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2008-09-02, 19:39
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 #1 (permalink)
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| Portal Translator  Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Nový Jičín Age: 32
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Country:   |  SAF v4.00 ''stable'' (StandAlone Filters) - DXVA ready (H.264 and VC-1).  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Q: What is SAF? SAF stands for: Stand Alone Filter. It is a lean compilation of codecs and filters designed to enable you to play any kind of mediafile or source you want to play on your HTPC. With SAF you are able to: - play DVD's - play all HD blueray rips and normal SD media files - watch Live TV, live HDTV and recordings - watch Online / streaming media files - setup audio output for DTS (HD) through SPDIF or plain stereo Q: What is a Codec and why do I need it? The word CoDec stands for COmpressor/DECompressor. A codec is comparable with the human language. In order to give information to someone, you need to understand the language which is spoken or written. A codec is similar but specially for audio and video files. If your pc doesn't know in what language your movie is COmpressed (written), it is not able to DECompress (read) it. This ofcourse is bad and the movie is not shown. Q: Why use SAF? There are plenty of other codec pack available. Yes, that is true. There are a lot of other codec packs and decoders available like K-lite, ACE mega CodecS, XP Codec, CCCP, ffdshow, AC3 filter, Nero, Powerdvd, etc.... You might have a working system with most of these packs. But in general, most of these packs contain more codecs and filters than required. Often it is a bit overkill. As a side issue, you can easilly get trapped in conficts between various codecs (packs) or filters. Some people refer to these issues as 'codec-hell'. Trying to get this sorted means you got to know what you are doing and often involve uninstalling codec packs, cleaning registries, changing merits, reinstalling the codecs. Sometimes even this isn't enough and the only solution to get it working correctly again is to do a full clean installation of windows again. Q: Then what is the difference between those packs and SAF? SAF is created to be very lean, but keeping in mind what it is required to do for a HTPC. It should enable you to watch Live TV, DVD, BluRay, all local media files (AVI/MKV/mp4/...) and also online media. It is transparant regarding what splitter, filter and codecs are being installed. The used codecs are selected to be the most efficient available and making use of hardware acceleration as much as possible. It can also be uninstalled without a trace or clutter on your system. Q: If I install SAF, what is being installed then?
Q: Great! So is there anything SAF is NOT able to do? Alas there is. At the moment it is not possible to play media files coded with interlaced VC-1. Progressive VC-1 files are no problem. And playing a BluRay disk is not yet possible. This is more a general MediaPortal problem, because this feature has to be developed by the MP developers team as well. Q: Ok, I'm interessted. Now what? Good! In that case: Just continue reading. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  The system requirement for SAF is actually very basic. This requirement is only valid for use on a dedicated HTPC. OS: Windows XP or Widows 7 is recommended CPU: 3.5Ghz single core or 2.4Ghz dual core is the minimum to be able to use software decoding for 1080p HD video. (Source) If you are going to use of hardware acceleration as much as possible for playback you could do with lower specs like 2.6Ghz single core or 1.5Ghz dual core. GPU: Graphic cards which can help decoding of video by means of hardware accelerations are:
Drivers: proper drivers are required to get the best out of the setup. Old or buggy drivers can cause bad playback.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Before you start the installation of SAF:
There are two versions of SAF available. A standard version and an unlocked version. The standard version works perfect for most users. The difference between the two versions are: - Automatic download function of the correct and best decoders. - For Live HDTV channels (MPEG2/h.264) added hardware acceleration decoding support. - Full RealMedia support is available. - VP7 video decoding support available. If you do not watch HDTV and RealMedia files, you have no need for the unlocked version. Q: How do I obtain the unlocked version of SAF? Send a private message (PM) to me, Hoborg and I will sooner or later give you the instructions. Installation of SAF
