hardware mpeg2 decoding

[pastimer]

Hi,

 

Before i buy the full version i'd like to know if problems with sd's hardwaredecoders are in control now; are netstream, x-card, hw+ supported these days?

 

Any users still having trouble or who had success using these please respond!

This also refers to the fujitsu-siemens activy300 multimedia pc.

 

Thanks, Eppo

[cockers]

I am using DVBViewer with an Xcard with no problems.

[frazer]

Hello,

 

I have tried running DVBViewer with a Hollywood Plus, Netstream and an XCard, but have only managed to get it working with the H+. With the other two, the picture stutters badly for about thirty seconds, becoming increasingly out of sync with the audio (which is fine), and then stalls completely.

 

As far as I'm aware, you will not get the OSD to display on any of them though, so you have to have a serparate output for the TV picture and the EPG etc. It is almost possible though to have a software deocoder working at the same time as the hardware so that you can still see the programme you're watching when browsing the EPG (using a graph with the .infinite tee filter); the only problem being though that I've only managed to get the picture to come up in a separate window over the OSD (and the window then has a tendency to get minimized), rather than behind it. There is certainly no problem having audio working on both outputs though.

 

Still, I would love to get my XCard working with DVBViewer; could you perhaps give me any advice on how you've managed it cockers?

 

Thanks,

 

Frazer

[pastimer]

Hello,

 

 

Still, I would love to get my XCard working with DVBViewer; could you perhaps give me any advice on how you've managed it cockers?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That would be interesting to know.

Thanks both of you so far. I'll await some more discussion/reactions!

[cockers]

I didn't really struggle to get the Xcard to work with DVBViewer, it has always worked 'out of the box'. I have seen the occasional stutter, but nothing too drastic. Switching to another multiplex and switching back again fixes that problem.

 

I guess it might depend on what kind of TV card you are using, and what kine of mobo you have.

 

Pastimer, I strongly suggest you purchase the full version and start using it. It doesn't cost much, and you won't be dissapointed.

[frazer]

Hi cockers,

 

Thanks for the reply. I wonder if you could just give me a few more details of your set up- are you using the latest XCard drivers and the latest version of DVBViewer for instance? Do you have anything else installed on your system that you think could be relevant? I have the XCard working perfectly with myTheatre using the same Hauppauge DVB-t and Skystar USB tuners I am trying to get working with DVBViewer, so it would seem odd to me if they were causing the problem; not that I know much about it though!

 

Thanks again,

 

Frazer

[frazer]

Just a little update on this, I tried using DVBViewer with my XCard again, for about the fourth or fifth time, and this time, for some reason, managed to get some of the channels working properly; but others still display the very broken video which gradually grinds to a halt.

 

(There was the added occasional problem of both the video and audio working fine, but being slightly out of sync, which is a known problem using the XCard with some other software. This usually can be cured by restarting the graph or just flicking to another channel and back though.)

 

I can't work out why there would be a difference between how it works on different channels; it seems to be the same channels which don't work every time, yet another channel on the same transponder will work without problem. Does this make any sense to anybody?

 

Frazer

[mittern8]

I have tried running DVBViewer with a Hollywood Plus, Netstream and an XCard, but have only managed to get it working with the H+. With the other two, the picture stutters badly for about thirty seconds, becoming increasingly out of sync with the audio (which is fine), and then stalls completely.

...

As far as I'm aware, you will not get the OSD to display on any of them though, so you have to have a serparate output for the TV picture and the EPG etc.

...

Still, I would love to get my XCard working with DVBViewer; could you perhaps give me any advice on how you've managed it cockers?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe you should look for Sash's XStream package.

this is a driver set for the netstream 2000 and xcard it will work for both.

Furthermore you ought to look out for Rmvpe32.dll that enables video overlay with the XCard. I did some tests (though not in "full depth") with DVBViewer 2.2 and it worked real fine.

Unfortunately I can't give you any further hints because I'm using the XCard only for analog playout of MPEG material to the plain old VCR at the moment.

[frazer]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I don't have a suitable graphics card with a VIP port to connect to the Xcard to make use of the Rmvpe32.dll. I have thought about getting one off eBay just to give it a go, but I don't really have a free PCI or AGP slot anyway. I also tried to contact a couple of places and asked on forums about the VIP module that exists for VIA EPIA motherboards (which I am using), but haven't received any replies (I have read that the EPIA board which comes with the VIP connector on board does work with the XCard). Doesn't the picture quality suffer for using the TV output from the graphics card rather than from the XCard though?

 

I was using the Xstream drivers when I tried the Netstream card (which didn't work properly either). I haven't tried them with my XCard though- and having tried all the official driver releases already, it might be worth a go!

 

Thanks again,

 

Frazer

[pastimer]

Maybe you should look for Sash's XStream package.

 

I tried to get at this package, but find no 'live' station to download it from.

Could someone upload this to the forum?

