HDTV output problems

[justinmiller]

Hey all, I just got a great 720p projector that I am using for viewing GBPVR, with the desktop resolution set to 1280x720x60. I have not tried yet to deal with HD input, so far I just want my SD content to look great on this projector. To that end I am having two problems:

1) I set my display aspect ratio to 16:9 in the Config, however this seems to have no effect when GBPVR displays 4:3 content, ie it stretches it instead of placing black bars on the sides. I tried cycling through the different aspect ratios using F7, but none are correct.

2) I am also using ffdshow to resize/sharpen DVD movies. While they play back fine in Windows Media Player, GBPVR seems to add an additional 50% overhead to things, pegging out my CPU (Athlon X2 3800) and dropping frames all over the place. I have tried all the different rendering modes and they all seem to perform similarly.

I have a Radeon X1300-based card. Can anyone make a suggestion?

Thanks!!!

[sub]

1) I set my display aspect ratio to 16:9 in the Config, however this seems to have no effect when GBPVR displays 4:3 content, ie it stretches it instead of placing black bars on the sides. I tried cycling through the different aspect ratios using F7, but none are correct.

What renderer are you using? The auto aspect ratio does not work with Overlay - it needs one of the VMR options.

Which video decoder are you using?

Do you also have set to also try to control the aspect ratio? If so this could explain why the aspect ratio is not working for you.

2) I am also using ffdshow to resize/sharpen DVD movies. While they play back fine in Windows Media Player, GBPVR seems to add an additional 50% overhead to things, pegging out my CPU (Athlon X2 3800) and dropping frames all over the place. I have tried all the different rendering modes and they all seem to perform similarly.

Sorry, I cant help you with ffdshow. I dont use, and dont know very much about it.

[justinmiller]

What renderer are you using? The auto aspect ratio does not work with Overlay - it needs one of the VMR options.
Which video decoder are you using?
Do you also have set to also try to control the aspect ratio? If so this could explain why the aspect ratio is not working for you.

I use the Custom VMR9. The auto aspect ratio works on my 4:3 display, but not on the 16:9 display. I also tried the manual aspect ratios, but none of them get the 4:3 content to display properly on 16:9. There is one setting that adds some bars on the left/right, but they are not wide enough.

Sorry, I cant help you with ffdshow. I dont use, and dont know very much about it.

I realize that, I guess what I'm wondering is, should GBPVR have that much overhead in addition to normal wmp playback? Normally during playback it uses no more than ~60% cpu, but doing the same playback via GBPVR it hits 100%. Even without ffdshow it is adding this much. Is that normal?

Thanks for your quick replies sub!!

[sub]

How are connected to your projector? is it the primary monitor, or is it some secondary monitor connection. Is it a composite/svideo/component/vga/dvi/hdcp connection?

Is ffdshow also trying to control the aspect ratio? Another user had this problem in the past.

I realize that, I guess what I'm wondering is, should GBPVR have that much overhead in addition to normal wmp playback?

GB-PVR doesnt do any of the playback itself, so its not GB-PVR adding the overhead. It'll be something in the combination of directshow filters your using for playback that cause this extra CPU usage.

VMR9 Custom should only be used on the primary monitor, otherwise Direct3D ends up doing software rendering to off screen buffers, then copying to the secondard screen, causing high CPU usage and a jumpy picture.

[justinmiller]

How are connected to your projector? is it the primary monitor, or is it some secondary monitor connection. Is it a composite/svideo/component/vga/dvi/hdcp connection?
Is ffdshow also trying to control the aspect ratio? Another user had this problem in the past.

My projector is the second display, it is connected via vga cable for now, as just another monitor.

The aspect ratio problem is happening when ffdshow is turned off. Actually being able to use ffdshow would solve the problem, as when it resizes to 1280x720, it preserves the aspect ratio correctly, so there would be nothing for GBPVR to figure out.

GB-PVR doesnt do any of the playback itself, so its not GB-PVR adding the overhead. It'll be something in the combination of directshow filters your using for playback that cause this extra CPU usage.

Any suggestions on where/how to figure this out? AFAIK I'm using a pretty vanilla configuration.

[justinmiller]

VMR9 Custom should only be used on the primary monitor, otherwise Direct3D ends up doing software rendering to off screen buffers, then copying to the secondard screen, causing high CPU usage and a jumpy picture.

Whoops I just saw this.....I have tried both VMR9 and VMR9 Custom, and they perform about the same on my config. Perhaps somehow I am ending up doing software rendering all the time? Could that be why I am experiencing tearing as well? BTW this happens if I use the Intervideo Renderer, or System Default for video playback.

[sub]

I'd try switching your decoder to the primary monitor, and switch GB-PVR to VMR9, then see if your extra CPU problem goes away.

[Ted the Penguin]

if the pillarbox aspect ratio is not to your liking, you can modify it. look at this
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tips/AspectRatios

[justinmiller]

I'd try switching your decoder to the primary monitor, and switch GB-PVR to VMR9, then see if your extra CPU problem goes away.

That indeed did fix it. Things run slower on the second monitor for both VMR9 and VMR9 Custom. Crap. Problem is, GBPVR is running as a secondary app on the second monitor of my only computer, so it has to be on the second monitor. Am I screwed? WMP seems okay playing on this second monitor...

Mr Penguin, thanks for the tip on the pillar box! That should work great, I'll try it when I get home.

[Ted the Penguin]

ok so there have been problems running VMR9 on secondary displays, depending on your graphics drivers you might be able to switch the TV to be the primary display, but keep the taskbar on the secondary display. or the other option is to switch them when you want to use GBPVR, might be able to make a macro to do it. OR if you can deal with a less pretty OSD you can switch to overlay mode, that will perform better with your setup the way it is. also will reduce CPU usage.

you are welcome for the help.

on a side note "Mr Penguin" cracked me up, usually people say Ted, which also kinda throws me, my IRL name is Joe, but I have been using the avatar "Ted the Penguin" ever since I started playing games online a few years ago