Best picture quality in Vista with Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (2 Viewers)

[Justchill]

Got myself this board, and made noted something interesting:

I first found that picture via HDMI was crap. Tried DVI, and found it be much better. After fiddling around (who doesn't when they got new HW ), I found that picture via HDMI was as good as DVI if VGA/DVI was set in BIOS (not VGA/HDMI).

Might just be my telly (Tatung aka Goodman 42" 1080p), but I failed to get 1:1 pixelmapping when VGA/HDMI was set in BIOS (meaning that CCC gave HDMI options), as picture was clearly scaled to fit, when it should just fit. Telly reported picture to be 1080p, though ...

Strange... It amazes me you have output on the HDMI CON when VGA/DVI is selected..

 

[Tmac]

Hi, i have a 42'' plasma tv with non-square pixels (panasonic viera). Currently i'm using the 1280x720 resolution, but i have to set underscan over CCC. I saw some comments about pixel perfect that makes me wonder, am I using the best option (underscan)? Is there any more recommended way to config it?

Also, where do i enable EVR, should i care about it, or thats only for TV/SD content?

 

[infy]

Hi, i have a 42'' plasma tv with non-square pixels (panasonic viera). Currently i'm using the 1280x720 resolution, but i have to set underscan over CCC. I saw some comments about pixel perfect that makes me wonder, am I using the best option (underscan)? Is there any more recommended way to config it?

Also, where do i enable EVR, should i care about it, or thats only for TV/SD content?

Media Foundation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Spragleknas]

Got myself this board, and made noted something interesting:

I first found that picture via HDMI was crap. Tried DVI, and found it be much better. After fiddling around (who doesn't when they got new HW ), I found that picture via HDMI was as good as DVI if VGA/DVI was set in BIOS (not VGA/HDMI).

Might just be my telly (Tatung aka Goodman 42" 1080p), but I failed to get 1:1 pixelmapping when VGA/HDMI was set in BIOS (meaning that CCC gave HDMI options), as picture was clearly scaled to fit, when it should just fit. Telly reported picture to be 1080p, though ...

Strange... It amazes me you have output on the HDMI CON when VGA/DVI is selected..

My guess is that it only passes is around to whatever is connected.

IIRC I can use HDMI or DVI with VGA/DVI settings and VGA/HDMI settings. Only difference is CCC options and driver settings, I think.

 

[kszabo]

Hi, i have a 42'' plasma tv with non-square pixels (panasonic viera). Currently i'm using the 1280x720 resolution, but i have to set underscan over CCC. I saw some comments about pixel perfect that makes me wonder, am I using the best option (underscan)? Is there any more recommended way to config it?

Also, where do i enable EVR, should i care about it, or thats only for TV/SD content?

same setup for me here (Pana 42'' native 1024x768, with 1280x720 signal)

Technically it is impossible to use the native rasolution of this TVs (=pixel mapping impossible) because Windows can only send signal with squere pixels (you could set 1024x768 through VGA but you would get distorted picture).

There is no much possibilities/tools to try (like powerstrip, VGA vs HDMI etc), I suggest you use HDMI, simply set 1280x720p resolution with the needed overscan correction in CCC. VGA would help only with a TV with squere pixel panels where pixel mapping is not possible over HDMI (overscan not to deactivate).

The only way for us to get pixel mapping is dumping our TVs and buy a new one (fullHD, 24p)

 

[jo16v]

New BIOSes have been released for the GA-MA78GM-S2H and most of the other Gigabyte 780G boards that improve Phenom II CPU and audio compatibility :

GA-MA78GM-S2H rev 1.0 and rev 1.1 - F8a BIOS released Feb.10th, 2009 - download here.

GA-MA78GM-S2H rev 2.x - FCa BIOS released March 18th, 2009 - download here.

Other 780G boards here. Some have had a further update to CPU ID AGESA3.3.2.3.

INSTRUCTIONS: Run the executable to extract the files- you only need ma78gs2h.f8a or whatever the similar file is for your board. Put the file on an empty USB pen drive that is formatted in FAT 16/32. Restart system- press End button - the QFlash BIOS programme will start - locate your USB drive select the file and follow instructions to update BIOS. Don't touch anything or press any buttons while it updates! When it is finished restart system and press Delete to load BIOS- you may have to correct your hard disk boot order. Then load optimised defaults and save and exit.

See also further info at Gigabyte and this warning:

"Because BIOS flashing is potentially risky, if you do not encounter problems using the current version of BIOS, it is recommended that you not flash the BIOS. To flash the BIOS, do it with caution. Inadequate BIOS flashing may result in system malfunction."

