Codec confusion (1 Viewer)

[zetter]

OS: Windows XP Pro
CPU: P4 2.4GHz
Video-card: Nvidia Gforce MX 440
TV-card: fireDTV
Meedio: 0.2.2.0
Display: Sanyo Z4SV (720p)

Hey everyone!

I tried out MP a year ago when I first got a HTPC but soon switched to Meedio because of the instability in MP. I recently got a fireDTV to get some programming via comhem here in Sweden. I soon discovered the TV support in Meedio was terrible, so I decided to give MP another chance and i can't believe how much better is has gotten. The programmers have really done a great job, cheers to you all

Anyway, to the problem. I'm really lovin' MP and all of it's features, but I can't seem to get the video-playback to be as good as in Meedio. In Meedio the picture was really sharp and had accurate (I think) colours, in MP it's not as sharp and somewhat grey.

I figure I need to find the right video-codec or post-processing filter, but I'm somewhat confused here. As I understand it from some reading I've done, VLC and other great video-apps are using ffdshow (or FFMpeg). In MP I can't choose any of these for video codec, I only have MPV,Nvidia Video decoder, DScaler mpeg2, Nero and Cyberlink. I can use ffdshow as a post-processing filter, but I don't really know how this works or what it does.

So basically, does anyone know what Meedio uses as default for video playback? Is Nvidia's codec a good choice for my videocard or do I need a new card for it to be better than the other? Last but not least, what do people here prefer for video codec and post-processing?

Oh, and one last thing, is ffdshow only a filter for allready decoded videos?

Hope i didn't break any rules (my first post)!


Cheers
//zetter

 

[FlipGer]

Hi,

you are right, the chosen codecs has influence on the picture quality. But in your case the "problem" seems to be the video renderer.

Most players use by default overlay. MP only supports VMR9. Some older video cards have difficulties to display VMR9 in a proper way. If the settings of VMR9 are not correct the picture often looks unsharp, washed out or to bright. You may try to fiddle around with the settings of your video card.
Which driver version do you use? In latest nVidia drivers there is a section called "Video & TV" -> "Color Settings". A newer video card should give you a better VMR9 picture quality.

ffdshow is not only for already decoded videos. It can decode various codecs like DivX, XviD, etc. It will be chosen automatically by MP, if you play one of these files. The dropbox in MP settings is only for videos with MPEG content (like TV, DVD, MPEG).

I use MPV for MPEG videos and ffdshow for the rest. But I am currently considering to give nVidias Purevideo a shot, because most people report, that it provides a better picture quality.

I also use ffdshow for postprocessing (scaling up / sharpen). This is done automatically for all videos which are decoded by ffdshow and for TV and DVD I have added ffdshow raw as postprocessor. But this consumes much CPU power.

Flip.

 

[zetter]

Thank you FlipGer for the quick and informative response. I'm using the latest nVidia drivers, so I'll try and fiddle around with the settings.

The thin you said about the video-codecs only being used for MPEG really made everything fall into place for me. No matter how much i changed codec's there, I didn't get any change in quality for videos. I also enabled the OSD section in ffdshow to se that ffdshow is in fact beeing used, and It is.

So, I'll try and fiddle around with the video-card settings and the ffdshow-settings to se if i get anything good going. Otherwise I guess I'll by a new graphics-card, which ones are good for HTPC?

I'll post the results from my testing here later if anyone else is having the same problems.

Best regards
zetter

 

[FlipGer]

Hi,

Otherwise I guess I'll by a new graphics-card, which ones are good for HTPC?

Well everything equal or above these:
nVidia: 5200 FX
ATi: 9550

Personally I like mike passive 7600 GT very much.

Flip.