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    VPC-Z11 Video Corruption

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by quasi51, Jan 8, 2011.

  1. quasi51

    quasi51 Notebook Consultant

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    I've had my Z11 for a about a month now and I recently noticed some corruption when playing back video through MPC-HC. The corruption shows up as artifacts or discoloration that will come and go throughout the movie.

    I've tried different codecs and drivers (community driver, latest Nvidia on static in Bios, etc...) and nothing seems to fix it. The problem only occurs when the "video engine" is active (monitored in GPU-Z). This happens when using any variant of the "EVR" renderer in MPC-HC. The problem is identical in VLC if I enable "Use GPU Acceleration" under the "Input & Codecs" tab.

    I have no other graphical problems that I am aware of. Games work fine and videos render perfectly so long as the video engine isn't active. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Any suggestions for narrowing down the problem further or fixing it? Can anyone with a Vaio-Z humor me and test to see if this is a common problem? GPU-Z can be downloaded here...just run it and check under the sensors tab to see if the video engine is active when you are playing a movie.

    Thanks

    Edit...As far as I can determine the "video engine" corresponds to DXVA2 GPU assisted decoding. The corruption happens with x264 encoded files and not with SD files. With SD files the video engine isn't even active. Still hoping someone with a VPC-Z can help me test this. VLC might be an easier way to test than MPC-HC. DXVA2 can be enabled in VLC in the "input and codecs" tab. I've been testing with this trailer.
     
    quasi51, Jan 8, 2011
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  2. quasi51

    quasi51 Notebook Consultant

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    SOLVED

    It turned out to be a problem with a ram stick I had added. The machine originally came with 6GB of ram and I had swapped out the 2GB chip for a 4GB in order to have a total of 8GB. I don't think the ram is bad or I would probably have more significant problems but it at least incompatible.

    The module I bought was a Kingston stick. Does anyone have a suggestion for a compatible 4GB stick? For now I'll just stick with 6GB but I may try again in the future. Is there any information anywhere on ram that works well with the VPC-Zxx series?

    Thanks
     
    quasi51, Jan 11, 2011
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  3. jakem1

    jakem1 Notebook Geek

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    If you search this forum you'll find a few discussions about RAM upgrades for your Z.
     
    jakem1, Jan 11, 2011
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