nub questions re dvb-t cpu usage, signal issues?

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › nub questions re dvb-t cpu usage, signal issues?

baboeska

21 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#24104 15-Jul-2008 13:32

DVB-T Questions

Ok,
I got an Asus Mycinema 7131P, GBPVR, the Cyberlink H.264 Codec, the Monogram
AAC Codec, and finally after a fair bit of tinkering around, with a rooftop
aerial, I was able to pick up DVB-T in Central Wellington.
A little while later I managed to get the electronic EPG to work a week in
advance thanks to a guide here.

Now, what I am wondering is;

1. How can I lower my cpu usage?
Will Nvidia Purevideo 2/HD do this? What H.264 Codecs support DVB-T also
support Windows XP and Hardware Acceleration and, ideally, are free?
How do I get/install this? At times, cpu usage gets really high... 20% for C4,
35-40% for Freeview HD Test, 35-40% for TV2, 50-70% for TV3, 10% for Maori TV
and 15% for TVNZ 6 & 7.

2. Sometimes the signal goes black for a second or two before coming back, is
this normal? It seems to be more likely to happen when the CPU usage is maxed
out.

3. Sometimes the audio is out of sync on TV2, is this normal and how do I fix
it?

4. Why is there a 4-5 second delay in changing channels?

5. I have a dual monitor setup, can I watch DVB-T on one screen and game on
another? C4 would beat ingame music...

6. Would all round performance increase if I used Vista or XP 64 instead of XP
32?

7. Are there any other applications that would lead to lower CPU usage than GBPVR, and what Codecs are the best to use?

8. What is the difference between CoreAVC and Cyberlink's H.264 codec? Does CoreAVC improve performance?

I'm sorry if these questions have been asked before, I've read quite a few
guides but a little bit of help to finetune this setup would be great :).

System:
COre 2 Duo e6300 @ 1.86ghz
GA-965P-DS3 Mobo
8800GTS 320mb
2gbs ram
Asus Mycinema 7131p Hybrid
Windows XP 32
GBPVR
Cyberlink H.264 codec

1gkar

722 posts

Ultimate Geek

#148302 15-Jul-2008 21:26

DVB-T Questions

Ok,
I got an Asus Mycinema 7131P (is this a DVB-T tuner card??), GBPVR, the Cyberlink H.264 Codec what version?, the Monogram
AAC Codec, and finally after a fair bit of tinkering around, with a rooftop
aerial, I was able to pick up DVB-T in Central Wellington.
A little while later I managed to get the electronic EPG to work a week in
advance thanks to a guide here.

Now, what I am wondering is;

1. How can I lower my cpu usage?
Will Nvidia Purevideo 2/HD do this? No. This is only relavent fro MPEG2. What H.264 Codecs support DVB-T also
support Windows XP and Hardware Acceleration and, ideally, are free? http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=84&TopicId=20747
How do I get/install this? At times, cpu usage gets really high... 20% for C4,
35-40% for Freeview HD Test, 35-40% for TV2, 50-70% for TV3, 10% for Maori TV
and 15% for TVNZ 6 & 7. Check inside PowerDVD configuration/video for anything called hardware acceleration (HA). Is it checked? If not, there is the reason for the relatively high CPU usage.

2. Sometimes the signal goes black for a second or two before coming back, is
this normal? It seems to be more likely to happen when the CPU usage is maxed
out. Most likely answered own question. Also may be a cabling and/or connections' issue.

3. Sometimes the audio is out of sync on TV2, is this normal and how do I fix
it? Never had this concern (I use Mediaportal) Check inside GBPVR or frontend app for 'lip sync' or similar for adjustment.

4. Why is there a 4-5 second delay in changing channels? This is normal for software frontends like GBPVR, Mediaportal etc.

5. I have a dual monitor setup, can I watch DVB-T on one screen and game on
another? C4 would beat ingame music... Not adiviseable. Imagine your WAF points if you disrupted the other half's favourite programme record as gaming whilst recording DVB-T would lost likely cause stutters etc.

6. Would all round performance increase if I used Vista or XP 64 instead of XP
32? No.

7. Are there any other applications that would lead to lower CPU usage than GBPVR, and what Codecs are the best to use? It's not the frontend that dictates the CPU usage, its the codecs.

8. What is the difference between CoreAVC and Cyberlink's H.264 codec? Does CoreAVC improve performance? Stick with PowerDVD. AVC does not have hardware acceleration at present (unless it is a very recent inclusion).

I'm sorry if these questions have been asked before, I've read quite a few
guides but a little bit of help to finetune this setup would be great :).

System:
COre 2 Duo e6300 @ 1.86ghz
GA-965P-DS3 Mobo
8800GTS 320mb
2gbs ram
Asus Mycinema 7131p Hybrid
Windows XP 32
GBPVR
Cyberlink H.264 codec

PS. Welcome to the forum.

Silverstone LC14 HTPC Case/Intel E4600 CPU/GA-EP35-DS3 MOBO/Asus EN9500GT graphics/2GB RAM/total 2TB HDD space/HVR-2200 & 2X 150MCE tuner cards/LG GGC-H20L BD Drive/MCE2005/Mediaportal/TVServer 1.1.0Final/LG 55"3D LED-TV/Denon AVR-1803 receiver/X1 projector

baboeska

21 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#148510 16-Jul-2008 14:30

Hi 1gkar, thanks for the help :)
I've managed to get my cpu usage down a bit via some random dxVa tweak I did, was getting approx 40% on TV3.
I'm also getting a problem in that recordings I make don't have audio, the tv2 glitch seems to have fixed itself somehow.
When it's left alone, playback is smooth and good most of the time.