Video  DVD  TV  Video Post processing In the video / dvd section, do not add any post process which is meant to process the video. This will break the video hardware acceleration. Choosing audio output method: Analogue or SPDIF If you have an external device connected to your htpc, which is capable of decoding AC3 and DTS streams (like a dts-receiver), you should configure ffdshow to use SPDIF passthrough. To get SPDIF passthrough functioning in mediaportal, you need to add "ffdshow Audio decoder" to the post processing list. Double click on it in the list, and then tick it. You need to do this in the Video, DVD and Television section. Because this is an audio post process, it will not break the hardware acelleration of video. See the (good) example below.  To add support for RealMedia into MP:
To add support for QuickTime (MOV) format in to MP: SAF already supports the modern MOV files with h.264 HD video. But if you want to play older MOV files from cameras, etc, you need to:
Code: rename *.mov *.movsd -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For up-to-date FAQ and problem descriptions, see the 2nd post of this thread. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Deiterlacing What is deinterlacing? The picture below explains it best I think.  Interlaced video is often from Live TV channels. If you want to use this good deinterlacing method, your GPU must support Vector Adaptive deinterlacing. This might be a problem on Vista/Win7 OS. If you want to know more about deinterlacing, see this thread on avsforum. The MKV Container (*.mkv files) If you have a lot of video files in avi format, you should consider putting them in to the MKV container. This doesn't change quality, it is just a container. The good things about the MKV format are:
You can convert your AVI's to MKV's using the free MKVmerge software. Just drag&drop your file, add subtitles/audio tracks, tag with language tag and hit ''Start muxing'' button. Included in SAF - Tools DSmux is a tool to convert AVI or MPEG files into MKV files. This can be done to add multiple subtitle track or multiple audio tracks. See screenshot below.  DXVA Checker is a tool you can use to see what the capabillities are of your htpc regarding hardware acceleration (DXVA). In addition you can check what codec can be used with a certain mediafile. Filmerit can get you out of "codec hell"! If there are conflicts, Filmerit will detect them. You can get rid of the conflicting splitters/filters/codecs with it, and you can also change the merit of codecs, etc. Very usefull!! Graphstudio is capable of showing you in detail what splitter / filter / codec is being used in MP?[/b] If you play a media file it can show you what splitter, filter and codec is being used. Go to: START > SAF > TOOLS > graphstudio. During playback, select "File" followed by "Connect to remote Graph". It should produce a screen like below.  MPEG-2 decoder comparison: I created an overview of a lot of decoders based on my experience. With this, you are able to decide if you have a preference in using the one or the other. Cyberlink
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Collapsed text:  Download: Latest STABLE version: SAF 4.0 FINAL There is also a newest experimental version: SAF 5.0 experimental thread Q: How do I obtain the unlocked version of SAF? Send a private message (PM) to me, Hoborg and I will sooner or later give you the instructions. Enjoy! HOBORG Thanks to Edterbak for styling. Last edited by hoborg; 2010-08-23 at 12:00.. |
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2008-09-02, 21:00
| #2 (permalink) |
| Portal Member  |  Re: SAF v4.00 ''stable'' (StandAlone Filters) - DXVA ready (H.264 and VC-1). General information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Problem 1: AC3/DTS passthrough is not working - Add FFDShow Audio decoder to MP postprocessing. See the image below. - You must enable Passthrough during the SAF install process to activate this feature - Correct settings of ffdshow audio setup is given in the image below.  Problem 2: I only see a black screen when playing an HD video! - Likely caused by bad graphic drivers. You could different (older or newer) drivers for your GPU. - Try to disable DXVA - start menu - SAF - DXVA Off. - Check weather you are using the right settings in MP for renderer. Configuration.exe > Codecs and Renderer > Tab: Video Renderer. -WinXP OS should use VMR9 with 'use exclusive mode' ticked/enabled Problem 3: My computer freeze on wakeup! I had similar problem. It was caused by TV card driver. There is a solution - you can use MCE standby tool + my addon. Problem 4: I have a HD video, but DXVA is not working A lot of HD videos shared on web are not corectly encoded, i.e. with 5.1 profile with too many reference frames in it. This is not ATI DXVA compatible. You can re-encode them using free Xvid4PSP software. Run Xvid4PSP, drag&drop your video file and config Xvid4PSP acording this screenshot: But be aware - this process can take whole night (depending of your CPU power)!  