Can't Use ATI (Cyberlink) Decoder

[sshapiro63]

Hey Folks,

Running the latest beta of SageTV, 1.3.5, I am unable to use the latest ATI decoder. The ATI decoder is actually from Cyberlink.

The newest beta SageTV seems to provide a default list of supported decoders which includes Cyberlink, but I believe the ATI version's name is not identical to that found in the drop down list.

If I try using Default SageTV uses my Xcard. If I disable Xcard within Device Manager then the ATI decoder works as Default. Any idea how to get the ATI decoder recognized without having to disable my Xcard?

[Narflex]

In the properties file theres a line for :
additional_video_filters (and audio)

The format for the parameters is as follows
FilterName1,InputPinName1,OutputPinName1;FilterName2,InputPinName2,OutputPinName2

The pin names can be obtained using GraphEdit.

This allows you to add additional filters that Sage is not preconfigured for to show up in the decoders list.

Enjoy!

[sshapiro63]

How do I determine the input/output pin names?

[jimbobuk]

I don't know where folks are getting graphedit from, i'd love to get it and have a play.. i've manually modified some graphs for zoom to get what i wanted out of them... you could try that.. get latest zoomplayer and look at the graphs that work on there using your filter... although with the latest one it generates graphs on the fly i think... dunno... there are some dvdgraph files that have pin names in there.. I assume they're all the same for powerdvd variants, although i don't know for sure...

a quick glance at my install of it tells me this

DefineFilter(clvsd.ax)
VideoDecoder(Name=Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder,CLSID={9BC1B781-85E3-11D2-98D0-0080C84E9C39},VidInPin=Video In,SubInPin=SubPicture In,VidOutPin=Video Out,CCOutPin=~Closed Caption Out)

I guess you would have to find your decoder name and then use Video In, Video Out as your pins

FilterName1,InputPinName1,OutputPinName1

Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder,Video In,Video Out

I dunno.. I guess if your wrong it'll just tell you it can't find filter, or connect pins... i'm sure someone else will come on with links to graphedit (i thought it was part of some SDK that you could no longer download?!?) to help you further

[justme]

A quick google search gave this result for Graphedit . There is probably a better link to a newer version, but I hope this helps.

[SHS]

yes there is http://www.shspvr.com/download/graphedit_dx9.zip

[sshapiro63]

Thanks everybody, I did get it working. The string that jimbobuk provided worked fine after I modified it slightly. The working text is:

Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder (ATI), Video In,Video Out
Cyberlink Audio Decoder (ATI),Audio In,Audio Out

So far, these decoders work great. The CPU utilization when using Elecard was up around 50%. With the Cyberlink/ATI decoders the CPU utilization is around 10%.

Funny thing is that the Cyberlink/ATI drivers do the best job with "scolling text banners" found on some news channels such as Fox News and MSNBC. All the other decoders had some jitter or the text would jump horizontally.

[pawn]

Originally posted by sshapiro63
Funny thing is that the Cyberlink/ATI drivers do the best job with "scolling text banners" found on some news channels such as Fox News and MSNBC. All the other decoders had some jitter or the text would jump horizontally.

This is interesting. This makes me want to purchase ATI's latest DVD software to get the filters. Are you saying there's no jitter at all?

[sshapiro63]

Yeah, there is no jitter, as long as I enable Hardware Acceleration. Setting the value to 1 in the registry got rid of any jitter with scrolling text. I might be wrong, but I think that the ATI version of the Cyberlink software works better with my Radeon card than the video decoder in the PowerDVD software that you can buy online from Cyberlink.

Perhaps ATI tweaks the Cyberlink software a bit for thier cards? Not sure how well it would work with an older ATI card. If you have a pre-9000 series Radeon you might try picking up a 9000 or later Radeon and test the ATI software with your current card, then with the new card. The CD that came with my 9000 enabled me to download/install the latest decoders from ATI.

I recently found that the Nvidia FX 5200 does a great job with SageTV. I am using the Svideo out from an FX 5200 based card and it looks as good as my Xcard with DVD. It also looks better than my ReplayTV or TiVO for TV viewing via SageTV. Using the Nvidia based card I had to go back to using Elecard with Double Refresh and Deinterlacing to get the best output. WinDVD and PowerDVD decoders didn't do a great job for me; too much jitter with scrolling text.

I tried using the NVDVD decoders with SageTV but they didn't work. I might try again, maybe I made a mistake in the Sage properties file.

[Narflex]

I should probably clear this up about the format in the properties file for additional filters, if you want to add more than one its like this:

FilterName1,InputPinName1,OutputPinName1;FilterName2,InputPinName2,OutputPinName2

You need to use a ; to separate the lists.

[sshapiro63]

I finally got the NVDVD filters to work. They do just as good a job as Elecard from what I have seen so far. The benefit of the NVDVD filters is that they take very little CPU time; under 10%. Guess this might be due to Hardware Acceleration being enabled on the card when using the Nvidia video filter.

[White94Cobra]

I'm having problems getting the ATI filters to show up as being available. Could someone please let me know the exact string to put into the sage properties file. I've tried adding the line

Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder (ATI), Video In,Video Out; Cyberlink
Audio Decoder (ATI),Audio In,Audio Out )

with no luck. Thank you.

[White94Cobra]

Nevermind... I figured it out. I had an extra space at the end of each line, and spaces count.

[kolky]

Could someone help me out with this one a little bit?

I try to load the Cyberlink filters, and I can not get them to show up. The lines I am adding/modifying in the Sage properties file is as follows.

videoframe/additional_audio_filters=Cyberlink Audio Decoder (ATI),Audio In,Audio Out

videoframe/additional_video_filters=Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder (ATI), Video In,Video Out

Should I be adding a new line instead of adding it to the end of the current line? Everytime I try to add this and then I start Sage, the filters do not show up and then when I go back into the properties file, it has removed everything I have added. I'm assuming it is replacing the properties file with the backup properties file.

Any help would be appriciated.

Also, just wanted to let you know that I am very happy with Sage. The video quality is amazing, but I just really want to try out these drivers to see if I can make it even better.

[kolky]

Just thought of something. Do I have to be using one of the beta versions of Sage to use these drivers, or should the work with the current version?

[justme]

No it should work with this version. I can list the usual mistakes/things to check:
Make sure Sage is not running when you edit the properties file.
Each filter is added to that one line. ie all video filters are added to videoframe/additional_video_filters=
Each additional filter added is seperated by a semicolon
Make sure you don't leave spaces, especially at the end of a line. This is a common mistake. Especially when cutting and pasting, as the space can be added and you won't see it.

PS:Shouldn't Sage 1.4.10 automatically add these filters now? I use Cyberlink filter and I don't need to manually add them. Is there something special about the ATI ones?

[mikbro]

Originally posted by kolky
videoframe/additional_video_filters=Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder (ATI), Video In,Video Out
[/B]

Remove the space between "," and "Video In"

The audio filters line is fine as-is.

[kolky]

Thanks Mikbro. That was it.

Wow, that decoder is nice! Scrolling text looks perfect, and even football looks great.

I am a very happy Sage user.

[BigGator]

Stupid question here...
where do I get the ATI/Cyberlink decoders?

I don't recall seeing those with my ATI package... are they an add-on?
"-)

[mikbro]

If your ATI card came bundled with MMC it has the dvd player, and the codecs are installed when you install the DVD player. If you bought a card that just came with the drivers, you can buy the MMC package directly from ATI. They just send you the CD and it costs $10 + shipping.

The ATI store is here and you want ALL RADEON INSTALL+MMC 8.1+DVD CD.