Hardware Acceleration in SageTV w/HD-PVR

[Morgan111]

Has anybody tried the new 6.4.6 release and seen any change in performance?
I have the problems on both Vista and XP. I need to disable Sage hardware acceleration.

I have not tried the update but would rather see if there is any positive reports before upgrading my machines...

SageTV V6.4.6 Release Candidate 7/31/08

Core Updates
1. Added support for parsing category/subcategory specifications in imported video file metadata
2. Fixed bug with setting duration for a show where we'd use a less accurate duration from a format detection sometimes
3. Fixed bug where SageTVClients that connected to the server through any kind of IP proxy/NAT would fail playing back content or doing other server operations
4. If the same channel is enabled on multiple inputs for a capture device, SageTV will now always pick the highest quality input to record from.
5. Reset each capture device at least once every 24 hours to prevent PTS rollovers
6. Fixed bug where scrolling a panel more than one page would result in corrupted animations
7. Fixed bug parsing ID3 headers that were just under 64k in size
8. Added support for handling the MPEG2-TS: H.264 + AC3 files output by the HD-PVR
9. FIX: Format dection mistakes MPEG2 as MPEG1, as MPEG headers cross a boundary.

[Steve52]

I have the HD PVR, but have not installed it on my SageTv server yet! I have downloaded two H.264 1080i test clips recorded by someone else's HD PVR. I have updated my server and all of my clients pc's to the new Sage release 6.4.6.180. I have loaded the TME software on my most powerful client. Client has AMD 2X 4800+ running XP Pro SP3. I am getting the wave condition when there is movement on screen. It could also be described as ghosting I guess. I do not get any jerking of the picture however. My cpu usage on these h.264 HD PVR test clips runs 75%. My CPU usage running a regular mpeg2 file is about 10%.
Question: I installed only the TME software from the Hauppauge CD on this client. Does the ArcSoft Decoder get automatically installed when the TME is installed? I added the sageclient.properties lines about ArcSoft video and audio decoders, but I don't see anything in sage showing the Arcsoft video decoder is in use. In does show the ArcSoft audio decoder in use however.

[swats]

Well I don't know if this will be of any help to you guys, but I am getting DXVA with H264 HD-PVR files. I did a clean install of both Sage 6.4.5 and the latest SageMCE. Then I installed Arcsoft. Next I used graphedit and regsvr32 to un-register each filter that tried to grab the h264 files. Eventually I got it to where Arcsoft decoders were used for both audio and video. And that's it!

My cpu is about 2-3% playing back HD-PVR files, with a Core2Duo E6600, ATI 2600 pro, using Overlay, on Windows XP. I didn' t add the line in the properties file to use Arcsoft decoders, just set it to use DirectShow for MP4.

[sleonard]

I bought an ATI 3650 and it arrived fro Newegg on Wednesday. I installed it and tried to load the drivers from Sapphire's website but they didn't recognize the card. I ended up installing the CD drivers.

I immediately opened Sage and tried playing an HD-PVR recording that was 720p. I played beautifully and CPU was 2-3%. Much better than the 60% CPU I had with the onboard 965G graphics!

Then, I tried watching some live TV and started getting some stuttering. stutter.... stutter, stutter.... stutter, stutter, stutter.... withing seconds the video frames started blending together producing this horrible smear of video that looked more like a Jackson Pollack painting than a video. Same result on any channel I tried watching. Same results on several already recorded shows as well even though some played OK - until I tried to skip.

So I shut down Sage and tried viewing recordings with the Arcsoft player. They all played OK until I tried skipping then I got the JP smear.

I tried capturing with the Arcsoft app and got garbage as well but the actuall recordings were OK because they would play perfect on the HD extender.

Next I tried reseating the card and after it was out I noticed a capacitor that had a broken lead. I assumed that I did not break it while removing the card and got an replacement RMA from Newegg. Shipped it out this morning. When I get the replacement I'll post more results. Hopefully I can get the latest drivers from the web to install.

S

[popechild]

Using a 3500+ single core and the 8500gt. Just installed the HD-PVR. Smooth playback in the HD-PVR software, bad stuttering in Sage.

Upgraded nvidia geforce drivers to 175.19. CPU usage in Sage dropped from 100% to ~5%. That's right. 5% CPU usage during playback within Sage on a single core 3500+ machine.

There are still some very minor imperfections in the smoothness of the playback, seemingly dependent on the channel being watched, but having just installed this a few minutes ago, I'm assuming I'll be able to get that straightened out eventually.

So, if all else is failing for playback within sage, you may want to try updating your video card drivers.

[CollinR]

You also have an 85/8600 nvidia card, this is one of the new nvidia cards that even claims to have hardware support for h.264. Good choice in buying or just lucky either way be happy!

[CollinR]

Here is a list that you guys might look over, my 8600GTS has HDCP, HDMI with audio and was like $70. I don't have a HD PVR to test with but it works well with everything else I have tried.


http://www.nvidia.com/docs/CP/11036/...Comparison.pdf

[phelme]

Originally Posted by sleonard

I bought an ATI 3650 and it arrived fro Newegg on Wednesday. I installed it and tried to load the drivers from Sapphire's website but they didn't recognize the card. I ended up installing the CD drivers.

S

is your monitor only connected by a DVI cable? there is an apparent bug with Catalyst setup that sometimes doesn't recognize the monitor and so bails. my 3450 had the same problem. you can get around this one of two ways, connect your monitor via a VGA cable or do as I do, live dangerously and do it from another PC via Remote Desktop.

[GollyJer]

Hey guys. I mistakenly posted my finding regarding HD-PVR playback in the SageTV Products > SageTV Software section of the forum.
I probably should have put it in the Hardware Support section. You can read it here.