H.264 Decode on the 7800's

[PRIME1]

This was supposed to be ATI's big feature, however some leaked beta drivers for the 7800GTX have H.264 decode support included.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1116

Anyone got a 7800GTX (and not scared to try a leaked beta) want to give these a try

 

[{NG}Fidel]

This was supposed to be ATI's big feature, however some leaked beta drivers for the 7800GTX have H.264 decode support included

If that wasnt filled with such bias and sarcasim towards ATI I would have just come in and said "Thats Good news for 7800GTX Owners h.264 has such great visual quality and Efficiency". Of course everything I just said their still stands but none the less you can give information with out trying to bash ATI.

 

[kuyaglen]

Well with a programmable GPU and similar HD arcitecture as the RSX chip for the PS3 I
would think that H.264 would be no problem...at least if video functionality wasn't broken a la
6800's.

 

[Brent_Justice]

this was announced as part of the feature support of 7800 GTX last week

the purevideo processor is completely programmable remember, so they can support whatever they want to program it to do

 

[Skrying]

this was announced as part of the feature support of 7800 GTX last week

the purevideo processor is completely programmable remember, so they can support whatever they want to program it to do

Whoa, didnt hear that, that's freaking awesome.

 

[Homer]

this was announced as part of the feature support of 7800 GTX last week

meaning its not really beta, and not untested on 7800s?

 

[{NG}Fidel]

the purevideo processor is completely programmable remember, so they can support whatever they want to program it to do

I must agree that is amazing.

 

[PRIME1]

this was announced as part of the feature support of 7800 GTX last week

the purevideo processor is completely programmable remember, so they can support whatever they want to program it to do

I was hoping someone with a 7800GTX could test it

 

[Homer]

I would be willing if it didnt break the card, screw it up, or void warranty

 

[^eMpTy^]

If that wasnt filled with such bias and sarcasim towards ATI I would have just come in and said "Thats Good news for 7800GTX Owners h.264 has such great visual quality and Efficiency". Of course everything I just said their still stands but none the less you can give information with out trying to bash ATI.

Bias and sarcasm is often in the eye of the beholder...

I personally saw nothing wrong with the statement...

 

[Skrying]

Bias and sarcasm is often in the eye of the beholder...

I personally saw nothing wrong with the statement...

Maybe that's because you are the same as PRIME1......


Anyway, this is a pretty great thing, I'm gonna have to look more into it and see what the development progress is on it.

 

[^eMpTy^]

Maybe that's because you are the same as PRIME1......

Or maybe you're just as biased as {NG}Fidel

Like I said, it's all in the eye of the beholder...

 

[PRIME1]

There was a slight bit of bias but no sarcasm. There was a lot of press over ATI's support for H.264 in fact I think ATI even did a press release and there was a whole thread on here about it. So the first part of my comment was in reference to that.

The ATI card is months away and this is only a beta driver from NVIDIA, but it's progress on both sides and I look forward to 1080p pr0n

I don't consider myself a NVfanatic, I just put on that hat here to counter all of the FUD, and it makes for some interesting and sometimes heated exchanges. The only sad part is those who take it personally.

 

[^eMpTy^]

There was a slight bit of bias but no sarcasm. There was a lot of press over ATI's support for H.264 in fact I think ATI even did a press release and there was a whole thread on here about it. So the first part of my comment was in reference to that.

That's totally how I took it...for example, the only showing of R520 thus far was at Comdex where they had it running H.264 content...and a couple of articles have surfaced about how ATi will have it and nVidia won't...so I see nothing "biased" or "sarcastic" about your statements...I actually find it funny that {NG}Fidel would feel the need to call you on that...seems all this R520 being delayed talk has him on the defensive...

 

[Skrying]

R520 was also sighted at E3 running Alan Wake.

But, if Nvidia moves the purevideo chip down all of there line I'm gonna start recommending it to all my customers looking for a HDTV setup that does gaming too, that's a pretty awesome feature in my eyes, I'm tired of all the mild support here and there and if a chip is fully programable to do it all that totally kicks ass.