 

Thanks

Edited March 22, 2006 by pastimer

[frazer]

I think the file is too big to upload here, but have you tried this link? It seems to be working still;

 

http://www.seemoredigital.net/Sash.html

 

Let me know if it works for you- I couldn't get this driver to load properly with the XCard installed.

 

Frazer

[pastimer]

I think the file is too big to upload here, but have you tried this link? It seems to be working still;

 

http://www.seemoredigital.net/Sash.html

 

Let me know if it works for you- I couldn't get this driver to load properly with the XCard installed.

 

Frazer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The download succeeded. Thanks! My system is 'decomposed' at the moment, but i'll soon trie.

[mittern8]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I don't have a suitable graphics card with a VIP port to connect to the Xcard to make use of the  Rmvpe32.dll. I have thought about getting one off eBay just to give it a go, but I don't really have a free PCI or AGP slot anyway. I also tried to contact a couple of places and asked on forums about the VIP module that exists for VIA EPIA motherboards (which I am using), but haven't received any replies (I have read that the EPIA board which comes with the VIP connector on board does work with the XCard). Doesn't the picture quality suffer for using the TV output from the graphics card rather than from the XCard though?

 

I was using the Xstream drivers when I tried the Netstream card (which didn't work properly either).  I haven't tried them with my XCard though- and having tried all the official driver releases already, it might be worth a go!

 

Thanks again,

 

Frazer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

First, sorry for the delay - I'm not visiting the board very often at the moment, shame on me!

 

I'm using the XCard in conjunction with an old ATI (Ragepro), which was in fact my very first AGP card, still laying arround in one of those boxes.

Though it would be interesting to find more or at least one more up to date graphic adapters with a usable VIP, because due to AGP specs the old ATI doesn't fit into newer boards (and 2nd, because I'd like to test the "all digital" signal quality using the DVI interface).

AFAIK there are only a few graphics adapter that might be used, ATI and some (rare) nVidia boards - for details check out the Sigma BBS.

Too bad the Matrox series has a different VIP layout and isn't of any use.

 

Concerning the picture quality.

Well I'm not using the graphics card's output to connect the VCR but the S-Video out of the XCard.

Due to the VIP interconnection I can use the PCs Display (in overlay mode) to preview the material and to compare with the resulting videotape from the S-Video out simultanously.

 

If you're using a TV set using the Rmvpe32.dll might give you no great advantage - at least as long as you're not able to find a graphics board with DVI and a usable VIP.

Me I'm not running any TV set at all. So what I do is playback of the digital footage to the VCR via the XCard (whilst watching it on PC monitor) and capture the results (read after write) and watch it via a second analog video capture card. In this constellation the Rmvpe32.dll gives me the ability to watch source and resulting target on my PCs display side by side and to interfere if anything goes wrong.

 

As mentioned earlier, I used the Sigma filters also together with the DVBViewer flawlessly, though I'm not quite sure if it's worth it. This depends on your special needs / your hardware config. Most of the modern graphics boards are doing a pretty good job in decoding MPEG-2. So at least for watching TV on the PC display they should be almost sufficent. But even though this boards are good in decoding, the output quality of the TV signal can be poor. In case of this a Matrox Millenium G-450 might be the right solution - unless you also want to decode DivX.

[cockers]

Sorry I haven't replied for so long - I've been busy with a 'new arrival' at home...

 

Anyway, I had a chance to have a closer look at the hardware decoding problems with the Xcard, and I think I may have found a pattern.

 

The jerky playback only seems to affect the BBC channels, which are 16QAM.

 

All other channels (AFAIK) are 64QAM and they are fine.

 

I'm not sure why it makes a difference, but it does. The jerkiness starts when the 'Queued Video Buffers' of DVB Source get above 30 - I have seen it as high as 227 for BBC4. Queued Video Buffers for other channels rarely get above 2.

 

I guess this could be a bug, but I'm not sure where it belongs.

[frazer]

@mittern

 

Yes, the problem is that I'm still trying to use a normal TV, and the picture quality of the XCard's TV output is way beyond what I've seen from either my Radeon graphics card or my VIA EPIA motherboard. I do have a Matrox G400 though, which gives a pretty good quality output, and it is a real shame that the VIP connection on the Matrox cards isn't compatible with the XCard, as that might have been the best compromise solution.

 

I'm not sure there are any modern graphics cards that have the VIP connector; I think it might have been some film industry copyright issue that made them stop including them- even some older graphics cards and XCards apparently had a vital pin removed.

 

The ideal would really be to find a newer fully HTPC capable graphics card that matches the XCard for scart RGB output. I have read elsewhere of a Geforce 6700XL that is being sold as part of a Medion computer and includes a scart output; it would be interesting to know what the quality of that is.

 

@cockers

 

I agree that the BBC channels are the worst- though not all of them seem to be as bad as BBC1, which always is unwatchable for me. But I have had the same problems on other frequencies as well, and also when watching satellite channels. If you have discovered a bug, though, I hope someone can fix it!

