DVD Playback still choppy (sometimes..)

[Cypro]

I recently bought the G400 MAX. I have a PII-450@504 with 128mb. I also bought the creaf 6x DVD-ROM. I tried several soft-decoders, but when I play DVD on my TV (via TV-out), the playback is still choppy sometimes!?!
Are my specs too low ????

[WayneHu]

Do you run some background applications at the same time? It might be the main problem if you find the average CPU load is not near 100% full.

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P-II 266@412/2.0v, P3B-F, G400DH/32MB

[Goc]

Cypro?
Is the DVD playback on your monitor also choppy or it happens only when you output it to TV? Your specs are more than enough (processor usage should be somewhere around 50% or even less)...

WayneHu: HEHEH... rare processor you've got there... Deschutes 266... could you please post serial and where it was made... just curious

[Cypro]

Yes, the playback is mostly choppy when it is played on the TV !
And the most obvious causes have been eliminated (like background apps).

[Kristian]

Cypro

I observed that you have e-mail in Netherlands. If you live there also I guess that you have the PAL system for TV. If you are running Region1 DVD's then its the well know bad conversion from american NTSC to PAL. We have discussed this extensively on the forum before and there is not much to do about it. Matrox has still not commented aif they are going to fix it.
The things that can be done are very few. The only real solution now seems to be to buy a TV that supports NTSC - most TV's from Sony and Thomson today do.
Otherwise there is not much to do. If the problem is with Region 1 DVD's that is.

Regards

Kristian
(who is going to buy a NTSC TV soon...)

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Striving for perfection

[Cypro]

The problem is not only with region 1 dvd titles.
I only saw region 2 dvd's (until now).

[Kristian]

OK Cypro - then maybe we can fix it...

I guess that you have "DVD Genie"? If not get it at www.inmatrix.com

Then load the preset for the G400 and press "more options". In the box "Surface Flip Mode" choose "Soft De-Interlace".

In "Surface Flip Position" choose the Matrox option. In the small boxes make sure that "Triple buffering" is checked. I also have "Dialog Normalization" checked. Make sure you are using the latest stable cinemaster, I think that would be version 2.00.36.6145 (I Think!!!!!).

Thry these tips and return with results

Regards

Kristian

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Striving for perfection

[Cypro]

Kristian,

are you talkin' about the latest cinemaster (both player and decoder) ?
So not the matrox player ?

What about the acclaimed hardware support with the Matrox DVD player. (i know this is also a cinemaster) But I thought perhaps with some modifications.

But about my problem. In a few I will be able to test it.
But did you recognize it ?

I hope it works.........

[WayneHu]

Cypro,

Matrox DVD player is only a front-end program. It depends on Cinemaster engine to do MPEG-2 decording.


Goc,

My PII was SL2W7 made in Philippine. It and SL2W8 appeared just before Intel PII-450's appearance. At the same time, Intel had stopped PII-266's(Klamath, .35micron, 2.8v) production. Howover, OEM vendors had requested Intel a lot of PII-266.

So Intel ...

SL2W7 4.0x lock
SL2W8 4.5x lock
SL2YK 5.0x lock



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P-II 266@412/2.0v, P3B-F, G400DH/32MB

[Kristian]

Hi Cypro

It doesn't matter what frontend you use, if its using the Cinemaster Engine its all the same. I hardly doubt that the Matrox Player should have hardware compensation.

So stick with the Matrox Player, its a quite good frontend anyway. And yes, I recognize the problem.

Lets see what your testing brings....

/Kristian

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Striving for perfection

[Cypro]

I tested it yesterday.
I bought the Corrs Live DVD. I think it was better. But a it isn't a fast moving action DVD, the stutter isn't that obvious.
Did you have the same problems I described, and was it solved with the settings you said ?
Are there other setting that have to be selected in DVD-Genie. (Like hardware compensation etc.)
Could you perhaps list what settings you have selected ?

Cypro

[birdy]

Be sure that you have the latest bios and ide drivers for your motherboard and then make sure that the DMA box is checked under the settings panel for the DVD.

[Cypro]

Oh sorry birdy,

I forgot to turn on my computer, that's why the playback is so choppy ???!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[Goc]

WayneHu... ehhehhe... just look at my specs...

Cypro, try getting DVD Region or DVD Genie... In fact, just browse around www.dvdutils.com , download few setup progs and new Cinemaster engine, and off you go fiddling with options... Eventually you'll stumble upon a setup that works for you. If you do post it back here so other people know what to do if that happens to them... If you don't get it working, still come back and we'll think of something

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Just my SQRT0.0001 $

Specs--=>
Work system: PII 300@450 Mhz SL2W8, ABIT BH6 rev1.63, 64 Mb PC133 SDRAM, Matrox Millenium G200 8Mb, HDD 4,3 Gb WDCaviar U/ATA66, HDD 2,5 Gb WDCaviar U/DMA33, Yamaha Waveforce 192XG, TEAC 32X ATAPI CDROM, MITSUMI 4X ATAPI CDROM, 17" Macom S82, Realtek 8029 10 Mbps Lan PCI, HP Laserjet 5L, Scanner + few more gimmicks
Gaming machine : Pentium III 450@600, ABIT BH6 rev1.61, 128 Mb PC133 SDRAM, Matrox Millenium G400 16Mb SH, HDD 8,4 Gb WD Caviar UATA66, Yamaha Waveforce 192XG, Toshiba 6X ATAPI DVD-ROM, 17" Belinea monitor, SMC Tigercard 10Mbps network card ISA, Saitek Cyborg2000
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"Vacuum is better than nothing"

[waxling]

Ok, so all you guys seem to think that the Matrox dvd player is just a front end? and that the cinemaster engine is the same? Well I've got at little test for you to run - try this.....


Install the matrox dvd player - don't use dvdgenie to change anything.
Play a disc that will work in the region you currently have it set to. Again - don't use dvdgenie to change the region, or anything else. While that disc is playing, take note of the cpu useage, and then minimize the matrox player software. Notice how the movie keeps playing on your TV (assuming you use DVDMAX, otherwise this test is pointless).

Now for the fun part - try to get the normal cinemaster player/engine to do what the matrox version just did. Now tell me there the same.