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PureVideo - GeForce 6 video processing

T

tranCendenZ

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 6, 2004
Messages
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http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo.html

Nvidia today released "PureVideo," a technology that greatly improves the quality and performance of watching DVD on a PC. In order to take advantage of the technology you need a GeForce 6 series card, 67.03 drivers, and the latest Nvidia DVD Decoder software ($20). The fee is to cover the cost of royalties that must be paid to the DVD consortium and other various parties when releasing a DVD decoder. Works on GeForce 6800/6600/6200 cards.

Check it out, some A/B comparisons of an ATI card decoding DVD versus the new Nvidia PureVideo. Artifacts and jaggies begone!
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2305&p=6

Must have for PCDVD enthusiasts :)

Here are the drivers you need:
http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_winxp_2k_67.03.html

And the DVD Decoder:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder.html

So, the scoop on how it works on each of the GeForce 6 series:

NV40 (6800U AGP, 6800GT AGP, 6800 AGP)
PureVideo DVD/MPEG2 Video Quality Improvement: Yes
PureVideo WMV Video Quality Improvement: Yes
DVD/MPEG2 Hardware Acceleration: Yes
WMV Hardware Acceleration: No

NV41 (6800 PCI-E)
PureVideo DVD/MPEG2 Video Quality Improvement: Yes
PureVideo WMV Video Quality Improvement: Yes
DVD/MPEG2 Hardware Acceleration: Yes
WMV Hardware Acceleration: Yes

NV43 (6600GT AGP/PCI-E, 6600 AGP/PCI-E)
PureVideo DVD/MPEG2 Video Quality Improvement: Yes
PureVideo WMV Video Quality Improvement: Yes
DVD/MPEG2 Hardware Acceleration: Yes
WMV Hardware Acceleration: Yes

NV44 (6200 PCI-E)
PureVideo DVD/MPEG2 Video Quality Improvement: Partial
PureVideo WMV Video Quality Improvement: Partial
DVD/MPEG2 Hardware Acceleration: Limited (720p max)
WMV Hardware Acceleration: Limited (720p max)

NV45 (6800U PCI-E, 6800GT PCI-E)
PureVideo DVD/MPEG2 Video Quality Improvement: Yes
PureVideo WMV Video Quality Improvement: Yes
DVD/MPEG2 Hardware Acceleration: Yes
WMV Hardware Acceleration: No
 
Thanks for the press release. Too bad that doesn't work on cards we already have!!!

So I would have to trade my 6800 Ultra for a 6600 in order to get PURE VIDEO :rolleyes:
 
Nvidias putting an extra employee bonus in some1s stocking this year for sure!!
 
yea in going to be calling BFG in the morring about this see if i can get them to hook me up for free hehe ^^
 
Heh, well I installed the trial version of the software (with the required Forceware drivers) and DVDs are horribly glitched and just crash Media Player now.

I have a BGF GeForce 6800 GT OC, I guess the hardware glitches in the 6800s affect more than just WMV acceleration? :confused: :(
 
Don't the BFG cards come with the nvidia DVD decoder disc already?
 
From what I can tell its just a DVD player, its not fully featured and I dont think it has the "PureVideo" technology in it.
 
if I didn't have a bunch of downloads going on, I'd test... maybe in a day or so..
 
Netrat33 said:
weak. very weak
Click to expand...

Are you referring to Ati's image "quality" in the Anandtech DVD Playback Quality test? :)

I have read the Andtech test, and seen the pictures, and there is no doubt in my mind that nVida's Purevideo have superior image qualtity compared to ATi's current solution.
If you have any arguments to the opposite I would like to see them? :)

Terra - I like what I see, and I would like to see even more development in this field :)
 
gsboriqua said:
Thanks for the press release. Too bad that doesn't work on cards we already have!!!
Click to expand...
It works on my 6600GT. :D

And it's the same as we already knew... the VPU functions, except WMV acceleration, does work on the NV40.
 