 

[^eMpTy^]

R520 was also sighted at E3 running Alan Wake.

But, if Nvidia moves the purevideo chip down all of there line I'm gonna start recommending it to all my customers looking for a HDTV setup that does gaming too, that's a pretty awesome feature in my eyes, I'm tired of all the mild support here and there and if a chip is fully programable to do it all that totally kicks ass.

I wonder if these chips we're seeing around are actually RV530...the low end version of R520 which is ahead of schedule...that would explain why people thought the Alan Wake demo was choppy...

 

[Skrying]

I wonder if these chips we're seeing around are actually RV530...the low end version of R520 which is ahead of schedule...that would explain why people thought the Alan Wake demo was choppy...

Hmm, that seems very likely if the leakage issues are true, I wouldnt be surprised.

 

[texuspete00]

Who likes butter stuffs? WE LIKE BUTTERSTUFFS!

hehe... dumb bump because despite the watermelon seed spitting contest the thread is quite informative. Don't mess with me I'm a professional.

 

[PRIME1]

It is possible for the pure video feature of the 6xxx series to run H.264.

The 8x.xx series of drivers are supposed to not only include H.264 support, but dual core and mix and match SLI support as well.

I have a 6600GT in my HTPC I hope I get something out of these drivers as the card works well with my old HDTV.

 

[Skrying]

It is possible for the pure video feature of the 6xxx series to run H.264.

The 8x.xx series of drivers are supposed to not only include H.264 support, but dual core and mix and match SLI support as well.

I have a 6600GT in my HTPC I hope I get something out of these drivers as the card works well with my old HDTV.

Maybe the 66xx and 62xx, but I thought the whole chip was simply f^^ked on the 6800s?

 

[Terra]

Maybe the 66xx and 62xx, but I thought the whole chip was simply f^^ked on the 6800s?

Then you thought wrong
The VPU in the 6800's are only borked, meaning it has some working features, and some (WMV9 features )that don't work, and might never work:
From NIVIDA's website Purevideo

6800 PCI-e

MPEG-2
SD/HD hardware accelerated decode and display processing

WMV9
SD / HD display processing including Gamma Correction and Color Space Conversion

Post Processing
Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing
NTSC 3:2 Pulldown
NTSC 3:2 Bad Edit Correction
PAL 2:2 Pulldown
PAL 2:2 Bad Edit Correction

6800 AGP

MPEG-2
SD/HD hardware accelerated decode and display processing

WMV9
SD / HD display processing including Gamma Correction and Color Space Conversion

Post Processing
Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing
NTSC 3:2 Pulldown
NTSC 3:2 Bad Edit Correction
PAL 2:2 Pulldown
PAL 2:2 Bad Edit Correction

Compared that to the 7800GXT and you will find that most issue have been fixed via the driver:

MPEG-2
SD/HD hardware accelerated decode and display processing

WMv9
SD / HD hardware accelerated decode and display processing including Gamma Correction and Color Space Conversion

Post Processing
High-Def Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing
NTSC 3:2 Pulldown
NTSC 3:2 Bad Edit Correction
PAL 2:2 Pulldown
PAL 2:2 Bad Edit Correction

If you notice only the "SD / HD hardware accelerated decode and display processing including Gamma Correction and Color Space Conversion" now seperate the 6800's from the 7800's

Terra - But some myth die hard...

 

[Aldoria]

Here is a nice forum where several people did tests with the leaked ForceWare. There is even someone that tested the H. 264 decode support as well as the effect of Dual Core.

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=52892

There doesn't seem to be any big increase with the Dual Cores currently but the person who tested the H. 264 went from 100% cpu usage to 60-90% (mostly around 75%).

Ald

 

[Staples]

Lets hope it acutually works unlike video acceleration on the 6800 series.

I always heard that it worked on the 6600 but I never saw benchmarks to confirm that it did in fact work. Does anyone have any benchmark to show jiust how well the video acceleration really did work?

