Should VMR setting impact MPEG2 playback?

[lchiu7]

Not entirely sure what's happened to my machine (latest version of gbpvr, XP Pro SP2, Nero Digital MPEG2 decoder) but for some reason I am starting to have MPEG2 playback issues.

Up till now I had been running with VMR7 (GeForce 5550 DVI out) and it had been working fine. Then without any (apparent changes, though one never knows what Windows Update is doing) I noticed that when playing back MPEG2 files, playback would stutter and the hard drive would go crazy. Also the system would no longer playback divx files.

Switched back to Overlay in GBPVR and now it can playback MPEG2 okay (using the Nero Digital codec) and divx is okay also. Also played around with Cyberlink and Intervideo codecs but they cause the MPEG2 images to be played in a window and no matter what zoom key I press, the window persists.

Anybody had this experience and if so, how did you fix it?

The reason I am keen on using VMR7 is because I have better control over AR when playing video and the picture isn't so dark (it's quite dark for some reason when using Overlay)

Thanks

Larry

[lchiu7]

An update. I repaired Windows on the machine and installed the lastest graphics drivers for my video card. Now I have the following situation

1. With Overlay gbpvr can play mpeg2 and divx but there is only sound!
2. With VMR7 I get video but in mpeg2 it's quite choppy (fine in divx)
3. With VMR9 Custom I get okay MPEG2 - slightly choppy with tearing - divx is fine

I am wondering now if I need to update to DX9?

Thanks

Larry

[sub]

Maybe try this decoder: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/MPV_Decoder.htm

3. With VMR9 Custom I get okay MPEG2 - slightly choppy with tearing - divx is fine

Are you running on the primary monitor? VMR9 Custom and VMR9 FSE wont work well on a secondary monitor since they required hardware acceleration.

[lchiu7]

OK - some progress here

I am running two monitors - an analogue monitor for viewing the picture during bootup and then the HDTV via HDMI for the main viewing. HDMI doesn't show up until the video card kicks in

Set the HDTV to be the primary monitor and set gbpvr to use the Intervideo Video decoder and VMR9 Custom

Now playback on MPEG2 and divx is mainly smooth with just a hint of tearing. When I tried the Cyberlink MPEG2 decoder the picture would only be 4:3 in the window despite my setting gbpvr to output 16:9

If I use Overlay there is no video at all

I might try backing up to the previous video driver for the video card to see if things are better