PC - HDTV and Hardware Decoding via NVidia based graphics cards [Archive]

View Full Version : PC - HDTV and Hardware Decoding via NVidia based graphics cards

Paul

29-01-2004, 01:36 PM

I just bought a VisionPlus HDTV card for my PC. It works well except
my CPU is too slow to render full-screen HDTV signals (Athlon XP
1900+). While I could upgrade the CPU and will probably do this
anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".

There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
is :

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html

What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
via the CPU.

So, that's the theory. Questions :

Is my interpretation wrong here ?

Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Paul

Louis Solomon [SteelBytes]

29-01-2004, 03:26 PM

> anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
> cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".
> ...
> What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> via the CPU.

in simple terms, yes.

but this of course depends on the software. ie, that the VisionPlus
software is smart enough to be able to use the MPEG2 decoder that the
GeForce makes available via DirectX (yes, your guess of DirectX being the
software interface to the hardware decoder is correct)

--
Louis Solomon
www.steelbytes.com

geoff

30-01-2004, 10:26 AM

what video card are you currently using? ....
are you using digivision htpc or visiondtv software? ........... i am using
a p4 2.4ghz and whenever i used visiondtv it was jumpy in hdtv....when i
switched to digivision htpc (used windvd filters) smooth as silk

> There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
> means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
> etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
> is :
>
> http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html
>
> What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> via the CPU.
>
> So, that's the theory. Questions :
>
> Is my interpretation wrong here ?
>
> Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
> or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?
>
> Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Paul

Billy Two Hats

30-01-2004, 03:16 PM

Also Paul part of the idea of using a pc instead of another standalone box
for the tv is that you are using software decoders instead of hardware
decoders. These can always be upgrade as the codec improves without
hardware limitations.

"Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:26be4c9c.0401281830.7b7f59dd@posting.google.c om...
> I just bought a VisionPlus HDTV card for my PC. It works well except
> my CPU is too slow to render full-screen HDTV signals (Athlon XP
> 1900+). While I could upgrade the CPU and will probably do this
> anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
> cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".
>
> There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
> means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
> etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
> is :
>
> http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html
>
> What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> via the CPU.
>
> So, that's the theory. Questions :
>
> Is my interpretation wrong here ?
>
> Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
> or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?
>
> Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Paul

Matt Mcleod

30-01-2004, 03:36 PM

In article <401887bf$0$10530$61ce578d@news.syd.swiftdsl.com.au>,
Louis Solomon [SteelBytes] <louis@steelbytes.spam-is-bad.com> wrote:
>but this of course depends on the software. ie, that the VisionPlus
>software is smart enough to be able to use the MPEG2 decoder that the
>GeForce makes available via DirectX (yes, your guess of DirectX being the
>software interface to the hardware decoder is correct)

It's also going to depend on the capabilities of the MPEG decoder.
For example, the DXR3 card does very nicely with SD material but
can't handle anything that goes beyond 720x576 -- no HD.

I don't know whether the decoders being used on the nVidia boards
will do HD or not, but it's something to clarify before spending
any money.

Matt

--
Matt McLeod Sysprog, Systems and IT Infrastructure
<mjm@unimelb.edu.au> The University of Melbourne
Security Is Not A Line Printer

Paul

02-02-2004, 09:17 PM

Hi All,

Thanks for posting your comments. I have a followup to my earlier
posting. Unfortunately, there was little understanding from the
retailers selling video cards. One so-called premier online retailer
said it was impossible and that "hardware" actually meant "software"
and I was wrong. In the interest of sticking to the topic, I won't
post their name.

Anyway, Harris Technology did a GOOD job. They thought I was right but
were prepared to provide a money-back guarantee in this instance if it
didn't. I bought a Leadtek Winfast 360 TD graphics card based on the
G-Force FX 5700 chip. I paid $300. I believe that is an exellent price
for this card as it's pretty new and a high performer.

Back to HDTV.

I can report that the inbuilt hardware MPEG-2 decoding works
perfectly. It decodes the Nine HD stream at full screen using about
20-30% CPU compared with not possible before. I am running a Athlon
1900+. The good news also is that it works on DVD as well. Playing a
DVD disc at full screen drops the CPU usage right down compared with
previous (Matrox) card. All good news.

I am using the VisionDTV software which I find very good. I have tried
the latest Digivision HTPC software and frankly it's not all it's
cracked up to be. Having no trial version is a real problem for this
software. I wouldn't have bought it had I had been able to trial it.

On a side note. This card also supports hardware encoding of MPEG-2.
Although I haven't really been able to test (and probably won't) the
differnce in time with this card and my previous card, I certainly
feel that compressing a MPEG-2 file happens faster than before. Even
on the relatively slow Athlon 1900+ I'm getting close to realtime
compression of a full resolution DVD. Impressive.

