DVDs...Banging My Head on the Desk!

Hey everyone,

Can someone please help me? I just got an Asus M51sn from XoticPC (great laptop and great company and I can't recommend both of them enough!). The first laptop I had was an HP DV6775US which was a good machine but I ran into problems with DVD playback which for the life of me I couldn't solve. The playback on every DVD was degraded...looked like bad YouTube videos. So after trying everything, uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, uninstalling and reinstalling codecs, none of which helped, I returned that notebook chalking it up to possibly Vista's DRM.

Now, this new laptop has XP and I have the SAME problem. I have the correct codecs and the region is set properly so I know it should work. But I get the same problem. I have no idea what it is I'm doing wrong and it's incredibly frustrating. I'm suspecting the HDMI port might be the bottleneck or the nVidia card might not have an HDMI compatible driver which probably doesn't make sense? Does anyone have a laptop with HDMI ports where their regular DVDs play as they should on the laptop screen through WMP11 or MPC or VLAN? I can't get it to work properly in any of them. It can't be the DVD drive. I've pretty much ruled that out. If HDMI really is the bottleneck how can I disable it? I have no plans to connect my laptop to an HDTV anytime soon.

How can I get this thing to work? I'm stumped and feel kind of stupid because I've been around computers for most of my life and this is really the first computer problem I have no clue how to solve. I really need this fixed before I leave overseas five days from now.

PLEASE someone help!

 

You know from what you are saying I would almost wonder if it isn't the DVD drive. I mean, all of the possible software issues seem to be addressed so what else could it be??

 

I can't see it being HDMI, that's a port, and if you are just playing on the screen it should not make a difference.

my Ferrari 5005 works just fine with HDMI
2.0ghz AMD X2 Turion
X1600 256 GPU
2gb of ram

 

You are talking of watching it on your laptop screen right?Can CD's with movies play well?And did you do anything to firmware on player.

Plus since you had the same problem with both laptops,are there any common softwares thay you ran like system optimization or smthng?

 

I doubt it's the DVD drive but I am with you in not suspecting HDMI anymore, shoelace. I figure people's copyright/DRM complaints about it are really more about Blue-Ray or something.

Yes, I'm speaking of DVDs being displayed on the actual laptop screen.

I never changed the firmware. Here's what I did: the install of XP came with WMP9. I upgraded that to WMP11 after installing all the necessary updates from Windows Update. I tried a DVD before installing anything new and WMP9 couldn't play it which I expected (I just did it for giggles). After upgrading, I put the DVD back in and it still didn't play. To be expected. WMP11 doesn't actually come with anything to actually play DVDs apparently. At least not the install I got directly from Microsoft didn't. Then I added codecs. First I started with the XP Codec pack. The DVD played alright...like a bad YouTube video (it's like that on any DVD I try). I then tried DixX and VLC. No banana. So I uninstalled that and tried ACE Mega Codec Pack which works fine on my P4 Gateway 500XL machine. No cigar. In fact, I got sound but the picture was black. Uninstalled ACE and then tried just plain ffdshow. That didn't work period. Maybe that doesn't come with it's own DVD decoder/MPEG-2 codec or am I just crazy? So that comes off and I tried ACE again which politely informed me that DivX was installed and that I should uninstall it to proceed (apparently it includes DivX too). Back to square one with the Bad YouTube output. I even checked in WMP11 under the DVD tab to get the ffdshow dialog box and the MPEG2 codec was set to libavcodec as it seems to supposed to be. Same way I have it on my Gateway.

I don't have any luck with any player on this laptop. Strangely enough, on my Gateway, WMP11 runs the DVDs uncompressed but not any other player.

I can't really bear to think it's the drive itself because I'm leaving in five days and there's no way I'm going to be able to replace that in time.

 

Perhaps I should try a different driver? I'm using the stock one that came with the machine which is dated 2.22.2008 and is version 6.14.11.7431. Any recommendations on a better one? Maybe that'll solve the problem?

 

What was the native resolution of your old laptop screen, and what is the resolution of your new laptop? My guess is that you've got a higher resolution screen on the new laptop. DVD quality isn't that great. Even the best software can't create quality that isn't there... so scaling the image up from dvd quality to be viewed fullscreen with make it very easy to see how poor dvd quality is. Try watching a movie in a window, at native dvd resolution. It will look much better. When you try to watch a dvd in full screen, it is like taking a tiny little picture and zooming in 10x.

 

To answer your question, my old desktop (the Gateway) has a 19 inch CRT and is at a resolution of 800x600 pixels. The new laptop has a resolution of 1280x800.

The problem isn't scaling. I've experienced this problem on that other HP I was talking about earlier and the only time it worked was when I put down the lid and brought it up again but for that chapter only. The video looks like it's compressed. Lots of ghosting. As though the codec isn't properly decoding the DVD to play back as it should. I tried it at a resolution of 800x600 just now and no improvement. In fact, it's worse.

