Codec testing experiment

[blwegrzyn]

I think I got sick and I became ivtv and deinterlace test freak.
I decided to find a way to somehow test my HTPC setup to find out if my htpc set can or cannot display good quality video images.
I have Nvidia GeForce 9400 card.
It is connected to my tv through DVI to HDMI at 1080I resolution.
My tv is a CRT tv with 1080i native resolution.(i hope this wont be a problem for my tests) Unfortunately, I don't have a progressive display.

I will perform 5 tests: (all files were taken from http://www.w6rz.net)

1. Vertical resolution with no motion (29.970 Interlaced)
http://www.w6rz.net/vertpix1.zip

2. Vertical resolution with motion (29.970 Interlaced)
http://www.w6rz.net/vertrezmotion.zip

3. interlaced 3:2 pulldown with motion (29.970 Interlaced)
http://www.w6rz.net/vertrezivtc.zip

4. interlaced 3:2 pulldown when line is horizontal with motion (29.970 - no scantype in the media file)
http://www.w6rz.net/vertrezivtcflags.zip

5. progressive 24fpt with motion (23.976 progressive)


My nvidia card has IVTC enabled with all default settings.
I have Powerdvd,Nvidia and Sage codecs in my system.

First I will use nvidia with sagetv.
Nvidia is set to use hardware acceleration,
deinterlace control set to automatic,
deinterlace mode set to default,

1. I got expected results on my tv , alternating black and white
2. I got expected results on my tv , solid alternating lines (no resolution lost) + moving bar
3. Codec automatically switched to video mode - as expected
4. Codec automatically switched between film and video mode - as expected
5. I got expected results on my tv , solid alternating lines (no resolution lost) + moving bar

Cyberlink Mpeg2 Codec (resulst were exacly same as with nvidia,I could not see a difference)
Hardware acceleration enabled (this should allow the IVTC to work) and video mode auto.
1. I got expected results on my tv , alternating black and white
2. I got expected results on my tv , solid alternating lines (no resolution lost) + moving bar
3. Codec automatically switched to video mode - as expected
4. Codec automatically switched between film and video mode - as expected
5. I got expected results on my tv , solid alternating lines (no resolution lost) + moving bar

Sagetv codec(default sage settigns)
1. Failed , only black line displayed
2. Failed , running in FIlm mode ok, top part of the screen black
3. Failed , running in Film mode, no 3:2 pulldown detection
4. Failed , no switching between film and video mode - running in film mode
5. Pass, I got expected results on my tv , solid alternating lines (no resolution lost) + moving bar

Conclusion:
Both nvidia and powerdvd codecs run fine in auto settings and hardware acceleration enabled.
The only exception was when I was playing the interlaced content (544x480i@29.97fps)
Then the screen would blink every 15-20 sec using both nvidia and powerdvd.
To fix that I had to enable:
nvidia - VMR vertical stretch
powerdvd - BOB
Above are exactly the same deinterlacing methods.

I am not sure where the blinking is coming from?
Any ideas?

Sage codec fails, but I am not sure if I should set any extra settings. Please tell me, if I should set Dscaler filter or something else.

What is your experience with above codecs?

thx

Did anyone tried to test on the files from http://www.w6rz.net ?

I am new to this stuff, so please correct me if I did anything incorrectly.

thx