DVD playback issue

[barrabas]

I get a noticeable increase in choppy video when playing
a DVD from the DVD drive compared with playing the same files from the hard
drive.

If I turn off hardware accelerated decoding in WinDVD 5 under
setup and performance, then this problem goes away.

The ATI 1600 came with my new notebook.
It is disappointing that I have to switch off graphic
card performance to play a DVD. What is going on?

 

[First of One]

Is your DVD drive running in DMA mode?

 

[barrabas]

Yep. Checked that without any real gain in knowledge. Switching
it off makes it a lot worse.
I can also see a horizontal line across the screen about two thirds
of the way down. It is less visible with a black and white content.
I ripped the DVD files onto the hard drive that I compared with.
Just copying them, they don't really play at all.
It would be hard to explain to technical support that I did something
they don't approve of, but those files play better.

My version of Catalyst Control Center is 1.2.2810.38582.
On the ATI site they have a download of Catalyst meant to
fix problems, but that version is 6. something. So maybe version
numbers vary because I have a laptop, just guessing.
I'm considering trying the download, a bit large. The problems
there don't really seem relevant.
I get the impression that the data flow is not quite quick enough
from the DVD and it is skipping or inserting frames to get that jerky look.

b.

 

[First of One]

I can also see a horizontal line across the screen about two thirds
of the way down. It is less visible with a black and white content.
I ripped the DVD files onto the hard drive that I compared with.
Just copying them, they don't really play at all.

Commercial DVDs have CSS scrambling, so it goes without saying the files
won't work in a straight copy operation. Your drive may be having problems
with CSS. Try playing the DVD with DVDIdle Pro running in the background.

My version of Catalyst Control Center is 1.2.2810.38582.
On the ATI site they have a download of Catalyst meant to
fix problems, but that version is 6. something. So maybe version
numbers vary because I have a laptop, just guessing.

Catalyst Control Center is just the interface applet, so it has different
numbering from the core driver releases, which is now up to v6.2.

I get the impression that the data flow is not quite quick enough
from the DVD and it is skipping or inserting frames to get that jerky
look.

This is unlikely, since even the earliest DVD-ROM drives are fast enough to
play DVD movies. It is the bare minimum functionality, just like an old
CD-ROM drive can play music CDs without skipping.

 

[barrabas]

Commercial DVDs have CSS scrambling, so it goes without saying the files
won't work in a straight copy operation. Your drive may be having problems
with CSS. Try playing the DVD with DVDIdle Pro running in the background.

I have never heard of it. I'll try it.
I made a discovery. Leaving hardware acceleration on in WinDVD,
I check on 'cinema enhancement' and the jerky problem goes away.
It gives the impression that they know something about it.
It appears that some kind of selective hardware acceleration functions
have been switched off.

Catalyst Control Center is just the interface applet, so it has different
numbering from the core driver releases, which is now up to v6.2.

I think mine are 6.14.

 

[barrabas]

This is what I've discovered now.
First thing is, DVDIdle Pro doesn't improve things,
though the region encoding stuff looks very useful.

I have managed to run a dvd with all the hardware acceleration
and no 'cinema enhancement' in WinDVD without a problem.

Here is what happens:
If I start with a not fullscreen window and then go to
full screen it works fine.
If I then resize the window, the problem comes back.
If I right click and bring up the 'setup' dialog box and then
close it, the problem comes back.
In each case, if I bring up the WinDVD controls and press stop
and then start again, it plays with the problem gone.

I need to double check if fast forward or rewind makes
any difference.
I've noticed a momentary lag in picture motion once in a while,
which I need to double check.
I need to double check that line two thirds down the screen.
Not all DVDs get it.

So if I get DVI output and a large monitor, it looks
as if I can get my full hardware acceleration.
The optional port replicator gives DVI output.

b.

 

[barrabas]

I'm still getting the line.
It looks as if about the lower third of the screen
isn't getting the same treatment as the rest.
If I turn off 'hardware color acceleration' in setup
this problem goes away, but I don't have the advantages
any more.

