Which decoder filters?

[Athfar]

I'm sure this has been asked plenty of times (maybe a sticky is needed), but what decoder filters are best?

I have heard the the ffdshow filters are the best for performance, but something like the intervideo (windvd) decoder filter is best quality...

How do the SageTV and Hauppauge decoders work compared to the latter? and do you guys/gals have any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[gplasky]

Forget ffdshow-adds overhaed to the processor.

nVidia decoders work best for me and has the best quality.

Sage and Hauppauge don't work for commercials DVDs.

Gerry

[blade]

Nvidia decoders for me as well.

[Athfar]

What if im not using an nvidia graphics card? ATI...

[stanger89]

Doesn't matter really, they're basically the best available on any card (IMO), they just happen to better on nVidia cards than ATI.

[jptaz]

Stanger,

What version of the NVidia Decoder are you using and what Driver Version?

I have had little success with the trial Version of the NVidia Decoder with my brand new 6600GT using VMR9, FSE, SageTV 4.1. It plays fine for a while then it decides to stutter a bit. No CPU issue from what I can tell, No disk issue from what I can tell. THe audio continues, but it is as if the video pauses briefly then skips ahead. I don't see this on my other clients or on the Media MVP and if I hit rewind immediately it plays fine...or even if I wait a few seconds.

My SageTV Server now has bare bones software just to get it to run SageTV...I rebuilt the box from Scratch when I got my 3Ware 9500S-12. I have a 30 GB boot partition on the 1.33TB RAID 5 array and the remainder is dedicated to SgaeTV Recordings. I am currently using my NVDVD 2.55 Decoder in Overlay mode and it seems fine, but would really rather use VMR9 mode since it does look better...after all it is part of the Reason I got the 6600GT card.

Thanks,
John

[stanger89]

1.02-185 Decoders
81.85 Drivers

[blade]

I'm running the same versions as Stanger on my 6600GT and have no problems whatsoever. Have you tried different audio codecs? Sometimes they can cause problems.

[stanger89]

Well I saw nVDVD 2.55 in there, which is really old.

[jptaz]

Actually the problems were worse with the trial version of the new NVidia Decoders....I say was because now I am not having the problem any more.

I uninstalled Norton Antivirus and everything plays perfectly using VM9, FSE and the old NVDVD 2.55. I may give the new decoders another shot since the problem seems to be related to Norton and it would be nice to have the decoders really take advantage of my 6600GT...Too bad I have to use the Version 78 of the drivers since NVidia broke the Component out support in the newer versions.

Do you guys run antivirus? It seems weird that Anti virus was causing the problem since I added the media drive as an excluded from scans along with all the media file extensions.

Do other people have anti virus installed?

Thanks for the input,
John

[Todd33]

I just installed the trail Nvidia decoders. Are they worth the $20 for Sage if you do not watching DVDs on the PC? I also noticed under decoders it list nvidia decoder and post-processor separately, which is for what?

I have a 7800GT if that matters, just trying to get a handle on whether this is worth the money, Its hard for me to see the difference. I did notice the credits and news crawls stutter now, which is not good.

[jptaz]

What Version of the Java Runtime do people use?

Jeff posted the following which suggests the 1.4.2 is the preferrred option if FSE is used.

Internally we use a few different JVMs to test with, all 1.4.2 or 1.5.0 based at the present time. They both should work fine with SageTV. The main difference is the way the memory management is handled in 1.4.2 vs. 1.5. SageTV optimizes the garbage collector for 1.4, but it doesn't for 1.5. The reason is that 1.5 has a more optimized garbage collector which didn't need tweaking.

The other difference we've noticed is with FSE. It does seem to have some weird issue with the 1.5 JVM, and we've added code to workaround the issues that occur (although it just 'works around' the problem, the problem still occurs). Those issues do not occur in the 1.4.2 JVM.

My recommendation would be to use the 1.4.2 JVM (the latest from Sun is fine, the one in our installer is probably not the absolute latest) if you're using FSE (full screen exclusive) mode. But if you're not using FSE you're probably better off with the 1.5 JVM (it's what I use on my SageTV systems at home) because they'll give slightly better performance.

You can switch between JVMs by editing the registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Runtime Environment\CurrentVersion

If you've got both 1.4 and 1.5 installed then you can just set that to be which one you want SageTV to use.
__________________
Jeffrey Kardatzke
CTO
SageTV, LLC

[stanger89]

John, no I don't run AV on my HTPC, don't really download anything on it either though.

Originally Posted by Todd33

I just installed the trail Nvidia decoders. Are they worth the $20 for Sage if you do not watching DVDs on the PC? I also noticed under decoders it list nvidia decoder and post-processor separately, which is for what?

I have a 7800GT if that matters, just trying to get a handle on whether this is worth the money, Its hard for me to see the difference. I did notice the credits and news crawls stutter now, which is not good.

