Sonic codecs

[robk]

Sorry for the dumb question, but I'm just starting out. I bought SageTV, really like it and get a good picture on an LCD monitor using Overlay and Cyberlink codec.
In a quest for better quality, I bought and activated Sonic MPEG Pack. How do I enable it in Sage? It doesn't show up in the "Video Decoder Filter" screen. It also doesn't show up in Filter Manager, unless it has some obscure name. Help?
Thanks,
Rob

[mlbdude]

Did you install it with Sage running? Did you restart Sage? Just want to make sure first .

[robk]

I rebooted XP after installing the Sonic MPEG Pack. Even did the registry changes mentioned in another thread. I thought they would show up as choices in the filter setup.
Rob

PS- My choices are:
Default
Nvidia Video Decoder
Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder
ffdshow MPEG-4 Video Decoder
InterVideo NonCSS Video Decoder for Hauppauge
Moonlight-Elecard MPEG2 Video Decoder

[stanger89]

The filters are called "Sonic Cinemaster@ DS Video Decoder" and "Sonic Cinemaster@ DS Audio Decoder"

I asume you're talking about this one:
http://www.cineplayer.com/decoder/default.htm?from=

[robk]

Yes, that the site I bought it from. Do I need to add it in the properties file as an additional video decoder?
Rob

[stanger89]

Is there a new control pannel app?

Also, did you have to add the key or was this already there:
HKLM\Software\Sonic\Cinemaster DS DVD\2.5\VideoDec

[robk]

Yes, the control panel app is there. I turned off hardware acceleration.
My registry looks a little different:

HKLM\Software\Sonic\Cinemaster DS DVD\2.5\VideoDec (yours)
HKLM\Software\Sonic\Cinemaster DS DVD\2.5\VideoDecoder (mine)

(Default) (value not set)
IAMDecoderCaps_SupportVMR = 1
ProhibitVMRConnection = 0
UseDXVA = 0

Thanks for your help!
Rob

[stanger89]

But you say they don't show up in Radlight Filtermanager or Graphedit or something?

Also, if you play an MPG in Windows Media Player, what decoders does it say it's using (File->Properties).

[robk]

No, They don't show up in FilterManager for some reason.
Interesting, an mpeg in WMP is using ffshow! Wonder how that happened? The default DVD decoder is moonlight-elecard.
What a mess.
Rob

[robk]

Well, I reinstalled it a few times and now it shows up. But, it uses too much CPU, so I guess I wasted $15. It's running on a 1.2gHz Celeron, 512Meg ram, ATI 7200. Tomorrow I am expecting a Soyo MB with 2.7mHz Celeron/DDR ram/Geforce 4000, maybe it will handle it better.
Thanks for all your help with this nonsense!
Rob

[xlr8shun]

Originally posted by robk
I rebooted XP after installing the Sonic MPEG Pack. Even did the registry changes mentioned in another thread.

which registry change did you do? im thinking you might have disabled dxva, in which case yes, it would cause the decoder to use more cpu.

you have a 7200, not the newest video card in the world, but does support accelerated mpeg decoding. so that might help some

im not sure if you can enabled dxva through the control panel, or you just remove/change the 'use dxva' key to 1 in the registry. but try that and see if your cpu usage doesnt go down some.

[stanger89]

I'd probably also set AllowAllRenderers=0 (if you added it), a 1.2GHz Celeron isn't fast enought to do anything useful in ffdshow.

[robk]

Upon reinstallation, it changed my registry settings, I had DXVA disabled, but it renabled it as well as adding about 30 more settings. So, it's working, CPU usage is hovering around 45 - 55%, but that should get better with the 2.7gHz system coming tomorrow. I must say the Sonic decoder is very nice, handles motion well, crisp and clear.
Rob

[robk]

stanger, yeah I gave up on ffdshow until I get a little more horsepower.
Thanks,
Rob

[stanger89]

Originally posted by robk
I must say the Sonic decoder is very nice, handles motion well, crisp and clear.
Rob

In general I've been very pleased with the Sonic decoder, only problem I have (and it's not Sonic's fault) is the deinterlacing on my Radeon 9500 is rather poor so I get combing artifacts every now and again with Sonic+DXVA. The FX series from nVidia is supposed to have very good deinterlacing and it sounds as though you've confirmed that. Good news since I'm planning on a FX 5700 or 5900 upgrade one of these days.

[robk]

The Sonic decoder made a huge difference with the 7200, and once I tweaked all the settings, I'm at or below 50% CPU usage on a lowly Celeron 1.2gHz.
Tomorrow I try out a XFX GeForce MX4000-8X for output to a monitor (LCD). My Radeon 7200 is old, maybe the GeForce will handle a bit more of the decoding. It will be in a 2.7gHz Celeron machine, it's all I can afford right now - SageTV, USB-UIRT, WINTV-PVR250, Sonic, you know how it is..... over $500 to watch TV!
This setup is in my office, replacing a Pinnacle PCTV Pro with ChrisTV fed by a DirecTivo. What a difference! SageTV is very nice, more flexible than the Tivo, picture quality is same or better with a crappy CPU. Looking for better results with a faster machine.
Good luck with your FX when you get it!
Rob