Codecs Recommended CCC Video Settings? (1 Viewer)

[doveman]

Can anyone advise me what I should set the CCC video settings to? I'm running a 6950 and I use PDVD11 for TV and ffdshow for everything else at the moment (SAF6) if that matters.

Currently I have deinterlacing set to Vector Adaptive (I understand this is the best and uses the GPU, so is better than using ffdshow to deinterlace), and Edge Enhancement and De-noise set to 1 (I recall reading a recommendation from someone a while back for these) and Mosquito Noise Reduction and De-blocking set to 50 and Enforce Smooth Video Playback enabled (I don't really know if these are good settings, I think they might just be the defaults). Everything else is disabled.

Obviously, if the CCC video settings use the GPU and free up the CPU it seems preferable to use them rather than ffdshow to do the processing, unless there's any major benefit in terms of image quality from doing it with ffdshow.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi doveman

I probably can't tell you much that you don't already know.

...I use PDVD11 for TV and ffdshow for everything else at the moment (SAF6) if that matters.

It can matter if you're enabling post processing, colour space transformations, colour level changes, effects, deinterlacing etc. I've also heard it said that the quality of the video reproduction itself (regardless of the other things I previously mentioned) can be affected by codec choice too, especially for MPEG 2. I'm not sure if that is true as I always thought video decoding was deterministic (ie. every codec produced the same output, assuming effects were not applied etc.).

Currently I have deinterlacing set to Vector Adaptive (I understand this is the best and uses the GPU, so is better than using ffdshow to deinterlace)...

VA + pulldown detection is also what I use with my 4670, and that was also my understanding.

...Edge Enhancement and De-noise set to 1 (I recall reading a recommendation from someone a while back for these) and Mosquito Noise Reduction and De-blocking set to 50

I have *all* post processing like this turned off entirely, and colour and gamma correction curves at defaults (flat). In fact I think the only other thing I've changed is to enable adaptive anti-aliasing with the highest possible quality.

...and Enforce Smooth Video Playback enabled

This setting effectively overrides any settings that you apply if they would overwork the GPU and cause dropped frames. I'm pretty sure you're safe from that problem without needing to enable that setting with a 6950!

For me the golden rule is "whatever looks good to me is good". That may sound a little selfish or stuck up, but honestly I trust my own eyes and since it is my setup I'm not particularly fussed by what other people say or recommend. The other rule I have is "keep it simple". The more messing around, the more chance for issues and quality loss. To be honest there are so many things that can be tweaked in a video "pipeline". From codecs to renderers to GPU driver to display settings. In my opinion if you have a good display and good quality source material then most of that simply doesn't need to be touched. My starting point is always defaults for everything and to apply the minimum changes required until:

1. The colour - especially skin colour - looks realistic without over saturation or washing out.
2. Black levels are as low as possible while maintaining good contrast.
3. Deinterlacing quality is good with smooth motion for horizontal (tickers), vertical (credits) and "random" motion.
4. No frames being dropped.

I always start with my display colour, brightness and contrast settings first with settings recommended by a good review (tftcentral, prad.de etc.). You have to take them with a grain of salt as each panel will be different and you're not going to get it "perfect" without a colourmeter. At that point I'll use mostly static reference images for evaluation. Then I do the deinterlacing stuff in the GPU driver with high quality high motion video that I know well. Mostly that is all I have to worry about. The rest just falls into place...

mm

 

[doveman]

Hi doveman

I probably can't tell you much that you don't already know.

I wouldn't be too sure

It can matter if you're enabling post processing, colour space transformations, colour level changes, effects, deinterlacing etc. I've also heard it said that the quality of the video reproduction itself (regardless of the other things I previously mentioned) can be affected by codec choice too, especially for MPEG 2. I'm not sure if that is true as I always thought video decoding was deterministic (ie. every codec produced the same output, assuming effects were not applied etc.).

I never really worked this out, but perhaps you know the answer. PDVD11 outputs in NV12 and this is also the format that has to be used for hardware de-interlacing to work. Therefore, is it necessary to ONLY have NV12 ticked in ffdshow's Output section to ensure that both PDVD11 and ffdshow are outputting the same colors, etc?

