Video stutter on 1280x720 - where's the bottleneck? (3 Viewers)

[dm15644]

Hi there

Just binned my 30" CRT TV and got myself a Sanyo PLV-Z5 beamer. So sweet! But where would be the fun if I didn't run into any problems...

After I got the beamer I've switched the display resolution in windows to 1280x720 which is the beamer's native resulotion. Seems I've got performance problems since then. When playing back SD DVDs or DivXs (from HDD) I've got video stutter every 3 minutes or so. Audio plays fine. When I switch back to 800x600, the stutter is gone.

I also noticed that UltraVNC remote control reacts extremely slowly once fullscreen video is enabled. Say, I press ESC on the UltraVNC client to leave full screen, then it would take 10 seconds until it actually happens. On 800x600 it happens just instantly.

At 1280x720 CPU load is at 20..40% when playing back DVD, so I ruled this one out. Memory usage of MediaPortal is approx 440 MB, which is somewhat close to my 512 MB RAM (350MB on 800x600). I also suspect that 1280x800 pushes the Radeon 9550 to it' performance boundaries.

My conclusion so far is that either I need to get more RAM or I need to upgrade my graphics card. But I don't know for sure - any ideas what to test to be more sure?

What would be the minimun amount of RAM/minimun graphics chip that you would suggest so that my system can cope with 1280x800 display?

Here's my setup:

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.2.0
MediaPortal Skin: Blue Two
Windows Version: WinXP SP2
CPU Type: AMD Sempron 3000+
HDD: Samsung PATA 160 GB, 5400 rpm
Memory: 513 MB DDR 400
Motherboard: ASUS K8V-MX
Motherboard Chipset: VIA
Motherboard Bios: 0203
Video Card: MSI Radeon 9550 128MB
Video Card Driver: Catalyst 6.2
Sound Card: onboard
Sound Card AC3: onboard
Sound Card Driver: the same since 12 months....
1. TV Card: Pinnacle PCTV 310i
1. TV Card Type: HW
1. TV Card Driver: 1.3.3.0
MPEG2 Video Codec: any
MPEG2 Audio Codec: any
HTPC Case: Silverstone LC-11M
Cooling: active
Power Supply: stock 300W
Remote: Logitech Harmony 555
Beamer: Sanyo PLV-Z5
HTPC-Beamer connection: DVI to HDMI

Thanks a lot for your help.

jayrock

 

[D_law]

Do you have other display connected to that graphic card?
I mean that do you have clone display settings.
Somehow that was causing a big stuttering problems for me. I have Sony 3lcd 50" and Acer 19" wide screen with NVidia geforce 6200 (256Mb).
I was using them with clone mode and noticed that when switching single mode my tv did not stutter anymore...
Dont know whats the problem. Maybe too slow computer or graphic card...

 

[dm15644]

Hi D_law,

the beamer is the only display connected. About CPU and video card please see my first post.... just like to be sure about the cause so that I can upgrade my HTPC on the right spot.

/jayrock

 

[Taipan]

Hi jayrock,

I have a similar HTPC setup to you, feeding a beamer @ 1280x720 from a 9550 and I get no stutter at all - just smooth glorious video ...

So, I don't think the problem is hardware related at all.

Do you get the stutter with all video, including live and recorded TV?

What refresh rate are you driving the beamer at?

Do you get the same stuttering if you use the VGA connection to the beamer?

Have you checked the PCI latency of the video card?

 

[dm15644]

Hi Taipan,

good to hear that maybe I don't have to spend any money!

To answer your questions: Yes, I get the stutter also on TV. The refresh rate of the beamer is that to 50Hz, the maximum fps in the settings context is set to 100. About VGA I cannot say since I have no VGA cable at hand to check. However I have an S-Video connection in place, and the fault is present there as well.

About PCI latency: I've read the post about changing the latency, however I'm not sure what to change here and I'm a bit concerned about screwing up my system. It is also strange that I don't have a setting for the primary Radeon 9950 adapter, just the secondary. See attached screenshot.

Can you recommend settings to try?

fyi, in the meantime I've also checked the readings when pressing "!" during playback. When stutter occurs, the "sync" and "jitter" figures go up. Maybe this helps.

Cheers!

jayrock

 

[Taipan]

About PCI latency: I've read the post about changing the latency, however I'm not sure what to change here and I'm a bit concerned about screwing up my system. It is also strange that I don't have a setting for the primary Radeon 9950 adapter, just the secondary. See attached screenshot.

Can you recommend settings to try?

I have mine set to 32 (and apply on startup) - and you are right about just the secondary adaptor. Mine is the same and I had never noticed that before ...

in the meantime I've also checked the readings when pressing "!" during playback. When stutter occurs, the "sync" and "jitter" figures go up. Maybe this helps.

Can you try the latest Catalyst drivers? I am not sure what else to suggest - have you tried a video decoder that supports DxVA, like the CyberLink?

 

[dm15644]

Hi Taipian,

what exactly have you set to 32 - the Radeon 9550 Secondary?

I'm on Catalyst 6.2, the latest version that ati.de offers.

I get stutter with DVD/mpeg-2 and Xvid/mpeg-4, so I don't think using the cyberlink demuxer will help. To be sure I'm going to try and let you know.

Thanks,

jayrock

 

[Spragleknas]

Make sure audio renderer is set to "Default DirectSound Device".

Otherwise stuttering is very common.

 

[Taipan]

what exactly have you set to 32 - the Radeon 9550 Secondary?

Yes, as you noticed, there is no primary listed - strange ...

I'm on Catalyst 6.2, the latest version that ati.de offers.

what about ati.com?

I get stutter with DVD/mpeg-2 and Xvid/mpeg-4, so I don't think using the cyberlink demuxer will help. To be sure I'm going to try and let you know.

True - then check what Spragleknas suggested.

Also, do you have any post processing enabled, or do you have ffdshow installed?

 

[dm15644]

Hi Taipan, Spragleknas,

I have to set the Audio Device to Default WaveOut Device, otherwise I got no sound through my SPDIF connection. To test I've set it to Default DirectSound Device, but the jitter didn't disappear.

Also played with the PCI latency of the Radeon 9550 Secondary, but it didn't help at all. For the record, I don't use ffdshow.

I've spotted that when I force the FPS rate to 50 Hz in Catalyst, it always goes 60 Hz when I switch to full screen and back. I've then checked the supported video modes in Windows Display Properties. It says that 1280x720@50Hz is not supported, just @60Hz. Well, seems like 50 Hz IS supported, since you can set it and it runs ok for a while then, but for some reason Windows and/or Catalyst decides to switch to 60 Hz eventuelly.

I suspect that maybe the stutter is due to the FPS mismatch between PAL content and the dispaly refresh rate - what do you think? This would also explain why it runs ok if I go back to 800x600, since 50 Hz is supported. In Australia you are using 60 Hz NTSC, correct?

Any idea how to force the refresh rate to 50 Hz?

Thanks

jayrock