Freeview|HD + ATI H/W acceleration

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shermanp

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#21749 6-May-2008 01:07

Hi folks.
Have got a bit of an issue with some freeview channels and my ATI HD 3650 card.

I'm using the powerdvd 8 h.264 decoder, with H/W acceleration enabled. I am viewing freeview in Mediaportal RC1, and have set the PDVD decoder in the configuration. I have selected EVR as my video renderer (as I'm using vista..)
And I have a very nice smooth good quality video playback..... except for C4, Maori, TVNZ 6, 7, Sports Extra.
Basically, I am having severe (unwatchable) video quality with all of the 576i channels :(
TV ONE, TV2, TV3, and the Freeview|HD channels all display a perfect picture, with very good de-interlacing (for TV3).

Does anyone know what settings I can change somewhere to give me good playback in ALL channels?

PS: The same thing happens in GBPVR also.

Here is an example of what I mean regarding video quality. This is from C4:

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#128705 6-May-2008 06:46

If you're read virtually any thread on here regarding Freeview I've emphasises that buying an ATI video card for Freeview, particularly if you're using Vista, is a waste of time.

All ATI cards have issues with H.264 interlaced video using EVR, this includes ATI 2xxx, A3xxx and the 780G chipset and I've confirmed it myself with various cards and other people on here have as well. Since PowerDVD is the only H.264 codec that presently supports AVIVO hardware acceleration with the various programs it's hard to conclusively know if the problem is with Cyberlink's AVIVO or whether the issue is with ATI's Catalyst drivers but I'm fairly confident it's ATI's drivers.

There is unforunately nothing you can do to fix this except buy an NVidia video card - anything above an 8500GT works great.

Nety

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#128716 6-May-2008 08:38

sbiddle: There is unforunately nothing you can do to fix this except buy an NVidia video card - anything above an 8500GT works great.

Think you mean from a 8500GT and up...

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shermanp

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#128726 6-May-2008 09:17

Damn. It's a nice card otherwise...
/me will keep researching to if there is anything that can be done to improve matters.

And it isn't have trouble with ALL de-interlacing, just those 576i channels (ie: TV3's 1080i is near perfect)

sub

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#128729 6-May-2008 09:29

sbiddle: Since PowerDVD is the only H.264 codec that presently supports AVIVO hardware acceleration with the various programs it's hard to conclusively know if the problem is with Cyberlink's AVIVO or whether the issue is with ATI's Catalyst drivers but I'm fairly confident it's ATI's drivers.

The ArcSoft H.264 decoder also works, and gives nice low CPU usage. I havnt specifically tested it to see if it has the same problem as exhibited with the Cyberlink+ATI+DXVA2 though.

sbiddle

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#128730 6-May-2008 09:29

TV3 may seem OK but the problems will occur. The main issue is corruption when changing between channels and pixelating during playback of interlaced video. It occurs on all interlaced channels but isn't something that occurs all the time.

I don't think you'll find a solution - I have spent hours on it and know others who have done so as well. ATI's support weren't particularly interested either. It's an issue that's been reported in numerous places on the net, there are plenty of DVBViewer users reporting similair issues overseas.

talsemgeest

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#128848 6-May-2008 16:50

Atis not all bad, I've got near perfect picture on an ati radeon X1250. Not hardware decoding, but running on an AMD 4200+.

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Nirodha

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#128862 6-May-2008 17:51

shermanp: Hi folks.
Have got a bit of an issue with some freeview channels and my ATI HD 3650 card.

Basically, I am having severe (unwatchable) video quality with all of the 576i channels :(
TV ONE, TV2, TV3, and the Freeview|HD channels all display a perfect picture, with very good de-interlacing (for TV3).

Does anyone know what settings I can change somewhere to give me good playback in ALL channels?

PS: The same thing happens in GBPVR also.

Hi shermanp,

This is caused by a Catalyst driver issue. I had these very same problems until I rolled back to the 8.420.0.0 version of them. I'm running an ATI HD 2600XT 256MB, Vista Business 32bit SP1, Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 H.264 decoder and DVB Viewer 3.9.2.0. And, I can report that everything is just fine under this configuration.

kind regards

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Media softs: DVBViewer Pro 3.9.4, Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 Ultra, Media Player Classic - Home Cinema 1.1, Winamp Pro 5.531, iZotope Ozone and AC3 Filter 1.11 on Windows Vista Business (32 bit) SP1.

sbiddle

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#128866 6-May-2008 17:59

talsemgeest: Atis not all bad, I've got near perfect picture on an ati radeon X1250. Not hardware decoding, but running on an AMD 4200+.

But in all honestly you really do need H.264 hardware acceleration. Even with a powerful CPU the picture quality of a hardware decoded signal vs software is far superior.

talsemgeest

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#128917 6-May-2008 20:21

I've never tried hardware decoding so I wouldnt know. But my picture looks brilliant to me...

But ten weeks till I get a shiney new Nvidia card, so I can judge then...

Nety

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#128944 6-May-2008 21:11

10 weeks!! you making it yourself??

talsemgeest

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#128957 6-May-2008 21:49

Wish I could...

I'm not exactly rich, but I want a good one. I'm thinking about this.

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#128974 6-May-2008 22:26

getting off topic here but is 1gig going to give you anything? Have you read some reviews/performance tests to see if a 1gig gives you anything over a 512meg model?

Nirodha

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#129005 7-May-2008 01:53

From the reviews I've read it seems the general consenus is that 1GB of dedicated video RAM is more of a marketing gimmick, right now, than it is a absolute necessity. There are no games that actually use that much video RAM for textures. As a matter of fact, very few even use 512MB at the moment.

While this may change in the future, I suspect that a newer generation of video cards would supercede any current 1GB ones in terms of performance anyway - perhaps many times over. Also, we have technologies like HyperMemory (ATI) and TurboCache (Nvidia) that will grab the required System RAM in case of a shortfall on the video card's part.

talsemgeest

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#129011 7-May-2008 06:47

I'm not just going on the RAM, it looks like a pretty good card. But I might change my mind.

ajst2duk

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#129057 7-May-2008 10:18

I can second the comments having wasted a lot of time effort and credibility with the family over trying to get ATI cards running stable with HDTV. I had a shiny new HD3870 which in every other respect was a fantastic card, I swapped to a 9600GT and I'm now fine. It hurt at the time - being an ATI fanboi since the mighty 9800 Pro, but that's life. Something kooky in the drivers - tried older ones - newer ones etc. I have a passive 9600GT, which runs in the 70-80's during hdtv, but rips up to 100! in gameplay. You can pick up 9600GT's now for $200 +gst at etc computers these days, they will be as good as the one you are looking at I reckon, the extra mem issue aside.

I'm just a crazy newbie?
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