Stutter in Standard Def only

[ryanlantzy]

I've been tearing my hair out with this one.

I've been having a problem with some stutter with standard def (SD) sources over the last few weeks. To be honest, I don't know if the problem started recently or if I just noticed it recently.

The problem is really only noticeable on news channels with a scrolling ticker (Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, etc). I really can't tell for sure if HD sources do it because none of my HD sources have scrolling tickers, but HD playback looks smooth.

I copied a few SD recordings to another computer and they seemed to play back smoothly. The SD recordings also seem to play smoothly in windows media player.

I have tried all combination of decoders, renderers, and 3D acceleration possible, so I'm down to thinking it's something with Sage itself. I've even tried different recording qualities from crappy to the best that Sage offers. No difference. The videos do not stutter in the same place, and typically the audio never suffers.

Any ideas?

[autoboy]

It sounds like a deinterlacing issue. have you tried using overlay? What hardware are you using?

[ryanlantzy]

Originally Posted by autoboy

It sounds like a deinterlacing issue. have you tried using overlay? What hardware are you using?

As stated, I've tried all renders (VRM9, Overlay, and Default). None change the situation.

I don't see how it is a deinterlacing problem... HD 1080i deinterlaces just fine.

My hardware: AMD 780G, Ati HD3200, Phenom X4 2.2Ghz, 4GB Ram, Hauppauge HVR-1600, Hauppague HVR-1800.

[ryanlantzy]

Originally Posted by ryanlantzy

As stated, I've tried all renders (VMR9, Overlay, and Default). None change the situation.

I don't see how it is a deinterlacing problem... HD 1080i deinterlaces just fine.

My hardware: AMD 780G, Ati HD3200, Phenom X4 2.2Ghz, 4GB Ram, Hauppauge HVR-1600, Hauppague HVR-1800.

Seriously, no one has any more suggestions? I've tried changing the deinterlacing setting in the ATI catalyst software. No change. I'm not sure the setting even matters if I'm not using a decoder that supports the ATI hardware. ATM I'm using the Intervideo decoder, but no combination of decoder or renderer (overlay, VMR9) fixes the stutter in standard def while viewing a scrolling ticker.

My drives are formatted with 64kB clusters and I even tried a new HDD just for grins.

Again, the stuttering is only visually apparent with Standard Def analog tuner recordings where there is a scrolling ticker on the bottom of the screen (CNN, FNC, MSNBC). The stutter is random, never in the same place in the video, seems to coincide with HDD access (but not always). Additionally, I've tested the files outside this machine and they play flawlessly elsewhere. I've also tested them ON the machine using windows media player (using the same exact directshow filters) and they play flawlessly as well.

This problem seems to be constrained to SageTV.
This no longer seems the case. I was able to reproduce this in GraphEdit. It is still seemingly independent to the Renderer and the decoder though.

Oh, and one other question. Why do HD streams from ABC-HD stutter ONLY in VMR9 but not overlay. (other HD channels play flawlessly in either renderer).

[ryanlantzy]

I did a little further testing with this issue.

I uninstalled all of the ATI catalyst drivers and used the default windows driver for the Radeon HD3200 Graphics. I also uninstalled the Realtek HD audio drivers.

This seemed to have changed the way things stuttered. Instead of stuttering randomly, it was more consistent, every 10 seconds or so, but resolved much quicker.

Reading more on how directshow filters work using a clock to sync the audio and video, I'm wondering if there isn't a low level problem with the Realtek audio driver.

Has anyone been able to use a HD3200 (AMD 780G) motherboard without stutter?

[John@TunerUK]

I think I may be having the same problem. If I'm watching live TV sage will stutter every 30 seconds or so, then eventually freeze. I can get it playing again by hitting FF or RW, but the timeline is totally unrelated to the timeline indicator. And again after a couple of minutes it will freeze again.
I'm using an Abit AN M2HD (AM2) using the nvidia drivers and realtek renderer.

[John@TunerUK]

I'm not sure whether it'll help you, but making the alterations in the thread below about a totally unrelated issue fixed my stuttering.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...662#post313662