Problem with hardware acceleration + VMR9 + Cyberlink PDVD8 codecs (1 Viewer)

[JoePlumber]

The way I see it, VMR-9 is causing most of the problems with the video decoder filters.
When you enable hardware accelerator in MP, VMR-9 becomes the default video renderer.
Microsoft has stated that VMR-9 does not support video ports, where data is sent directly to the GPU.
VMR-7 or an Overlay Mixer can be used instead of VMR-9. VMR-7 however, is limited to XP only.

Can we have VMR-7 or Overlay Mixer added as a video renderer option in MP?

 

[jo16v]

The way I see it, VMR-9 is causing most of the problems with the video decoder filters.
When you enable hardware accelerator in MP, VMR-9 becomes the default video renderer.
Microsoft has stated that VMR-9 does not support video ports, where data is sent directly to the GPU.
VMR-7 or an Overlay Mixer can be used instead of VMR-9. VMR-7 however, is limited to XP only.

Can we have VMR-7 or Overlay Mixer added as a video renderer option in MP?

I don't think that is the case as hardware acceleration works with VMR9 in MPC-HC with MPC-HC video decoder and in DVBViewer with Cyberlink 7.3/8 Ultra decoders in XP SP3 (although Overlay will give slightly lower processor usage).

 

[JoePlumber]

For basic video rendering and no mixing, VMR-9 can be used if your hardware supports it. Otherwise use the old default video renderer. For DVD playback, the Overlay Mixer or VMR-7 are the only two that supports video ports.

Technically speaking, VMR-9 has its own CLSID and its own set of interfaces, structures and enumeration types which are not always identical to the corresponding data types for the VMR-7, due to the underlying differences between DirectDraw 7 and Direct3D 9.

It seems that my ATI GPU does not support VMR-9 very well, even with the latest Catalyst drivers for XP.
In MP, we should be able to fall back to one of these older video renderers if one doesn't work for us.

 

[jo16v]

For basic video rendering and no mixing, VMR-9 can be used if your hardware supports it. Otherwise use the old default video renderer. For DVD playback, the Overlay Mixer or VMR-7 are the only two that supports video ports.

Technically speaking, VMR-9 has its own CLSID and its own set of interfaces, structures and enumeration types which are not always identical to the corresponding data types for the VMR-7, due to the underlying differences between DirectDraw 7 and Direct3D 9.

It seems that my ATI GPU does not support VMR-9 very well, even with the latest Catalyst drivers for XP.
In MP, we should be able to fall back to one of these older video renderers if one doesn't work for us.

Please see my post here- I have downloaded the latest build of MPC-HC standalone player and it seems to be able to play all my files with DXVA without a problem, but the main points being I had to disable DirectVobSub/VSFilter and use VMR9 (windowed) mode to avoid picture abnormalities.

Can any developer confirm whether or not MediaPortal can use VMR9 (windowed) renderer? The options given for VMR9 in MediaPortal seem quite different (or at least differently worded) to those given in MPC-HC so I am not sure whether it is possible with MP or not.

 

[JoePlumber]

It looks like MP uses VMR-9 renderless mode because it gives you the option to select exclusive mode and nonsquare mixing for scaling. You can only work with shaders in this mode.

BTW, I have tried MPC-HC to play a H.264/AAC video file. Even though DxVA was enabled at the transform filter, the MPC video decoder was showing "Not Using DXVA" as greyed out. CPU was 8%-12%. The same goes with my Xvid files. CPU was 4%-6%. Sometimes if you look at the video decoder's output pin, it will tell you if biCompression is using DXVA.

 

[jo16v]

It looks like MP uses VMR-9 renderless mode because it gives you the option to select exclusive mode and nonsquare mixing for scaling. You can only work with shaders in this mode.

BTW, I have tried MPC-HC to play a H.264/AAC video file. Even though DxVA was enabled at the transform filter, the MPC video decoder was showing "Not Using DXVA" as greyed out. CPU was 8%-12%. The same goes with my Xvid files. CPU was 4%-6%. Sometimes if you look at the video decoder's output pin, it will tell you if biCompression is using DXVA.

DXVA seems to work for me on all my Apple HD clips/trailers which use h.264 and AAC. If I right click a movie when it is playing and go to Filters> MPC Video Decoder, under DXVA settings it says "h.264 bitstream decoder, no FGT" in grey writing - is that what you get?

I have been testing with the different renderers and all my HD files seem to play correctly using VMR9 (windowed). If I select VMR9 (renderless) I have to select Direct 3D Fullscreen to avoid tearing on all files and also VMR9 mixer mode and YUV mixing must be selected for interlaced files to work correctly.

 

[JoePlumber]

You definitely have hardware acceleration working in MPC-HC. Your Apple h.264 file probably conforms to the Blu-Ray standard better than the generic h.264 codec I am using.
I don't get any tearing in VMR-9 renderless mode and VMR Mixing enabled. Are you able to use the deinterlace (blend) shader?

 

[jo16v]

You definitely have hardware acceleration working in MPC-HC. Your Apple h.264 file probably conforms to the Blu-Ray standard better than the generic h.264 codec I am using.
I don't get any tearing in VMR-9 renderless mode and VMR Mixing enabled. Are you able to use the deinterlace (blend) shader?

It's weird that MPC-HC is saying "Not using DXVA" if you are getting 8%-12% CPU usage on a 1080p file- it's sounds like you are getting it unless you have one of the top Phenom or equivalent processors. Unaccelerated 1080p or 1080i h.264 mkv/ mov/ts file take about 60-90% usage on my 64x2 5000+ (VC-1 or WMV9 seems to use less, maybe it's more efficient?). MPC-HC is still a work in progress so maybe it's just a bug.

When you say "Are you able to use the deinterlace (blend) shader?"- does that refer to the "Surface" or "Resizer" options? I didn't really notice too much difference in changing those. If I have VMR9 mixer mode and YUV mixing mode disabled the interlaced files seem to play, but non- de-interlaced? If I enable just VMR9 mixer mode interlaced files just play blank- YUV mixing mode needs to be selected. The non de-interlace problem then goes away but tearing is then evident unless Direct 3D Fullscreen is enabled.

 

[JoePlumber]

The deinterlace (blend) shader is on the context menu under Shaders. You have to be in VMR renderless mode and your graphics hardware must support at least PS 2.0

In your case, the VMR Mixer was unable to perform hardware accelerated deinterlacing (gives you better quality for interlaced video). By choosing YUV Mixing mode, deinterlacing is now being performed by your graphics driver. It will provide better performance on lower end graphics hardware but image quality will suffer if you're using BOB deinterlacing. Bob is your uncle.