 

[Aldoria]

Mmmmm, I might try it just because I have reformatted twice already and I will reformat again tonight just from setting up, rerouting and reconfiguring hardware of my new computer *phew*.

If I do, I'll post some bench for ya

Ald

 

[Terra]

Lets hope it acutually works unlike video acceleration on the 6800 series.

I always heard that it worked on the 6600 but I never saw benchmarks to confirm that it did in fact work. Does anyone have any benchmark to show jiust how well the video acceleration really did work?

Mind reading post #21?

Terra - Echo..echoo...echooo...

 

[Skrying]

Mind reading post #21?

Terra - Echo..echoo...echooo...

What a company says and what their product does is not always the same.

 

[Terra]

What a company says and what their product does is not always the same.

So you didn't notice the difference between the 7800's series and the 6800 series?

Or let me put the metal to the meat:
You got any proff that they are currently lying?

Terra - Or are you pulling a "strawman" right now?

 

[Skrying]

I got no proof that they are telling the truth either. All I've heard about the purevideo chip on the 6800s was that it didnt work.

 

[trinibwoy]

I got no proof that they are telling the truth either. All I've heard about the purevideo chip on the 6800s was that it didnt work.

I'm with Skyring here. Although I'm not assuming it doesn't work, reviewers and forum dwellers haven't really been doing a good job or reporting pure video functionality/performance.

 

[Staples]

So you didn't notice the difference between the 7800's series and the 6800 series?

Or let me put the metal to the meat:
You got any proff that they are currently lying?

Terra - Or are you pulling a "strawman" right now?

Why should he and I have to defend ourselves? We don't believe NVIDIA just because they say that it works. They initially said it worked on the 6800 and only because so many people demanded an answer of why the performance was only 1%, they finally came out and very quietly said that it did not work. We have good reason not to believe what they say until we can confirm it.

 

[Terra]

Why should he and I have to defend ourselves?

Easy, you make the claim, and then you have to back it up..simple as that

We don't believe NVIDIA just because they say that it works.

That one can be a dual-bladed sword:
I don't belive you because you say it dosn't work...
Now how much did that help?

They initially said it worked on the 6800 and only because so many people demanded an answer of why the performance was only 1%, they finally came out and very quietly said that it did not work.

You remember differently than I.
First the was the part about it needning to be suppported in the driver + you also need the Purevideo decoder or nDVD
A lot of people seems to be forgetting that part...but ignorance is no excuse...

Then NVIDA told it was borked, they didn't say it was non-functional...And it's only borked in WMV9..come again...

We have good reason not to believe what they say until we can confirm it.

I have good reason to not belive you...see my point?

Step to the plate...or apply for a position at The Inc...

Terra - Simple as that...

 

[Skrying]

I have seen basically no charts that show a improvment and no charts that show a negative effect either. All I've ever heard was that the PureVideo chip did not work on the 6800s, and you are the first person I've heard to say otherwise, so no, I am not going to agree with you on it. No, I dont see to go grab some crap off the Nv site to try to prove myself, no I will not do a search of any kind, and I will simply continue to believe that the chip does not work on the 6800s till you can provide me proof otherwise. You have not done that, you've simply quoted something from the Nv website and not shown any benchmarks or websites that have done benchmarks that would say that the chip on 6800s works as it should.

 

[HighTest]

Actually, what's interesting is that the leaked drivers will also support the new format on select GeForce6 cards. Just look at the list for those that have hardware decode for WMV9, which is the 6600 series, the newer 6800 core used in some select cards (Not the GT or Ultra, but some select NU cards that are the "unlockable" version because they don't have the extra pipelines).

See:

http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html

PureVideo isn't really new, it just may process "faster" with the 7800GTX. The bad news is the borked version in the high-end 6800 series and select 6800 cards that are based on binned down versions of the high-end.

 

[HighTest]

I have seen basically no charts that show a improvment and no charts that show a negative effect either. All I've ever heard was that the PureVideo chip did not work on the 6800s, and you are the first person I've heard to say otherwise, so no, I am not going to agree with you on it. No, I dont see to go grab some crap off the Nv site to try to prove myself, no I will not do a search of any kind, and I will simply continue to believe that the chip does not work on the 6800s till you can provide me proof otherwise. You have not done that, you've simply quoted something from the Nv website and not shown any benchmarks or websites that have done benchmarks that would say that the chip on 6800s works as it should.

