Which version of Forceware/purevideo to use

[PhillJones]

To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question

I have forceware release 80 series, not sure the exact number and purevideo version 196.

I have the situation where 'smart' won't work without the glitch and sometimes I get stutters.

Should I upgrade to the bang up to date versions are is there a more recommended combination?

I see in the release notes that 'smart' deinterlacing has been removed from purevideo 223. Does that mean that nVIDIA never fixed this problem and you pretty much have to just set it to automatic or is 'smarter' mode still there and the best option?

If I have a 6600GT card, is it really a waste of time or will I benefit from greater stability?

[sjgore]

I'm currently using SageTV 6.0.19 with Forceware 97.92 with my 8800GTX, and Purevideo 1.02.223. No problems at all. Haven't played with the deinterlacing options though, it's set up to whatever the default is.

Steve.

[camus]

I saw that note too, oddly Smart is still there (I noticed this the other day and never bothered checking into it.

I use 93.71 Forceware and 1.02.223 PV.

[Muchacho]

I have the same card as you and cannot get smooth playback using the new drivers (I am using the latest purevideo decoders). I think that the new driver provide a better picture, but for HD I cannot get smooth playback. I would stay with the older drivers.

[PhillJones]

Originally Posted by Muchacho

I have the same card as you and cannot get smooth playback using the new drivers (I am using the latest purevideo decoders). I think that the new driver provide a better picture, but for HD I cannot get smooth playback. I would stay with the older drivers.

Thanks. That's not good news as I'm getting this interlacing artifacts

http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...urevideo+frame

even though I have the decoder set to auto, not smart and wanted to see if I could cure it.

[IncredibleHat]

Im using 93.71 with onboard 6150 nvidia, and purevideo 223.

The color quality is worse than prior drivers, but performance is better. With 8x.xx drivers, I would constantly get this "pause for 3 seconds then quick speed up" issue in ALL recordings of sage. Random times, but always at least three or four times through any half hour show. Was so fricken annoying.

I have not tired the newer 93.81 beta drivers yet... and I dont even know where 97.91 comes from...

Oh, and I dont use "smart" because it does this flash of an off frame randomly and much too frequently, so to keep myself from going into epileptic fits, I use "automatic".

[clmolnar]

I am the one that originally created that thread above. I have been using the purevideo 223 set on "automatic" ever since then, however I recently started recording and watching HDTV with a HDHomeRun.

For all of my analog shows and HD broadcasts in 720p the "automatic" setting works fine, however on 1080i broadcasts, I receive a glitch similar to using "smart" mode on my analog recordings. It's noticeable mostly in dark background scenes, but it happens all the time. Definitely looks like a frame being played out of order. Switching to the "film" setting clears it up, however quickly moving scenes cause pixelation. Switching to the SageTV decoder also clears it up, but again, pixelation problems during many scenes.

I've tried playing with many settings, and recently have come to the realization that I am just going to have to buy a different graphics card to alleviate the issue. It doesn't look like NVIDIA is planning on updating the purevideo decoder any time soon.

Carl

[PhillJones]

The 97.92 drivers are for the 88xxx series card only. You can get them off the nVIDIA website if you follow the link for the driver for that series, it's listed separately. I don't know why. Maybe they've had problems with 6000 generation cards and the newest drivers.

[PhillJones]

It looks like I am using version 223 after all.

I'm sure I didn't have this issue on HD channels before. I'm considering rolling back to 196. Especially if anybody else can confirm that the frame jump issue is present in automatic for HD material in 223 but not 196?

Update: version 196 won't work with my setup. I think some versions of purevideo don't work well with some versions of forceware.

[CanadianEh]

I just realized I'm still using the old .196 version of PureVideo. I went to nVidia's site to download the newest version (.223) however it seems to use a different registration scheme than the older version. In .196, I believe I provide my name, last 4 digits of cred. card, and a key. Am I downloading from the wrong location, or do I need to re-purchase in order to use the newer version?



Thanks!

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by CanadianEh

I just realized I'm still using the old .196 version of PureVideo. I went to nVidia's site to download the newest version (.223) however it seems to use a different registration scheme than the older version. In .196, I believe I provide my name, last 4 digits of cred. card, and a key. Am I downloading from the wrong location, or do I need to re-purchase in order to use the newer version?



Thanks!

There should be a download if you purchased from nVidia and a different download if you bought OEM. It's in Download drivers-Multimedia Software-nvidia Purevideo Decoder-then Retail Kit or Update kit.


Gerry

Gerry

[millers_35]

Heres a link to their ftp site. ftp://download.nvidia.com/Windows/dvd_decoder/

Miller

[CanadianEh]

Thanks for the help, guys. Apparently I was blind and downloaded their trial version by mistake. I now have the correct version. Now, I just need to plan some time to upgrade (and troubleshoot the inevitable problems I will encounter after upgrading.. lol)

Thanks!

[millers_35]

Originally Posted by CanadianEh

Thanks for the help, guys. Apparently I was blind and downloaded their trial version by mistake. I now have the correct version. Now, I just need to plan some time to upgrade (and troubleshoot the inevitable problems I will encounter after upgrading.. lol)

Thanks!

Lol I heard that. I'm still on the old version as well. I'm too scared to update but I will sooner or later.

Miller

[PhillJones]

I've done some digging, tipped off by somebody in the v6 stutter thread. Apparently version 84.21 comes highly recomended. I've searched AVS forums with not much look but I have found a couple of references to the fact that 'most people' use 84.21 because the newer versions are broken.

IncredibleHat, Why not try retrograding?

I'm going to check the exact version number tonight and try using those.

About the release notes, in case anybody cares. It's a typo, it should read that the 'smarter' deinterlacing option has been removed.

[lovingHDTV]

Originally Posted by PhillJones

I've done some digging, tipped off by somebody in the v6 stutter thread. Apparently version 84.21 comes highly recomended. I've searched AVS forums with not much look but I have found a couple of references to the fact that 'most people' use 84.21 because the newer versions are broken.

IncredibleHat, Why not try retrograding?

I'm going to check the exact version number tonight and try using those.

About the release notes, in case anybody cares. It's a typo, it should read that the 'smarter' deinterlacing option has been removed.

I just went through this whole thing a week or so ago as I decided to rebuild my client machine and forgot to note the driver versions. I tried them all from 93.71 down to 84.21. 84.21 works great for me but all the newer ones had stuttering in them. I'm running a 128MB 6200.

[CanadianEh]

Interesting... can anyone using any 7000 (7600, 7800l, 7950) series card also confirm that the 84.21 drivers perform.. um.. better?

[camus]

I think they are comparable, somethings look slightly better with the 93.71, I recently went back to 84.21, I have tried all the 9X.XX releases, 93.71 has been the most stable, I just was having trouble gettings settings to stick. For example, I kept having to set the colors to default, repeatedly.

[PhillJones]

I checked last night and I have version 91.something. So I'm going to downgrade to try and fix my frame out of place issue.

Now, the question is. How do I do a clean install? I found this page
http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_4.html

I'm not very happy with that method as I have an nVIDIA chipset motherboard and don't want to sod that up in the process. I don't want to go into this blind as I will more than likely screw it up so any tips on how to do a clean downgrade would be greatl;y appreciated.

[lovingHDTV]

I was successful going into add/remove programs and removing the driver, then reboot, and install the downgraded driver.