The link for the card is here :
http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:M1225#Tof

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Paul

"Billy Two Hats" <drp1(2)@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message news:<4019d81b$0$29132$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> Also Paul part of the idea of using a pc instead of another standalone box
> for the tv is that you are using software decoders instead of hardware
> decoders. These can always be upgrade as the codec improves without
> hardware limitations.
>
>
> "Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:26be4c9c.0401281830.7b7f59dd@posting.google.c om...
> > I just bought a VisionPlus HDTV card for my PC. It works well except
> > my CPU is too slow to render full-screen HDTV signals (Athlon XP
> > 1900+). While I could upgrade the CPU and will probably do this
> > anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
> > cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".
> >
> > There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
> > means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
> > etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
> > is :
> >
> > http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html
> >
> > What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> > HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> > probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> > via the CPU.
> >
> > So, that's the theory. Questions :
> >
> > Is my interpretation wrong here ?
> >
> > Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
> > or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?
> >
> > Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Paul

Paul

02-02-2004, 09:38 PM

Mike

03-02-2004, 12:45 AM

Paul wrote:

> on the relatively slow Athlon 1900+ I'm getting close to realtime
> compression of a full resolution DVD. Impressive.

On the slower Duron 1200, I can do real-time full-res compression,
from analog to mpeg4, using mplayer on Linux. So the Athlon should have no
trouble decoding and re-compressing in software.

With your new hardware, real-time high-def compression should be possible.

> The link for the card is here :
> http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:M1225#Tof
>

Mike

03-02-2004, 01:05 AM

Byron John Forbes

03-02-2004, 06:35 AM

Thanks for that Paul. Was watching this with interest since I'll be going
down this path myself soon.

"Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:26be4c9c.0402020208.12f2ab78@posting.google.c om...
> Hi All,
>
> Thanks for posting your comments. I have a followup to my earlier
> posting. Unfortunately, there was little understanding from the
> retailers selling video cards. One so-called premier online retailer
> said it was impossible and that "hardware" actually meant "software"
> and I was wrong. In the interest of sticking to the topic, I won't
> post their name.
>
> Anyway, Harris Technology did a GOOD job. They thought I was right but
> were prepared to provide a money-back guarantee in this instance if it
> didn't. I bought a Leadtek Winfast 360 TD graphics card based on the
> G-Force FX 5700 chip. I paid $300. I believe that is an exellent price
> for this card as it's pretty new and a high performer.
>
> Back to HDTV.
>
> I can report that the inbuilt hardware MPEG-2 decoding works
> perfectly. It decodes the Nine HD stream at full screen using about
> 20-30% CPU compared with not possible before. I am running a Athlon
> 1900+. The good news also is that it works on DVD as well. Playing a
> DVD disc at full screen drops the CPU usage right down compared with
> previous (Matrox) card. All good news.
>
> I am using the VisionDTV software which I find very good. I have tried
> the latest Digivision HTPC software and frankly it's not all it's
> cracked up to be. Having no trial version is a real problem for this
> software. I wouldn't have bought it had I had been able to trial it.
>
> On a side note. This card also supports hardware encoding of MPEG-2.
> Although I haven't really been able to test (and probably won't) the
> differnce in time with this card and my previous card, I certainly
> feel that compressing a MPEG-2 file happens faster than before. Even
> on the relatively slow Athlon 1900+ I'm getting close to realtime
> compression of a full resolution DVD. Impressive.
>
> The link for the card is here :
> http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:M1225#Tof
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Cheers,
> Paul
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Billy Two Hats" <drp1(2)@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:<4019d81b$0$29132$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> > Also Paul part of the idea of using a pc instead of another standalone
box
> > for the tv is that you are using software decoders instead of hardware
> > decoders. These can always be upgrade as the codec improves without
> > hardware limitations.
> >
> >
> > "Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:26be4c9c.0401281830.7b7f59dd@posting.google.c om...
> > > I just bought a VisionPlus HDTV card for my PC. It works well except
> > > my CPU is too slow to render full-screen HDTV signals (Athlon XP
> > > 1900+). While I could upgrade the CPU and will probably do this
> > > anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
> > > cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".
> > >
> > > There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
> > > means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
> > > etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
> > > is :
> > >
> > > http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html
> > >
> > > What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> > > HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> > > probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> > > via the CPU.
> > >
> > > So, that's the theory. Questions :
> > >
> > > Is my interpretation wrong here ?
> > >
> > > Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
> > > or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?
> > >
> > > Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Paul

Peter_purple

04-02-2004, 09:45 PM

Hey Paul,

Neat feedback,

Any chance you can play any of the 1080p videos on this link on your
setup without dropping frames,

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/ContentShowcase.aspx

ie. D/load file, play in media player 9 from hard disk ?

