Mpeg decoder for Vista

[ldavis]

I just upgraded to Vista (well, bought a new laptop and got dragged into it) and am really having some issues with a decoder. I have installed Nvidia(though I understand it is not supposed to work) and Cyberlink. Both of these exhibit terrible breakups during playback in Sage. Cyberlink plays back fine in its own app. Insterstingly, the Sage decoder is the only one I have that works correctly. I should note that all of the playback is HD. Does anyone have any ideas as to why Cyberlink is not working?

[mightyt]

ldavis ... You might check this out ... Got my Vista to work with nVidia.

http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...ad.php?t=22685

T.

[bcjenkins]

I put the latest trial of Cyberlink on my Vista Ultimate. Seems to be working fine for me. What kind of video card do you have?

B

[ldavis]

Originally Posted by mightyt

ldavis ... You might check this out ... Got my Vista to work with nVidia.

http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...ad.php?t=22685

T.

I am using the ATI X1400 as a video card. I read the thread above but how does making the Nvidia decoder the default system decoder differ from just selecting it in Sage. In either case the same decoder is used?

[mightyt]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I put the latest trial of Cyberlink on my Vista Ultimate. Seems to be working fine for me. What kind of video card do you have?

B

I have the nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2 Card

[mightyt]

Originally Posted by ldavis

I am using the ATI X1400 as a video card. I read the thread above but how does making the Nvidia decoder the default system decoder differ from just selecting it in Sage. In either case the same decoder is used?

It was recommended by MeInMAui in Post #9 through #17 in the thread link I provided. After following his suggestion everything worked fine.

[Taddeusz]

I'm wondering if anyone else has tried adding Microsoft's decoder that comes with Vista as a decoder to SageTV. I did that last night and briefly toyed around with it before I had to go to bed. Not sure why but things seemed rather sharper with the MS decoder than with either the nVidia or Cyberlink decoders. It was just a simple matter of adding the name of the decoder into the properties file.

Of course, a lot of what I use to determine sharpness is looking at the Sci Fi Channel watermark on the lower right of the picture. It tends to have a little bit more detail in it than can usually be rendered on a video card connected to an SD TV. I'm thinking of giving Vista a try on my HTCP to see how that goes and possibly using Microsoft's decoder in leu of another. It is after all a CSS decoder.

[Wheemer]

Can you explain how to add the microsoft decoder? I'd like to try it too.

[Taddeusz]

Find your properties file and find the line:

videoframe/additional_video_filters=

and change it to this:

videoframe/additional_video_filters=Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Decoder

Let me know what ya'll think.

[ldavis]

Guys,

Its fixed. Windows had an update for my video card driver and everything is fine.

[laurenglenn]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Find your properties file and find the line:

videoframe/additional_video_filters=

and change it to this:

videoframe/additional_video_filters=Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Decoder

Let me know what ya'll think.

Don't forget to also change:
videoframe/additional_audio_filters=

to this:
videoframe/additional_audio_filters=Microsoft MPEG-1/DD Audio Decoder

Lauren

[mikesm]

Guys, I just got one of the compact Dell C521's that was on sale the other day (3600X2 CPU, 6150 graphics,1 GB of RAM, DVD+-RW, 160 GB of disk for $216) to use as a client. At that price, I figure if the HD extender comes out soon, I'll find another purpose for it.

Anyways, it comes with Vista Home (not premium). Normally, I would scrape vista and put XP on it, but given the success folks seem to be reporting, I figured I'd try it with Vista.

One question that I'm not clear on is which MPEG codec you guys are using on Vista? Vista home doesn't come with the MSFT mpeg decoder, and in any case, I don't think it has purevideo support.

I didn't think that the standalone purevideo worked under Vista, but that you had to use some other decoder. The cyberlink one seems fine, but at $99, it's half the cost of my whole system.

I am waiting for a silent 8400GS to come out, as it's low profile and works in the C521, but I need some help here in understanding sage and purevideo HD in Vista.

PS I only care about MPEG2 support - my R5000 is cable connected. :-)

Thanks
Mike

[Taddeusz]

No, Vista Home Basic does not come with the Media Center so it would also not come with Microsoft's MPEG decoder. Only Home Premium and Ultimate come with the Media Center and their decoder. Because you got Vista Home Basic you're stuck using a third party decoder such as Cyberlink. Nvidia's PureVideo decoder, while it will work with Vista, is not totally Vista compatible. Nvidia has no plans to make a new version. Cyberlink is it unless you can find a better deal.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

No, Vista Home Basic does not come with the Media Center so it would also not come with Microsoft's MPEG decoder. Only Home Premium and Ultimate come with the Media Center and their decoder. Because you got Vista Home Basic you're stuck using a third party decoder such as Cyberlink. Nvidia's PureVideo decoder, while it will work with Vista, is not totally Vista compatible. Nvidia has no plans to make a new version. Cyberlink is it unless you can find a better deal.

