Nova-S2 HD Freesat

[l.j.nash]

Hi,

 

I'm new to this forum, and also new to DVBViewer so please bare with me.

 

I have very recently purchased DVBViewer v3.9.4.0, but have had problems from the beginning which seem to have gotten worse!

 

Initially standard definition channels appeared to render ok with ok sound, but BBC HD playback was broken, with the image garbled and split into 3 parts. Through trial and error this seemed to be due to the use of a Cyberlink H.264 codec (PCM45) which came with PowerCinema 5.1 (the bundled DVBViewer that came with the Nova-S2 HD card). I instead chose "ATI MPEG Video Decoder" which rectified the problem and seemed to be using my ATi HD 4870 GPU to do all the decoding work. The sound however suffered numerous break-ups and pops/clicks etc...which is not due to the signal strength (I have a Panasonic 42PZ81B Freesat TV which plays back flawlessly).

 

Now, a new problem, possibly since I upgraded my ATi graphics drivers (reported as v8.522.0.0 in vista device manager) playback of BBC HD is slow, approximately half speed! Oddly the audio appears to run at normal speed, hence the audio stops every 5 seconds or so and the picture goes black, and restarts in sync with the audio only to ago go out of sync due to the very slow playback! Also SD playback seems ok, but the sound still seems to suffer a few clicks so may not be ok either.

 

I would really appreciate some help, the Hauppague Nova-S2 HD card has been no end of trouble so far, PowerCinema is rubbish and now crashes as soon as a use it (hence purchase of DVBViewer). Has anyone else experienced these symptoms?

 

Some useful information about my system; Windows Vista Ultimate x64; Intel Q9450 CPU; ATi HD 4870; Creative X-Fi Titanium.

support.zip

[Frogster]

I would really appreciate some help, the Hauppague Nova-S2 HD card has been no end of trouble so far, PowerCinema is rubbish and now crashes as soon as a use it (hence purchase of DVBViewer). Has anyone else experienced these symptoms?

I have the same card. For me it works fine. There are some new drivers on the Hauppauge site. I don't know if they improve on the old ones as I have used the new ones from day 1.

 

Yes, PowerCinema is rubbish. It shouldn't crash though. You may have selected a renderer/codec combination that it doesn't like.

I use DVBViewer with no problems on broadcast DVB though I do notice that for use on a second monitor it is very fussy about which renderer is selected. In my setup the only stable renderer for 2nd monitor use is VMR7. This is a shame as EVR is so much better.

I don't have much success with using it as an HTPC viewer: I have lots of video files that it doesn't like. I prefer ZoomPlayer for HTPC use (and to be honest I also use ZP to replay HD and SD recordings that DVBV has made).

 

For codecs I find that both PowerDVD8 (installing the PowerDVD8 free trial gets you the codecs, but be sure to run the free update to build 1830)

and Arcsoft (... deleted ...) work fine for HD and both use my ATI card's hardware acceleration. CoreAVC also works fine but is software only and so processor use is higher.

 

 

Intel Q9450 CPU; ATi HD 4870

With that processor you could just use CoreAVC and forget about the ATI acceleration (which doesn't work with all types of HD material anyway). In fact for HTPC use that processor and any old graphics card would suit you, even a built-in video chip on the motherboard.

 

The combination of CoreAVC and a fast processor should play everything without any trouble at all. The other codecs are sometimes fussy about downloaded HD files. They do work OK with DVB-HD though.

Edited August 24, 2008 by hdv
i edit this post, to agree with the forum rules! | hdv

[l.j.nash]

Hi Frogster,

 

Thanks for the reply. I've checked out what you suggested, downloading a trial of both PowerDVD8 (build 1830) and CoreAVC.

 

I have discovered that the ATi (AVIVO64 driver 9.15.0.20713) sometimes works correctly after rebooting Vista, but not always. It would appear that this codec has some kind of issue!?

 

I've tried both PowerDVD8 and CoreAVC codecs but both produce very similar corrupted results. See attached images taken using Cyberlink PowerCinema codec (PCM45) and CoreAVC. I have not included a screen capture for PowerDVD codec as I uninstalled it when it provded no different to the PowerCinema codecs.

 

Any other suggestions anyone? Just a note, I discovered that installed RealTek audio drivers (for on board sound which I had disabled in the BIOS) were the cause of my PowerCinema crashing issues! So now PowerCinema works, with its own H.264/AVC codec and yet DVBViewer doesn't when using the same codec?

[qubito]

This problem may be related to this thread http://www.DVBViewer.info/forum/index.php?showtopic=28928

Edited August 26, 2008 by qubito