CPU Usage with and without PVRX2

[Deusxmachina]

[quote=gazoo]Well I tried gbpvr, didn't do the trick. I went back and check it out, and either something changed or I wasn't paying attention, but it just won't play 1080i dvr-ms files. Can't do it in WMP either. [/QUOTE

If you haven't yet, try changing to the Cyberlink mux (I think that comes standard) on I think the last tab in Config. Maybe your computer just doesn't like dvr-ms files. Who knows. And while the mux isn't supposed to affect live TV, it definitely affects the audio sync on mine, so maybe it can affect something else.

Having said that, in an earlier post you mentioned beating a dead horse. Take a look here: http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.h...&chart=430

I put in a low-end Core2Duo (1.8ghz) vs. a Pentium4 at double the speed of yours (3.6ghz). I'm not up on all the various "Prescott" or whatever differences, so this is just ballpark stuff. On the divx test, the 3.6ghz is about 50% slower than the C2D, which in theory would make a 1.8ghz 25% as fast, and that's against the slowest Core2Duo speed.

On the HDTV test, the 3.6 doesn't even make the list. Cut that 3.6ghz down to 1.8ghz, and things aren't looking too good.

YMMV, but it might not be worth pulling any more hair out. An option would be to search the forums for people using P4s and what their ghz is and what their setup is. I know some people use them, but I think they're all more like 3+ghz. The forum can't do three-letter searches, so searches might prove difficult, though. I don't know when people play videos with slower computers if the videos won't play at all or if they merely play at a slow frames-per-second. That would be good information to know.

How do 1080p movie trailers from apple.com play? Doing that also gives you an opportunity to go watch the Iron Man trailer. Woo woo! Elephants Dream is also an interesting 10-minute CGI movie in 1080p that can be downloaded for free off its website, so that's more good testing material.

[nitrogen_widget]

I have a 1.76ghz AMD I think it's an AthlonX it deffinetly isn't the 64 model & a radeon 9550.

Using the purevideo decoder I was able to play 1080 mpeg2 recording at about 75 to 80% just fine.

I don't have an HD tuner.
But this was an actual broadcast my buddie recorded onto DVD as a mkv? file & gave to me.

So Gazoo's utilization percentage sounds correct.

I don't know how this setup would work with a tuner installed.
I hope to get a 1600 when my tax return comes in.
But i have 2.6ghz celeron waiting for that.

[gazoo]

Thanks Deux. I might be at my end with that. Regarding cyberlink - the regular MPG files that PVRX2 produces are played using cyberlink, but the dvr-ms files are played by ffdshow. I found this out using graphedit, so i figure this is what WMP is doing.

How do I go about switching the dvr-ms files to play cyberlink? Can cyberlink even play those?

I have Klite megapak installed and it doesn't seem to have an entry for dvr-ms in the video codec config, but maybe I'm missing something. Also, I have the video codec as 'system' on the PVRX2 config so I will try to force that to cyberlink and see what happens.

Oh, I also tried that quartz.dll change, but it didn't seem to do anything (might have even made it worse, can't tell)

[Deusxmachina]

Suddenly the forum can do three-letter searches. I swear it couldn't do it yesterday when I was trying to fix some problems. Blah.

I was reading some stuff a little while ago with some Pentium4 people chiming in. Some mentioned watching 1080 on a 1.8-2.0ghz, while someone with a 3+ghz said it used 70+%. Maybe luck has a bit to do with it. Not all files have the same bitrate, either, nor do all affiliates broadcast at the proper bitrate. Either NBC or Fox is a little infamous for broadcasting sports at a low bitrate and action gets blocky.

It was also said the 9600pro can't help accelerate 1080. I think the 7600GT is the first card that could help on 1080. Unless I'm thinking of h.264 and not mpeg. Haven't slept, so my brain's a bit mushy.

It's recommended to have the video codec on anything except "system." I've had the fewest problems with Gabest MPV. The Cyberlink I was talking about is the mux on a different tab. The mux doesn't play the file, it muxes the audio and video when you record -- which is why I said maybe my computer is an oddball that the choice of mux affects the audio sync even on Live TV when it's not recording or timeshifting.

It might have been mentioned already, but CoreAVC uses the least CPU out of all the current HD decoders. At least for h.264 material, not sure about 1080 mpeg2. It's not free, though.

If you really get to the end of your rope you can try uninstalling Klite and then only install back in a select few codecs that you need. I just install CCCP and call it a day. Not everyone agrees it's the best way to install codecs, but there aren't any redundant ones in there like Klite has.

Just read your dvr-ms/mpeg part again. Are those mpegs that did play ok from somewhere besides GBPVR, and the dvr-ms files are recorded TV? Switching the mux in config from dvr-ms to Cyberlink will make all new recorded files mpegs. If so, that would go back to the "maybe your computer doesn't like dvr-ms" theory.