I have a athlon 2400+ and a Winfast 180 on epox m/brd and it cant keep up
on step into liquid or coral reef and just barely manages magic of flight if
I have no other resident programs. I have buffering at max and 512m ram
on win98se,

So I'm in two minds, do I get a processor upgrade or do like you did with
a nvidia graphics card upgrade ?

pp

Paul wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Thanks for posting your comments. I have a followup to my earlier
> posting. Unfortunately, there was little understanding from the
> retailers selling video cards. One so-called premier online retailer
> said it was impossible and that "hardware" actually meant "software"
> and I was wrong. In the interest of sticking to the topic, I won't
> post their name.
>
> Anyway, Harris Technology did a GOOD job. They thought I was right but
> were prepared to provide a money-back guarantee in this instance if it
> didn't. I bought a Leadtek Winfast 360 TD graphics card based on the
> G-Force FX 5700 chip. I paid $300. I believe that is an exellent price
> for this card as it's pretty new and a high performer.
>
> Back to HDTV.
>
> I can report that the inbuilt hardware MPEG-2 decoding works
> perfectly. It decodes the Nine HD stream at full screen using about
> 20-30% CPU compared with not possible before. I am running a Athlon
> 1900+. The good news also is that it works on DVD as well. Playing a
> DVD disc at full screen drops the CPU usage right down compared with
> previous (Matrox) card. All good news.
>
> I am using the VisionDTV software which I find very good. I have tried
> the latest Digivision HTPC software and frankly it's not all it's
> cracked up to be. Having no trial version is a real problem for this
> software. I wouldn't have bought it had I had been able to trial it.
>
> On a side note. This card also supports hardware encoding of MPEG-2.
> Although I haven't really been able to test (and probably won't) the
> differnce in time with this card and my previous card, I certainly
> feel that compressing a MPEG-2 file happens faster than before. Even
> on the relatively slow Athlon 1900+ I'm getting close to realtime
> compression of a full resolution DVD. Impressive.
>
> The link for the card is here :
> http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:M1225#Tof
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Cheers,
> Paul
>
> "Billy Two Hats" <drp1(2)@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message news:<4019d81b$0$29132$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> > Also Paul part of the idea of using a pc instead of another standalone box
> > for the tv is that you are using software decoders instead of hardware
> > decoders. These can always be upgrade as the codec improves without
> > hardware limitations.
> >
> >
> > "Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:26be4c9c.0401281830.7b7f59dd@posting.google.c om...
> > > I just bought a VisionPlus HDTV card for my PC. It works well except
> > > my CPU is too slow to render full-screen HDTV signals (Athlon XP
> > > 1900+). While I could upgrade the CPU and will probably do this
> > > anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
> > > cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".
> > >
> > > There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
> > > means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
> > > etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
> > > is :
> > >
> > > http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html
> > >
> > > What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> > > HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> > > probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> > > via the CPU.
> > >
> > > So, that's the theory. Questions :
> > >
> > > Is my interpretation wrong here ?
> > >
> > > Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
> > > or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?
> > >
> > > Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Paul

--
that is because,

peter purple proclaims

The infamous big dollar scam list of email addresses, growing,
appended here for those nice news bots to collect their email addresses...

benjamin_cole2000@yahoo.com, williams_adebayo@hotmail.com, frpierrejr@yahoo.fr,
<fprohanp@libero.it>, <maseko01@yahoo.ca>, <george_500@tiscali.co.uk>,
<geraldabam@fsmail.net>, <geraldabam@yahoo.co.uk>, <tariqani_2@gawab.com>,
<romesmith@freesurf.fr>, <tariqani_2001@fsmail.net>, <gamboisa@zwallet.com>,
<rebekaluv@fsmail.net>, abanigo@justice.com, abanigo72@swissmail.net, <ahmedb@aol.com>,
<abanigo@justice.com>, <yusuf.mamman@telstra.com>, yusufmamman@fsmail.net,
akuwilly@fsmail.net, <douglaskwan@mail.com.fr>, douglaskwan@mail.com.fr,
<tawandanganba@netscape.net>, <mariam_6666_abacha@fsmail.net>, mariam_6666_abacha@fsmail.net,
adetaylor73@yahoo.com.au, abraham_ojo_chambers@moldova.com
<ddlucian@libero.it>, tonyagha1@fsmail.net, tonyagha2@maktoob.com,
jerry brown <jerrybrown@fsmail.net>, <aceohale@hotmail.com>
haohale@hotmail.com, <alex.alex@alex4all.com>, <vanmannfred@fsmail.net>,
<william.sankoh@voila.fr>, <michael_adekunle90@fsmail.net>, webmaster_michael2002@yahoo.co.uk
<rayfam3@fsmail.net>, rayfamo@yahoo.com, Ali_yusufu@yahoo.com,
<a.nieuwenhuys@702mail.co.za>, <nieuwenhuys@tech4peace.org>,
bulusmohammed@excite.com, <jjj2003_c@libero.it>, <christianmoyo4@hotmail.com>
Zenmo35@yahoo.co.in, <francis_ozo111@yahoo.com>, rayhadalihussein@gawab.com, eowens610@aol.com
tonymomoh@fsmail.net, martins_ote1@castingdaily.com, kennethkoroma02@freesurf.fr,
<mrskoroma@netscape.net>, mikeoyibo@fsmail.net, jude@aol.com, mikeoyibo@indiatimes.com
sankoh.williams2004@laposte.net, abba_dabo1@freenet.de, pbenus027@yahoo.fr
mr_p_benus00tg@hotmail.com, momegoh66@hotmail.com, maomegoh65@hotmail.com,
jenet_01@indiatimes.com, jenet_01@ondikoi.com, nuwarsito44@netscape.net,
usman_alli@hotmail.com, usmanalli1@fsmail.net, zenmo35@yahoo.co.in