Does anyone know how to disable HDMI? I know that seems unlikely to be the culprit but I'd like to try it anyway.

 

Are you sure the problem isn't scaling? DVD video is usually 720x480, which can look pretty ugly scaled up to 1280x800. Setting an lcd to a lower resolution won't help with scaling. Have you watched dvd's on a 1280x800 or better lcd screen before?

Hook up your laptop to the CRT and watch a movie on the CRT. See how that looks.

If that doesn't help... I've never heard of anything like this. Maybe your desktop isn't using the decoder you think it is. I find it strange that dvd's only play properly on your desktop under wmp11.

 

Might be worth a shot. I'll try that.

Stupid question (please bear with me. It's close to 1am and I've been hacking away at this for hours): How do I check to see what codecs my machine is using?

 

Have you tried other DVDs? And other players (not just codecs)? If it is related to HDMI, it is going to be some HDCP issue, but that sounds extremely unlikey.

 

DVDs are encoded at 720X480, but they play at ~868X480 or 640X480. The pixels are not square during playback. That said, if you are seeing ghosting type effects, it is not likely to be a scaling issue.

 

That's not a stupid question. And yes, it is 12:47 AM. In WMP11, you can go to Help -> About Windows Media Player. That will open a local webpage in a browser with information regarding WMP. There should be a section that lists all your MPEG/DVD decoders. I cannot think of a way to determine how decoder is actually being used, though. But if there is only one listed, you know what one it should be using.

 

I've tried other DVDs and other players. Nothing works. I've seen it work correctly at 1280x800 at full screen (albeit the quality was a LITTLE off due to it being an LCD). But yeah I'm seeing ghosting. I'll give you an example.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JlMkyeY3Zi0

I apolotize for the 80's-ness of that clip but it was the best example I can find of what I'm experiencing. Usually when you watch a DVD of something done on broadcast video it looks as you normally see it on TV on a computer monitor or pretty close on an LCD if everything is working fine. This is how it looks on my laptop right now. A store bought, physical, commercial DVD.

 

That's originally TV content. I think you may be confusing combing with ghosting. Combing is an artifact from deinterlacing. I am fairly convinced at this point that at least a large portion of your problems is a crappy DVD decoder.

 

I agree with sirmetman. Perhaps there is an issue with your video settings and/or hardware acceleration. I am unfamiliar with nVidia drivers(you have an nVidia 9500m in that Asus, right?), but you should have options regarding deinterlacing.

If you're still having trouble, try removing all the codecs and decoders that you do not have installed on your desktop.

 

Yeah it's a 9500. The card that nVidia took the die and did the shrinky-dink act with. I'll try deinterlacing. Shouldn't be hard to find. I'll report back.

 

I know it's long, but if you read http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_4/dvd-benchmark-part-5-progressive-10-2000.html it could help us to speak the same language so we can be clear what we are all talking about.

 

I have something easy for you to try, and something you will benifit from even if it does not solve the problem:

Download and install CCCP - http://www.cccp-project.net/

Its a all in one codec package that is very smart, this way I know you will have all the best codecs, and it will put them in priority of best to worst.

It will also come with and install MPC & Zoom Player.

Open and play your DVD thru one or both of these new players and see if you still have the problems. Between those 2 players and these codecs there has never been anything no matter how strange or rare the format my computers could not play perfectly.

After doing this you will have essentially eliminated codecs & players 100% from you possible problems list and we can try something else like video card drivers or advanced display settings.

 

Okay it's worth a shot.

Oh yes and there's combing in the video too when I play it.

 

So combing AND ghosting?

 

And also, what would help more next time is a screen cap of an example of combing/ghosting at full res. This would show your symtoms a lot better than downgraded youtube video.

 

Tried CCCP. It oesn't work.

 

But it looks like downgraded YouTube. That's why I posted it. It'll try screencapping it anyway.

 

Hmmm... This is interesting. I took some caps and transfered them to my desktop. They look fantastic. So would I then be right to suspect the display panel? Maybe there's something between that which is causing the LCD not to display the video correctly. I know it can be done because of that other HP but what to do to get it to do it? I don't think the display is damaged. It displays everything else right.

 

It could well be the display for the ghosting, from the sound of things. GPU drivers could aslo be to blame. All the images you took look good?

 

All of them look good.

I want to stop for a second and say thanks. You're all mighty nice to hang out and help. =) *Elvis voice* Think'll get ya'll Cadillacs.

Yeah, all of the caps look good. I'm not sure why though. Seems the drive is successfully ruled out.

 

Yeah, that also pretty much rules out the codecs and players. Your probably looking at screen or graphics drivers now.

 

Ohh, I just had a sorta wacky idea. I don't think it will fix the problem, but it might make it better, and might teach us something. Try turning on v-sync in your graphics card settings. If it isn't already on, tell us what happens afterwards?

 

Hmm. Wouldn't hurt to try.