 

Frazer

[mittern8]

... the picture quality of the XCard's TV output is way beyond what I've seen from either my Radeon graphics card or my VIA EPIA motherboard.

At least with the quality of the S-Video out I'm pretty satisfied (okay, I must confess that I give those tapes to friends of mine that watch them on simple equipment).

Did you try to connect the TV to the Sigma's XCard (internal) SCART connector? That might give you an improved qualty on TV.

 

I do have a Matrox G400 though, which gives a pretty good quality output, and it is a real shame that the VIP connection on the Matrox cards isn't compatible with the XCard, as that might have been the best compromise solution.

Well, thats what I hoped when I bought the XCard.

 

I'm not sure there are any modern graphics cards that have the VIP connector; I think it might have been some film  industry copyright issue that made them stop including them- even some older graphics cards and XCards apparently had a vital pin removed.

Never heared of that, got any source concerning that "one missing pin issue"?

 

From what I've learned I guess that the VESA Feature Connector became obsolete due to his limitations to 8bit and its insufficent bandwith (40MByte). With the spreading of the AGP-Port even the redesign, now called VESA Advanced Feature Connector (32bit/150MByte), didn't have the chance to establish. (take a look here)

 

The ideal would really be to find a newer fully HTPC capable graphics card that matches the XCard for scart RGB output. I have read elsewhere of a Geforce 6700XL that is being sold as part of a Medion computer and includes a scart output; it would be interesting to know what the quality of that is.

There had been different graphics cards from Medion with a SCART connector, based on ATI ("9800XXL") and nVidia boards as well. But as far as I read all of this adapters gave poor quality, worse than the S-Video signal.

You can find those cards at eBay or, if you're lucky at bss-computer.

[frazer]

Yes, I have the RGB connector for my XCard, and the picture is very good; that's what I meant- the XCard gives a much better quality than anything else I've seen.

 

I rather worried that the picture from that Geforce graphics card wouldn't be anything special; just because it has the scart connection, doesn't, I suppose, make up for having a bad TV output in the first place. And if it actually turns out to be worse than the s-video connection like the other Medions you mentioned, then I guess its only purpose is as a one cable solution for audio/video, or for people whose TVs have no s-video input, rather than trying to match the quality of most DVD players and set top boxes (which is what the XCard certainly does).

 

This is the thread where I heard about the XCard VIP connectors; on the first page there is mention of the movie industry making Sigma leave them off the newer models- I don't remember if that applied to the graphics cards too.

 

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/printthread.php?t=11199&pp=20

 

Frazer

[pastimer]

ACTIVY 300 SIGMA-DESIGN EM8400 WORKS IN 3.6.XX !!!!

 

Great work from DVBViewer! 3.6 recognizes the sigma chip and is able to get the picture on the vga monitor.

 

Very well done. I'm now watching TV (DVB-T Dutch, Digitenne) on my Activy 300 (windows xp).

 

The machine has a pentium III 1000 Mhz and the utilization is about 10% when viewing TV.

 

Also, the dvbserver has much improved. Kudo's to the DVBViewer team!

 

Regards, Eppo

[frazer]

Have you tried playing this through the TV? I still get the choppy picture with my XCard on the latest release.

 

It would be interesting to know what happened with your set up connected to a TV, as I believe your motherboard with the Sigma chip might be the same in effect as a Netstream 2000TV card I have, but which isn't installed at the moment.

 

I bought this because I thought it would allow the overlay of Windows on the TV along with the high quality hardware Sigma MPEG decoding, but when I tested it, I could only get either the high quality video alone (i.e no Windows), or a much lower quality video and Windows OSD on the TV at the same time (though the CPU usage was low, which suggests the Netstream was somehow doing the decoding). Again though, with DVBViewer the video was unwatchably choppy.

 

Frazer

[pastimer]

Have you tried playing this through the TV?

 

No, I used the VGA monitor. Make sure you can view DVD's with the Galaxy or Ventura 2000 software.

Set the color to 16 bit and better use 800x600 mode.

 

Make sure no other decoders are present. If you installed the technotrend filter , remove it.

 

In principle , it should be possible to redirect the output from the EM8400 to TV, keeping the desktop on the VGA monitor, but i did not trie that as yet. I could alse play recordings with the sigma dvd player, but only in full screen, not windowed. In window mode there was only sound. In DVBViewer i can view live tv both windowed and full screen. But you cant overlay the decoder output (so you cannot have OSD).

 

Eppo

[frazer]

OK, I thought these Activity 300s came with scart connections on the back to connect to a TV, and that therefore they would output Windows as well to the TV in the same way the Netstream 2000TV does. I nearly bought one on eBay the other day, but wasn't sure if i would just have the same problems I do with my Netstream of not being able to get the high quality TV picture and the software's OSD at the same time.

 

Thanks,

 

Frazer