"Stutters" in DVD playback

[Kruse]

Have anyone else had problems with stuttering DVD playback on the TV only?

I have a PIII 450 @ 558. DVD playback on computer monitor is perfect - never noticed any problem. But at the same time the image on the TV seems to repeat a frame or skip back a frame every second or so. The interval is completely regular. Sound is without noticeable glitches.

This happens when I use the Matrox DVD Player with DVD Genie's (www.inmatrix.com) default Matrox settings. If I change Surface Flip Mode from the Matrox default to Soft-Deinterlace this problem disappears, but then it has a tendency to go completely bananas (jumping back and forth in frames) from time to time.

[Maggi]

Haven't seen that on my Cel333A@500MHz yet ...

Do you have any apps running in the background ?
(for example Virus checkers, scan port watcher etc.)

Another question, becasue you didn't post too much of your system details:

Is your DVD for IDE or SCSI ?

If it's an IDE drive, make sure to have DMA enabled.

[DukeP]

Pal or NTSC?

The diff. Between 60 and 50HTz always makes a skip each second, if playing 60 HTz dvd's on a 50HTz system. The skip is where the syncronisation happends.

If U have a tv capable of showing 60 and 50 HTz, try and change the Frequenz..

Good Luck.

[antdude]

Exactly! I have the same exact problem with my P2 300 system. TV is choppier than monitor. Argh! I guess my Sharp 20"(?) TV isn't good enough =(.

[PeTe]

Hey,

I had the same problem with my 300A@463 celeron, but after fresh install of win98se and Matrox DVD Player, the problem dissappeared.. dont know why a fresh install would help, but it did.

At the moment i havent even upgraded dvd player, but i have seen the Matrix extras too many times so it really doesnt matter. =)

And i REALLY DONT RECOMEND to do a fresh install, because we all should get a REAL DVD-player and forget computer DVD-drives. But atleast that did the trick for me.. so if you are going to do reinstall anyway, it might fix the problem too.

Just remebered that i havent installed my viruscheck again, so that might be it.. well i have to try it out.

Pe-Te

[Targon]

I wonder if this is the same problem I am seeing with safelock games on my SCSI based system. What happens is that everything works, EXCEPT that "movie" playback doesn't work. I've found that a no-CD crack will solve the problem, OR using an IDE drive. It's not a read error, as the drive has no problem pulling the same data off it once the no-CD cracks are installed. Perhaps the DVD problem is the same as the safelock problem?

[CrazyBee]

Kruse.. why are you running DVDGenie in the background? Region selection?

That might be the culprit. Try it without that, if you can.

Also, anything sharing IRQs besides PCI steering with the G400?

My DVDs play perfect on my system.

CB

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Abit BX6 Rev.1
Celeron 366A PPGA @ 566, 2.1v
192 meg RAM, CAS2
13.0 gig Maxtor 4320 HD
6.0 gig Maxtor (in removeable drive bay)
HP8110i 4x2x24
Pioneer DVD-104
SB Live! 1024
USB ZIP 100
G400 32MB DH 5ns RAM
Two KDS 17" Trinitron monitors

[Kruse]

Thanks a lot for all the nice suggestions. I'll take them from the beginning.

Stuttering on TV happens regardless of the amount of other applications running. I have tried disabling everything else, but it doesn't make a difference.

DVD drive is IDE, and DMA is enabled. Entire system is pretty much top tuned, and everything except PCI bus is overclocked. Resetting system to default state has no effect (other than a general 10-30% loss of performance ;-).

PAL/NTSC might be the culprit! This stuttering happens when I play an NTSC (region 1) DVD on my PAL TV. TV does not support NTSC, so I can't change that. However, if this is the problem, why does Soft-Deinterlace solve the problem??

I'm not going to do a fresh install any time soon - still not quite done with the one I started two months ago!

I'm not running DVD Genie in the background. What I meant was that I used DVD Genie to change some of the options of the Matrox DVD Player (which is really a Cinemaster player). DVD Genie is never open while the movie runs.

The G400 does not share its IRQ.