Terra said:
Are you referring to Ati's image "quality" in the Anandtech DVD Playback Quality test? :)

I have read the Andtech test, and seen the pictures, and there is no doubt in my mind that nVida's Purevideo have superior image qualtity compared to ATi's current solution.
If you have any arguments to the opposite I would like to see them? :)

Terra - I like what I see, and I would like to see even more development in this field :)
Click to expand...

Even at the end of the review they said it's basically the same quality and in some situations it's better. *twirling finger*

The whole thing is a big wooptie doo anyway. Today's processors (after pretty much the duron 800 or earlier i'll give it) software rendering does it fine. And unless you are REALLY looking for that "artificating" from compression, you'll NEVER notice it. That's the 'magic' of today's dvds and quality. Only in poorly compressed movies will you notice anything and there is nothing in the world going to improve that if the movie studio f'd up. And I watch and own a CRAP load of dvds

Besides a real DVD..ahhem..MOVIE enthusiast is going to watch a movie on a real tv (Bigger screen) with surround sound. And Yes I know computer monitor displays movies at full anamorphic resolution, but I don't want to be stuck on my computer watching a movie :rolleyes: I've been watching DVD movies since they first came out and doing a "fine tooth comb" approach is "rediculous" *joke that everyone always types it like this*
You will never notice it in real life.
 
Terra said:
Are you referring to Ati's image "quality" in the Anandtech DVD Playback Quality test? :)

I have read the Andtech test, and seen the pictures, and there is no doubt in my mind that nVida's Purevideo have superior image qualtity compared to ATi's current solution.
If you have any arguments to the opposite I would like to see them? :)

Terra - I like what I see, and I would like to see even more development in this field :)
Click to expand...
ATI's hardware WMV9-decode support is beta. They have never even announced support; Anandtech had to enable a hidden registry key to enable it. So yes, it is quite obvious that ATI's solution, not being complete, does not match nVidia's, provided you run it on the nVidia hardware they say PureVideo will work on, rather than the hardware they promised would work six months ago that now will not.

P.S. Netrat33, the whole thing is no longer a "big wooptie do" when you factor in 1080-res WMV9, which software renders at 100% CPU usage on my Athlon 64 3000+. MPEG-2 decode doesn't require much, but WMV9, which is currently the standard for upcoming HD-DVD video, requires a lot.
 
LoneWolf said:
P.S. Netrat33, the whole thing is no longer a "big wooptie do" when you factor in 1080-res WMV9, which software renders at 100% CPU usage on my Athlon 64 3000+. MPEG-2 decode doesn't require much, but WMV9, which is currently the standard for upcoming HD-DVD video, requires a lot.
Click to expand...

You'll hardly notice any real differences, you would have to do like I said "uber close approach" to really see anything. Mainstream(and "elite") approach is for watching movies on a dvd player. The whole HD-DVD is not known yet to be standard. There is Blu-Ray to compete with. No one knows yet how the next dvd format will be but I doubt it's going to skyrocket like the take over of VHS. People aren't going to want to go out and buy a whole new player to play movies and rebuy movies either. CD had a proposed competion a while back with music but came down to....who cares? It's good enough.

could care less about movie watching on a computer anyway :p
That's why I own a high end dvd player. So I can sit on my couch and watch it on a bigger screen
 
NV45 (6800U PCI-E, 6800GT PCI-E)
PureVideo DVD/MPEG2 Video Quality Improvement: Yes
PureVideo WMV Video Quality Improvement: Yes
DVD/MPEG2 Hardware Acceleration: Yes
WMV Hardware Acceleration: No
I dont understand the WMV Hardware Acceleration part. So can it play DVD's in WMV or will it just use more CPU Utilization when I'm watching a DVD?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
It means it doesn't accelerate WMV HD content. So you're cpu will be doing most of the processing and this is where all those people with prescotts will be happy (revenge against the a64!).
 
