Sometimes I feel like a beta tester

[AJ Bertelson]

I am having problems 1 and 2 happening

Sonic decoders here

[jptaz]

I use InterVideo 4 Decoders on my Main PC and I have never had problems with freezing. On my Client PC I use Sonic Decoders on my Client and don't see any problems either, on the SageTV Server I use the Hauppauge Intervideo Decoders.

I suspect the problems are more complex than just the decoder. Here is a list of all things I can imagine causing problems.

1. Video Card
3. Video Card Driver
4. Mother Board chipset.
5. Mother Board chipset drivers.
6. DirectX Version
7. OS Version
8. OS Service Pack Level

There may be more as well.

As a general rule I keep all my systems at XP with the latest Service packs and all updates from windows update. I generally do not download early non windows updates version of DirectX or other products. I keep my Video Drivers at the current level that matches the Service Pack of XP. I have found this is more important with my ATI Video Cards (AIW 7500 and Radeon 9000). My Nvidia Card (FX 5200) seems to have drivers tied less to Service Packs.

For this reason I do not think that Frey could ever really recommend or state a tested decoder pack. The problems with freezing and other issues are very complex and tend to be related to a hardware vendor not fully testing all possible hardware and software configurations. As a developer I understand how difficult this task is. Frey by no means should have to do this.

Now if using a specific decoder with Zoomplayer or Windows Mediaplayer does not have the same issues when playing the same MPEG2 file then it comes down to SageTV potentially not interfacing with the decoders correctly. The problem with this logic is that these other players are not overlaying an OSD on the video. This would switch the fault back to a potential problem with the Video Drivers or DirectX, etc.

John