 

[jo16v]

To get vector adaptive deinterlacing i had to turn off Aero, but still now I think the picture quality is fine with EVR.
Looking forward to check deinterlacing quality with a Phenom X3 next weeks.

I'd be interested to know how that turned out? I was just testing out Windows 7 (normally use XP) and found this to be the case with 3200HD and a x2 5000+ i.e. if aero is turned on all deinterlacing, SD and HD will be limited to Bob- I guess this applies to 3200 HD and all non HT3 processors (i.e. x2 7750 or Phenom).

<<aero is turned off by disabling "Enable desktop composition" in system properties (right click my computer) - advanced system settings - performance - visual effects>>.

Contrary to what has been said here, EVR still works when aero is turned off and will give DXVA on Cyberlink, Arcsoft, Elecard/Mainconcept and MPC decoders. You can get vector adaptive (best) deinterlacing with DXVA with SD material, but with 1080i HD material it reverts to Bob. What I have found though is the slider doesn't always move, but if you have the CCC window up with the ATi flag waving, with vector adaptive on SD it should be very smooth, however, when you move to HD sometimes it stays on vector adaptive but the flag will instantly show jaggies indicating it has reverted to Bob even though the slider has not changed.

REQUEST: Can anyone with a 7750/Phenom + 3200 HD do this 'flag' test this to see if you really are getting vector adaptive on HD- the ATi flag in CCC must stay smooth in moving from interlaced SD to interlaced HD. If it does not stay smooth with aero turned on, can you turn aero off following the instructions above and retest

Here is an image showing smooth vector adaptive flag on left and Bob on right.

Relying on the 'flag method' to prove vector adaptive is still in use on HD I discovered ffdshow can get round this limitation by using CPU decoding and passing the deinterlacing to the GPU. Do this by setting NV12 only in Output and selecting "set interlace flag in output media type". With ffdshow set as the HD decoder, the flag stays smooth when switching from SD. The downside is CPU is 40-60% on a 5000+ (skip deblocking when safe should be selected in ffdshow codecs options as it reduces CPU by 10%). Note this workaround likely also applies to Core AVC which can select NV12 output.

 

[manray]

Hi

Does Anybody Know how to Enable vsync without CCC installed?
There is any registry entry to do that?

Thanks

 

[kszabo]

REQUEST: Can anyone with a 7750/Phenom + 3200 HD do this 'flag' test

great idea, I will test and report (Penom X3 8450 + HD3200 onboard + CCC 9.3)

So here you go, I did the test:

no difference in deinterlacing of 1080i if Aero is on or off with a HT3 capable Phenom X3 = the "flag test" in CCC shows the same very smooth (vector adaptive I guess) picture watching at the same time (MP as window). Setting "bob" manually decreases deinterlacing quality dramatically.

Setup:
- Vista 32 bit
- EVR as renderer
- Cyberlink PDVD 7 as h.264 codec, used graph verified with Graphstudio
- Catalyst 9.3
- deinterlacing set to automatic (and bob as control) in CCC
- picture source 1080i HDTV from DVBS2 Astra 19,2° AstraHD 50fps 1080i

 

[jo16v]

REQUEST: Can anyone with a 7750/Phenom + 3200 HD do this 'flag' test

great idea, I will test and report (Penom X3 8450 + HD3200 onboard + CCC 9.3)

So here you go, I did the test:

no difference in deinterlacing of 1080i if Aero is on or off with a HT3 capable Phenom X3 = the "flag test" in CCC shows the same very smooth (vector adaptive I guess) picture watching at the same time (MP as window). Setting "bob" manually decreases deinterlacing quality dramatically.

Setup:
- Vista 32 bit
- EVR as renderer
- Cyberlink PDVD 7 as h.264 codec, used graph verified with Graphstudio
- Catalyst 9.3
- deinterlacing set to automatic (and bob as control) in CCC
- picture source 1080i HDTV from DVBS2 Astra 19,2° AstraHD 50fps 1080i

Thanks for doing this! I notice you have the GA-MA78GPM-DS2H which has the 128MB sideport memory and you use 512MB shared also- could this affect what deinterlacing can be achieved? It would be interesting if anyone without a Phenom but with the sideport memory could also do the test? Also if anyone has added a separate card i.e. 3450/3650, 4350/4550 (without a Phenom) it would be interesting to see if you can get vector adaptive for 1080i +DXVA (i.e. not ffdshow or CoreAVC).

Here is my Windows Experience Score for W7 (right click "My Computer">properties):

Processor 5.5 AMD 64 x2 5000+

Memory 5.5 Corsair 800 2x1GB

Aero graphics 3.5 3200 HD (256MB shared- with 512 it only went to 3.6 but memory fell to 4.5)

Gaming graphics 5.1