Paul

05-02-2004, 08:26 PM

No problem .. Good luck !

"Byron John Forbes" <hosh@spamdodo.com.au> wrote in message news:<401ea57b@news.comindico.com.au>...
> Thanks for that Paul. Was watching this with interest since I'll be going
> down this path myself soon.
>
> "Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:26be4c9c.0402020208.12f2ab78@posting.google.c om...
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Thanks for posting your comments. I have a followup to my earlier
> > posting. Unfortunately, there was little understanding from the
> > retailers selling video cards. One so-called premier online retailer
> > said it was impossible and that "hardware" actually meant "software"
> > and I was wrong. In the interest of sticking to the topic, I won't
> > post their name.
> >
> > Anyway, Harris Technology did a GOOD job. They thought I was right but
> > were prepared to provide a money-back guarantee in this instance if it
> > didn't. I bought a Leadtek Winfast 360 TD graphics card based on the
> > G-Force FX 5700 chip. I paid $300. I believe that is an exellent price
> > for this card as it's pretty new and a high performer.
> >
> > Back to HDTV.
> >
> > I can report that the inbuilt hardware MPEG-2 decoding works
> > perfectly. It decodes the Nine HD stream at full screen using about
> > 20-30% CPU compared with not possible before. I am running a Athlon
> > 1900+. The good news also is that it works on DVD as well. Playing a
> > DVD disc at full screen drops the CPU usage right down compared with
> > previous (Matrox) card. All good news.
> >
> > I am using the VisionDTV software which I find very good. I have tried
> > the latest Digivision HTPC software and frankly it's not all it's
> > cracked up to be. Having no trial version is a real problem for this
> > software. I wouldn't have bought it had I had been able to trial it.
> >
> > On a side note. This card also supports hardware encoding of MPEG-2.
> > Although I haven't really been able to test (and probably won't) the
> > differnce in time with this card and my previous card, I certainly
> > feel that compressing a MPEG-2 file happens faster than before. Even
> > on the relatively slow Athlon 1900+ I'm getting close to realtime
> > compression of a full resolution DVD. Impressive.
> >
> > The link for the card is here :
> > http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:M1225#Tof
> >
> > Hope that helps.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Paul
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Billy Two Hats" <drp1(2)@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
> news:<4019d81b$0$29132$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> > > Also Paul part of the idea of using a pc instead of another standalone
> box
> > > for the tv is that you are using software decoders instead of hardware
> > > decoders. These can always be upgrade as the codec improves without
> > > hardware limitations.
> > >
> > >
> > > "Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:26be4c9c.0401281830.7b7f59dd@posting.google.c om...
> > > > I just bought a VisionPlus HDTV card for my PC. It works well except
> > > > my CPU is too slow to render full-screen HDTV signals (Athlon XP
> > > > 1900+). While I could upgrade the CPU and will probably do this
> > > > anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
> > > > cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".
> > > >
> > > > There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
> > > > means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
> > > > etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
> > > > is :
> > > >
> > > > http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html
> > > >
> > > > What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> > > > HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> > > > probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> > > > via the CPU.
> > > >
> > > > So, that's the theory. Questions :
> > > >
> > > > Is my interpretation wrong here ?
> > > >
> > > > Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
> > > > or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?
> > > >
> > > > Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Paul

Paul

05-02-2004, 09:05 PM

Hi Peter,

Firstly, thanks for posting the info about WMV HD. I didn't know it
existed. Fantastic stuff. The images were spectacular. Perhaps the
HTPC might be of use again.

