MKV file won't play smoothly...hardware or software?

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SocceRich20

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I ripped my Bourne Ultimatum HD-DVD to the MKV format. I am trying to play the file on my HTPC which has the following specs:

Intel Pentium D (Dual Core 3.4Ghz)
2GB DDR2 Crucial Ballistic PC6400
500GB SATA II Drive
Windows XP Professional SP3
ATI HD 3450 (HDMI)
50" Samsung DLP connected via HDMI running 1920x1080

My playback is now going smoothly on my Q6600/8800 Ultra machine, but the quality seems a little grainy during some scenes.

When I try to play these files on my HTPC, which has PowerDVD 8 Ultra, Haali Splitter, FFDshow, and AC3 filter installed, MPC crashes the computer to a bluescreen.

Here are my graphedit screenshots on my Q6600/8800 Ultra rig:

Trying to use CoreAVC Pro because it supports multiple cores, and my 8800 does not have the HD chip.

Will be using PowerDVD on my HTPC, because it has a weaker Pentium D processor but the HD3450 video card has an HD processor that PowerDVD supposedly can use.

Casino Royale
bond.jpg


Bourne Ultimatum
bourne.jpg
 
unless i'm mistaken, the 3450 was designed entirely for high-def playback. if so, i wouldnt expect any playback issues at all unless you had like a P3 CPU.

i'm not sure how .mkv is decoded but it may not support advanced CPU extensions or hardware playback. or something.

try K-Lite Mega codec pack: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/k_lite_Mega_Codec_Pack.htm
ive played over 200 mkvs with it via MPC and havent had any trouble (tho both my PCs' CPUs are much stronger)
 
Update, played both files on my Q6600/8800 Ultra machine, and they play hella smooth. I'd prefer to have them playing on my HTPC though, and was under the impression that my Pentium D dual core and the 3450 combo would be more than sufficient for power. The HD 3450 specifically advertises having a special processor designed for high-def movies.
 
Installed the K-Lite codec pack on my HTPC, and things are now smooth and running great! Thanks for the tip.
 
I just went through this a couple weeks ago... either use CoreAVC (which supports multicore and is more efficient than the lbavcodec that comes with CCCP) or use Cyberlink AVC decoder (which will use your GPU). I ended up going with Cyberlink's; all I needed to do was install power dvd 8 and raise it's priority for handling h264/AVC. I can handle 15mbit+ 1080P clips (and not just 1920x800 like typical anamorphic but full 1920x1080) without any hiccup on almost the same computer specs as yours. I play everything through Vista MCE.
 
I had tried both CCCP and CoreAVC, and both gave me choppy, shitty playback. After uninstalling them and installing K-Lite, it runs perfectly.
 
rofl, k-lite... gross. You should be using Media Player Classic + Cyberlink H.264 for hardware accelerated playback.

Also, MKV isn't a format, it's a container.

You're going to want to rip your movies to x264 L4.1 formatting to take advantage of your graphics card's hardware accelerating capabilities. The way you have it setup now with "k-lite" isn't even using your graphics card, it's being entirely CPU dependent with shittier picture quality. I assume you purchased the graphics card you did for the HD video capabilities. I suggest you start using it if you want your money's worth out of it.. :p

If you would have followed by sticky thread in this forum, you'd be all set. ;)
 
w1retap said:
rofl, k-lite... gross. You should be using Media Player Classic + Cyberlink H.264 for hardware accelerated playback.

Also, MKV isn't a format, it's a container.

You're going to want to rip your movies to x264 L4.1 formatting to take advantage of your graphics card's hardware accelerating capabilities. The way you have it setup now with "k-lite" isn't even using your graphics card, it's being entirely CPU dependent with shittier picture quality. I assume you purchased the graphics card you did for the HD video capabilities. I suggest you start using it if you want your money's worth out of it.. :p

If you would have followed by sticky thread in this forum, you'd be all set. ;)
Click to expand...

