HD video displays top left of image only

[liteswap]

Like the title says: LiveTV or TS file playback using any of FFDshow's codecs, or CoreAVC (the two H264 codecs installed) all result most of the time in displaying only the top left of the video image - the bit containing BBC HD and now much more.

Anyone else had/resolved this? Thanks.

Running under XP SP3 with .Net 3.5 + EVR.

[sub]

Based on the description of what you're seeing, its almost certainly related to the decoders you're trying to use. I'm sure if you were to try the ArcSoft or Cyberlink H.264 decoders the problem would go away.

[Pob]

I have always used CoreAVC with XPsp3 but have never experienced the symptoms described. I use VMR9FSE though, so I wonder if you tried VMR9 instead of EVR in XP that could be the issue? I am not sure it it is still the case, but selecting the H264 decoder in PVRX2 config would not gaurantee that it was actually used - you had to make sure the decoder you want had the highest DirectShow merit - in CoreAVC config you put a check in 'preferred decoder' and it elevates itself to the default...

[liteswap]

Thanks for the steers - will try both ideas...

[hoborg]

Firts of all - do not use EVR under XP, it will work only in software mode! Use WMR9 fullscreen instead
Did you tryed SAF?

[liteswap]

EVR has been working fine here for months using .Net 3.5. Generally speaking, I find software decoding works better than hardware, weirdly, and there seems to be only a five or so percent CPU penalty, which I can live with, and it's smoother and with zero artifacts.

I haven't tried SAF because I have FFDshow already installed and working - and you know what, it's such a palaver each time I change anything that I'm reluctant to go steaming in to install a bunch of stuff, because I know it means I'll spend the next week sorting out the half-dozen little things that don't quite work properly any more.

It's not good for my blood pressure, my limited time or the WAF.

So my attitude is that, while HD playback is not working properly right now but everything else is, I want a point solution, not a wholesale install that changes everything else. To be honest, sometimes this process reminds me of the bad old DOS days, when tweaking configs was a hobby, and felt like you were continuously balancing spinning plates...

[hoborg]

I develop SAF to be as easy as much as possible and do as much as possible automatically. But of course is up to you.
And trust me, using EVR on XP is really bad idea...

[JonnyCam]

And trust me, using EVR on XP is really bad idea...

It works exceptionally well for me - no tearing, better picture quality.

I've got this dual core cpu sitting around doing nothing in the htpc, and it can decode without my cards hardware acceleration (1080 i or p ) so what does it matter?

DXVA is not the be-all and end-all of video playback - it probably causes the most issues for people.
Also, I can't just bring a web browser / itunes or whatever when using FSE.

[liteswap]

Ok, problem appears to have been resolved by switching to VMR9 FSE.

That, and de-registering CoreAVC, which isn't nearly as efficient as FFDshow. I hadn't appreciated that simply selecting a codec from Config.exe doesn't automatically mean you've chosen the codec.

And I thought this stuff was supposed in some way to be deterministic...

[hoborg]

It works exceptionally well for me - no tearing, better picture quality.

I've got this dual core cpu sitting around doing nothing in the htpc, and it can decode without my cards hardware acceleration (1080 i or p ) so what does it matter?

DXVA is not the be-all and end-all of video playback - it probably causes the most issues for people.
Also, I can't just bring a web browser / itunes or whatever when using FSE.

And DVD navigation works for you using EVR (skiping tracks, etc...)?
DXVA/output to NV12 is very inportant if you have interlaced video source: