How I stopped VMR9 stuttering (including 1080i) and solved all my sound issues.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by stewart710

I'm just waiting for the 8600gt cards to come down in price some more, before I jump in. I play some games, so I don't want anything less than the 7600gt that I already have, but I don't feel like dropping another ~$120 into the moneypit that SageTV has turned into. Especially considering that was the reason I spent the money on the 7600gt in December. SageTV techs also continue to claim that the 7600gt and the 3800x2 cpu are more than enough to accomplish HD with VMR9 without stutters. I wish I had bought their "magic combination" of parts that allow this feat .

For the people who claim the 8500 and 8600 series solved their problems, is that still the case? thanks.

It still stands true for me.

[Keenan]

Same here. I'm not using my 73" CRT-RPTV anymore, could never get the color right, but with a 22" LCD WS monitor everything looks great(as good as an LCD can anyways).

I'm beginning to think that there is something not right with the 7600, at least in the config I was using it, as I just built a machine for a friend that has an onboard 6200(I think) and it runs Sage just fine.

[stewart710]

Thanks for the updates guys! For the sake of the rest of us, it would be awesome if you do post back here if you run into any other related issues with your new cards.

[Steep]

I have an 8500GT and get stuttering while watching live HD via SageTV.

AMD x2 4600+
Asus m2npv-vm
1 gig 'o ram
Gigabyte 8500GT
WinXP Pro sp2
Sage 6.2.4
Java 1.6

Latest Drivers.

I just rebuilt the box a few days ago and have only watched SD and standard DVD until last night. Pulled up HD Leno+Letterman last night and had stuttering in each. VMR9, 3D accelleration, non FSE.

Only different thing about my setup is that i'm using the Video codec that came with PowerDVD 7.3. I was under the impression that the PowerDVD filter somehow "contained" the nvidia PureVideo filters because when I load up Power DVD it has a series of logos in the background with the NVIDIA PureVideo logo being one of them.

I'll try some things tonight if I can find the time.

[GollyJer]

Originally Posted by Steep

VMR9, 3D accelleration, non FSE.

Turn on Full Screen Exclusive, exit then restart Sage, and I bet the stuttering goes away.

[Steep]

Originally Posted by GollyJer

Turn on Full Screen Exclusive, exit then restart Sage, and I bet the stuttering goes away.

That made the major stuttering go away, but the hi-def video through my HDHomeRun still seems like its operating at a much lower framerate (not as smooth) than it should be.

I have a new Samsung Plasma with a built in QAM tuner and I tuned Sage into the same channel that my TV was tuned into, and then switched back and forth between the 2. I was doing the tests watching HD golf and tennis tournaments yesterday.

With the TV tuned into those channels, the image was very fluid and you could see the flight of the yellow tennis ball was very smooth (for example). However, when I tuned into Sage, the overall images was not as smooth and the tennis ball seemed like a low framerate animation. You could see it 'jumping' through its path rather than looking smooth like on the TV.

For what it's worth, I viewed the recorded Sage video in Windows Media Player, as I've seen some do, and the playback was the same as Sage. So, perhaps my sage configuration isn't tuned somewhere else. I have recording quality set to 3.2 gig/hour (Standard DVD), but am not sure if that matters for the HomeRun.

Could it be that the QAM tuner in my television is superior to what my HDHomeRun + Computer is capable of? And that no matter what I do, recorded signals will never look as good as live signals? When I play downloaded 1080p/720p clips and upscaled DVD's, they look stunning and very smooth.

[GollyJer]

Try recording at the highest quality possible. That should get you a lot closer to the direct signal picture. The fact that both WMP and Sage play the file back the same means it's definitely not a Sage playback issue at this point.

[ToxMox]

Recording quality has zero effect on the HDHomeRun. I think it IS a playback issue. It just writes the transport stream to the drive.
Did you attempt to follow the instructions in the first post of this thread?

Try playing back the resulting file in PowerDVD and see if it plays smooth.

[mikesm]

Folks, I am trying to bring a new client online and am running into problems. It's a small form factor core 2 duo system with the integrated Intel GMA3000 graphics, which are supposed to be pretty good for HD playback.