I love it when you give great leading questions w1re. So, would there happen to be a software package that can tell you the exact fomat of the x264 file and if it isn't L4.1, convert it to L4.1? ;)
 
He said he's ripping his movies. He should know how he's encoding them.
 
ctrudel said:
I just went through this a couple weeks ago... either use CoreAVC (which supports multicore and is more efficient than the lbavcodec that comes with CCCP) or use Cyberlink AVC decoder (which will use your GPU). I ended up going with Cyberlink's; all I needed to do was install power dvd 8 and raise it's priority for handling h264/AVC. I can handle 15mbit+ 1080P clips (and not just 1920x800 like typical anamorphic but full 1920x1080) without any hiccup on almost the same computer specs as yours. I play everything through Vista MCE.
Click to expand...

libavcodec...thats what ffdshow uses/is right? So, ffdshow isn't smp capable? :\
 
You have a video card that is capable of HD offloading and you aren't using it for that. Just playing a movie doesn't automatically enable hardware acceleration. You need to use the proper codecs for that to happen. The powerdvd codec or TMT from arcsoft will do it.

You can play all videos from within VMC in full acceleration. No need for other players.

You also have to enabled hardware acceleration in the mkv's you create.

Also, don't use codec packs. They can cause all sorts of problems. You also don't know what codec you are using. Just because you install a codec doesn't mean it's actually being used.
You need to use graphedit to see what is being used by each video file and use radlight filter manager to adjust the merit of those codecs should the wrong ones show up for a video file.

You can get away with just using haali media splitter, ac3filter and the powerdvd codec for your mkv's.
FFDshow for everything else. That's all you need.
 
I originally followed the sticky, and that gave me choppy, shitty playback in VLC, and it refused to play at all in MPC. Can I get a link to this powerdvd codec or whatever I need to enable hardware?
 
SocceRich20 said:
I originally followed the sticky, and that gave me choppy, shitty playback in VLC, and it refused to play at all in MPC. Can I get a link to this powerdvd codec or whatever I need to enable hardware?
Click to expand...

It's not free. Also you will want to use Media Center and not VLC or MPC. Or perhaps WMP.
http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/main_1_ENU.html

also try:
http://www.arcsoft.com/products/totalmediatheatre

This works for some people, it's free. But it wouldn't work at all for me:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mpc-hc/

Remember, you'll also want to use graphedit to open your video files to see what codecs are actually being used. Just because you install a codec doesn't mean the computer is going to use it.
 
SocceRich20 said:
I originally followed the sticky, and that gave me choppy, shitty playback in VLC, and it refused to play at all in MPC. Can I get a link to this powerdvd codec or whatever I need to enable hardware?
Click to expand...

Thats because VLC doesn't do hardware acceleration which is why using VLC is discouraged. As for MPC how did you set it up and what codec packs did you have installed at the time. I hope you got rid of the crap that is Klite cause it's utter garbage that will fuck up your system more times then anything.
 
I've uninstalled K-Lite and bought Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 Ultra, do I need to do anything special to get it to use the hardware on my HD 3450?
 
Whichever works and makes you happiest.
The configuration I mentioned was for PowerDVD.
I use Media Player Classic and PowerDVD, MPC for the majority and PowerDVD when desperate.
 
Windows Media Player is now properly playing it. How can I be sure that WMP is using the hardware?
 
SocceRich20 said:
What player should I be using? WIndows media player or the Cyberlink player?
Click to expand...

Windows media player or Media Center.

Make sure you use graphedit to verify the cyberlink codecs are actually being used. You just use graphedit to open a movie/video file. It loads up with what is being used. You can tell us what it shows or post a screenshot.
 
Codec packs make me cry. Usually I just get Haali's splitter and whatever set of FFDShow tryouts (64- and 32-bit) seems to be best.
 
Here are my graphedit screenshots on my Q6600/8800 Ultra rig:

Trying to use CoreAVC Pro because it supports multiple cores, and my 8800 does not have the HD chip.

Will be using PowerDVD on my HTPC, because it has a weaker Pentium D processor but the HD3450 video card has an HD processor that PowerDVD supposedly can use.

Casino Royale
bond.jpg


Bourne Ultimatum
bourne.jpg
 
The 2nd one should be using coreavc. Use radlight to adjust the merit to preferred and see if that changes anything.
 
Archer75 said:
The 2nd one should be using coreavc. Use radlight to adjust the merit to preferred and see if that changes anything.
Click to expand...

