Tearing in playback

[JonnyCam]

Hello,

What actually causes tearing of video when playing back a previously recorded program in GBPVR?

I have my system setup with the GPL MPEG decoder, and use VMR9 - custom.
I was using just VMR9 but when I upgraded to the latest version of GBPVR, I couldnt see my mouse cursor under VMR9.

I have an Athlon 1.5 GHz with 760 MB of ram - should I experience tearing with this CPU? (nothing else really runs on the PC at the time)

It seems to occurr more frequently when there are horizontal lines on the screen with movement (very noticable during a shot of a car type spinning slowly)

So - would I be best to pay for an MPEG decoder, or are there any other fixes I can use to get better quality. I use a Nvidia FX5200 vid card, but have an ATI Radeon 9250 laying around - which would people suggest to use (both are 128 MB) (which of these would have better TV-out?)

A lot of questions, I know - but now everything is working together I want to get the best out of the PVR.

Thanks

[sub]

I suspect your ATI Radeon would improve things. Everytime I've read about this (mostly on other forums), it always seems to be an nvidia card involved. I've used various ATI cards and various speed CPUs (AMD 1800 and up) in my computers over the life of GB-PVR, and I've never seen the phenomenum myself - with GB-PVR or any other app. I might have just been lucky though...

It seems to be a problem where the video card can not synchronise the screen update with the blanking interval. I'm not sure if this is entirely down to the video card, or if is also tied into the CPU speed of your PC.

You could try switching to Overlay to see if you still get the problem.

Its always worth trying the VMR9 Custom render, which uses Direct3D for rendering video, which might behave better with this card.

[csy]

Sub is correct regarding lack of sync of screen update to blanking interval. If you are using VMR7/9 then you can force the screen update to wait until the blanking interval by setting Vsync=on in your display properties (3D settings).
When you force Vsync=on, you should also enable "tripple buffering".

[capone]

I tore my hair out w/ this problem. I probably spent a week trying settings, drivers, etc.

In my case, in the end, it turned out I was using the wrong screen ratio. I think F7 lets you cycle through the canned GB ratios. There may be more than one that "look" like it's right, but it may only be one that fixes it.

I had pressed the ratio button by accident recently, and ended up w/ one of the similar-sized ratio, and my tearing came back until I fixed it.

Give that a shot before you upend your system trying everything else.

[GoodGuys]

Hi,

When you force Vsync=on, you should also enable "tripple buffering".

Well, I did that, and it didn't help at all. Any other suggestions?
BTW, what version of the ForceWare drivers do you use, csy?

In my case, in the end, it turned out I was using the wrong screen ratio.

I tried, but I get tearing in every single one of the modes.
Thanks,
GGF

[Chris.Day]

I always experienced VMR9 tearing with my nVidia 6800 card, regardless of software (and that was on an Athlon XP 2600+). I seem to recall reading somewhere that you can only get smooth VMR9 with them if you use DX-Exclusive mode, but I'm not sure how much truth there is in that or if it's just conjecture.

No such problems with any ATI card I tried.

[cybershaman]

@JonnyCam

Are you using multiple displays? Usually there is some tearing in non-primary screens.

[GoodGuys]

I know this was for JonnyCam, but I have no display other than my TV.

GGF

[csy]

Hi Goodguys,

I'm using ForceWare 84.21 (and playing with Beta 84.43)

Forcing Vsync=on is a well known fix for screen tearing but obviously didn't work for you. The tripple buffering is to ensure you get no frame drops when Vsync is enabled, but this is more applicable to gaming than video, but still recommended.

Sorry I don't have any other suggestions.

[GoodGuys]

Hi,

I now use 84.21, and it didn't help. When I tick HW accel - I get the horrible stuttering motion (on some scenes, but not on others).
When I tick it off I get tearing. I doubt if the VMR options will help.

GGF