 

Okay, tried v-sync. It doesn't do anything in terms of my video or anything at all for that matter. I wonder if it's my imagination that the nVidia control panel seems unresponsive.

Also, it says "default" in the monitor tab in the display properties. I'm no laptop expert as this is my first one but shouldn't something be there?

Oh yes. Just looked at my laptop. No HDMI port. *hits self over the head with a mallet*

 

Grr, I'm out of ideas. It would be interesting to know what is going on though.

 

I'm with you on that. I'm totally stumped.

 

One question. Does it matter that under the Adapter tab in the display properties has a DAC type of intergrated?

 

If the screen shots look ok on another monitor, that means that all your software(decoders, WMP11, nVidia drivers) are working correctly. The issue is with your lcd. I still think it's a scaling issue. Did you hook up your laptop to the CRT? Also try watching a DVD on your laptop lcd in a small window rather than fullscreen so the DVD doesn't have to scale.

 

I'm going to try and hook my CRT to the laptop.

I did watch the DVD in a smaller window and still get the same problem.

If it's the LCD what does that mean, exactly? Is there some software/driver related to the LCD that needs to be fixed because I really don't think it's a physical problem with the panel itself (otherwise problems would be anything being displayed).

 

Okay I tried it and my screencaps might have been misleading. I experience the same problem when I attach my desktop monitor to my laptop.

What about that DAC thing? It reads as "integrated" for some reason. Is that normal given this is a dedicated GPU?

 

That's very strange. Are you sure the screenshots look ok on your desktop? Were you viewing them on your desktop in "best fit" mode, so the screenshots were compressed to fit on your screen, or did you view the full image(or rather, a portion of it unscaled)? How did you take the screen shots... a function within your dvd software, or using the printscreen key?

Don't worry. Normal. DAC is the Digital to Analog converter. It's what converts all the digital signals from your graphics card to analog voltages for vga(CRT) out.

What about other non-DVD video formats? Do they play ok? Also, try messing with hardware acceleration support. If you're still using windows media player, you can get to it from something like "tools -> options, then in the options window, there should be a tab for performance, and you should see a slider for hardware acceleration". I think that's right, but I'm not sure. I'm at my desktop running Gentoo linux right now, so I can't check.

 

I took the caps with the print screen button and saved it in paint (I don't have my copy of Photoshop on there yet). So the image was likely not scaled.

I'll play around with more of the performance settings later but setting it towards "smaller" doesn't help as well as trying for highest quality etc.

 

I was asking how you viewed the screen shots on your desktop.

I'm talking about disabling hardware acceleration... using your processor to use software rendering for DVD playback.. or enabling it if it was already disabled for some reason.

 

If you play games, do they look ok? It seems like it's narrowed down to the GPU/driver, so it would be reasonable to expect other things to look bad too. Games or maybe videos online.

 

I'll try online videos but as for games, the only one I have is the Simpsons Hit and Run. I don't really do much gaming.

 

Tried YouTube videos on it. They work as they should.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of watching some AVI's or WMV's. If they work ok, you could try ripping a DVD(or a scene from a DVD) and transcoding it to another format. I still think your problem is really strange.

 

I think my problem is really strange too. I used to have this problem with WMP a long time ago till I just didn't bother because it was working with other players. Somehow WMP9 played them as they should and I never had a problem since. My guess is it was wmp9 then the codecs then wmp11. Though I'm guessing the order really shouldn't make a difference.

I'll try a few AVIs if I have some high quality ones. I mean I have AVIs but the source material on them isn't very high quality.

Here's something interesting: On my desktop, the performance settings have no video acceleration. But then the desktop is using a Radeon 9600. When I attempt to set it that way on my laptop, I get sound but no video.

 

Interesting. You should be able to use hardware acceleration with your 9600. You said that all players besides WMP on your desktop have the same problem your laptop does?

Do you have the option to enable limited(rather than full or no) hardware acceleration on your laptop? Have you tried multiple players on your laptop with no hardware acceleration?

 

I'll be trying all those. I can use hardware acceleration on the 9600 without problems either. Seems to not do much to the playback if I do.

 

Ask a silly question... this is all dvds right, I mean you've tried loads of different DVDs and get the same thing?

 

DVDs...all DVDs.

But here's something interesting. Sometime back, since I have an ATI card in my desktop I thought it would be cool to upgrade the driver and download Catalyst. It went great. Except my DVD playback got all screwy: The menus were black and white as were the actual parts of the movie. It would be hit or miss to get a chapter in color. I tried AVIs and others and they were fine. I uninstalled the driver, rolled back to my old one and uninstalled Catalyst. Everything went back to normal.

Maybe I should suspect the driver on my laptop?

 

I think I might have had a "breakthrough". Just for the heck of it, I checked the registry on my desktop to see if I can find anything that might shine a light on the problem. I found a registry entry for Macrovision. Could that be my problem?