Need some help with new Nvidia decoder

[rsagetv99]

Originally Posted by pengdahl

After considerable tweaking, I have found what I believe are the best settings for the NVDVD decoders to work with Sage on my system.
First, some info about my system:

Pentium IV 2.8Ghz
Windows XP Pro w/Service Pack 2
Radeon 9700 Pro (with Catalyst 4.10)
Official NVidia decoders downloaded from the NVidia site. (version 1.00.58)
Anti-chroma and banding patch applied as found on AVS forum.
FFDShow version 20041012-sse
DSCaler version 4.111
NEC PX-42XM2/S plasma tv connected via DVI - progressive 1024x768 at 60hz.

Note that my settings work well on my Radeon card. I don't know how well they will work on other brands, or if there might be better settings for NVidia cards. Also, these settings are only good if you want to send a de-interlaced picture to a hdtv or similar display.

First, set up ffdshow so it will work with the NVidia decoders:
In the "raw filter" configuration:
On the "Codecs" page, set "Raw Video" to "All YUY" (or to YUY2 - this is the format the NVidia decoder outputs natively. Note I'm not using YV12 - this forces the NVidia decoder to add the VPP)
On the "Output" page, select "YV12"
On the "Deinterlacing" page, select "DScaler Plugin" (and enable the filter) - Then in the "DScaler" submenu, select the "DI_MoComp2.dll" filter from the DScaler install directory.
Under "tray, dialogs, and paths", put a checkmark in "Show tray icon". This allows you to bring up the settings for ffdshow while you're viewing a movie in sage.

Then, set up the NVidia decoder - we want to turn off deinterlacing in the decoder since FFDshow is handling it.
Select "Film" De-interlace control
Select "Display fields separately" in the Deinterlace Mode
I have "Hardware Acceleration" checked and "Prefer VMR9" selected, although these options don't appear to do anything with my settings.
If it's working right, you should see "Software mode YUY2" and "Undefined Renderer" in the "Decoder Format" part of the dialog. It's important that you don't see "Video Post Processor" here, because the VPP adds interlacing artifacts (to my eye, at least).

Finally, set Sage to use the correct filters:
In "Detailed Setup", under "Video" and "MPEG 2 Video decoder Filter", select "ffdshow MPEG-4 video decoder".
Select "VMR9" under "Video Renderer" in the same menu"
You'll need to select an approriate audio filter, since the NVidia one doesn't work with Sage.
On my system, I have found it to be useful to disable "3D Acceleration" in the "Advanced" menu of Sage. YMMV.

If everything is working, you should see both the NVidia icon and the ffdshow icon in the tray when you are watching a program with Sage. You can check the settings to make sure they are right here. You can even dynamically tweak some of the filters in ffdshow. I've found that adding more than a few additional filters causes some jerkiness in the picture on my system, though.

Comments?

I followed these instructions to a "T" but I am having some problems.

First of all, I don't think DScaler is working, I do not see the Dscaler tray icon come up even though I enabled per the instructions. Also, when I am looking at the Nvidia config page my setting show "YUY2" but it says "Video Mixing" instead of "Undefined Renderer". Also when I have everything setup as outlined when I view LiveTV Sage kicks me out.

My theory is that one of the problems is that I do not have Dscaler chosen as my DScaler Interlacing Filter, but for some reason this option is diabled.

Has anyone else had this problem, or maybe knows how to fix it?

[rsagetv99]

I finally got sage to stop exiting by using VPP instead of FFDShow. Anyways, now I cannot get the AR back to fill (I have a 4:3 TV).

Maybe I should start from scratch and describe what I have and ask for suggestions.

Here goes.

Hardware:
AMD 1700+
768 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 9200
Hauppage 250
Connected to a 32" SDTV

Software:
CAT 4.10
SAGE 2.1
The latest legit NVidia 1.00.58 codecs (just d-load yesterday)
Patch for Nvidia codec (see above post)
Descaler 4111
ffdshow 200441012see

[kny3twalker]

no change the aspect ration in the decoder

to raw/amorphic or something

from the task bar icon

[rsagetv99]

I've tried all of the settings anamorphic, source, etc. What I've found is, when I go from the Sage menu to View TV the picture defaults to 16x9, but after I change the channel it goes back to 4:3. This only happens with the new Nvidia codec, the old Hauppage codec works fine - just does not have the PQ of the Nvidia codec.

Is anyone else having this problem? Does anyone with a similar hardware have any suggestions as to the optimal settings?

[kny3twalker]

have you tried using VMR9 rendering?
also you could try Fill in SageTV

[rsagetv99]

Yeah, VMR stopped working after I installed these drivers. I read an ealrier post that suggested re-installing the CAT drivers when this happens.

I'm trying this now. I'll let you know what happens.

[rsagetv99]

the 16x9/4x3 problem appears to have been caused by VMR9 not working properly. Even when I had VMR9 on I was getting the Overlay title and play bars (non-transparent). After running a CAT-uninstall and then re-installing the ATI drivers and CAT VMR9 started working again and the 16x9 problem went away.

I had to reinstall the ATI codecs to get sound working on my ripped dvds, not sure why. I thought the NVidia codecs came with a DVD decoder, which should have been able to decode the AC3 files. Oh well, hopefully they will get OSD support on the Xcard or some other hardware option so I can stop wasting my time on getting my ATI TV out to look decent.

[Pumpkinhead]

Oh well, hopefully they will get OSD support on the Xcard or some other hardware option so I can stop wasting my time on getting my ATI TV out to look decent.

I was unimpressed with the ATI s-video out. I switched to the component adaptor to my HDTV, and it's much better. However, there ARE a couple working hardware options with OSD support. The WinTV-PVR350 (although there are some bugs) and the independent MVP Client for the Hauppauge MediaMVP discussed in the hardware section of this forum (there are some issues noted in the readme.)

I thought the NVidia codecs came with a DVD decoder, which should have been able to decode the AC3 files

Known issue. They only support sound in a few applications like MP and MCE. nVidia is working on a fix.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Pumpkinhead

Known issue. They only support sound in a few applications like MP and MCE. nVidia is working on a fix.

FWIW, the fix they are working on (supposedly) is to allow decoding of MPEG audio in all applications, not AC3. For AC3 decoding the app needs to be Dolby certified, and that's something Frey would have to do.