ATI graphics card green blocks + update?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › ATI graphics card green blocks + update?

elkano

160 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#30232 2-Feb-2009 13:53

Hi Guys,

I have been looking at getting a new graphics card and was looking at several models from ATI but I hear they have some kind of problem decoding Freeview HD (something about getting green blocks etc).

Can anyone bring me up to speed as to exactly what the issue is?
Is it a driver issue, if so any word on when a fix is scheduled?

Any help with my questions would be appreciated.

Cheers

HTPC: Silverstone SST-LC16MR, AMD Athlon II X4 640 AM3, Hauppauge HVR-4000 & HVR-3000, Gigabyte MA-870A-UD3, Sapphire Radeon 6670 Ultimate, Asus Xonar Slim, LG GGC-H20L, MediaPortal 1.2.0, Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
Remote: Logitech Harmony 785
TV: Samsung PS50C7000
AV Reciever: Pioneer VSX-1018
Speakers: Klipsch synergy range F-2 Floorstands, S-2 surrounds, B-2 rear surrounds, C-2 centre, Sub 10.

1 | 2 | 3

8279 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 585

Trusted

#193409 2-Feb-2009 14:12

There were a lot of problems with the 8.x version of the ATI drivers because of this most people picked up Nvidia cards. ATI has 9.x drivers out now but almost no one is using ATI cards for their HTPC so I haven't heard if the issues have been resolved.

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#193441 2-Feb-2009 16:01

There hasnt been an issue since Catalyst 8.5.
I have a HD4850 and both the Media Player Classic, Arcsoft and Cyberlink h264 codecs all accelerate perfectly with the latest drivers, using a mediaportal client.

elkano

160 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#193613 3-Feb-2009 09:15

Hmm, updated to 9.1 catalyst and get the green blocks on TV3.

I'm using an onboard radeon 3200. With the old driver that came with the motherboard, TV3 was working the same as the other channels (stuttering and freezing every now and then but no green blocks, now all the other channels appear to work fine- just the issue with TV3.
I know this is due to it being 1080i, but have been unable to find a solution in the forums.
I keep hearing of a hotfix that works for agp cards, but have no idea if this is relevant to me.

Anyone got any ideas?

charley

183 posts

Master Geek

#193625 3-Feb-2009 09:44

Play around with the video renderer options. overlay in xp works great for me. If your using the poweredvd 8 decoder get the latest patch.

ASUS P5Q Mobo / Intel Core2Duo E8500 (3.8Ghz) CPU / CORSAIR DDR2-800 2GB RAM / Sapphire HD4850 (Dual Slot Cooler) Graphics Card / Hauppauge HVR-2200 / Hauppauge HVR-3000 / Corsair 520W HX PSU / Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB Hard Drive / Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler / XP PRO w/SP3 / DVBViewer / GB-PVR

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#193729 3-Feb-2009 16:27

Thats probably because its onboard. Discrete cards appear to have zero issues, whereas there STILL isn't an onboard GPU which can flawlessly decode h264 as a discrete card would, even the 9300 onboard still lags with 1080p/i.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#193733 3-Feb-2009 16:34

charley: Play around with the video renderer options. overlay in xp works great for me. If your using the poweredvd 8 decoder get the latest patch.

If you use overlay you lose hardware acceleration. That's why that solves the issue as the GPU is no longer doing any acceleration.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

elkano

160 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#193736 3-Feb-2009 16:38

but the other ATI discrete cards don't have any issues?
I'm looking at a 4550 from gigabyte as it will fix the hardware decode problems, fit in a single slot (with no fan) and give 7.1 LPCM.

charley

183 posts

Master Geek

#193761 3-Feb-2009 18:45

sbiddle:
charley: Play around with the video renderer options. overlay in xp works great for me. If your using the poweredvd 8 decoder get the latest patch.

If you use overlay you lose hardware acceleration. That's why that solves the issue as the GPU is no longer doing any acceleration.

Say what?

With the poweredvd 8 decoder, hardware acceleration works just fine for me when using overlay mode in xp. My E8500 uses around 5-10% when watching TV3 in HD.

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#193801 3-Feb-2009 20:44

In comparison its around 40% when HA is off with my e8500.

Also let me correct myself, there still isn't an integrated solution that can reliably be used for flawless hardware acceleration. The 9300 comes close it seems from a recent test by another member as he got it working fine, however i've spoken to someone who had it working but with stuttering on 1080p videos.

psk20

155 posts

Master Geek

#193897 4-Feb-2009 09:11

I'm having quite a few problems with my 4870 in windows 7. There aren't a lot of choices for drivers though. For me, channel 1-3 work somewhat ok, although they regularly spaz out when I use timeshifting. I can usually fix this by timeshifting again, minimizing and re-maximising media center, or restarting the program. Channels 4 are unwatchable - green blocks etc etc. Because I'm using media center I don't have a wide range of codecs to choose from - apparently media center uses it's own.

elkano

160 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#193927 4-Feb-2009 10:52

Weird, I just played around with Catalyst 9.1 and the 780G appears to be decoding tv3 alright now, unfortunately its doing so at ~30-40% on all channels, which would mean hardware acceleration is off as far as I can tell?

I have the cyberlink Powerdvd codec selected in media portal for both HVC 264 and Mpeg2. I have checked in the CC (ATI drivers) and MediaPortal and as far as I can tell hardware acceleration is selected in both programs.

Maybe someone can help me out here. Where do I have to look to be sure HA is definitely enabled for both ATI CC and mediaportal?

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

elkano

160 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#193942 4-Feb-2009 11:32

Think i just found the answer.
In a discussion about my 780G board:

9.1 breaks DXVA with XP users. The Pixel Format not sticking after reboot isn't fixed yet either. It sticks for a while for me, but after a few boot ups, it reverts back to RGB FULL 444. As soon as I find a stable release, I'm sticking with it. ATI seems to introduce problems with every couple releases.

Back to 8.10 I guess..

charley

183 posts

Master Geek

#194014 4-Feb-2009 15:05

Hardware acceleration also has to be enabled in power dvd.

I tried out the 9.1 drivers and could only get Hardware acceleration working when Theater mode overlay was set to "Theater mode (full screen)". Where as with the 8.12 drviers hardware acceleration works with either "Theater mode (full screen)" or "standard dual mode".

psk20

155 posts

Master Geek

#194054 4-Feb-2009 16:35

Anyone have any problems (or success) in using an ati video card with windows 7 media center freeview?

rhysb

435 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

Trusted

#194088 4-Feb-2009 18:59

Just my 2c, but I've just given up on my HD3850 and replaced it with a 9600GT.

I have noticed a significantly better PQ with the 9600GT on my calibrated 52". Mainly better contrast and more vibrant colours, but also less mpeg artifacts, such as banding, clouding and jaggies on strong reds.

The downside is that the HD3850 seemed to handle different frame rates better than the 9600GT does.

1 | 2 | 3