6860fx and 1080p .mkv (h.264) Best decoder.

Hi everyone, I'm have some troubles running 1080p .mkv (h.264) videos on my computer. I'm currently using Media Player Classic Home Cinema and CoreAVC as my decoder. This is working better than my previous set up which was Media Player classic using Haali media splitter and the K-Lite codec pack. I've also tried the CCCP and that didn't work very well either. I've also tried using ffdshow with MPC as well. I've also tried Cyberlink Power DVD Pro 8 (trial version) but that didn't work well either. Anyway my current configuration is currently working the best but the video still falls behind the audio at times.

I know it's the video lagging and not the audio because if I run the movie on my computer with sound and then on another computer with the sound muted, the sound on my computer will stay in sync with the video on the other computer.

Anyway I guess, I was wondering if any of you have experienced this and have a solution. Any help is appreciated thanks in advance.

As a side note, my computer is set to high performance.

 

Use AC3 Filter to decode audio when using CoreAVC for video.

PowerDVD is the better quality codec however. Just rename .mkv to .avi and it will work

 

Thanks, but with powerDVD, my results were some of the worst. I had renamed it to mp4 which has the same effect. Any ideas what I may have done wrong?

I currently am using AC3 filter but the video will still lag behind at times.

 

How are they worse?

 

How do you mean? Laggy video?

Uninstall all of your codec packs and just install the latest PDVD8.

Don't use packs - just install what you need (AC3Filter 1.51a, CoreAVC v1.8.5.0, FFDShow 2008-11-02).

 

CPU:T5550 1.83GHZ (may upgrade? suggestions?)

^^^^^^ There's your problem.

With a T7500 (2.2 GHz) and MPC + CoreAVC + AC3Filter, I was able to play 1080p (High bitrate too, around 15,000) without stuttering. Granted I was barely able to play it, but it worked. Here's a file I want you to try, this plays flawlessly on my T7500 so it should give you a better idea of what your CPU can handle. Your codec setup is as good as it gets in terms of performance, so there's not much more you can tweak.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1VOC60Q9

Let me know how that works and it'll give me a better idea.

Edit: And no offense meant to iaTa, but he's wrong, MPC + CoreAVC + AC3Filter is fastest software decoder combination, bar none, PowerDVD8 will be slower. There's a small chance PDVD8 will utilize PureVideoHD or whatever NVidia's GPU acceleration is called, but everything else will be slower so it offsets and gives no better performance.

 

I wasn't talking about performance i was talking about quality.

However PowerDVD supports DXVA (CoreAVC does not currently - they are working on it) which will offload decoding to the 8800M GTS so I'm afraid it will also beat CoreAVC on performance. To enable this tick the 'Enable hardware acceleration' box on the video tab in PDVD8 options.

No offence taken.

Edit:

Simply not true.

 

As far as worst, what I meant was that the video lags behind while the audio stays steady with no lag. With powerDVD the video would slow much more, image quality was terrible and even the audio stuttered at times. I don't have any codec pack currently, just MPC, and Core AVC. I'll try that sample in a min with my current config and let you know.

 

Download the latest trial http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/trials_1_en_US.html and enable DXVA.

 

The video got worse when I turned on DXVA earlier; in fact it froze up entirely and caused the program to stop responding.


I just tried that sample, which played very well. However it usually took some time before the video would start lagging behind, I wonder if the sample was too short. I'm not sure.

 

What display drivers are you running? I use DXVA with every x264 file i have and it works perfectly every time. Video quality also betters any other codec, not to mention you get Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Surround, TrueTheatre and TrueSurroundXT audio codecs also.

 

The OP however is talking about performance -- Fantastic image quality does no good if your video is stuttering or lagging. For image he'd be running ffdshow's stock AVC codec with full post processing and enhancement features, which will look better than what PDVD8 has to offer anyway.

MPC + CoreAVC will outperform Power DVD.

 

7.15.11.6746

 

Ok try updating to these: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=21753

 

ffdshow's AVC codec is awful even with post processing.

Not with a low spec processor running 1080p when you have an 8800M available.

 

Um those aren't backed by Gateway and I can't afford to fry my GPU, how do I know they're safe?

 

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SCLHWNXZ

That one has an average bitrate of ~ 14,996, so it's more of a test.

 

Have a look at the guide in my sig to install. The version I linked to does not require a modified inf file so ignore that bit. You wont fry your GPU trust me. Manufacturers are often incredibly slow to provide driver updates. Sometimes they stop all together for a particular model. These drivers work perfectly, will increase your game frame rates and enable new features. I am hoping they will sort out your DXVA acceleration also.

 

The first time I ran through that sample the video lagged a bit when the runners went by, the second time it was better and the third time I noticed no lag.
I can't guarantee the sound was perfectly in sync though because there was no dialog (no way to watch someone's lips as they talked).

 

Just a thought you're not trying to watch H.264 with MBAFF encoding (such as BBC HD streams) are you?

 

I don't know what that means, how could I check?