I'd say the decoders are more worth it for TV than for DVD actually. The primary reason for the decoders, or more correctly the primary benefit, is the superb deinterlacing. Something that goes mostly unused on DVDs, but is essential for recordings.

With a 7800, absolutely get the decoders.

[Commodore 64]

For DVDs, I jsut use the nV decoders. THe only reason I would use FFDshow is to resize/upconvert, but quite frankly I'm pleased with my PQ on DVDs (I run at 1920 x 1080) with out FFDshow upconversion.

I do have FFDshow installed because I use the Xvid, Divx and h264 decoders in it. I'm having an issue with Sage TV wherein it seems like Sage cannot figure out what audio output to use.

In FFDshow, I have DD and DTS set to output to S/PDIF, and in the "output" section, you have to configure 16bit, or AC3. If I enable AC3, the files that I've encoded with AC3 play fine, but with files i've encoded with MP3, the audio doesn't play properly. My receiver switches from PCM to DD mode continuously and the sound just cuts in and out. It is the same for MP3s in My Music.

I have to close Sage and configure FFDshow audio each time...if I want to listen to music or watch a DIVX/Xvid with non ac3 sound, I have to select 16bit output. If I want to watch a DIVX/XVID with AC3, I need to switch the output to AC3.

It's pretty much an PITA, and the only PITA left with Sage. I've taken to ripping all my DVDs to harddrive straight up, but that takes up quite a bit of space butI still have 40 or so Xvids that are not AC3 encoded...

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Commodore 64

For DVDs, I jsut use the nV decoders. THe only reason I would use FFDshow is to resize/upconvert, but quite frankly I'm pleased with my PQ on DVDs (I run at 1920 x 1080) with out FFDshow upconversion.

Me as well. And I didn't want to sound like nVidia's decoders aren't good for DVDs, they're great, maybe the best, but for DVDs (which are generally progressive and well-flagged) the difference between nVidia and alternatives (most noteably Dscaler 5) are much smaller than with video/mixed content. My comments were meant to emphasize the importance/benefit for Video.

I do have FFDshow installed because I use the Xvid, Divx and h264 decoders in it. I'm having an issue with Sage TV wherein it seems like Sage cannot figure out what audio output to use.

I doubt that's a Sage issue, it just passes the audio to the decoder.

In FFDshow, I have DD and DTS set to output to S/PDIF, and in the "output" section, you have to configure 16bit, or AC3. If I enable AC3, the files that I've encoded with AC3 play fine, but with files i've encoded with MP3, the audio doesn't play properly. My receiver switches from PCM to DD mode continuously and the sound just cuts in and out. It is the same for MP3s in My Music.

Sounds like a bug in ffdshow, not properly flagging the data or something. You should try AC3 filter, it has options for what types of audio it will passthrough and what types it will decode.

[Commodore 64]

Sounds like a bug in ffdshow, not properly flagging the data or something. You should try AC3 filter, it has options for what types of audio it will passthrough and what types it will decode.

1. I enabled AC3 Filter, and set DD and DTS to passthrough. Still, I had the same behavior.

2. I went into Radlight filter manager and set FFDShow Audio FIlter to "Do Not Use". Still the same problem.

3. Unregistered the FFDshow Audio Filter with Radlight FIlter Mangaer. Mp3s would play, however, Xvid, Divx, and H264 videos were borked. The audio would play, but there was no video. Huh?

4. Reregistered FFDshow Audio Filter, but this time went through the codecs section of FFdshow Audio Config and manually set every single line item to "disabled". THIS SOLVED TEH PROBLEM

Thanks Stanger!

[Commodore 64]

The wife just called me.

Seems that MP3s now work, but .avi files with Mpeg audio have no sound.

Edit: Ok, I fixed it this time. I VNC'd in to the HTPC from work (After remote Desktopping in to my File Server from work). I had to set AC3Filter to pass through Mpeg Audio as well.

Now I can finally look towards setting up Sage Client on the HTPC upstairs.

[jptaz]

Since I figured out that my playback issues were the fault of my Anit Virus, which is now gone, I have reinstalled the NVidia Purevideo Decoders and must say I can see why everyone loves them. They definitely look really good...especially with VMR9 FSE.

John

[Athfar]

What about ATI's acclaimed AVIVO?

Older cards:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1280
X1600 X1800 cards:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1281
Hacked for both?:
http://www.elitebastards.com/page.php?pageid=13054

[domc]

Originally Posted by jptaz

NVidia Purevideo Decoders and must say I can see why everyone loves them. They definitely look really good...especially with VMR9 FSE.

John

Can you tell us what your exact settings are in the video setup? I downloaded the Purevideo drivers and didn't make my blurry picture better.

Do these drivers work for LIVE TV? Do these drivers work with the PVR-150 card?