To answer your question. I downloaded Coral and run it at full
resolution. In Windows Media Player 9 it barely played the clip. The
CPU was around 100% and frames would drop out. I thought bugger.

VERY INTERESTING though - I then accidentally tried the same file via
Elecard MPEG-2 Player and guess what ? It worked perfectly. No dropped
frames at all. CPU around 95%. Clearly the CPU was working hard. I
haven't really researched the Microsoft site to find out why the
Graphics card was (probably) not taking the load away from the CPU.
Perhaps I'm not using the right drivers.

Now I know this exists, I will have a play when possible.

Thanks again.

Cheers
Paul

Peter_purple <purple@203.0.178.192> wrote in message news:<4020CC94.CC6629FF@203.0.178.192>...
> Hey Paul,
>
> Neat feedback,
>
> Any chance you can play any of the 1080p videos on this link on your
> setup without dropping frames,
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/ContentShowcase.aspx
>
> ie. D/load file, play in media player 9 from hard disk ?
>
> I have a athlon 2400+ and a Winfast 180 on epox m/brd and it cant keep up
> on step into liquid or coral reef and just barely manages magic of flight if
> I have no other resident programs. I have buffering at max and 512m ram
> on win98se,
>
> So I'm in two minds, do I get a processor upgrade or do like you did with
> a nvidia graphics card upgrade ?
>
> pp
>
>
> Paul wrote:
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Thanks for posting your comments. I have a followup to my earlier
> > posting. Unfortunately, there was little understanding from the
> > retailers selling video cards. One so-called premier online retailer
> > said it was impossible and that "hardware" actually meant "software"
> > and I was wrong. In the interest of sticking to the topic, I won't
> > post their name.
> >
> > Anyway, Harris Technology did a GOOD job. They thought I was right but
> > were prepared to provide a money-back guarantee in this instance if it
> > didn't. I bought a Leadtek Winfast 360 TD graphics card based on the
> > G-Force FX 5700 chip. I paid $300. I believe that is an exellent price
> > for this card as it's pretty new and a high performer.
> >
> > Back to HDTV.
> >
> > I can report that the inbuilt hardware MPEG-2 decoding works
> > perfectly. It decodes the Nine HD stream at full screen using about
> > 20-30% CPU compared with not possible before. I am running a Athlon
> > 1900+. The good news also is that it works on DVD as well. Playing a
> > DVD disc at full screen drops the CPU usage right down compared with
> > previous (Matrox) card. All good news.
> >
> > I am using the VisionDTV software which I find very good. I have tried
> > the latest Digivision HTPC software and frankly it's not all it's
> > cracked up to be. Having no trial version is a real problem for this
> > software. I wouldn't have bought it had I had been able to trial it.
> >
> > On a side note. This card also supports hardware encoding of MPEG-2.
> > Although I haven't really been able to test (and probably won't) the
> > differnce in time with this card and my previous card, I certainly
> > feel that compressing a MPEG-2 file happens faster than before. Even
> > on the relatively slow Athlon 1900+ I'm getting close to realtime
> > compression of a full resolution DVD. Impressive.
> >
> > The link for the card is here :
> > http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:M1225#Tof
> >
> > Hope that helps.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Paul
> >
> > "Billy Two Hats" <drp1(2)@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message news:<4019d81b$0$29132$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> > > Also Paul part of the idea of using a pc instead of another standalone box
> > > for the tv is that you are using software decoders instead of hardware
> > > decoders. These can always be upgrade as the codec improves without
> > > hardware limitations.
> > >
> > >
> > > "Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:26be4c9c.0401281830.7b7f59dd@posting.google.c om...
> > > > I just bought a VisionPlus HDTV card for my PC. It works well except
> > > > my CPU is too slow to render full-screen HDTV signals (Athlon XP
> > > > 1900+). While I could upgrade the CPU and will probably do this
> > > > anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
> > > > cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".
> > > >
> > > > There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
> > > > means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
> > > > etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
> > > > is :
> > > >
> > > > http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html
> > > >
> > > > What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> > > > HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> > > > probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> > > > via the CPU.
> > > >
> > > > So, that's the theory. Questions :
> > > >
> > > > Is my interpretation wrong here ?
> > > >
> > > > Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
> > > > or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?
> > > >
> > > > Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Paul
>
> --
> that is because,
>
> peter purple proclaims
>
> The infamous big dollar scam list of email addresses, growing,
> appended here for those nice news bots to collect their email addresses...
>
> benjamin_cole2000@yahoo.com, williams_adebayo@hotmail.com, frpierrejr@yahoo.fr,
> <fprohanp@libero.it>, <maseko01@yahoo.ca>, <george_500@tiscali.co.uk>,
> <geraldabam@fsmail.net>, <geraldabam@yahoo.co.uk>, <tariqani_2@gawab.com>,
> <romesmith@freesurf.fr>, <tariqani_2001@fsmail.net>, <gamboisa@zwallet.com>,
> <rebekaluv@fsmail.net>, abanigo@justice.com, abanigo72@swissmail.net, <ahmedb@aol.com>,
> <abanigo@justice.com>, <yusuf.mamman@telstra.com>, yusufmamman@fsmail.net,
> akuwilly@fsmail.net, <douglaskwan@mail.com.fr>, douglaskwan@mail.com.fr,
> <tawandanganba@netscape.net>, <mariam_6666_abacha@fsmail.net>, mariam_6666_abacha@fsmail.net,
> adetaylor73@yahoo.com.au, abraham_ojo_chambers@moldova.com
> <ddlucian@libero.it>, tonyagha1@fsmail.net, tonyagha2@maktoob.com,
> jerry brown <jerrybrown@fsmail.net>, <aceohale@hotmail.com>
> haohale@hotmail.com, <alex.alex@alex4all.com>, <vanmannfred@fsmail.net>,
> <william.sankoh@voila.fr>, <michael_adekunle90@fsmail.net>, webmaster_michael2002@yahoo.co.uk
> <rayfam3@fsmail.net>, rayfamo@yahoo.com, Ali_yusufu@yahoo.com,
> <a.nieuwenhuys@702mail.co.za>, <nieuwenhuys@tech4peace.org>,
> bulusmohammed@excite.com, <jjj2003_c@libero.it>, <christianmoyo4@hotmail.com>
> Zenmo35@yahoo.co.in, <francis_ozo111@yahoo.com>, rayhadalihussein@gawab.com, eowens610@aol.com
> tonymomoh@fsmail.net, martins_ote1@castingdaily.com, kennethkoroma02@freesurf.fr,
> <mrskoroma@netscape.net>, mikeoyibo@fsmail.net, jude@aol.com, mikeoyibo@indiatimes.com
> sankoh.williams2004@laposte.net, abba_dabo1@freenet.de, pbenus027@yahoo.fr
> mr_p_benus00tg@hotmail.com, momegoh66@hotmail.com, maomegoh65@hotmail.com,
> jenet_01@indiatimes.com, jenet_01@ondikoi.com, nuwarsito44@netscape.net,
> usman_alli@hotmail.com, usmanalli1@fsmail.net, zenmo35@yahoo.co.in