Well from what I have deduced from looking around and reading, it should work with even the chips that don't do the WMV acceleration.. So something must be screwed up with my setup.... If I didnt already have PowerDVD working just fine for me, I would root around to figure out what it was. But I won't be forking over $20 for this anyway.
 
Oh well, if I'm watching a movie, I don't think I'd be multitasking anyways, the movie will lose it's touch. But it's definitely a dissapiontment knowing that ppl who pay less get more out of their cards, DVD wise.
Meh, I hope that the x800 XL will drag the GT's price down. Then I'll have to get me one! I've always wanted to try watching an HD-DVD on my television.
 
gordon151 said:
It means it doesn't accelerate WMV HD content. So you're cpu will be doing most of the processing and this is where all those people with prescotts will be happy (revenge against the a64!).
Click to expand...

You know, this is really a childish response. Choosing a processor isn't like choosing sides in a war. How is there "revenge", and why would you need revenge?
 
mickey987 said:
Oh well, if I'm watching a movie, I don't think I'd be multitasking anyways, the movie will lose it's touch. But it's definitely a dissapiontment knowing that ppl who pay less get more out of their cards, DVD wise.
Meh, I hope that the x800 XL will drag the GT's price down. Then I'll have to get me one! I've always wanted to try watching an HD-DVD on my television.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't be getting the same quality. You need an HD tv to get the full advantage. It's like..say recording a CD on to a tape. Well a tape can only be up to a certain quality before everything else that made the cd special is thrown away.
 
Mister E said:
Nvidias putting an extra employee bonus in some1s stocking this year for sure!!
Click to expand...

You do a great job of flaming but I've never actually seen you post anything even remotely approaching a piece of useful information.

Hope others enjoy the chart, the Nvidia PR was a quite confusing so I figured it would be easier for me to break it down. :)
 
I have a 6800 and an HDTV Wonder. I have them working together quite nicely after a reinstall and Ghost. Standard TV does not look quite as sharp as it did on my 9800. I thougth the HDTV wonder pushed out mpeg2 for both standard TV and HDTV?
 
swetmore said:
I have a 6800 and an HDTV Wonder. I have them working together quite nicely after a reinstall and Ghost. Standard TV does not look quite as sharp as it did on my 9800. I thougth the HDTV wonder pushed out mpeg2 for both standard TV and HDTV?
Click to expand...

It *might*. No one has tried it yet that I know of, but based on the PureVideo literature its very possible. If you feel brave, install the Nvidia 67.03 drivers and buy the DVD decoder for $20 and see what it does for your video quality.
 
I really don't see what the big deal is... Yea it offers hardware acceleration -- but does it really matter? I mean, if you are multi-tasking while watching a dvd on your PC in a smallish window, are you really gonna be paying attention to "artifacts"? Personally, the few times when I was watching video in a window while doing stuff, it's a small .rm file that I only occasionally glance at... However in a HTPC setting it makes even less sense -- as I highly doubt this hardware solution is a match for a good post-processer like ffdshow. True it might eat up 100% of your CPU time, but if someone is watching the video on the big screen, and care that much about its quality, I doubt he's also busy fragging ppl on counterstrike...

as to HD stuff -- the technology is so new, that it's even less relevent. WHO's gonna get HD content subscription and pump it onto a 17" monitor or even a 23" LCD? That's just plain stupid. Plus on a good 23+" LCD, at full 1028p resolution -- there are like only ONE graphics card from nVidia that supports it through it's dvi port. irrlevent.

