Sudden "video slowdown"

[gEd]

I am not aware of any specific problems with CCC but it is possible that there is something in the newer version that is not working well with your card or decoder. Or more precisely, some setting that CCC envokes that conflicts with either your TV or decoder.

Do you get this playback problem if you use VLC or Mediaplayer (that have their own decoders) or windows media player. If not, then it is likely to be a problem with the decoder that you are using and it's interaction with the ATI card (such as deinterlacing or DXVA)

Before I got my 1080i TV, I recall that after upgrading CCC, I had to run my PAL CRT at 1024x768 instead of 720x576 as I got terrible tearing and stuttering otherwise. try setting a higher default desktop resolution in windows control panel

try changing the deinterlace settings on CCC and disable the enhancements in video settings.

Do you know that if you right click on the image of the TV in CCC you get to some of the more interesting settings. This might help with the balnk screen issue.

Perhaps to a complete uninstall of CCC and go back to an 8.x version of the drivers/CCC.

struggling to think of what else to suggest.

[keith_leitch]

try changing the deinterlace settings on CCC and disable the enhancements in video settings.

gEd, you are a genius. One of the enhancements sliders was set to the "Quality" end, rather than the "Performance" end. I put it to the middle ("Balanced") and my video playback was restored to its former glory. Thank you for your patience and your advice.

I don't know how it was set that way in the first place, but it was probably when I was trying to solve the "blanking" issue. I also discovered something interesting in doing this: despite having a TV sold in Australia, the "LCD Overdrive" test pattern is very smooth at 60Hz (NTSC) and very jerky at 50Hz (the local PAL standard). I am wondering if the TV is not handling 50Hz properly, and if this could explain the screen-blanking issue. I will also investigate deinterlacing, as you suggested. However, I'll take this discussion to the other thread, as the slowdown issue is now resolved.

[gEd]

cool, happy to help.

Actually I'm quite surprised that that setting affected video playback quality as I think that is a direct3D setting.
(I am unable to check atm as I am running the default windows 7 drivers. Am about to try latest ATI drivers for giggles. Perhaps it was stressing your slightly older gen card in some way).

I have an ATI 4650 and a new Sony 1080 LCD tv connected with a HDMI cable. I just left the refresh at the default 59Hz and it seems to look fine.

[keith_leitch]

It appears I was too hasty. Since my last post, performance has gradually degraded again. Remembering what gED said about Direct3D settings, I ran a few more scans, and for the first time--ever--got a hit on some spyware. This included four tracks that changed registry entries for the 3D settings. I cleaned these, and performance improved.

However, something is reinfecting over and over. If I run the bot-check one after the other, it gradually reduces the number of infections. If I wait 10 minutes or more, though, all of the infections are back. AVG Antivirus update won't seem to kick in after a restart as it should, so that may be related. It is an extremely nasty case that I don't know how I am going to solve, so if your video is slowing down be vigilant.

[gEd]

try some other spyware killers
http://www.firewallguide.com/spyware.htm

perg