Peter_purple

27-02-2004, 04:45 AM

This is probably because MS media player is so bloated it puts
a huge load on the cpu compared to 3rd party s/w which tends
to be more directed by technical expertise,

Though of course the player program 'should' be able to off
load a lot of work onto the graphics card if it has the command
set then the cpu is just a glorified gateway,

When you say 95% load, what indicator did you use, XP's
internal s/w to determine that or some 3rd party tweaker ?

btw: Theres a thread after this about an hdtv tuner card, that looks
like a good basis for a htpc, I wonder if its player can handle the
same res vids as those on the MS site, as Australian res hdtv
is 'only' 1440 x 1080i, but heck thats better than 720p, (flame
suit on)

LOL!

pp

Paul wrote:

> Hi Peter,
>
> Firstly, thanks for posting the info about WMV HD. I didn't know it
> existed. Fantastic stuff. The images were spectacular. Perhaps the
> HTPC might be of use again.
>
> To answer your question. I downloaded Coral and run it at full
> resolution. In Windows Media Player 9 it barely played the clip. The
> CPU was around 100% and frames would drop out. I thought bugger.
>
> VERY INTERESTING though - I then accidentally tried the same file via
> Elecard MPEG-2 Player and guess what ? It worked perfectly. No dropped
> frames at all. CPU around 95%. Clearly the CPU was working hard. I
> haven't really researched the Microsoft site to find out why the
> Graphics card was (probably) not taking the load away from the CPU.
> Perhaps I'm not using the right drivers.
>
> Now I know this exists, I will have a play when possible.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Cheers
> Paul
>
> Peter_purple <purple@203.0.178.192> wrote in message news:<4020CC94.CC6629FF@203.0.178.192>...
> > Hey Paul,
> >
> > Neat feedback,
> >
> > Any chance you can play any of the 1080p videos on this link on your
> > setup without dropping frames,
> >
> > http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/ContentShowcase.aspx
> >
> > ie. D/load file, play in media player 9 from hard disk ?
> >
> > I have a athlon 2400+ and a Winfast 180 on epox m/brd and it cant keep up
> > on step into liquid or coral reef and just barely manages magic of flight if
> > I have no other resident programs. I have buffering at max and 512m ram
> > on win98se,
> >
> > So I'm in two minds, do I get a processor upgrade or do like you did with
> > a nvidia graphics card upgrade ?
> >
> > pp
> >
> >
> > Paul wrote:
> >
> > > Hi All,
> > >
> > > Thanks for posting your comments. I have a followup to my earlier
> > > posting. Unfortunately, there was little understanding from the
> > > retailers selling video cards. One so-called premier online retailer
> > > said it was impossible and that "hardware" actually meant "software"
> > > and I was wrong. In the interest of sticking to the topic, I won't
> > > post their name.
> > >
> > > Anyway, Harris Technology did a GOOD job. They thought I was right but
> > > were prepared to provide a money-back guarantee in this instance if it
> > > didn't. I bought a Leadtek Winfast 360 TD graphics card based on the
> > > G-Force FX 5700 chip. I paid $300. I believe that is an exellent price
> > > for this card as it's pretty new and a high performer.
> > >
> > > Back to HDTV.
> > >
> > > I can report that the inbuilt hardware MPEG-2 decoding works
> > > perfectly. It decodes the Nine HD stream at full screen using about
> > > 20-30% CPU compared with not possible before. I am running a Athlon
> > > 1900+. The good news also is that it works on DVD as well. Playing a
> > > DVD disc at full screen drops the CPU usage right down compared with
> > > previous (Matrox) card. All good news.
> > >
> > > I am using the VisionDTV software which I find very good. I have tried
> > > the latest Digivision HTPC software and frankly it's not all it's
> > > cracked up to be. Having no trial version is a real problem for this
> > > software. I wouldn't have bought it had I had been able to trial it.
> > >
> > > On a side note. This card also supports hardware encoding of MPEG-2.
> > > Although I haven't really been able to test (and probably won't) the
> > > differnce in time with this card and my previous card, I certainly
> > > feel that compressing a MPEG-2 file happens faster than before. Even