You are both right and wrong. Some select 6800 cores are fine, see my chart link in the post above. But the majority of the 6800 owners had the borked version. Ironically all 6600 (both non GT and GT versions) have the fully functional PureVideo functionality. 6200's have a lower end PureVideo, so it's not likely to have sufficient processing for the newer format.

With all the "patches" that you have to wrangle to get it to work with Media Player 10, I've got WMV 9 HD working fine on my 6600GT rig. I'm able to play the 1080P video samples with a comfortable 42 - 52 % CPU load, not bad at all. To really test, don't compare DVD or other formats as they are really low end on the CPU demand, you have to really stress it with the 1080P format videos. To test I had a download fest of all the 1080P's from the Microsoft site, pretty impressive but not likely to be utilized by me for a little while.

A true standard HD-DVD format will be what I purchase in, I suspect WMV HD DVD discs will be a niche format that is just an early eye candy demo.

 

[Skrying]

You are both right and wrong. Some select 6800 cores are fine, see my chart link in the post above. But the majority of the 6800 owners had the borked version. Ironically all 6600 (both non GT and GT versions) have the fully functional PureVideo functionality. 6200's have a lower end PureVideo, so it's not likely to have sufficient processing for the newer format.

So my unlockable 6800nu is a borked version?

 

[HighTest]

So my unlockable 6800nu is a borked version?

Yep, too bad, but it's the borked version. The "only" 6800 that works is the newer PCI-E core that to save cost on also didn't have the extra pipelines and vertex shaders.

So if it's unlockable, it's the older core that as simply binned as a 6800NU and thereby the "borked" PureVideo.

 

[Skrying]

Yep, too bad, but it's the borked version. The "only" 6800 that works is the newer PCI-E core that to save cost on also didn't have the extra pipelines and vertex shaders.

So if it's unlockable, it's the older core that as simply binned as a 6800NU and thereby the "borked" PureVideo.

Oh well, I think I'll enjoy my extra pipelines and vertex shader more.

 

[HighTest]

Oh well, I think I'll enjoy my extra pipelines and vertex shader more.

For "today's" video needs, I'm sure you won't miss the H.624 decode one little bit. The "blue laser" technology DVD's that will require this format are a "little" ways off.

I'm sure when you are really "pressured" to run these on your PC, something far along down the line from the 7800 will be enticing your hard earned cash.

Getting all excited about H.624 decode capabilities is just like SM 3.0 in the prior gen. Sure it's cool it's there, but where's the need? The future proof argument is also lame, because unlike Farcry and Splinter Cell that do have SM 3.0 support, H.624 really isn't going to be the have-to-have tech next year. Even if, I'll buy an H.624 capable DVD player for my home theater, it's less likely to have user issues for my visiting family rather than some tricked out HTPC. If they can't easily use it, they could care less what is driving the picture.

Heck, I'm a lucky user of the 6600GT PureVideo and have proven that it works for me, but other than the demos, I'm really not excited anymore. It's just nice that it's one less driving factor for an upgrade, but really not a need in any shape or form at this time. It's not like game makers are going to use H.624 cut scenes in their games any time soon

So enjoy your extra piplines and vertex shaders, the wonked PureVideo of the majority of the 6800 cards should be a show stopper for anyone shopping for one.

 

[HighTest]

My post above is the reason that anyone that says "My cards better than yours because of H.624" need to get a life.

 

[CrimandEvil]

Then you thought wrong
The VPU in the 6800's are only borked, meaning it has some working features, and some (WMV9 features )that don't work, and might never work

Yup the 6800 series (AGP) for sure doesn't support WMV9 acceleration as well as the PCIe versions except for the PCIe 6800 NU which does have working acceleration.

And yes it works fully with both the 6200 (supports only 720p) and the 6600.