Decoder Gremlins

[johnsonx42]

ok, I'll search the forums a little and see if I can find anything about that. otherwise perhaps when you get home you can check your code or notes and let me know how to do it.

[sub]

When I'm back in NZ, I can look up the details for you.

[johnsonx42]

some threads I found talking about this issue all seemed to mention the PreferAC3=1 registry setting as being either a solution OR a culprit. I found I had PreferAC3=1 set, though I don't recall exactly when I did it or why, so I tried PreferAC3=0 and at a glance that seems to have solved the problem. I'll know more tomorrow as we watch the football games on livetv all day, so it will be noticed.

[sub]

I don't think I ever publicly said about it. It was a new setting in config.xml or registry, I can't remember which.

[johnsonx42]

ok, I look forward to learning what that setting is. Setting PreferAC3=0 did seem to help, but I still encountered audio some stuttering today while watching football. This problem is inconsistent, so PreferAC3=0 may have done nothing at all. The only thing I'm 100% sure of so far is that disabling the MPEG-1 audio decoder makes all AC3 audio stutter-free.

[whurlston]

IIRC, the PreferAC3=1 registry setting was to fix AC3 sync issues with Live TV when there were other audio decoders configured. Without it, I had to set all the other decoders to "disabled" to keep Live TV AC3 in sync (it only occured with Live TV, not recordings or file playback).

[johnsonx42]

I wonder if sync issues could also manifest as choppy or stuttery audio?

[whurlston]

I've seen enough strange behaviour with DirectShow filters to know better than to say that's not possible. I however, only experienced audio drifting out of sync. I think that the PreferAC3=1 option just forces the clock reference to audio renderer that is connected to the AC3 decoder but it's possible that the renderer or decoder could be causing it.

[mvallevand]

Like whurlston, I have needed PreferAC3 to keep a/v sync. I also got sound right away on my hdpvr. Without it it was up to 20 seconds. I think it just means start livetv with with ac3 and whatever video format that is the stream default.

Martin

[johnsonx42]

I@sub: I know you're away now, but when you get back could you make a patch that simply assumes that whatever decoder is set for ac3 audio can also handle mpeg audio, without hooking up an additional decoder?

There is already an experimental option that does exactly that, but I can't remember the details of exactly what you need to set. I didn't proceed with making it public because too few decoders allow this. From memory, AC3Filter was the only decoder i found that would work the way.

When I'm back in NZ, I can look up the details for you.

polite welcome back bump.....