> > > on the relatively slow Athlon 1900+ I'm getting close to realtime
> > > compression of a full resolution DVD. Impressive.
> > >
> > > The link for the card is here :
> > > http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:M1225#Tof
> > >
> > > Hope that helps.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Paul
> > >
> > > "Billy Two Hats" <drp1(2)@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message news:<4019d81b$0$29132$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> > > > Also Paul part of the idea of using a pc instead of another standalone box
> > > > for the tv is that you are using software decoders instead of hardware
> > > > decoders. These can always be upgrade as the codec improves without
> > > > hardware limitations.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > "Paul" <paul_c100@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > > news:26be4c9c.0401281830.7b7f59dd@posting.google.c om...
> > > > > I just bought a VisionPlus HDTV card for my PC. It works well except
> > > > > my CPU is too slow to render full-screen HDTV signals (Athlon XP
> > > > > 1900+). While I could upgrade the CPU and will probably do this
> > > > > anyway, I am somewhat curious about the GeForce FX Series AGP video
> > > > > cards offering "Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoders".
> > > > >
> > > > > There seems to be very little that is written on exactly what this
> > > > > means. The most I've found after reasonable amount of searching google
> > > > > etc is Nvidia's website which everybody seems to refer to. An example
> > > > > is :
> > > > >
> > > > > http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/fb_gffx_5600.html
> > > > >
> > > > > What I am hoping this means is : Any MPEG II stream, be it from DVD or
> > > > > HDTV such as the VisionPlus will be able to offload (via DirectX
> > > > > probably) the decompression of the MPEG to the video card rather than
> > > > > via the CPU.
> > > > >
> > > > > So, that's the theory. Questions :
> > > > >
> > > > > Is my interpretation wrong here ?
> > > > >
> > > > > Has anybody actually tried one of these cards with a VisionPlus card
> > > > > or a DVD and found any reduction in CPU usage ?
> > > > >
> > > > > Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> > > > >
> > > > > Regards,
> > > > > Paul
> >
> > --
> > that is because,
> >
> > peter purple proclaims
> >
> > The infamous big dollar scam list of email addresses, growing,
> > appended here for those nice news bots to collect their email addresses...
> >
> > benjamin_cole2000@yahoo.com, williams_adebayo@hotmail.com, frpierrejr@yahoo.fr,
> > <fprohanp@libero.it>, <maseko01@yahoo.ca>, <george_500@tiscali.co.uk>,
> > <geraldabam@fsmail.net>, <geraldabam@yahoo.co.uk>, <tariqani_2@gawab.com>,
> > <romesmith@freesurf.fr>, <tariqani_2001@fsmail.net>, <gamboisa@zwallet.com>,
> > <rebekaluv@fsmail.net>, abanigo@justice.com, abanigo72@swissmail.net, <ahmedb@aol.com>,
> > <abanigo@justice.com>, <yusuf.mamman@telstra.com>, yusufmamman@fsmail.net,
> > akuwilly@fsmail.net, <douglaskwan@mail.com.fr>, douglaskwan@mail.com.fr,
> > <tawandanganba@netscape.net>, <mariam_6666_abacha@fsmail.net>, mariam_6666_abacha@fsmail.net,
> > adetaylor73@yahoo.com.au, abraham_ojo_chambers@moldova.com
> > <ddlucian@libero.it>, tonyagha1@fsmail.net, tonyagha2@maktoob.com,
> > jerry brown <jerrybrown@fsmail.net>, <aceohale@hotmail.com>
> > haohale@hotmail.com, <alex.alex@alex4all.com>, <vanmannfred@fsmail.net>,
> > <william.sankoh@voila.fr>, <michael_adekunle90@fsmail.net>, webmaster_michael2002@yahoo.co.uk
> > <rayfam3@fsmail.net>, rayfamo@yahoo.com, Ali_yusufu@yahoo.com,
> > <a.nieuwenhuys@702mail.co.za>, <nieuwenhuys@tech4peace.org>,
> > bulusmohammed@excite.com, <jjj2003_c@libero.it>, <christianmoyo4@hotmail.com>
> > Zenmo35@yahoo.co.in, <francis_ozo111@yahoo.com>, rayhadalihussein@gawab.com, eowens610@aol.com
> > tonymomoh@fsmail.net, martins_ote1@castingdaily.com, kennethkoroma02@freesurf.fr,
> > <mrskoroma@netscape.net>, mikeoyibo@fsmail.net, jude@aol.com, mikeoyibo@indiatimes.com
> > sankoh.williams2004@laposte.net, abba_dabo1@freenet.de, pbenus027@yahoo.fr
> > mr_p_benus00tg@hotmail.com, momegoh66@hotmail.com, maomegoh65@hotmail.com,
> > jenet_01@indiatimes.com, jenet_01@ondikoi.com, nuwarsito44@netscape.net,
> > usman_alli@hotmail.com, usmanalli1@fsmail.net, zenmo35@yahoo.co.in

