Calling all MP New Zealanders (Both of you!!) (2 Viewers)

mdsflyer

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November 14, 2005
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Install graphedit, run mp in windowed mode, fire up a tv channel, run graph edit and connect to mediaportal graph. This will show u which codec mp is using. If it is the correct one then check that the use hardware acceleration checkbox has been ticked in that codec. if it isn't the correct codec then u will need to change that setting within mediaportal.
 

dvbkiwi

Portal Pro
November 2, 2009
54
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so graphedit shows im using PDVD10 codec which is what ive selected and hardware acceleration has been enabled. I have made some progress though. unfortunately the progress just raises more questions and provides no answers.

this is what I have found

if I setup the ION in Hybrid mode with server and client, local client shows poorly and is jerky while remote client shows a perfect picture with no problems. This seems to indicate that the server is working fine. With the server running on its own with no playback or even with remote playback, my cpu is at about 10%. With local playback im between 85-100% CPU

However, I have now removed the server in order to test the local client when it connect to my main server and the local client on teh ION works fine when the server isnt installed. While streaming from a remote client and using PDVD10 codec, im at about 20-25% cpu utilization.
 

mm1352000

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    so graphedit shows im using PDVD10 codec which is what ive selected and hardware acceleration has been enabled.

    How is GraphEdit/GraphStudio showing that DxVA is enabled?
    Sure, you may have enabled DxVA, however that doesn't mean it is operating. Take this for example - asking for subtitles to be displayed can make it impossible to use DxVA with certain codecs...
     

    dvbkiwi

    Portal Pro
    November 2, 2009
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    i guess it doesn't matter what codec its using, reality is that when connecting to a remote server cpu runs low and hardware accelerations is definitely used but when the server is local cpu runs high as if its not using hardware acceleration and picture is jerky. Local server has also been confirmed good by connecting to it from another remote client, so the real question is why is performamnce so bad when both client and server is on the same machine, why would the client behave any difirent
     

    mm1352000

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    It is the responsibility of the machine that displays the video to decode it. In other words, when a client connects to an external server, the server "extracts" the video stream from the tuner and sends it to the client, but it is the *client* that actually decodes the video and displays it (which is the hard part from a CPU perspective). When you view the video on the server, the *server* is both extracting and decoding the video. Since the server is able to deliver the stream to a client without fault, there is clearly a problem with the server's ability to decode the video. That could indicate a codec issue, but it might also indicate a HDD speed issue (writing the stream + reading it back too much for the HDD???) or video card driver issue (DxVA broken - this *can* happen). I advise you to try other codecs (maybe FFDShow, CoreAVC... there are plenty of options these days) and run some diagnostics on your server's timeshifting HDD.

    mm
     

    dvbkiwi

    Portal Pro
    November 2, 2009
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    This doesnt seem to be something as simple as a wrong codec or s slow machine or even hard drive. Ive done some testing to see how much the Revo can handle on its own, this is what Ive found

    Test Series 1 Running as a dedicated server
    Revo PC with built in DVB-T Tuner and externer Hauppauge DVB-T tuner
    Set Server to Record 4 channels (2 per transponder) and view from remote clients 2 more streams (not the ones being recorded)
    Using settings in FTR did tests with RTSP enabled and Disabled
    Result: Recordings have no problems and live streams have no problems
    CPU at 20%

    Test Series 2 Running as client
    Test same computer as a Client connecting to remote server. Tests Power DVD codec, Built in Windows Codec and FFDShow
    Result: Good playback with PDVD Codec
    Good playback with FFDShow
    Win7 Codec (Cant remember what its called) has some weird flickering so codec is just crappy
    With PDVD and FFDshow codecs, CPU Peaked at about 35%

    Based on this I figured, well if the server on its own peak at 20% when under a lots of load and the clients peaks at about 35%, that means if I combine both I should be at 55% CPU which should be fine. Also the test from this client connecting to a remote server was performed without uninstalling the local server, just the the server IP was changed in the client config to point to the remote server.

    Well the result turned out badly because as soon as I point the client to the local server everything turned to custard and picture became Jerky and sound out of sync with CPU sitting between 80-100% (mostly at 100) also no difirence between HD and non HD Channels.

    What has me even more confused is that when we use the built in MCE software of win7, CPU doesn't go over 10% when viewing channels.

    It would have been a nice elegant solution to be able to use the Acer Revo as a all in one MePo machine but it looks like we will have to have a separate server if we don't want to drop back to Windows MCE
     

    Technicolour

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    May 20, 2008
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    What does everyone use to cut out their commercials from Freeview-HD?

    I have a pile stocking up and I'm thinking it might be easier to encode them before cutting? but what to encode them into.

    So no one has any experience in this?
     

    mm1352000

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    Technicolour
    I've been waiting for VideoRedo to improve its editing ability. It isn't perfect right now as their smart editor can create artifacts at cuts/joins.

    dvbkiwi

    This doesnt seem to be something as simple as a wrong codec or s slow machine or even hard drive. Ive done some testing to see how much the Revo can handle on its own, this is what Ive found

    Test Series 1 Running as a dedicated server
    Revo PC with built in DVB-T Tuner and externer Hauppauge DVB-T tuner
    Set Server to Record 4 channels (2 per transponder) and view from remote clients 2 more streams (not the ones being recorded)
    Using settings in FTR did tests with RTSP enabled and Disabled
    Result: Recordings have no problems and live streams have no problems
    CPU at 20%
    Okay, so the HDD speed should be fine.

    Test Series 2 Running as client
    Test same computer as a Client connecting to remote server. Tests Power DVD codec, Built in Windows Codec and FFDShow
    Result: Good playback with PDVD Codec
    Good playback with FFDShow
    Win7 Codec (Cant remember what its called) has some weird flickering so codec is just crappy
    With PDVD and FFDshow codecs, CPU Peaked at about 35%
    Okay fair enough.

    This is the point where you need to post logs from the Revo. Ideally you would post 3 sets of logs - one as client showing perfect playback, one as server showing perfect tuning and timeshifting/recording, and one as combined client and server showing the problem.
     

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