VA + pulldown detection is also what I use with my 4670, and that was also my understanding.

Well I don't have pulldown detection enabled, so that's one thing I've learnt

I have *all* post processing like this turned off entirely, and colour and gamma correction curves at defaults (flat). In fact I think the only other thing I've changed is to enable adaptive anti-aliasing with the highest possible quality.

And there's another! I wasn't aware that AA would have any effect on video, but I can try setting this for MP with RadeonPro without affecting anything else.

This setting effectively overrides any settings that you apply if they would overwork the GPU and cause dropped frames. I'm pretty sure you're safe from that problem without needing to enable that setting with a 6950!

And that's a hat trick!

For me the golden rule is "whatever looks good to me is good". That may sound a little selfish or stuck up, but honestly I trust my own eyes and since it is my setup I'm not particularly fussed by what other people say or recommend. The other rule I have is "keep it simple". The more messing around, the more chance for issues and quality loss. To be honest there are so many things that can be tweaked in a video "pipeline". From codecs to renderers to GPU driver to display settings. In my opinion if you have a good display and good quality source material then most of that simply doesn't need to be touched. My starting point is always defaults for everything and to apply the minimum changes required until:

1. The colour - especially skin colour - looks realistic without over saturation or washing out.
2. Black levels are as low as possible while maintaining good contrast.
3. Deinterlacing quality is good with smooth motion for horizontal (tickers), vertical (credits) and "random" motion.
4. No frames being dropped.

I always start with my display colour, brightness and contrast settings first with settings recommended by a good review (tftcentral, prad.de etc.). You have to take them with a grain of salt as each panel will be different and you're not going to get it "perfect" without a colourmeter. At that point I'll use mostly static reference images for evaluation. Then I do the deinterlacing stuff in the GPU driver with high quality high motion video that I know well. Mostly that is all I have to worry about. The rest just falls into place...

mm

I agree that "what looks good to me" should be the benchmark (within limits) and one person's settings might not suit another person (or more to the point, their TV). I too think colour and black levels are most important.

Some settings can perhaps be shared though, such as those which minimise banding, blocking, etc.

One thing that does confuse me is calibrating the PC to get a good picture for both desktop/gaming and video/MP use. I think what probably needs to be done is to calibrate the TV to the desktop first, using programs such as QuickGamma, DisplayMate for Windows, Nokia Screen Calibration, HCFR Colorimeter, and various static images, which I assume would also translate to games and then use various video files (played with whatever codecs are used in MP) to then calibrate video playback with the CCC Video Color settings and perhaps those in ffdshow if necessary (I think ffdshow can be used as a post-processor even if it's not being used to decode certain formats). I haven't got round to trying this though. I've spent quite a bit of time just trying to tweak my TV, which is very tweakable, and that is confusing and stressful enough without a colorimeter!

As I use a monitor and a TV, I have to make sure the desktop and gaming looks right on both, although I only play video on the TV so I only have to get that looking right on the one display thankfully.

 

[somy]

Be aware most video settings only work when you feed NV12 (DXVA or not DXVA) to EVR.

 

[gibman]

hint: In CCC u can enable the DEMO mode.

Make sure u run MP with the always on top setting disabled (while testing demo mode that is).

now start some video material in MP. you should be able to see the effects of those ATI post processing filters in realtime.

from MP hit alt-tab back to CCC, adjust some setting, then alt-tab back to MP .. while video is still being played back.

repeat the process until u r satisfied.

/gibman

 

[doveman]

Be aware most video settings only work when you feed NV12 (DXVA or not DXVA) to EVR.

Are you talking about the CCC settings or the ffdshow one's as well?

Either way, I still suspect that, even with all video settings disabled, NV12 and the other colorspaces look slightly different and therefore the only way to get consistent output is to ensure everything outputs in NV12 (as PDVD has to use this for hardware deinterlacing), but no-one's confirmed this yet.

hint: In CCC u can enable the DEMO mode.

Thanks, but I'm with mm1352000 and don't really use the CCC Video settings.

Now, is there no-one who's got their PC/Display calibrated for both games/desktop and video playback and can shed some light on how to do this?