No, if I have HD content, I'll pump it to my 43" Samsung or equivalent large-format televisions, and not stare at it on my relatively smaller desktop monitor.

but hey, kudos to nVidia for actually utilizing the 20mil transistors on their chip. :D

cheers,

yass
 
Yassarian said:
I really don't see what the big deal is... Yea it offers hardware acceleration -- but does it really matter? I mean, if you are multi-tasking while watching a dvd on your PC in a smallish window, are you really gonna be paying attention to "artifacts"? Personally, the few times when I was watching video in a window while doing stuff, it's a small .rm file that I only occasionally glance at... However in a HTPC setting it makes even less sense -- as I highly doubt this hardware solution is a match for a good post-processer like ffdshow. True it might eat up 100% of your CPU time, but if someone is watching the video on the big screen, and care that much about its quality, I doubt he's also busy fragging ppl on counterstrike...

as to HD stuff -- the technology is so new, that it's even less relevent. WHO's gonna get HD content subscription and pump it onto a 17" monitor or even a 23" LCD? That's just plain stupid. Plus on a good 23+" LCD, at full 1028p resolution -- there are like only ONE graphics card from nVidia that supports it through it's dvi port. irrlevent.
Click to expand...
Yes, it does matter. Even if I'm not multitasking at all, I drop a few frames playing full-screen 1080-res WMV on my system (see sig). 100% utilization means exactly that...and in many cases means your system is saying "Gee, if I had even more horsepower I'd dedicate that to your task too, but I DON'T". I'm running 1280x1024 on my 19" CRT, and I do watch video on my system.

I find that the people who keep saying "What's it going to matter?" either don't use their machine for video playback, or have never tried playing 1080 WMV9 to find out what is really happening...and they seem to not care that a vendor has broken a promise to them (assuming they own a Geforce 6800) of what the hardware they bought would be capable of.
 
I use my main machine for quick video playbacks. I have a big screen HDTV dedicated to watch REAL videos. :D Please read what I said -- I said it doesn't matter because you are not gonna be pausing your tiny window on your tiny(yes, even a 23" LCD is tiny in comparison to a 47" or 60" big-screen TV) computer monitor to check for "artifacts". What HDTV content do you watch on your small computer monitor other than a few trailers? if your screen is 1280x1024, a 720p video will pretty much take up most of your desktop's useable space, I myself probably wouldn't be doing much "multitasking" in the 20 seconds that it takes for the trailer to run its course. At any rate, viewing HDTV video on a small computer monitor is a waste of resource anyway... :p

Would I rather be watching the college bowl on my computer monitor or my big screen TV? I think the choice is obvious... I'm not saying the technology is flawed or whatever -- I'm just saying the technology is irrlevent based on today's standards, and probably even less so in the future.

Have you used ffdshow? -- it's completely customizable as to how much post-processing you want your cpu to do -- usually I do as much as my poor cpu in my media box can handle(very close to 100%). Yes you can do even more w/ that nifty piece of software if your box is more powerful, but even with my relatively modest media machine(amd 2800xp), dvd playback on my big screen samsung surpasses even the most expensive dedicated descalers. If you want pure quality dvdplayback, u custom configure your htpc with the right software to do just that. nVidia's technology basically sounds nice on paper, but I don't see it as very practical.

I'm thinking of buying a 6800GT in the near future(since I just started playing doom3, and would like a bit more hp than my 9800pro...), I could care less whether it's a poor performer when it comes to decoding hdtv signals, as even if it CAN do it -- that feature will remain essentially unused. This is just another instance where a company decides to focus on useless bells and whistles instead of USEFUL functions like more dual-link dvi capability across the board that allows higher dvi resolutions...

cheers,

yass

LoneWolf said:
Yes, it does matter. Even if I'm not multitasking at all, I drop a few frames playing full-screen 1080-res WMV on my system (see sig). 100% utilization means exactly that...and in many cases means your system is saying "Gee, if I had even more horsepower I'd dedicate that to your task too, but I DON'T". I'm running 1280x1024 on my 19" CRT, and I do watch video on my system.

I find that the people who keep saying "What's it going to matter?" either don't use their machine for video playback, or have never tried playing 1080 WMV9 to find out what is really happening...and they seem to not care that a vendor has broken a promise to them (assuming they own a Geforce 6800) of what the hardware they bought would be capable of.
Click to expand...
 
