vmr9 exclusive mode problem

[mbu10]

have alittle problem
i switched off vmr9 exclusive mode to fix a problem that on really complicated films where there is a lot of movment like snow fall or a close up of a rough sea it would stutter
turning off this fixed and plays like a dream
but has the problem of now that the media portal switches off the screen cause it thinks it is not in use
so i disabled the tickbox where media portal can switch of screen if not busy
but now does not switch offf the screen at all which i am concerned could burn the screen if i leave to long
thanks

[Seeco]

I'm afraid I don't have a solution to your problem, I just wanted to say that I have got a similar problem. Just like you I have had a lot of stutter/flicker in scenes with a lot of horisontal movement, despite outputting 24Hz to at 72Hz display. I also found out that unchecking VMR9 exclusive mode made movement a lot more fluid. THe problem is, with exclusive mode unchecked I get tearing instead.

What's all this about, why would unchecking exclusive mode result in less stutter, and is there another way to achieve the same thing?

[Paranoid Delusion]

Are the ATI chipsets you are using, if so check out this, and it not only for HD playback but also normal mpeg2.

ATI HD Registry Tweaks

[Seeco]

Well I do use an ATI chipset (on my motherboard), otherwise I use Nvidia Graphics (9600GT). Could the chipset make a difference, although I use a dedicated Nvidia graphics card?

[dapun]

I am using 7900GS with mediaportal-svn-09-20-2008--10-52-Rev20268, and I get the same crazy thing, I am using Nvidia Omega Drivers 2.169.21 (Forceware 169.21). I noticed the same thing with taking off exclusive mode, I actually went a step further and took off filtering and non square mixing. I have no idea what those do but I cant notice tearing nor weird motion in fast frame sequences. I only tested with a few scense and they were definately more watchable without the weird effects.

Thanks for finding this.

Lets begin with seeing how we can improve this.
Obviously new equipment doesnt help as your 8900gt does the same.

Aside from the PC description about:
Running Windows XP SP3 Final
AMD X2 4400
2GB RAM
CoreAVC Decoder 1.8
AV3Filter

Somethings I am going to do.. to further see if I can improve this is ...

Download Newest DX 9.0c update...
Download details: DirectX Redist (August 2008) August 2008.. and go from there.

Then toggle different options(ie. mixing and filtering in VMR9) and see if I get the desired results.

Keep me posted if someone has sucess.

[Seeco]

Just for the record I'll post my specs as well:

PC:
C2D E6400
2 GB RAM
Asrock 1333-FullHD motherboard
Nvidia Geforce 9600GT graphics card
Outputting video via HDMI to a Pioneer PDP-5080
Outputting audio via integrated motherboard sound (RCA?) output to stereo

Codecs:
Splitter: Haali Media Splitter
Video: ffdshow
Audio Ac3Filter
Video renderer: VMR9
Audio renderer: Reclock

There should be someone here who has an idea of what the deal is with exclusive mode and stutter. Isn't exclusive mode supposed to be more efficient?

[Crabstick]

I have this same problem. I get stutter (skipped frames) only when playing 25 FPS XVID files. Display is set to 1080p50. 24 FPS (with 24Hz display) is OK. 25 FPS interlaced DVB is OK. 25 FPS x264 is OK.
I tried to disable exclusive mode but I'm not sure if it made any difference. Could you guys check out the VMR9 properties while playback. I get around 24-24,5 FPS but it does not claim to drop any frames in renderer. Where are the frames lost? I tried to ask this on other forum section but no replies.

Next I'll try to further experiment with those VMR9 filtering settings. Yes, I have latest DX9 installed.

[Paranoid Delusion]

Found a solution for this problem. In the NVidia Control Panel, set Noise Reduction to any value other than 0%. You can find this setting under "Video & Television\Adjust video image settings", set it to 10% and no video stuttering.

Above worth a try, setting may be another location in xp's nvidia panel (possibly "adjust video color settings\enhancement").

Would of helped if you all had said you were on Nvidia Graphic cards to start with, just get too many complaints about ATI

[Crabstick]

Originally Posted by Paranoid Delusion

Would of helped if you all had said you were on Nvidia Graphic cards to start with, just get too many complaints about ATI

Well, I'm on ATI so that didn't help me. I was just hoping, this wasn't card related...
For further info, check my thread:
MKV, 50Hz display, VMR9 frames dropped/skipped

[Seeco]

I'm not even sure what I'm seeing anymore. Today when I try disabling exclusive mode I can't seem to get the same result as yesterday. Often when I fiddle with different settings it seems that some of them stick although I change them to something else, sometimes it seems like I happen to put the computer in some "mode" where everything works, and then when I try the exact same settings the day after it doesn't work at all. There seems to be things going on in the background which I have little control over. All I can say is this:

The problem is not directly codec related - I have tried with different video codecs (PowerDVD, MP:s own, CoreAVC), different audio codecs (ffdshow, PowerDVD, MP:s own), different audio renderer (DirectShow default). The thing that makes a difference (sometimes) is fiddling with VMR9, and sometimes the graphics card settings. The Nvidia settings can produce different results (seemingly at different times), sometimes disabling V-sync produces a more fluid image without tearing, when I try it again at a different occasion it produces a lot of tearing. Yesterday I tried V-sync only, V-sync together with Eclusive mode, and Eclusive mode only. At the start disabling them both appeared to produce the best result. After messing about with other settings (although resetting them afterwards) I ended up enabling them both again, which all of a sudden produced a fluid image. This would be a lot easier if it wasn't for all the mystery involved!

My benchmark right now is interlaced DVB: Here I use PowerDVD with hardware acceleration, and in interlaced broadcasts I get by far the best movement handling I have ever seen. It really can't be compared with what I'm seeing with h.264 material (and other non-interlaced material as well). When watching TV scrolling text etc is absolutely readable, in h.264 videos panning is a pain to watch. I understand that there is an inherent judder in 24p material (even if I can output and display refresh rates that are multiples of 24), but this is something different. If for example there is a panning picture over black vertical bars on a white background, the edges of the bars flicker violently. The movement can actually be fairly smooth, but the whole picture is broken up by this flickering/shudder/vibration. It's not ghosting - not like a constant trail behind the bars - it's more like in every second frame the bar is shown sharply, and in every other second frame the bar is shown with a transparent "shadow" next to it. If someone tells me how to make a screenshot of video being displayed in MP I will post an example.

Because of how DVB looks I know that my TV can reproduce movement in a good way, I also know that my graphics card can do it. PowerDVD can produce an exellent result in DVB, and a lousy result with 24p h.264.

This is a real headache...