HELP! A few horizontal lines out of sync?

[thecgmguy]

Hi Folks,

I need a little help here.

I'm VERY close to having everything working the way I want... There's just one annoying detail: Every now and then (I'd say once every 15-20 seconds) a few horizontal line will be out of sync. I'm not sure what's causing this. I've included an example picture to help illustrate my point (notice the pillars... btw, this is just an example I made in photoshop... it isn't a screencapture).

System details:
--------------
Via C7 1.5 GHz Processor
1 GB of RAM
500 GB WD Hard Drive
Hauppauge PVR-350 Capture Card
Windows XP SP3
ATI Radeon 7500 - 64 MB - S-Video
SageTV 6.3.8
Intervideo MPEG2 Video Decoder
--------------

This issue seems to occur with both live tv and recorded tv so I can only assume it's an issue with the capture card or decoder.

Any advice? Is there a better decoder I could be using?

Thanks!

[Conejo]

It could be from your SOURCE, INPUT or OUTPUT.

Is your Source
1. STB (Set Top Box via Composite or S-Video into Hauppauge PVR-350)
2. Hauppauge PVR-350 Analog Tuner

Check to see if it's in your recordings...
If you REWIND, PLAY, PAUSE, REWIND, PLAY, PAUSE... does it repeat in the exact same place (is it part of the recording)?

Does it happen in SageTV if you choose the SageTV decoder?

Try playing the recordings in another player (like VLC Media Player or Windows Media Player)

[thecgmguy]

Originally Posted by Conejo

It could be from your SOURCE, INPUT or OUTPUT.

Is your Source
1. STB (Set Top Box via Composite or S-Video into Hauppauge PVR-350)
2. Hauppauge PVR-350 Analog Tuner

Check to see if it's in your recordings...
If you REWIND, PLAY, PAUSE, REWIND, PLAY, PAUSE... does it repeat in the exact same place (is it part of the recording)?

Does it happen in SageTV if you choose the SageTV decoder?

Try playing the recordings in another player (like VLC Media Player or Windows Media Player)

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I'm using option 2 - the Hauppauge PVR-350 Analog Tuner.

When I review my recordings on my PC, it doesn't appear to show up... likewise, they don't show up in the exact same place when I try viewing them on Sage.

Perhaps a little more information about the video settings would help. I have the Renderer set to VMR9 (when I tried Overlay, it gave an error when playing). I have MPEG2 Decoder set to intervideo (all others show lots of fragmentation).

Thanks again for your help.

=)

[thecgmguy]

Partition cluster size is set correctly btw. And IDE controllers are both set to DMA.

[Conejo]

Sounds like you've narrowed it down to the video playback subsystem, since the files play fine outside of SageTV. Odd that you're having trouble with overlay mode.

You should first get your box working using Overlay and the SageTV decoders/filters. Then switch to the Intervideo MPEG2 Video Decoder.

I'd look at reinstalling the following items:
DirectX 9.0c (for XP) WebSetup or Full Package
Video Drivers for your ATI Radeon 7500 video card

[thecgmguy]

Originally Posted by Conejo

Sounds like you've narrowed it down to the video playback subsystem, since the files play fine outside of SageTV. Odd that you're having trouble with overlay mode.

You should first get your box working using Overlay and the SageTV decoders/filters. Then switch to the Intervideo MPEG2 Video Decoder.

I'd look at reinstalling the following items:
DirectX 9.0c (for XP) WebSetup or Full Package
Video Drivers for your ATI Radeon 7500 video card

Thanks Conejo,

I sincerely appreciate your time, efforts and patience. What exactly is the overlay renderer? How does it compare to VMR9? Is it better?

[thecgmguy]

Thanks Conejo,

I switched to overlay renderer and it's working fine (so far...).

[Conejo]

Originally Posted by thecgmguy

What exactly is the overlay renderer? How does it compare to VMR9? Is it better?

Take a look at this FAQ entry, written by Stranger89: What is the difference between Renderers, which one is best?

OVERLAY: Generic Video Mixer
VMR9: Video Mixing Renderer v9
EVR: Enhanced Video Renderer (used in Vista OS)

They are just different methods (to a similar end). They're basically working standards for drawing video to memory. Each graphic card manufacturer tries to create a better method of supporting or emulating certain modes and provide tweaks in their drivers. Overlay is an earlier standard with more basic functionality. Some people find that their Card/Driver combination work better (especially with Video) by selecting a rendering method directly supported by their graphic chip.

[Taddeusz]

Since VMR9 uses DirectX one thing you may try doing is enabling the "wait for vertical refresh" option in your card's DirectX settings.

According to Wikipedia the Radeon 7500 has DXVA support but I'd have to guess it's probably not that good considering the age of it. Overlay might be the only way you can get playback without tearing.