Underpowered PC for SageTv/ffdshow?

[as79]

Hi everyone, I'm a long time lurker, first time poster.
I've been using SageTv for about 6 months with no issues whatsoever, very happy indeed, but I recently upgraded my TV to a HD Sony and noticed that the quality of my SD cable wasn't that great. I thought of ffdshow, with which I've had mixed experiences in the past. I came upon this guide shortly after.

The problem is, I can't run any of the filters in that guide (Avisynth, Dscaler, Resize or even Deinterlacing) without hitting 100% CPU usage and of course causing unbearable stutter.

My HTPC specs are:
1.8Mhz P4
1 GB Ram
Avermedia M150
GeForce MX4000

Am I THAT underpowered or am I missing something?
Thanks for your opinions and/or help!
Andres

[hechacker1]

yes.. unfortunately ffdshow, however optimized it might be, still runs completely in cpu software.

on my much more powerfull system, 2.6GHz Athlon 64, 2GB RAM, Nvidia 6800GT

ffdshow can still consume 100% of my cpu if I set it up that way. The resize and deinterlace filters are the biggest cpu hogs.

That is why I use nvidia decoders and have a 6800gt.. it allows for hardware acceleration and hardware deinterlacing that rivals ffdshow. Although it doesn't do the high quality sharpening/resizing, I don't need it because the nvidia decoder is generally high quality anyways.

i'd recommend trying the nvidia decoder (purevideo) and see if it helps improve the quality of your video.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by hechacker1

That is why I use nvidia decoders and have a 6800gt.. it allows for hardware acceleration and hardware deinterlacing that rivals ffdshow.

The deinterlacing "crushes" anything ffdshow can do.

[as79]

I tried the purevideo decoder but I only saw a very small improvement. Hardly noticeable actually.
I might go for a 6600gt (the 6800 is a bit beyond my reach right now) since it would be a lot cheaper and less time consuming than upgrading my mobo/cpu. Thanks for the idea.

[hechacker1]

when you install the nvidia decoder make sure u play around with the settings to get it to your likeing.

VMR and overlay produce different outputs, and need different encoder settings (different brightness, saturation, etc)

For purevideo, i think the optimal solution is "smart" deinterlacing, but i don't know if that is dependant on hardware.

Also, select the "default" decoder in SageTV and the nvidia decoder should automatically be used if it has the highest merit.

if you force the decoder by selecting it in SageTV, you will have lower quality and the control panel might not show up for the decoder.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by hechacker1

VMR and overlay produce different outputs, and need different encoder settings (different brightness, saturation, etc)

Overlay and VMR9 require different display settings, you shouldn't (IMO) be changing encoding settings based on output.

if you force the decoder by selecting it in SageTV, you will have lower quality and the control panel might not show up for the decoder.

Not true, there's no quality degridation by Forcing selection in Sage, the only thing that's different if you do that is the tray icon doesn't work.