Im sure its a VC1 encode, so its using the right filter, as Core can only decode AVC currently.
 
Using the Cyberlink decoder on my HTPC yeilds choppy playback in action scenes in WMP, but MPC is smooth. Ffdshow gives smooth playback when I enable the "libavcodec" for h.264 in WMP, what gives?

I purchased both PowerDVD 8 Ultra as well as CoreAVC Pro. I use CoreAVC Pro on my gaming machine, because CoreAVC supports multiple cores, but doesn't support GPU hd chips...but my 8800 Ultra has no hd chip, so it's a good fit.

My HTPC has a 3.4Ghz Pentium D dual core, but an ATI HD 3450 GPU with the Avivo HD chip, which PowerDVD is supposed to harness. Should I try CoreAVC on the HTPC?
 
Using the Cyberlink decoder on my HTPC yeilds choppy playback in action scenes in WMP
Click to expand...

Does it play choppy in powerdvd? It could be that your using the cyberlink decoder but not using the hardware acceleration of it. Try the clip in PowerDVD first and see what it plays like there, if its fine and then not fine in WMP, it means that the clip in WMP is not getting hardware acceleration, so you need to configure some options.

Should I try CoreAVC on the HTPC?
Click to expand...

Depends on the content you will be trying to play. If you're going to be playing Bluray/Own rips or rips that you know have been encoded to support DXVA (almost all new ones) then IMO you should continue trying to use cyberlinks decoder. As this will allow you to use the CPU for other things.

If you have rips that wont play with cyberlinks decoder due to the way there encoded, then either go for FFDShow or CoreAVC.

Personally i would try to stick it out with cyberlinks, you're probably missing just one setting and thats it. If i can remember correctly, you need to make sure hardware acceleration is enabled in powerdvd, if you want to use hardware acceleration whenever using the decoder, so it could be that option.
 
When I use the Cyberlink decoder, it plays smoothly in MPC but now WMP. I can't watch the .mkv files directly in PowerDVD, it won't play them.
 
Just rename them to mp4, just to test them, they will play correctly in powerdvd. MPC or at least MPC-Homecinema supports DXVA acceleration so it could be using its own DXVA decoder when playing it in that.
 
Should I look into playing around with "Radlight Filter Manager"? When I had PowerDVD installed, graphedit showed the Cyberlink decoder being used, but my playback in WMP was choppy. To experiment, I removed PowerDVD and installed CoreAVC pro, and got smooth playback, but high CPU usage. I am told that since I have the Avivo chip on my HD 3450, I should be aiming to use the Cyberlink decoder.

Also, with the CoreAVC decoder being used, my cursor rapidly flicks between being idle, and the vista circle thing equivalent to the hourglass in XP that indicates activity...it's pretty annoying. Between that and the Avivo chip, I'd prefer to get my Cyberlink decoder working. I'll try removing CoreAVC, reinstalling PowerDVD, renaming to .mp4, and playing...will post results later.
 
I'd prefer to get my Cyberlink decoder working. I'll try removing CoreAVC, reinstalling PowerDVD, renaming to .mp4, and playing...will post results later.
Click to expand...

I only meant that as a test to see if your videos get hardware decoding in powerdvd. This would confirm that your system has everything capable and setup. If this works then you know its just a configuration option, or something not set right in WMP or you have a bad filter installed somewhere.

I dont want to encourage simply changing file names as a fix, as it can lead to confusion later on, with regards to what container you actually have the file in.

Hopefully as i mentioned above, you may have to go into powerdvd and actually enable hardware/dxva acceleration, however once you do and if you properly quit the application afterwards it should now work in WMP. If you get fine playback in PowerDVD and choppy in WMP, then please post the graphedit config again :)
 
I am now getting no playback at all with Cyberlink. I completely uninstalled CoreAVC. When I try to register the "regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD8\VideoFilter\CL264dec.ax" command, I get an error message saying that it found the codec, but was unable to register it. Ideas?
 
And...trying to play these movies through WMC now bluescreens me....why can't this just work?
 
I would uninstall any codec packs you have, including ffdshow/powerdvd and then reboot. After the reboot i would then install only the needed ones and try again.
 
heh.. nobody follows the guide I made. Hint.. look at the sticky thread. ;)
 
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