Choppy Video during menu popup

[Atrus]

Anyone have any idea what would cause this? When I am watching TV and I have the smaller guide pop up at the bottom of the screen, the video gets really choppy. I don't know exactly how to describe it other than it gets somewhat "pixelated" with large rectangular boxes that run horizontally. I am wondering if my CPU or RAM should be a little higher.

I am running:
Analog cable
Windows XP
GBPVR
1.4 Athlon
768MB (1 512, 1 256) RAM
Hauppauge HVR-1600
128MB SAPPHIRE RADEON 9000PRO

I am seeing that while watching LiveTV, I am using about 40% CPU usage. When I pull up the menu, it immediately jumps to 99%. So, I'd say that's my problem.

I am currently just running on my monitor until I can get an adapter cable to hook to my "antique" TV.

I can upgrade the RAM with a 1GB stick for $23....So, I'd be running 1.5 GB of RAM, effectively doubling it.
I can also purchase an Athlon XP 2500 (1.8GHz, with the ability to overlock it for more) for $17

Would one or both of these make a huge difference? So far I am really happy with how it's working, I'd just like to make sure there are no hiccups otherwise the wife will get fed up with it. It's about 95% of the way to where I want it to be

Please forgive the questions if they are simple - I literally just got the setup running. I am extremely new to this.

[sub]

Its most likely a result of your videocard struggling. A newer video would help. A bit of extra CPU would be good too...

[pBS]

are you using overlay mode? if so this is common...does that on everybody's..
it's mostly just a fallback for those without enough oomph video card wise..
try vmr9fse on that card..should look good for sd...also EVR should work great for it..
[install dotnet 3 to use...skip dotnet 3.5+, too bloated, but works fine]

ram won't help, cure is change modes...
also, maybe a change of codecs will help...ffdshow or ati decoder should be best bet on that one..
[video card is kinda slow, and more cpu would help,but that ain't as easy as popping in a new video card]

[Atrus]

Thanks for the replies.

ffdshow didn't seem to help, it couldn't smoothly run video at all. I cannot get VMR9 to display correctly. I can get overlay and EVR to work, they look about the same.

The codec I am currently using is MainConcept (HCW) - I think this was included on the Radeon 9000 install disk.

If my video card is the culprit, could you please suggest something that would run this without breaking a sweat? I am limited to AGP or PCI slots on my M7VIG400 motherboard. I am really new to video cards, I've always just run on-board video on my PC's (I am not a gamer by any means). I was figuring this one at 128mb would be sufficient for this kind of playback.

Is there a way to check to ensure that the video card is appropriately pulling the workload from the processor?

Also, there's a used Athlon XP2500+ processor that I can get for about $17. If I am on the edge of processing power, I am not opposed to picking that up. Do you think that could help?

[pBS]

h yea, t hat will help [cpu] but i bet you didn't have the settings right in ffdshow, default settings won't be good..
have to set mpeg2 codec to libmpeg2, and set output page like pic...
then it'll look good in any renderer..
[if it still doesn't look smooth, try yuy2 as well]

failing that, use evr...at least menus will look better..
[and video too]

oh and try 8.11 catalyst driver if it supports your card..i know vertical refresh works properly in that one..even for older cards..
[and get avivo converter as well there]

a good choice for xp would be ati hd3450 if you can still find them..
ati is the only one making anything good for agp so nvidia's out...
3650 even better.. http://www.directron.com/ag3650512md2v3.html
a hd3650 and cat 8.11 and you'll be golden for anything even blurays....

i still have to try out 4350s in xp..but they should be good...tho 4xxx's still a bit buggy in xp drivers..3xxx cards work great..
nvidia's latest offerings seem to only work well in vista+...i can't get decent codec support in xp with them...[9400, gt220] in vista or win7 they rock...
drivers drivers...:eek:

you can check dxva accel by using DxvaChecker...you can try out playing videos too..

[Atrus]

Thanks for the info - nothing I can try seems to help. The ffdshow output options on my version are nothing like you show. I can't seem to find those options anywhere in mine under the various menus.

I'm looking at the ATI HD3450's on ebay, however, it seems they are all PCI-Express. I just have an AGP slot and I believe 3 PCI slots.

[sub]

Yeah unfortunately AGP is getting difficult to get cards for these days. I cant think of any current generation Nvidia/ATI cards that come in AGP flavour. They might exist though.

[pBS]

oh yea, you need to get beta6 at least..
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/ffdshow...081219.exe
sorry about that...these are he latest versions which added critical features to proper deinterlacing..[and half acceleration too]

actually i know where to get 4650's agp http://www.directron.com/4650agp512.html
http://www.directron.com/hd465xzpf2.html
there's even 4350's and nv 9500's for pci too...but use agp you'll be happier...

nvidia doesn't make anything for hd in agp tho...

[Atrus]

pBS - is there any reason I'd want/need the HD adapter? I am just running analog cable into the Hauppauge HVR-1600.

I tried the beta 6 download. Things seem better - I don't get the pixelated horizontal bands anymore, however, when the guide pops up I still get a lot of slowdown and jumpy imaging.

[Atrus]

Sorry for all the questions, but here's another one...

So, I downloaded the trial version of SageTV....it runs perfectly fine, although, it looks a little less clear (kind of pixelated like a low quality online straming vid). I noticed that Sage uses it's own MPEG2 Decoder. When the guide pops, it works just fine with no slowdown. Thing is - I like gbpvr a ton more! More expandable and I think a nicer interface once it's set up.

You probably knew this would happen, but I tried GBPVR with Sage's mpeg2 decoder and it wouldn't work - black screen.

The video cards that were posted above seem to be fairly pricey and I don't want to dump too much money into this old machine. I am currently running a Biostar motherboard, and I noticed THIS Biostar video card. I am currently running a 128mb ATI Sapphire Radeon 9000. So, this would be double the RAM on the card, and it'd be the NVIDIA platform. It'd run me like $25 shipped (new) also!

Does this look to be a decent enough card, and if so, do you feel confident that I'd be able to find an appropriate decoder to have this work smoothly? Understandably, nothing is for certain to work. I know really nothing about video cards, so I truly am relying on your expertise. As it's NVIDIA is that a "platform" that's fairly standard and I should be able to locate a great decoder? Or are they still very manufacturer (Biostar, etc) specific?

Thank you all for all of your help! This has been a really helpful resource, and I look forward to learning more and hopefully being able to help out on here in some small way(s) in the future!