I am running XP SP2, and Sage 6.1.9, with the cyberlink powerdvd codecs installed, and set to be preferred using the deccheck utility from Microsoft. Video is quite smooth. No problem there, on 1080i film and TV. The issue is audio.

The video and audio are out of sync by a slight amount, but clear enough that I can see the lips are out of sync with the audio. The audio is provided by a soundmax chip and feed to the display's speakers via stereo line outs. Powerdvd settings for audio are set to stereo.

Sage is set to use all defaults, but I have tried setting the audio codec explicitly to powerdvd and to ac3filter but still have the issue.

Any idea as to what is wrong here?

PS One other issue. On SD video, I can skip forward just fine, but on HD video, doing a skip forward causes a lot fo stuttering, and then the video stops for a few secs and then starts up again fine. I don't think the problem is disk access - everything is stored on NAS server that is VERY fast and hooked together via gigabit ethernet. Any ideas?



Thanks,
mike

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by mikesm

Folks, I am trying to bring a new client online and am running into problems. It's a small form factor core 2 duo system with the integrated Intel GMA3000 graphics, which are supposed to be pretty good for HD playback.

I am running XP SP2, and Sage 6.1.9, with the cyberlink powerdvd codecs installed, and set to be preferred using the deccheck utility from Microsoft. Video is quite smooth. No problem there, on 1080i film and TV. The issue is audio.

The video and audio are out of sync by a slight amount, but clear enough that I can see the lips are out of sync with the audio. The audio is provided by a soundmax chip and feed to the display's speakers via stereo line outs. Powerdvd settings for audio are set to stereo.

Sage is set to use all defaults, but I have tried setting the audio codec explicitly to powerdvd and to ac3filter but still have the issue.

Any idea as to what is wrong here?

PS One other issue. On SD video, I can skip forward just fine, but on HD video, doing a skip forward causes a lot fo stuttering, and then the video stops for a few secs and then starts up again fine. I don't think the problem is disk access - everything is stored on NAS server that is VERY fast and hooked together via gigabit ethernet. Any ideas?



Thanks,
mike

The new beta is supposed have a lot of Transport Stream improvments, I'd recommend backing up your current install and giving that a shot.

Also, if this audio delay is contant on everything you play, its possibly your TV may have a small delay in it from processing the video (deinterlace, scale, etc.) and you can correct that by setting the audio delay in the preferences.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

The new beta is supposed have a lot of Transport Stream improvments, I'd recommend backing up your current install and giving that a shot.

Also, if this audio delay is contant on everything you play, its possibly your TV may have a small delay in it from processing the video (deinterlace, scale, etc.) and you can correct that by setting the audio delay in the preferences.

I was just about to try this, but upgraded to the latest version of java. This fixed delays and stutter, and I think even the lipsync problem.

Thanks,
mike

[Ryokurin]

I always had a small stutter issue that I finally solved and I'm just pointing out a fix just incase others have it.

If you use any type of remote access software like VNC to control your machien from a different machine, if you can make sure that you don't use the video hook drivers if it available. Even if you uninstalled the software make sure the hooks are still not installed in hardware manager. I always had a stutter on 1080i content no matter what I tried and then noticed the hook driver while installing a new video card.

[infocus13]

How do you know you have the hook driver? where do i find it?

[Ryokurin]

When you go into device manager and look at your display adapters it will have your card and a second device listed called 'video hook driver' or hook. If you have two cards like "x700" and "x700 secondary" thats fine as ATI cards do that to allow dual monitor support.

[scavenge]

Well I've tried everything I can find in this thread ... except buying a new MB & GPU which is beyond my means right now.

My systems is underspecc'd I guess but ...

p4 2.5
AGP fanless Gigabyte 7600GS (latest Nvidia drivers)
1 GB ram
PVR150 digitizing analog
seagate SATA drives formatted to 64k clusters for media
HVR 1600 (latest drivers) using both tuners (analog cable and clear QAM cable)
Viewsonic LCD TV running @ 1280x720
Sage 6.2.7

Any new ideas anyone?

