Unable to get smooth 24p playback on an LG LH5010 (1 Viewer)

[Spooky]

MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Skin: Blue3wide
Windows Version: Win XP SP3
CPU Type: AMD Phenom II X3 705e
HDD: WD Green 1TB
Memory: Corsair XMS2 DHX Series DIMM Kit 4GB PC2-6400U
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-UD2H
Video Card: Radeon HD 3200 (780G)
Video Card Driver: Catalyst 9.6
1. TV Card: digital everywhere FloppyDTV S2
1. TV Card Type: DVB-S2
1. TV Card Driver: 4.5.N
MPEG2 Video Codec: Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder (PDVD8)
MPEG2 Audio Codec: Cyberlink Audio Decoder (PDVD8)
h.264 Video Codec: Core AVC 1.9.5.0
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Astra 19.2°E
HTPC Case: Antec New Solution NSK2480
TV: LG LH5010
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI

I am having trouble getting smooth playback for files with 24 or 23.98 FPS on an LG LH5010. The TV has "TruMotion" with 200 Hz, meaning that it calculates additional images between the frames to produce 200 fps in order to make the video more smooth. When I play videos with 24 or 23.98 fps they look smooth at first but every few seconds they... well they don't look smooth for one or two seconds. It's very noticable when TruMotion is active. Without it, it's either not there or not noticable at all (but without TruMotion the video doesn't look smooh in general).

Of course the first thing to try is turn down the output Hz of the video card to 24 Hz (manually or with the dynamic refresh changer. I tried both). But nothing changes when I use 24 Hz. The TV supports 1080i/p at 24, 30, 50 and 60 Hz. When I set the output to 24 Hz the TV confirms that there is indeed 1080p with 24 Hz on the HDMI input.

I have added MediaPortal logs, though this problem is not related to MP of course. Happens with MPCHC too for example. It's definitely just something between the video card and the TV. Though I don't know what else to try anymore.

 

[CHli]

It might be just an issue with the TV signal processing chip not being powerful enough to generate 200 fps from 24 fps in an HD resolution. Do you still get the same if you change your output resolution to something smaller ? I read on HIFI forums that people are often getting this kind of problems on TV with a lot of amazing features that you can't use in the end because they don't work that well. (or only on the demonstration DVD)

For me it's not an issue at all since I much prefer the cinema rendering with 24 Hz and no additional "guessed" pictures

 

[Spooky]

It might be just an issue with the TV signal processing chip not being powerful enough to generate 200 fps from 24 fps in an HD resolution. Do you still get the same if you change your output resolution to something smaller ? I read on HIFI forums that people are often getting this kind of problems on TV with a lot of amazing features that you can't use in the end because they don't work that well. (or only on the demonstration DVD)

For me it's not an issue at all since I much prefer the cinema rendering with 24 Hz and no additional "guessed" pictures

Well, I very much doubt that the TV isn't powerful enough. After all it's a FullHD TV and TruMotion is active by default. 1080p24 is standard Blu-Ray content and I don't think they would simply... forget about the most important use case .

Also if that would be the case, it would happen with any content, not just 24p. The TV doesn't really know the original fps of the source. All it cares about is the input signal, which is 60 Hz for example. But as already said, it only happens with 24p and it doesn't matter if I use 24 Hz, 50 Hz or 60 Hz. If the TV truly weren't able to process 1080p24 for TruMotion, it would absolutely cripple when using 1080p60, regardless of what content is shown.

 

[CHli]

Well, I very much doubt that the TV isn't powerful enough.

I also hope you won't be disappointed.

After all it's a FullHD TV and TruMotion is active by default. 1080p24 is standard Blu-Ray content and I don't think they would simply... forget about the most important use case

They did not forget... it's on a sticker on the box

Also if that would be the case, it would happen with any content, not just 24p.

Well that is not true. What is more difficult : go from 24 fps to 200 fps or from 60 fps or 50 fps to 200 fps ?

The TV doesn't really know the original fps of the source. All it cares about is the input signal, which is 60 Hz for example. But as already said, it only happens with 24p and it doesn't matter if I use 24 Hz, 50 Hz or 60 Hz.

I must agree with you on that, the input signal is the only thing the TV knows. But it's easy enough for a digital signal processing algorithm to know if two frames are identical and from that find out what the source fps are. (who knows how the algorithm is working...?)

If the TV truly weren't able to process 1080p24 for TruMotion, it would absolutely cripple when using 1080p60, regardless of what content is shown.

See my comment about what is more resource demanding.

Don't get me wrong Spooky. I really hope you will find the adequate configuration so you can enjoy your setup in the best condition. But also don't be surprised if the stickers on the monitor (marketing department) doesn't give you any information about the limitations known by the engineers department.

 

[Jeditrav]

Hi,

I have a FullHD 42" LG (42LG53FR) that accepts a 24p image input. What it doesn't do is output a 24hz image - it does it's own internal processing to convert the 24hz input to 50hz output. This results in a little 'hiccup' every so often as a frame gets repeated. Dunno if this is what's happening to you - I thinks it's appalling that they advertise TV's as supporting 24p when all they do (certainly not all TV's, just some of the 'cheaper' models maybe) is take the 24hz input and output at a different rate, 50hz. As a result I just play Blu-Rays at the PAL speed of 25p - this fits a 50hz output without a hiccup, the movie finishes slightly earlier, and the (slightly) higher frame-rate provides a (theoretically) smoother frame-rate/image.

 

[Spooky]

Hi,

I have a FullHD 42" LG (42LG53FR) that accepts a 24p image input. What it doesn't do is output a 24hz image - it does it's own internal processing to convert the 24hz input to 50hz output. This results in a little 'hiccup' every so often as a frame gets repeated. Dunno if this is what's happening to you - I thinks it's appalling that they advertise TV's as supporting 24p when all they do (certainly not all TV's, just some of the 'cheaper' models maybe) is take the 24hz input and output at a different rate, 50hz. As a result I just play Blu-Rays at the PAL speed of 25p - this fits a 50hz output without a hiccup, the movie finishes slightly earlier, and the (slightly) higher frame-rate provides a (theoretically) smoother frame-rate/image.

Well, I have the option to turn off TruMotion. But.. I don't know, it doesn't look very smooth than, even less smooth than on the PC, but it seems "stable". It also "flickers", it's hard to describe. There are simply waaay too many options to play around with and I guess some combination could eventually be perfect, but it may be hard to find .

regarding the fps increase: yeah, I was wondering about that too. Are there any plugins for MediaPortal with which you could force a 23.98 FPS video to 24 FPS or a 23.98/24 FPS video to 25 FPS?


@CHli: I see what you mean now, but still. I doubt that the tv would have any problems with a Blu-Ray Player.