--
that is because,

peter purple proclaims

The infamous big dollar scam list of email addresses, growing,
appended here for those nice news bots to collect their email addresses...

benjamin_cole2000@yahoo.com, williams_adebayo@hotmail.com, frpierrejr@yahoo.fr,
<fprohanp@libero.it>, <maseko01@yahoo.ca>, <george_500@tiscali.co.uk>,
<geraldabam@fsmail.net>, <geraldabam@yahoo.co.uk>, <tariqani_2@gawab.com>,
<romesmith@freesurf.fr>, <tariqani_2001@fsmail.net>, <gamboisa@zwallet.com>,
<rebekaluv@fsmail.net>, abanigo@justice.com, abanigo72@swissmail.net, <ahmedb@aol.com>,
<abanigo@justice.com>, <yusuf.mamman@telstra.com>, yusufmamman@fsmail.net,
akuwilly@fsmail.net, <douglaskwan@mail.com.fr>, douglaskwan@mail.com.fr,
<tawandanganba@netscape.net>, <mariam_6666_abacha@fsmail.net>, mariam_6666_abacha@fsmail.net,
adetaylor73@yahoo.com.au, abraham_ojo_chambers@moldova.com
<ddlucian@libero.it>, tonyagha1@fsmail.net, tonyagha2@maktoob.com,
jerry brown <jerrybrown@fsmail.net>, <aceohale@hotmail.com>
haohale@hotmail.com, <alex.alex@alex4all.com>, <vanmannfred@fsmail.net>,
<william.sankoh@voila.fr>, <michael_adekunle90@fsmail.net>, webmaster_michael2002@yahoo.co.uk
<rayfam3@fsmail.net>, rayfamo@yahoo.com, Ali_yusufu@yahoo.com,
<a.nieuwenhuys@702mail.co.za>, <nieuwenhuys@tech4peace.org>,
bulusmohammed@excite.com, <jjj2003_c@libero.it>, <christianmoyo4@hotmail.com>
Zenmo35@yahoo.co.in, <francis_ozo111@yahoo.com>, rayhadalihussein@gawab.com, eowens610@aol.com
tonymomoh@fsmail.net, martins_ote1@castingdaily.com, kennethkoroma02@freesurf.fr,
<mrskoroma@netscape.net>, mikeoyibo@fsmail.net, jude@aol.com, mikeoyibo@indiatimes.com
sankoh.williams2004@laposte.net, abba_dabo1@freenet.de, pbenus027@yahoo.fr
mr_p_benus00tg@hotmail.com, momegoh66@hotmail.com, maomegoh65@hotmail.com,
jenet_01@indiatimes.com, jenet_01@ondikoi.com, nuwarsito44@netscape.net,
usman_alli@hotmail.com, usmanalli1@fsmail.net, zenmo35@yahoo.co.in