I'm not sure if the video card I have (geforce 8800 gts 320mb, G-80 chipset) supports hardware H.264 decoding, as an 8 series I felt confident it would, however am now less certain?
It can seem to offload some of the load, but I'm not getting the same efficiency as others yet.

But yeah thanks for the answers to the questions, that's been very helpful.

Add: I worked out what reduced the load, going to Fullscreen Exclusive Custom mode from VMR9 in GBPVR options changed to a far lower cpu usage, but I can't window the video feed and get low cpu usage at the same time.
Also, the fullscreen feed seems to be locked to display one.
I do feel further cpu load reduction can be gotten, I'm just not sure how yet.

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#148534 16-Jul-2008 15:49

The 320mb 8800GTS doesn't support h264 acceleration sorry, as far as i know. An 8500GT is the lowest card which will support it, but sucks obviously for gaming.

baboeska

21 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#148547 16-Jul-2008 16:22

Hey eXDee, Yeah, there is some hardware acceleration going on here, but it's not to the same level as with an 8500 or 8600, and seems to be limited to display one, doesn't extend to display two, and isn't as good as hardware acceleration gets, still it's better than nothing.
I read a pdf on the nvidia site http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html doing a comparison between them, while they all had "h.264 hardware acceleration", there were two other features that only the 8500's and 8600's had, not the 8800 gts's and gtx's, so I think I'm probably nearing the limit of hardware acceleration and need a new cpu/vid card to get this to run better.
So I'm not sure what level fo hardware acceleration is achievable and whether I've maxed that out or not.

Gaming is pretty sweet with an 8800gts, most things run on high.

Have solved the audio issue, using the twinhan codec from digital tv, from the link above, it's working well.
Highly recommend digital-tv's codecs actually.
CPU usage is higher than it should be, but hey it is dvb-t and it is working well all up :)

Next time I upgrade my system (which won't be for a while, I think the 8800gts320 is worth holding onto for another year or two), I'll make sure whatever vid card I get does this stuff well in hardware mode, just not really worth it to sell and buy atm.
As it is, it works well enough, I can watch, record, change channel, use epg, and it's semi optimised, so that's good enough for now I guess, unless anyone has further suggestions for tweaks?

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#148556 16-Jul-2008 17:04

Yeah i think it has a bit of support due to later drivers, but not full hardware acceleration. With full support it would be sub 10% CPU usage all the time. What kind of usage are you getting on yours?

8800GTS is a pretty sweet card though for gaming.

baboeska

21 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#148565 16-Jul-2008 17:26

Well, to start with without hardware acceleration, I was getting 20% for C4,
35-40% for Freeview HD Test, 35-40% for TV2, 50-70% for TV3, 10% for Maori TV
and 15% for TVNZ 6 & 7.

Now,
I get approx 40-50% total cpu usage for TV3, PVR using 30-40% cpu.
Now:
TV3 @ 40-50%
TV2 @ 25-40%
Freeviw HD Test is about 30-35%
There is some improvement, but it's not ideal. Still, atleast it's a bit better.

Geekzone support

Support Geekzone with one-off or recurring donations Donate via PressPatron.

itey

479 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 84

#148621 16-Jul-2008 20:05

atleast you can play the channels

(unlike my crappy pc)

baboeska

21 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#148766 17-Jul-2008 09:54

Hmm, wonder if your pc would handle it with hardware acceleration and an 8500 or something? They are pretty cheap on pricespy, I can't justify the outlay myself, but it'd be interesting to know whatsort of cpu is the minimum if you have hw acceleration going on.
Must be nice to have sky itey :P (read a few of your forum posts)

baboeska

21 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#148808 17-Jul-2008 11:44

Oh yeah,re the Asus Mycinema p7131 hybrid analogue, fm and dvb-t card, it doesn't officially support NZ DVB-T, and I queried Asus and they confirmed this.
It bundles with Powercinema, but I can'tmake Powercinema work with h.264 dvb-t, only DVB-T audio feeds.

However, it is a good card, its very affordable ($60ish) on www.pricespy.co.nz and the default driver on disc allows it to be used with GBPVR to watch DVB-T Freeview HD with a working 7 day EPG, once the guides here have been followed.

I haven't gotten the bundled remote to work with GBPVR yet, I'm not sure how to do that, apart from that it's great.

All up, my experience with it has been good, and I'd recommend it for purchase if someone wants a cheap and effective pci DVB-T card.
The only recommendation I would make is to make sure you have a graphics card fully capable of hardware acceleration of h.264 streams, but that's an issue that applies to almost all decoder cards.
And the h.264 codec I'm using is the Cyberlinkh.264 (Azureware) from the free app, Digital-TV, it works well for me and gives me limited hardware acceleration.
But yeah, if you want a cheap, New Zealand compatible pci capable dvb-t card, and are capable of doing some tweaking and setup, this one is good.

baboeska

21 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#155931 11-Aug-2008 15:53

Ok.
Great experience under Windows XP 32.
Tried Vista x64, the card really doesn't like it. GBPVR doesn't start, media portal worked for a while until my computers date was reset (overclocking related), and then the mysql database died.
Asus don't support the card in New Zealand at all, that's ok, that means you have to use 3rd party apps and codecs etc.
Media Portal was great until one date change and my entire SQL database died and refused to fix itself.
Media Portal is great, except that if it's that reliant on an external database that can get fried after one date change, that's pretty average, still, for free it was great til it stopped working.
All up, I would recommend buying something for a little more that is actually certified and guaranteed to work in New Zealand with the software out of the box, unless you are ok with Windows Xp 32 as your operating system.