United Kingdom
I'm building an XP-based MP HTPC out of old parts (P4 2.8Ghz, HD2600XT AGP) for my brother and want to configure it properly before I send it to him if possible. My head's spinning with all the options though, so I'd appreciate some help.
It's going to be connected to an SDTV via RGB->SCART, which I've got working with Powerstrip at 720x540 and 1024x576 @50hz(i) on a TV I've borrowed.
I just need to get the codecs setup properly now. I've installed SAF6 (unlocked, so using PDVD11 for MPEG2), CoreAVC (for X264) and Reclock. DIVX, MPEG2 and X264/MKV all play ok with reasonable CPU and low GPU usage (around 60%, although if there's any way to get this lower for any of the formats I'd like to know). As per this post:
•AMD CCC VSYNC is set to Let application decide.
•Reclock is set to DirectDraw.
•Reclock VSYNC On for all content
•DirectX Exclusive Mode On
However, whilst Reclock is fixing 23.976 to 25 FPS, it says "No VSYNC tools available for this media". I've worked out this is because I'm using DXVA in CoreAVC, but I can't disable that as then it will struggle to play the files, so I guess I'll have to sacrifice the benefits of VSYNC for DXVA.
Some other things I'm confused about:
I can't use Reclock for LiveTV (for obvious reasons) but would there be any benefit in using it for playing back recordings? If so, how could I achieve this as MP seems to use the same Audio Renderer setting under TV for both?
Is there any point using de-interlacing, considering the PC's outputting @50hz(i) anyway and if so, should I use CCC's Vector Adaptive de-interlace or ffdshow's Yadif?
Should I enable CCC's denoise, etc or use ffdshow's Postprocessing, Deband, Blur & NR, Sharpen, as set out here?
What do I need to do to make subtitles (internal and external) work with video and DVD? I just tested with an MKV (played with CoreAVC) with external subtitles and that worked OK, but I obviously can't test all possibilities, so if someone could advise that would be helpful.
It's going to be connected to an SDTV via RGB->SCART, which I've got working with Powerstrip at 720x540 and 1024x576 @50hz(i) on a TV I've borrowed.
I just need to get the codecs setup properly now. I've installed SAF6 (unlocked, so using PDVD11 for MPEG2), CoreAVC (for X264) and Reclock. DIVX, MPEG2 and X264/MKV all play ok with reasonable CPU and low GPU usage (around 60%, although if there's any way to get this lower for any of the formats I'd like to know). As per this post:
•AMD CCC VSYNC is set to Let application decide.
•Reclock is set to DirectDraw.
•Reclock VSYNC On for all content
•DirectX Exclusive Mode On
However, whilst Reclock is fixing 23.976 to 25 FPS, it says "No VSYNC tools available for this media". I've worked out this is because I'm using DXVA in CoreAVC, but I can't disable that as then it will struggle to play the files, so I guess I'll have to sacrifice the benefits of VSYNC for DXVA.
Some other things I'm confused about:
I can't use Reclock for LiveTV (for obvious reasons) but would there be any benefit in using it for playing back recordings? If so, how could I achieve this as MP seems to use the same Audio Renderer setting under TV for both?
Is there any point using de-interlacing, considering the PC's outputting @50hz(i) anyway and if so, should I use CCC's Vector Adaptive de-interlace or ffdshow's Yadif?
Should I enable CCC's denoise, etc or use ffdshow's Postprocessing, Deband, Blur & NR, Sharpen, as set out here?
What do I need to do to make subtitles (internal and external) work with video and DVD? I just tested with an MKV (played with CoreAVC) with external subtitles and that worked OK, but I obviously can't test all possibilities, so if someone could advise that would be helpful.