Question for those using Vista

[Jesse]

Hi,

I am trying to "intergrate" a music player with sage. I can either use the other programs menu feature in sagemce, or just use girder to open the music player on top of sage. I am currently using XP and I need FSE for smooth HD playback. So far my experiments with this have not gone well because of FSE.

What I am wondering is if it would be easier to get this to work with Vista. It is my understanding that because of Aero no FSE is necessary for smooth HD playback. I am thinking that no FSE will mean no problem.

Any help/info is appreciated.

Jesse

[bcjenkins]

The problem I run into with no FSE on is remote control support. I use the built in MCE functions and it doesn't work if focus is lost.

B

[Jesse]

Hi B,

With a little help from girder I don't expect focus will be a problem.

Any thoughts on whether my music player will coexist with sage more perfectly using vista?

Thanks,

Jesse

[bcjenkins]

I think it would work better. My HD playback has been flawless with Vista. Make sure you send a double stop to SageTV before playing back in another application. This should ensure that you aren;t using the directx resource.

B

[Polypro]

Vista should work well for that. I window or bring other apps on top of Sage all the time...never a problem.

P

[Jesse]

Hi,

Sweeeet. Thanks for the info guys.

I have another question. What about decoders? I am thinking of going with vista business, which I understand does not include the vista decoder that comes with the other versions. Is the vista decoder any good and should I consider something like home premium or ultimate in order to get it? If not then can I use the same purevideo decoder I have been using with xp with vista business. If not is there a preferred decoder for use with vista business?

Thanks again guys.

Jesse

[Polypro]

I stuck with NVIDIA. I have Cyberlink as well, but A. I couldn't tell a difference between them, visually. B. Cyberlink was giving me some pauses during playback. I use AC3Filter for audio...it cured another problem I was having with one specific HD channel. I've never tried the MS decoders.

P

[Jesse]

Thanks, P.

Since I already have the nvidia decoder I will just stick with it for now as well.

Thanks again.

Jesse

EDIT: I just read the system requirements for purevideo and it specifically states that vista is not supported! Are you folks using the same version of purevideo with vista that you used with xp?

[Jesse]

Well, I did some more searching on the decoder issue.

As reported by Polypro and others, the purevideo decoders will work in spite of not being officially supported in vista. It seems that these decoders will not provide any HW acceleration in vista media center, but some sage users are reporting they will provide HW acceleration in sage when using vista. Can anyone confirm this? I am pretty sure my client is not going to have the horsepower to play back my HD recordings (P4 3.0) without HW accel.

I could still go with vista home premium and get the MS decoder. Can anyone say how well this decoder works and if it will work with the nivida drivers to provide HW acceleration?

How about the cyberlink PowerDVD SE deocoders. These run about $15.00 for the vista version but I cannot confirm that they will provide HW acceleration with the nvidia drivers. I am not going to pay $99 for PowerDVD Ultra just to get the decoder...

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jesse

[Polypro]

NVIDIA 102-223 will do DXVA (Hardware Accell) in Sage, using Vista. They won't in WMP or MCE, but in Sage, you're golden

P

[Jesse]

That is good news. Thanks P.

I guess I will get started loading vista after the kids get to bed tonight.

Thanks again for the help and info.

Jesse

[Jesse]

Hi,

Update for those considering vista:

Go for it. The pq is a bit better and no FSE to contend with. I have only watched a couple of hours of recordings (HD, of course ) but so far so good.

Thanks again for the help and info.

Jesse