6.2.8 release notes don't mention anything about HD playback improvements ... has it helped anyone

[davefred99]

Originally Posted by scavenge

Well I've tried everything I can find in this thread ... except buying a new MB & GPU which is beyond my means right now.

My systems is underspecc'd I guess but ...

p4 2.5
AGP fanless Gigabyte 7600GS (latest Nvidia drivers)
1 GB ram
PVR150 digitizing analog
seagate SATA drives formatted to 64k clusters for media
HVR 1600 (latest drivers) using both tuners (analog cable and clear QAM cable)
Viewsonic LCD TV running @ 1280x720
Sage 6.2.7

Any new ideas anyone?

6.2.8 release notes don't mention anything about HD playback improvements ... has it helped anyone

I just upgraded From 6.1.9 to 6.2.8 using the HD HomeRun and the new BDA driver. I am using a similar specs ( Same video card but AMD XP-m @ 2.4ghz processor) and could never fully get consistent HD playback. I do not know if it is the new Sage offering or the BDA silicon dust driver but it works much better for me. I have always had micro studders especially on 1080i channels. Now 720p is perfect and 1080i only has a rare hiccup. I can certainly live with it though. I even tried out trans coding HD to my Hauppage extender and at std its perfect but MY CPU usage is pretty high at around 80% on average.

I think the 7600gs card is just barely enough for HD if your CPU challenged.I think your P4 2.5 might be a little lite but you could possibly OC it a little.
Dave

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by scavenge

Well I've tried everything I can find in this thread ... except buying a new MB & GPU which is beyond my means right now.

My systems is underspecc'd I guess but ...

p4 2.5
AGP fanless Gigabyte 7600GS (latest Nvidia drivers)
1 GB ram
PVR150 digitizing analog
seagate SATA drives formatted to 64k clusters for media
HVR 1600 (latest drivers) using both tuners (analog cable and clear QAM cable)
Viewsonic LCD TV running @ 1280x720
Sage 6.2.7

Any new ideas anyone?

6.2.8 release notes don't mention anything about HD playback improvements ... has it helped anyone

What codec are you using? Purevideo? XP or Vista? Nvidia drivers can be pretty flaky. Some of the older ones work better with purevideo under XP than the newer ones.

Thankx,
mike

[Sparhawk6]

I don't get it. PureVideo is supposed to be an enhancement, but all I've seen is crap. It's horribly choppy and I have a very good Core 2 Duo system. VLC plays HD clips perfectly, no stuttering, no crazy CPU consumption. But I want to use a different player. Why is PureVideo so awful? Graphedit shows I'm using purevideo but not the demuxer. I'm also recording and viewing in MPG format. Does that make a difference? If it does, how do I get to .ts format?

[frontlinegeek]

Ok, I am also having this same kind of HD playback frustration on one of my systems.

It is the main Sage box and was WELL capable of dealing with HD from firewire when it was doing MCE 2005 duty (Just ended that 3 days ago and switched to Sage)

It is as follows:

ABit NF7-S 2.0
Athlon XP 2500+
1 GB DDR400
EVGA GeForce 7600 GS

Windows XP MCE 2005
SageTV 6.1.9

I have tried or looked at all of the things mentioned on the first page but to no avail.

I tried ripping off PowerDVD 7.3 and downgraded PureVideo from 223 to 196. This seems to have helped some but it is still confusing and frustrating. As others have stated, there are never issues playing the stream via VLC or playing clips in WMP. It is ONLY in SageTV that there are issues.

I really would like to beat this but at least it is happening on the system that is used the least.

[scavenge]

Originally Posted by mikesm

What codec are you using? Purevideo? XP or Vista? Nvidia drivers can be pretty flaky. Some of the older ones work better with purevideo under XP than the newer ones.

Thankx,
mike

Hi Mike

Thanks for replies on vacation last week...

I'm using pure video. I've also tried intervideo and sage default.

I'm going to try 6.2.8 today but doesn't seem to have any HD improvements