Well, the issue isn't getting a decoder, even Sage comes with one. The issue is which decoder under Vista accelerates Sage for Nvidia hardware. What all are people using successfully?

Thanks,
mike

[Taddeusz]

Now any decoder with the exception of Sage's will accelerate on any video card. I think all the major decoder makers have implemented accelerated DXVA support. Now they need to include support for Vista's new acceleration technique. Not sure if that's happened yet.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Now any decoder with the exception of Sage's will accelerate on any video card. I think all the major decoder makers have implemented accelerated DXVA support. Now they need to include support for Vista's new acceleration technique. Not sure if that's happened yet.

I didn't think Sage could use any of those decoders other than powerdvd ultra. If it can use Nero's or other folks codecs, that would be be great. What is working for other folks?

Also, I didn't think the MSFT codec used hardware acceleration with purevideo. Has someone experienced the opposite?

Thanks,
Mike

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by mikesm

I didn't think Sage could use any of those decoders other than powerdvd ultra. If it can use Nero's or other folks codecs, that would be be great. What is working for other folks?

Also, I didn't think the MSFT codec used hardware acceleration with purevideo. Has someone experienced the opposite?

Thanks,
Mike

SageTV can use any Directx MPEG decoder. You may have to specifiy it in the config file if it doesn't automatically see it but it can use it. I have my Vista machine using the Microsoft decoder and it works great. If I had to guess I would say that their decoder probably uses either DXVA or more likely Vista's new acceleration method but I don't know for sure. I don't know whether it takes advantage of PureVideo, which I've learned seems to just be nvidia's marketing term for their DXVA acceleration. So, it should take advantage of the video card's acceleration but I have noticed that interlaced DVD's in Media Center don't seem to be deinterlaced properly so it may not actually be using the video card's acceleration. But it would seem stupid to me if they weren't.

[reggie14]

My understanding is that regular Purevideo offloaded quite a bit more than just what DXVA did. How much depended on how much power your video card had. There was/is a chart on the Nvidia website, but I'm not going to look for it.

However, PureVideo HD does just seem to be Nvidia's name for DXVA 2.

Here's a quote from NZone:

Q. Do I need the PureVideo Decoder to play movies on the GeForce 8600 and 8500?
No. NVIDIA’s video processing architecture no longer requires the PureVideo Decoder, just a compatible third-party software movie player.. The PureVideo HD technology is available through any player that uses the Micorsoft DXVA 2.0 interface, including the Vista Windows Media Player with built-in MPEG2 decoder. To play Blu-ray or HD DVD movies, an AACS compliant movie player from companies lie CyberLink and InterVideo is also required. Specific versions of those players made for the GeForce 8600 and 8500’s second generation video processor should be available in late May, 2007.

All this video acceleration reminds me of the days when you needed a mpeg2 decoder board to play DVDs on a computer.

[laurenglenn]

Originally Posted by reggie14

My understanding is that regular Purevideo offloaded quite a bit more than just what DXVA did. How much depended on how much power your video card had. There was/is a chart on the Nvidia website, but I'm not going to look for it.

However, PureVideo HD does just seem to be Nvidia's name for DXVA 2.

Here's a quote from NZone:


All this video acceleration reminds me of the days when you needed a mpeg2 decoder board to play DVDs on a computer.

Remember pass-through cables? ...... The issues you'd have with those in high resolutions would be offset by how smooth the playback was. No need to fuss with codecs, etc.

If anything, I'd just get a Media Extender if you have to buy a codec. For about $100, you get smooth playback that tends to be better than most codecs on a TV.

Do a google search for Vista codec pack and see if you find anything. I think I saw a codec pack somewhere for Home Basic users, but I can't remember where it was.

[Taddeusz]

I love my MVP. When I had my Sage box hooked directly to my receiver I would get playback stuttering on just SD recordings (no HD yet). And this is on a really nice box. Since I moved my Sage box out and put the MVP into the TV instead it made a world of difference. The picture is sharper and playback is smooth as can be. I couldn't be happier until the HD extender comes out.