[gazoo]

..
Just read your dvr-ms/mpeg part again. Are those mpegs that did play ok from somewhere besides GBPVR, and the dvr-ms files are recorded TV? Switching the mux in config from dvr-ms to Cyberlink will make all new recorded files mpegs. If so, that would go back to the "maybe your computer doesn't like dvr-ms" theory.

Deusxmachina-

Where in PVRX2 other than the config screen are the video decoders selected?
Also, if I select cyberlink for software mpg playback on the config screen, does this include dvr-ms. I guess I'm just a little confused regarding dvr-ms files..are they considered mpeg and are they played back the same way as regular mpeg?

The second part of my problem is that I'm not crystal clear as to HOW to specify in the system what codecs play what formats.

So I guess question 1 is about the codecs in gbpvr and the second one is how to choose them outside of gbpvr like wmp,etc.

I've been working on computers and networking forever, but I feel like such a complete noob when it comes to all this codec and audio/video stuff :o

I'm pretty handy with the network stuff though..

[gEd]

the playback tab in config screen is the only place to configure (mpeg audio and video playback decoders.

yes, dvr-ms files are mpeg files in a different container so the same decoders are used.

gbpvr uses the decoders with the highest merit (the default ones in effect) as defined in windows. I think the gspot utility enables you to view and alter the "merit" (think priority) for each installed codec. you might need to google or search the forum for more info on codecs and merit values.

[edit] the best thing for you to do is probably to uninstall ffdshow and see if you can get an demo copy of coreavc which is generally considered the very best H.264 decoder.

[gazoo]

This is more of an update post. I figure this post my help someone one of these days.

I got much better response once I set the interlace option to 'none.' It seems this was taxing some stuff. I can now see about 3-4 minutes of 1080i without too much stutter. However, during some extreme scene changes I get quite a bit of video stutter and even worse sound sync problems. Also, enhanced video mode (EVR) seemed to help a tiny bit. I also overclocked the hell out of the ATI 9600 pro. Don't know if this did anything. Stock GPU was 400MHz, and memory 300Mhz. I upped it to 520/325.

Tonight I will screw around with the ATI settings themselves and turn everything off. However, I believe almost everything is turned off at this point so I don't think I'm getting any more gains.

My current machine is NOT dual channel. I did a windows share and played the 1080i program off of another computer which is a P4 2.6Ghz dual channel 1GB RAM, Nvidia 6800 AGP OC'd card. It played (on WMP, no GBPVR on this one) the show at about a 20-25% CPU usage on both virtual CPU channels. So my theory is if you go dual channel even on an older P4 rig, you'll be ok. Also, the video card is a bunch better on this one (Nvidia 6800 vs ATI 9600PRO).

I'm also going to investigate motherboard drivers. The PVRX2 rig is an old IBM Netvista M41 machine that I bought used without an OS and dropped XP Pro SP2 on it. Maybe if I get the correct drivers (as opposed to just letting windows choose) I might get some more gains. Will keep you all updated..

[BigMoose]

got much better response once I set the interlace option to 'none.'

Where do you set this? I've had others suggest I do this for stuttering problems (and I see pvrx2 is running a high CPU load for me) but the Cyberlink codec from within the gbpvr config doesnt give me the option of "interlace off" - I get: auto, force bob or force weave. I'm currently trying dscaler5 for DVD playback as I cant get cyberlink to work acceptably well within GBPVR (works within PDVD though) and it also only has the same interlace options.

[gazoo]

It's set in the GBPVR config under the Misc tab. It's located in the preview LiveTV section but from what I can tell it affects everything not just liveTV ( I could be wrong).

The other stuff you spoke of seems to pertain to the video card settings themselves for interlace. That's the next thing I'm going to play around with. I don't think I can do anything with that though, just leave it at automatic but it won't hurt to try.

[gazoo]

the playback tab in config screen is the only place to configure (mpeg audio and video playback decoders.

yes, dvr-ms files are mpeg files in a different container so the same decoders are used.

gbpvr uses the decoders with the highest merit (the default ones in effect) as defined in windows. I think the gspot utility enables you to view and alter the "merit" (think priority) for each installed codec. you might need to google or search the forum for more info on codecs and merit values.

[edit] the best thing for you to do is probably to uninstall ffdshow and see if you can get an demo copy of coreavc which is generally considered the very best H.264 decoder.

gED-

This won't help me with the dvr-ms or mpeg files, will it? I just installed it and it was pretty much as you said h.264. Did I miss something? I don't think I have any h.264 files anywhere on my system. Did you mean I should transcode dvr-ms to h.264 and then play it with coreavc?

Thanks.