Video Decoder Questions (TT S2-3200 card and decoders)

[Hironimo]

Hello.

 

I've just recieved my new Technotrend S2-3200 HDTV-S2 card.

 

My general question is: do the supplied video decoders use the hardware

accelleration that is provided in the newer nvidia cards (6600 GT and upwards)?

 

What is the difference to the Purevideo Decoder from Nvidia?

I've tried those but only a decoder for normal mpeg 2 is listed, but none

for h.264 (mpeg4 avc), even though nvidia claims its also for decoding

h.264 - why is this?

 

I've got the same problem as described in here but with the provided

decoders - I have not tested with the Purevideo ones yet (just installed it via remote desktop).

This problem only exists in DVBViewer but not in the application provided by Technotrend.

 

I will try if this is fixed with the lastest forceware drivers.

 

So as a final question: what is the recommended (shall I dare say best?) way to using

my new card - meaning getting good quality video (with both traditional mpeg2 and h.264)

with the least hardware resources used (meaning the full potential of my Geforce 7900 GTX

is used)?

 

On another side topic, if anyone knows more: I'm still having troublem recieving the ORF

channels from austria - the signal is too weak or distorted (I ofcourse have the provided

additonal CI module with the card from ORF to decode it). All other astra channels work fine.

Any recommendations on cause and fix?

 

Luke

[Hironimo]

Hi again.

 

I found that the Purevideo decoder has the same problem.

 

The latest forceware drivers 91.31 or 91.33 fix this, however this drivers

have a bug that inhibit creating custom resolutions which I deperately need

to use my widescreen monitor appropriately.

 

So I need to find a driver that does not have this bug AND allows

custom resolutions.

 

My other stated questions are still open.

 

Luke

[Hironimo]

I've got some more updates:

 

I tried it with the old version 3.2.6 and there it is in most cases possible

to display the image correctly without this bar on the bottom.

However a full scan through astra causes a crash at about 60%

(seemingly at the same position always).

 

This technotrend is better then the previous cards I had, it

manages to recieve from the orf transponder (even though the

signal level is noticably low at 20-35%.

 

I have a problem though:

The CI module is not doing it's work. Neither with DVBViewer

3.5, 3.2.6 or the software from technotrend - the image

stays black.

 

I know the card is ok cause I got it working already before.

 

What may be the reasons?

How to check for the problem?

 

Luke

[Hironimo]

The CI module works now, the cable was apparently loose.

 

I did not find a forceware driver available except 84.21 and 91.31,

so unless I find a way to circumvent the bug in 91.31 or add resolutions

another way i'm stuck and have to wait for a new release.

 

However, as this bug does not appear anywhere except DVBViewer

it looks like DVBViewer takes part in causing the problem,

so I ask the developers to look into it and fix it!

 

Luke

[BertM]

Hi Luke,

 

just to tell you I am using the 91.31 driver on a 7600 GS. I use Powerstrip to set the correct display size (for my plasma screen that would be 1360 * 768)

For MPEG2 I use the PureVideo decoder (latest version), for H.264 the Cyberlink/PowerDVD, which uses the DXVA capabilities of the display adapter.

Of course, all in overlay mode to have the best possible picture. So no transparent OSD, but who cares, it's all about picture quality, not about fancy OSD...

 

I have some problems with the CI interface. Using a matrix reborn cam and dutch canal digitaal CA card, many channels look like a heavy thunderstorm hangs over the dish. When I remove the cam, all is fine. When using the canal digitaal recommended mediaguard cam, most SD channels are OK, but HDTV, especially H.264 are distorted (red/green random blocks). I think this cam cannot handle the high bitrate. Removing the cam again gives correct picture.

So there's definitely an issue with CAM/CI combination.

 

(I used the matrix with SECA and a Irdeto Eurocam in my Nexus-S CI module with no problems, so I guess the problems with the 3200/CI are CI/cam related rather than only cam related)

 

regards,

Bert

[Hironimo]

Thanx for the Powerstrip hint.

 

I managed to get the resolutions myself by first installing an old driver, configuring resolutions and

then installing the new ones. The configured resolutions remained.

 

I dont have any issues with CI anymore,

and I have no clue about your issues, sorry.

[Hironimo]

I had to reinstall windows again and now want to use powerstrip to add resolutions.

 

However I did not manage to create one that works, the timings must be wrong.

Can you help me with that? How to find the correct settings and what do all of them mean?

(I want the following resolutions: 1280x800, 1440x900 and 1600x1000).

 

Luke

[BertM]

It's really hard to tell which timing works for your monitor.

What I did was finding a standard timing from the pre-defined timing sets and change these to match my screen. So when 1280 * 1024 works, and you want 1280 * 800, make a custom profile 1280*800, and use the timings from the predefined 1280*1024 setting. Then in the advanced menu, change (in this case)vertical front porch, back porch and synch width until you get a match for your screen. Keep in mind that changing these value will also change the vertical frequency, so you'll have change this too. Depending on the screen, you might have to disable 'real time adjustment' in the advanced display configuration.

So, first add the desired resolutions ( display profiles -> advanced timing options -> custom resolutions -> user defined ), find a resolution close to the target ones that works and copy the timings (synch width, front/back porch) to your target resolutions. Then play with the settings until the screen accepts the new setting.

 

Good luck,

 

Bert

[brightside]

... drivers have a bug that inhibit creating custom resolutions ...

 

What is happening to make you come to this conclusion? I have created a custom resolution (1360x768) with both 91.31 and 91.33 using the nvidia control panel. It is a bit fiddly to get the procedure right but a lot less scary than adjusting timings using powerstrip.

 

If your monitor sends out duff EDID data (eg mine says it will only do 1024x768 on the DVI port even though it is a native 1366x768 screen) then you still need to use powerstrip to create a custom monitor driver. But that is straightforward and only needs to be done once if you keep a copy of the inf file.