 

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=170561
http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/DXVASupport.html

MPC custom release with built-in DXVA support. People that know at sites that I can't name say this is the fastest player of any out there for people with slow CPUs and an 8x/9x series NVidia GPU.

 

Well what are you trying to watch?

Lol. Ok brightbill. Maybe out of the free software options yes. PowerDVD however is widely regarded as the best HD DXVA codec out there (by the secret elite that is).

 

The people over at HDBits know far more about HD encoding and playback than you, I, or the topic creator, and I asked for a direct comparison of PowerDVD and MPC + CoreAVC. Response was that MPC + HC (Which I linked) is better than both. CPU utilization (On a T7500 that this person has) was under 10% on 1080p playback.

 

How do you know what my knowledge is of video/audio encoding/decoding? Exactly you don't. If you did you wouldn't make comments like those.

An HDBits 'expert' said CPU utilisation was less than 10% - absolutely marvellous but do you get the quality of PDVD8? No. I think you need to widen your horizons beyond illegal torrent sites.

 

I upgraded the drivers as recommended the video runs the same with my current configuration.
These are the specs on the video.
Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 1920x1040 23.98fps [English (Video 1)]
Audio: DTS 48000Hz 6ch [English (Audio 1)]
The video is "The Happening". The container is .mkv.

 

LOL like it being an illegal site has anything to do with the quality of information. If anything, it means it's better information because these people are dissecting Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs and manually re-encoding them.

Do I know your knowledge, no, but I do know that the topic creator is asking how to get his movies to play smoothly, and you're not exactly helping by suggesting solutions that play slower than mine.

 

So you are using the latest version of PowerDVD v8.02217.50 (check this in the right click 'About' screen) and you are running nVidia display drivers v180.44 (check this in nVidia Control Panel - System Information), renamed the file to .avi and playing the file within PDVD with hardware acceleration enabled?

When it asks you if you want to disable certain features as it's HD content do you select yes?

Edit: Ok brightbill you win.

 

Um I tried power dvd, I uninstalled the CoreAVC. It now won't play any videos. For regular videos I get only sound, for h.264 videos i get this error: 80040265 and then nothing happens. I've tried w/ and w/ out acceleration.

So hmm...

 

Is this in PDVD or MPC?

 

PDVD
letter limit

 

I say again, this is all you need, PowerDVD is not the best. You're wasting a lot of time on something you could have up and running in the time it takes you to download it.

 

I've tried that thought, and i still experienced some stuttering. I'm open to trying other things though..

 

Did you check to see if it was utilizing DXVA? That makes a big difference.

 

How would I do this?

 

Right click on video while playing > Filters > MPC Video Decoder

It will have a box for DXVA that should be checked, then also it will tell you if it's active or not.

 

Error 80040265 is a media player error so you can't be opening the file in the PowerDVD player. Open PowerDVD and drag and drop the .avi file onto it. The PowerDVD player will override system codec preferences and force the use of the PowerDVD codecs.

 

Yes I am here you go:

 

What version on PowerDVD is that? Can you do a screenshot of the 'About' screen?

Where is the file located that you are trying to play - on your local hard disk?

What extension did you give the file?

Try completely uninstalling PDVD and reinstall the latest version again.

Also did you double check that 180.44 drivers installed Ok?

 

It's the newest I got it directly off their site. I tried reinstalling to no avail. And also the drivers are working fine.

I uninstalled PDVD and reinstalled MPC HC (64-bit), with CoreAVC and am now getting no audio.

 

You don't want the 64-bit version as it will only be able to use 64-bit codecs of which there are hardly any available yet. Use the 32-bit version and you will be able to use AC3Filter for audio.

Not sure what's going on with you PDVD install. You're obviously not doing something correctly.

 

I'm not doing anything wrong. It's not that difficult to install a program. Definitely not hard to open a file in a program. There's probably some incompatibility with my system. There's a slim chance that there are some registry values left behind from a previous install that are messing with it but I don't feel like hunting them down. The 32 bit version now seems to be functioning fine, however the "MPC Video Decoder" option doesn't show up in it (yes it's home cinema).

 

I think it's working as best as it will with my system specs, thanks to all who've helped I appreciate it greatly. Another reason why I've this forum so much.

 

When you uninstall PDVD it removes all previous reg keys. You still haven't confirmed what version of PDVD is showing in the about screen, where the file located that you are trying to play, what extension you gave the file.

You should be able to get perfectly smooth 1080p playback on your system.

 

I tried both .avi and .mp4. The version WAS the newest version. It was the newest free trial version off the PDVD site. The file I was trying to play was on my hard disk (not being played over a network).

 

Ok I just wanted to make sure that the trial is fully up to date with the full version as I'm running Ultra. Seems to be an error with the install or your display drivers. All I can suggest is to follow my guide to re-install some recent display drivers and then re-install PowerDVD.

 

You need to enable EVR rendering under 'DirectShow Video' in the Playback - Output main options first. Then restart MPC.

 

I don't have that option. I have had EVR enabled as well and I still don't have MPC decoder.

 

Are you sure you're using the build I linked you to? If it's not there and you're playing a .mkv, then you're using the wrong edition of the program.