1366x768. I set the card to 1360x768, the closest to the native screen resolution. The screen zoom is set to "normal" (from TV's menu), which makes it NOT to use 3 pixels each side, no big deal. I did that in order to use the processing power on the card, not in the TV for scaling.

In nVidia controls, it says "screen max resolution 1920x1080", I do not know why.

The screen is advertised as 100Hz refresh rate, but there is no such option in nVidia settings. All I am ofered is 60Hz. I am not sure, it might be a 50Hz option there, but that's pretty much it. Before installing the 8600GT, I used the on-board graphics and the ATI interface was giving me far more options to set resolution and refresh rate, up to 150Hz !!

I did some reading this morning and I see the refresh rate has to be set to 50, not 60Hz, for best results. I will change it to 50 in the afternoon, when I get home. Is this so important? I selected 60Hz thinking "higher is better". I also heard about Powerstrip to force resolutions and refresh rates not shown in the menu, I did not use this yet.

Do you think the change from 60 to 50 Hz will improve the "jumping" on TV3? It looks more like a low framerate, even if I get 50fps all the time (according to FRAGS).

TV1, 2 and HD are cristal clear.

aucklander

477 posts

Ultimate Geek

#142111 2-Jul-2008 08:36

the nVidia card is set to 1360x768, this is the closest to the screen native resolution of 1366x768. The refresh rate is 60Hz, but there is no other option in the menu. This is the only value I am offered. I can get more refresh rates available if I switch to other resolutions, higher or lower (lucky me, eh?). I tried the highest (1920x1080@50Hz) but I did not like it, the desktop looks crappy, the colours were far too strong (??!) and icons pushed outside the screen, it would require to many settings altered to bring it back to a decent state. Other resolutions do not have the same aspect ratio.

I reverted to 175 drivers (from 177) and honestly, CSI:NY last night (HD programme) showed no "low framerate" effect at all ! It was smooth, I would say nearly the same as TV1 and TV2.

I still get the contrast random change, very annoying. All the automated "enhancing" features are turned off on the TV, colours are adjusted from the nVidia card. Partially, from the TV menu as well.

I used to get this contrast issue with PowwerCinema as well. Might be the graphic card defective? It is a silent card but I have good cooling on it with a local fan with the air flow completely diverted toward the heatsink. It does not feel extremely hot when touched, I would say 45-50 deg, and that is where the air stream does not really heat the fins very well. Right where the air stream flows along the fins, it feels just a little bit warm. I would say under 40C, which is more than ideal. The fan is a small CPU fan from an old Pentium, very silent (I bet is quieter than the same card with a fan).

I will try to connect the pc monitor I have instead the tv, and see what happens. I have a 21" CRT. If the contrast "random" changes dissapear, it means is the tv causing it, not the card, right?