Poor video player quality on Ivy Bridge (1 Viewer)

[yossis]

Hi,

I recently changed my HTPC configuration from AMD 785G with integrated ATI HD 4200 graphics to Intel core i5-3570k with integrated Intel HD graphics 4000.

With the AMD configuration the video playback quality of HD content (both 720p and 1080p) was great in MediaPortal but with the new setup it's bad, especially in dark scenes. It almost looks like SD content.
With other players (Windows MP, VLC, MP classic) the quality is good.

I tried different filters and made sure there are no post process filters defined in MediaPortal. But nothing changes the quality. Also made sure the correct filters are used (saw them both in the tray and with SHIFT+1).

Is there a known issue with MediaPortal playback with Intel Ivy Bridge graphic cards?
Is there anything else I can try to improve the quality? Maybe there's a setting I mistakenly changed that might cause this?
I don't want to switch to an external player.

Appreciate your help

Yossi

 

[Owlsroost]

Which video decode filter are you using ?

If you setup MPC-HC to use the same video decode filter, and set the output options to be EVR to 3D surfaces, does it look the same as MP ?

Tony

 

[yossis]

I tried ffdshow and LAV (both latest).

I changed the default decoder in MPC-HC and it looks bad there also (tried both filters). When I went back to the default I noticed the the quality in MPC-HC is also bad.
I re-checked VLC playback and it looks much better. AFAIK VLC uses its own decoders.
As part of my testing I connected to the TV another computer with AMD graphic card and played the same video. The quality was good either with MP and VLC.

If it's also looks bad on MPC-HC, I guess it means the problem is not with MP? Is there a know issue with Intel graphic cards?

Thank you for the answer.

 

[Owlsroost]

Are you using software or DXVA decoding with LAV ?

Unless it's changed recently, VLC always uses software decoding (based on FFMpeg, like LAV), so the problem might be with DXVA + IvyBridge. LAV also has a QuickSync decoder option (for SandyBridge/IvyBridge) which might be worth trying.

Tony

 

[yossis]

I tried both and tried QuickSync with LAV. Still looks bad.

 

[RonD]

I have an IvyBridge system with HD2500 graphics and do not see any obvious problems using the MePo LAV filters. I've tried both QuickSync and DXVA2 both seem to work. Maybe I'm not looking closely enough to notice the problems you are seeing.

My setup has
VGA = LCD monitor, I just use this for "computer" stuff
HDMI = Samsung TV HDMI, the TV HDMI input is set as "PC", windows extended display, MePo display

On the Samsung TV I ended up fiddling around with the TV display settings for normal "ATSC TV" and for the HDMI ports.