Problem 5: I'm having troubles with HDTV channels. After a couple of minutes I notice a very slight judder/lag in my TV picture. If I seek back -15 seconds in the timeshift buffer, everything works fine, no judder/lag. Using the PDVD9 codec for TV. It is a known problem with EVR (vista/win7). See: Problems with dropping frames with EVR Problem 6: How do I uninstall SAF? I can't find SAF in the "Add/remove software" section of the configuration screen. That is correct. SAF doesn't create an entry in the configuration section. To uninstall SAF, just re-run the dowloaded SAF.exe file again. It will detect the precense of SAF and will prompt you if you want to uninstall SAF or not. Problem 7: My current NVidia drivers are giving problems You can use any driver pre 191xx. There are too many reports of problems after these. And if your OS will take it you can try early 182xx drivers. These are even better. (Thanks Paranoid Delusion) Problem 8: Some MKV files with DTS audio tracks are playing in double speed. You can solve it by replacing the DTS decoder from libavcodec to libdts in ffdshow audio configuration. (Thanks T-Spark) This post will be updated regularly with the most recent problems. It is work in progress at the moment though...  Last edited by edterbak; 2010-07-02 at 07:03.. |
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2008-09-10, 06:36
| #4 (permalink) | |
| Development Group Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 32
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__________________ http://day2.no-ip.org/ "Commy64 - The problem there is that Oprah was on. MP tried to save you by blanking the screen" | |
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2008-09-10, 06:53
| #5 (permalink) | |
| Portal Translator Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Nový Jičín Age: 32
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Country: | Quote:
I newer write anywhere it will be working with subtitles. DXVA in MP works only without subtitles. Last edited by hoborg; 2008-09-10 at 21:43.. | |
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2008-09-14, 02:55
| #6 (permalink) |
| Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2008
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Country:  | hi, i just tried your package and everything installed fine. however, hardware acceleration is not working  . i also read somewhere that VSfilter autoloading needs to be disabled. so when i changed to No in the Haali settings, i always get a bluescreen when trying to play mkv files in MP. once i switch on autoloading vsfilter, everything works fine again but no hardware acceleration. what can i do? |
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2008-09-14, 08:52
| #7 (permalink) |
| Portal Translator Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Nový Jičín Age: 32
Posts: 2,686
Thanks: 10
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Country: | Hello. What OS do you have? Do you have Ati graphic card? My package is configured OK, no need to change anything to have DXVA - Bluescreen = wrong drivers! If you have ATI + WinXP you need to use older Catalyst 8.5 - is last DXVA working driver (i will post link to them next day) In Vista, use Catalyst 8.8+, it works fine. No experience with nVidia cards... Last edited by hoborg; 2008-09-14 at 10:34.. |
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2008-09-14, 15:18
| #8 (permalink) |
| Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2008
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Country: | hi hoborg, i just made a clean uninstall of my ati drivers and installed catalyst 8.8 now apparently hardware acceleration works (cpu loads is constantly below 10%) and when i check the MPC video decoder setting sit says for DVXA Mode: "H.264 bitstream decoder, no FGT". is it correct like this? if yes, THANK YOU VERY MUCH |
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2008-09-14, 18:56
| #9 (permalink) | |
| Portal Translator Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Nový Jičín Age: 32
Posts: 2,686
Thanks: 10
Thanked 804 Times in 282 Posts
Country: | Quote:
Well, another happy costumer  | |
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| dxva, filters, h264, mpeg2, saf, vc1, video |
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