In case somebody still cares, here are some system specs:

Asus P3B-F, latest bios
Pentium III 450 @ 558 (bus speeds 124/31)
256 MB PC100 ram at CAS2
IBM DeskStar 34 GXP, 34.2 GB
Quantum Fireball, 8.4 GB
Quantum Sirocco, 1.7 GB
OR Technology LS-120 IDE
Pioneer A03 6/32 DVD
HP 9110i 8/4/32 CD burner
Promise Ultra66 (for those 6 IDE devices)
SB Live! (the original)
G400 Max 5ns ram
17" Digital monitor

Kruse

[mkaresh]

I'm no DVD expert, and I haven't yet tried to hook my G400 up to a TV, but when outputting to a TV why deinterlace at all? TVs are interlaced. That's why deinterlacing is necessary for a monitor.

After reading the above posts, the 60 to 50 synch thing makes a lot of sense to me.

[Magnum]

Hi!
I had the very same problem. I live in Germany and has therefore a PAL TV Set. When I was watching A Bug's Life (Code 1 NTSC) on my system, only the TV Output had those stuttering effects. I used Power DVD, as the Matrox Player has a problem with the standard (non-widescreen) mode (skipped it and showed widesfreen only). I changed then from PAL to NTSC in the DualHead tab from the Matrox drivers. Well, I think it got better, but I have still no idea what this problem is really about? I also tend to the 50 and 60hz thing. The same problem appeared with every other Movie. But when I watched those movies with the Matrox Player the stuttering was gone, mabye due to some changes with dvdGenie. I don't know sorry, but I just tried and tried and can't remember now. I only know that I changed to Surface Flip Mode *BEST*. But I have no problems with this setting.

[Insomnis]

This is the problem:

NTSC is 30 fps (29,97)
PAL is 25 fps

Playing a NTSC DVD on a PAL TV will cause stuttering cause obviously your TV can display only 25 frames and not 30 as needed... what the DVDMAX does is skip the last frames causing the stutter.

Solutions:
1. Use DVDGenie to change settings such as enabling Soft-DeInterlace, this will make the problem less notivable.
2. Use NTSC output if you TV support it
3. (this is the best one) Make a VGA->SCART(RBG) connector - this way you will get better image quality and fix the stutter problem (if you TV support 60Hz... most newer TV do - even if they don't support NTSC)

[This message has been edited by Insomnis (edited 03 March 2000).]

[CMB]

Yep that about hits the nail on the head
My RGB lead is superb. NTSC plays fine on my 32" phillips widescreen.

And just a note to the guy above who said we should all get real dvd players.

Why?
My friend has a DXR3
I have My G400 Max
and another pal has a top of the line DVD player, that he won in a contest on the big breakfast

There is no discernable differnce between my max and the 'real' dvd player
well the one thing we both noticed was that DVD extras, like trailers or makings of actualy look a lot better on my system.

i think its because of dvd genie (god bless it) and the fact you can customize so much
So i have my widescreen tv, My kick ass speakers and subwoofer, and Dolby Pro-logic amp, I know its not the latest but i cant afford a decent new amp and it still sounds good.

Now all i need is EP1 on DVD

[Magnum]

Yep! CMB is right! A PC has also a very big advantage to 'real' players. We can hack the region codes in a second , very nice feature. Even my A04 Pioneer DVD-Rom was very easy to hack with a hacked firmware.

There is only one disadvantage: there is no remote control

[Le Bodge]

Most motherboards have a infra-red interface. Is anyone aware of any s/w that will 'learn' the signals sent from an existing remote control and allow you to assign key strokes to them?

[Wombat]

No, but you can get a Sigma Designs remote for about US$20.

While we're talking about DVD, I've noticed that in The Matrix, the brightness wavers a little bit, and the only thing I can come up with is a refresh of film vs. refresh of screen issue. Is this actually from the film, or is it something on my end?


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MSI-6167 w/ Athlon 500@750 (thx Greebe!), 128MB Crucial PC133, G400MAX,SBLive!-MP3,Pioneer 10x DVD, Phillips CD-R, a hard drive or two, and a Sony 420GS. Running RH6.1, and Win98 (when I have to).