Stuttering when playing DVDs (or SD content) (1 Viewer)

rak

Portal Pro
March 5, 2008
93
1
Home Country
Czech Republic Czech Republic
Hi everybody,

I'm still unhappy with my HTPC as I still have some stuttering when playing SD content (with DTS/DD audio). So I would need some help.

Just small overview of my home cinema

My HTPC is based on MA-GA780GM-S2H baseboard with Athlon BE-2400 dual core processor and 2GB DDR. Additionally I've equipped it with ATI HD4550 graphics card.

I'm running vista SP1, CCC 8.12

HTPC is connected to Samsung fullHD LCD via HDMI and I the refreshrate changer to switch between 1080p/24, 50 and 60 modes.

My sony receiver with 5.0 speakers is connected via optical SPDIF. To play multi-channel audio, the stream has to be encoded as DTS or DD, because the receiver does not support LPCM.

I have MP 1.0.2 and additionally I installed these codecs: SAF codec pack, PDVD mpeg 2 decoder, ffdshow, AC3 and reclock.

H.264
The 1080p videos in MKV are decoded by MPC-HC using DxVA and even with DTS/DD audio passed through to SPDIF I get very smooth picture.

MPEG-2/SD
I get big stutters (sometimes like it would skip every second frame). It does not depend whether DxVA is used or not. Yestrerday I realized, that if I disable SPDIF audio, I get no stutters (or at least they are dramatically reduced, not sure). Interesting is, that I also haven't seen stutters, if in graph edit I open & play the video (VOB) with DTS passed to SPDIF .

So I tried to configure FFDSHOW or AC3 to decode the DTS/DD and reclock to encode it back to AC3 stream. However the stutters are still there.

Maybe the stuttering is also related to refresh rate as SD content is mostly in 50i or 25p format.

Is there any solution out there?

So my question is, how to configure my system so I can output multi-channel audio to my receiver, have bit-perfect audio (44.1 stereo for music, and 48 for movies) and no stuttering?

I've done so far:
1) video refresh rate automatically changes to 24, 50 or 60Hz
2) reclock is configured to autoload and use WASAPI interface for bit perfect output. Audio/video filters are correctly connected (no double decoding).
3) Music uses dshow player to output music via the reclock filter
4a) ffdshow configured to bypass DTS/DD or
4b) AC3 as post processor to bypass DTS/DD
4c) ffdshow configured to decode DTS/DD and reclock to encode it to AC3
4d) AC3 to decode DTS/DD and reclock to encode it to AC3

Unfortunately, neither of the 4a-4d options looks like to work for SD content :-(.

What I've not tried is to configure realtek driver to encode everything to DTS - as in this case it outputs everything in DTS, even stereo - which I do not like for music.

TV-Server Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Skin: Monochrome
Windows Version: Vista SP1
CPU Type: Athlob BE-2400
HDD: 32GB SDD + 1T western digital green
Memory: 2GB
Motherboard: GA-MA78GM-S2H
Video Card: ATI HD4550
Video Card Driver: CCC 8.12
Sound Card: Realtek HD
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card:
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: PDVD8
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ffdshow
h.264 Video Codec: MPC-HC
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote:
TV:
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI
 

rak

Portal Pro
March 5, 2008
93
1
Home Country
Czech Republic Czech Republic
Latest I've tried to disable reclock for DVDs, which helped to reduce stuttering, but not completely. I still need the reclock for smooth H.264 - i think this is due to refresh rate difference between 23.976Hz and ATI's 24Hz.

I would appreciate any suggestions ... please post your working configurations for this environment:

OS: Vista
video: ATI (CCC 8.12-9.1 for proper blacks and DXVA)
audio: realtek HD using SPDIF, multichannel DTS/AC3 only

requirement is DXVA for H.264. I can live with SW decoding for MPEG2 (DXVA is not working properly for DVD menus either).
 

Andrew H

MP Donator
  • Premium Supporter
  • September 8, 2007
    576
    42
    Alabama
    Home Country
    United States of America United States of America
    Could your issue be with 1080i material as I'm trying to get fixed here? I just ordered an NVidia 9500GT to provide additional GPU capability/processing but you already have an ATi 4550... Hmmmm.....
     

    rak

    Portal Pro
    March 5, 2008
    93
    1
    Home Country
    Czech Republic Czech Republic
    Don't think so. My problem with stuttering is not related to tsreader (or at least this one).

    Just a question. The EVR render used in MP is standard one or some kind of modified. I've heard something about custom EVR and haali render.
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Top Bottom