Netrat33 said:
You wouldn't be getting the same quality. You need an HD tv to get the full advantage. It's like..say recording a CD on to a tape. Well a tape can only be up to a certain quality before everything else that made the cd special is thrown away.
Click to expand...

Oh, well I guess I'll have to try to convince my dad to let me watch it on his HDTV...will it still be good?
 
mickey987 said:
Oh, well I guess I'll have to try to convince my dad to let me watch it on his HDTV...will it still be good?
Click to expand...

Then yes, it'll be like your computer is a dvd player
 
Wait, so even though I have a card that has had these features but crippled...now unlocked...I still have to pay $$ to use the decoder that enables them?
 
Yassarian said:
I really don't see what the big deal is... Yea it offers hardware acceleration -- but does it really matter? I mean, if you are multi-tasking while watching a dvd on your PC in a smallish window, are you really gonna be paying attention to "artifacts"? Personally, the few times when I was watching video in a window while doing stuff, it's a small .rm file that I only occasionally glance at... However in a HTPC setting it makes even less sense -- as I highly doubt this hardware solution is a match for a good post-processer like ffdshow. True it might eat up 100% of your CPU time, but if someone is watching the video on the big screen, and care that much about its quality, I doubt he's also busy fragging ppl on counterstrike...

as to HD stuff -- the technology is so new, that it's even less relevent. WHO's gonna get HD content subscription and pump it onto a 17" monitor or even a 23" LCD? That's just plain stupid. Plus on a good 23+" LCD, at full 1028p resolution -- there are like only ONE graphics card from nVidia that supports it through it's dvi port. irrlevent.

No, if I have HD content, I'll pump it to my 43" Samsung or equivalent large-format televisions, and not stare at it on my relatively smaller desktop monitor.

but hey, kudos to nVidia for actually utilizing the 20mil transistors on their chip. :D

cheers,

yass
Click to expand...

Personally I'm not very excited about the hardware decode aspects, but the quality improvements are very welcomed. Hardware Encode for MPEG2 would be awesome too as many hours can go into encoding MPEG2 and less CPU utilization for that so you can do other things would be cool.
 
trilobyte said:
Wait, so even though I have a card that has had these features but crippled...now unlocked...I still have to pay $$ to use the decoder that enables them?
Click to expand...

Blame the DVD consortium, they charge an arm and a leg for anyone who wants to license DVD functionality in a decoder.

In other words, if it were free it wouldn't be able to support DVD, and a DVD decoder that doesn't decode DVDs is pretty worthless. :p
 
where can I get this?

Is it worth 20 dollars?

do I NEED the beta drivers to get it?

also about the DVD decoder, when I bought my BFG 6800GT OC it came with a dvd Decoder called NVDVD and thats the one i use mostly, it was free. Does that mean there is a way to get this new DVD decoder free from BFG?!?
 
I guess Im the only one who doesnt give a shit..I bought the card to play games not watch TV/DVDS etc etc. powere DVD works fine...which Ive used ONCE in the lifetime of my DVD rom
 
tranCendenZ said:
Blame the DVD consortium, they charge an arm and a leg for anyone who wants to license DVD functionality in a decoder.

In other words, if it were free it wouldn't be able to support DVD, and a DVD decoder that doesn't decode DVDs is pretty worthless. :p
Click to expand...

Since its listed as a feature, we shouldnt have to pay for it no matter what. NV should have to pay a bulk sum, and it should be included with the box.

Which would screw the early adopters, since its just now working. Unlike the other promised feature which still doesnt.
 
fallguy said:
Since its listed as a feature, we shouldnt have to pay for it no matter what. NV should have to pay a bulk sum, and it should be included with the box.

Which would screw the early adopters, since its just now working. Unlike the other promised feature which still doesnt.
Click to expand...

A good parallel is XBOX. It lists DVD support as a feature, but for the same reason you have to buy a $30 DVD kit in order to enable the support in the console, which comes locked before you buy the kit.
 
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