Please help - stuttering playback (1 Viewer)

[Gromozeka]

MediaPortal Version: 1.1RC1
MediaPortal Skin: Black Glass 2.2
Windows Version: 7 Ultimate
CPU Type: AMD Athlon X2 4200+
HDD: 1TB Seagate
Memory: 2GB (512MB shared for onboard graphics)
Motherboard: Asus M4A785-M
Video Card: ATI HD4200 (onboard)
Video Card Driver: ATI Catalist 10.2
Sound Card: Onboard VT1708S
1. TV Card: None

MPEG2 Video Codec: ffdshow or MPC
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
h.264 Video Codec: ffdshow or MPC

HTPC Case: Antec Fusion 430 (the first version, w/VFD)
Cooling: Zalman CNPS7000C-Cu
Power Supply: 430W
Remote: RF, MCE compatible RM518 w/trackball
TV: Philips 47PFL8404
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

Hello.
I mostly use MediaPortal for video playback - xVids and mkvs.
I have an issue with stutter during playback. It's jerky even for non-HD xVIds, while the CPU utilization is about 30%.
While playing 720p mkvs, CPU utilization is about 70-80%.
The Media Player Classic - Home Cinema plays the same content with no issues.

Have tried different codecs & settings. Switched between ffdshow and MPC. Uninstalled all codecs and installed SAF 4. Didn't help. EVR is selected, of course. Used Win7FilterTweaker to ensure the required codecs are used.

Tried Re-clock. There was certain improvement (video was smoother, but still not as smooth as in MPC-HC. Still had issues in SD xVids), but then the sound started to disappear for parts of seconds, and after FF or Rewind there was this unpleasant sound preceding continuation of playback. Had to remove Re-clock.

Thought of upgrading the CPU, but on the other side, MPC-HC works fine, and the CPU load 30% during SD material playback by MediaPortal shouldn't result in stutter.

Any ideas, please?
Thank you!

 

[Gromozeka]

OK, so I installed SAF 5.00 with DXVA-enabled ffdshow.
That solved the .mkv stuttering - it's almost as smooth as on the Media Player Classic, CPU load dropped dramatically.
Oddly enough, the problem with sub-standard definition (624x352 XviD) persists!
Almost every scene with panning camera is jerky, every time the same scene is jerky in a different way, and sometimes (once in 4-5 times) it plays OK.
I'm confused. Is the MediaPortal internal player that bad??

 

[Gromozeka]

Continuing to report "progress"...
Installed Mediaportal on Windows 7 clean install.
Before any additional codec packs / SAF install, the XviD playback was perfect.
.mkv was perfect after SAF, but the MPC Gabest codec was removed, and XviD playback returned to stuttering, no matter what available codec I choose for MPEG.
Seems like I'm going to get the clean install again, and then have codecs & utilities required for mkv playback installed manually one-by-one.

And there is an additional issue now: no skin except Blue3Wide works!
Installed Black Glass per instructions, and it starts OK (very slow, but first time that's how it is, right?)
But then just shows the desktop and no Mediaportal interface!!!
The only next step is to close Mediaportal from Task manager

Will try to post logs as soon as I get back home, but not sure what it'll do.. Meanwhile I'm talking to myself %)

 

[hoborg]

, but the MPC Gabest codec was removed, and XviD playback returned to stuttering, no matter what available codec I choose for MPEG.

"MPC Gabest codec" - you mean "MPC - MPEG-2 Video Decoder (Gabest)"? This decoder is used only for MPEG-2, it is not capable to decode XviD.
Open your video in grapstudio (installed by SAF) and play. Do you have still the same problem here?

 

[Gromozeka]

hoborg,
Thank you.
You are correct, I actually use ffdshow.

Now when I resolved the skin installation problem, everything plays almost smooth.
This almost is because of the first few 5-10 seconds of stuttering playback in the beginning of every video file, then it's back to normal.
Or else, I can rewind or pause the playback for few seconds, then resume, and the playback becomes smooth.
I suspect that may be result of low memory or slow CPU. I noticed this temporary stutter is only present when I use skins other than Blue3Wide, probably because these skins require more RAM to run.

I actually can live with this phenomenon, though it's very undesirable. I would be grateful for a tip to get rid of it without a hardware upgrade.
Thank you again.

 

[Salem]

Continuing to report "progress"...
Installed Mediaportal on Windows 7 clean install.
Before any additional codec packs / SAF install, the XviD playback was perfect.
.mkv was perfect after SAF, but the MPC Gabest codec was removed, and XviD playback returned to stuttering, no matter what available codec I choose for MPEG.
Seems like I'm going to get the clean install again, and then have codecs & utilities required for mkv playback installed manually one-by-one.

Same problem here since installing SAF (have since uninstalled but problem persists). I originally installed SAF to see how to get MP to play HD (MKV) files with certain versions of AAC (v4 i think MP said it was, and AC-3 ES audio which didn't work.

Any idea on how to get video playing without stuttering again? (and i know this may need a new thread, but any ideas on getting these audio codecs to be playable)?