 

[barrabas]

I'm getting more confused.
I played around with the preset color choice
in setup on WinDVD. It was on 'custom'.
I tried it on 'LCD'. I ran WinDVD a bit with restarts.
I've tried putting it back on custom and such.
I'm having trouble getting the problem back.
Maybe the line and the jerkiness will come back later.

 

[barrabas]

No, I'm still getting the line.
I can get rid of the jerkiness but the line remains.
If I set de-interlace to weave it goes away, but so does
the better picture quality.

 

[barrabas]

Nothing to do with 'hardware color acceleration' in WinDVD.

 

[First of One]

Seems more like a problem related to the DVD player software or codec
settings. What happens if you use Windows Media Player? You can also try the
open source Media Player Classic, which has internal MPEG2 support.

 

[barrabas]

Seems more like a problem related to the DVD player software or codec
settings. What happens if you use Windows Media Player? You can also try
the open source Media Player Classic, which has internal MPEG2 support.

Checked it a bit. Didn't seem to help.
What's annoying me the most now is the line about two
thirds down the screen.
If I turn off de-interlacing (Force Weave), then it goes away.
I see it on almost everything.
Is it unusual for hardware acceleration with de-interlacing
to be a bit sensitive to changes in display when playing a DVD-Video?

 

[barrabas]

Seems more like a problem related to the DVD player software or codec
settings. What happens if you use Windows Media Player? You can also try
the open source Media Player Classic, which has internal MPEG2 support.

It's obvious also in Windows Media Player.

 

[First of One]

There are two common ways to do deinterlacing, "bob" and "weave". A good DVD
player app can automatically switch between the two, on the fly, depending
on the color patterns in the video footage. Have you actually tried Media
Player Classic? It does deinterlacing significantly better than Windows
Media Player.

 

[barrabas]

There are two common ways to do deinterlacing, "bob" and "weave". A good
DVD player app can automatically switch between the two, on the fly,
depending on the color patterns in the video footage. Have you actually
tried Media Player Classic? It does deinterlacing significantly better
than Windows Media Player.

I've tried those settings in WinDVD. Nothing makes any difference.
I thought 'weave' meant no de-interlacing. 'force weave' on WinDVD removes
the extra quality of the DVD. On other settings it looks as if the top two
thirds
of the screen is properly de-interlaced and the bottom third looks like when
'force weave' is chosen.

 

[gary]

Sounds like a problems of "resources", meaning memory, speed
of DVD player, bus speed (speed at which data, esp. large
volumes of data as from a DVD disc in the drive, travel from
the drive, across the system bus to the graphics card,
processed via the codecs and your player), CPU speed, speed
of graphics card, etc..

Of course, so many other things already mentioned, like
codecs, video drivers and settings, etc., could also be
involved in some way.

Obviously, large volumes of data FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE, can
(and ARE) getting processed much quicker than data from the
drive.

I agree, this shouldn't be, and would be frustrating. I've
experienced similar problems when watching a DVD from the
DVD drive on PCs with slower graphics cards and CPUs. But
to what extent this is related to your problem, if at all,
am not sure.

Sorry haven't been much help, but can relate. Hope you get
the issue resolved to your satisfaction soon.

Gary
===========

 

[Barrabas]

I've got a brand new Tecra A7, 128M VRAM ATI X1600 PCI Express DDR2,
1Gig RAM DDR2.
Centrino Duo 1.83 GHz X 2.
The problem isn't in those specs.
It's something more mundane for sure.

 

[Barrabas]

I did a test with the DVD of The Constant Gardener.
It's a particularly high quality video, works well with de-interlacing.
The annoying line is not really noticeable, if there in 'automatic'
mode for de-interlacing. I put in on 'force bob' and there it is again.
Obviously that's the wrong setting, but why should I get that line?
The motion if jerky as well on almost all settings, which is very annoying.
I turn on the enigmatic 'cinema enhancement' and it smooths out, but
the picture is excessively grainy.
I compared this with a copy on the hard-drive, and all the problems
go away. I swear the picture looks better too, and 'cinema enhancement'
doesn't look as grainy.

B.

 

[Barrabas]

Also, for what it's worth, I look at the properties which
gives the speed of data transfer. When I have checked this, the number
is identical on both the hard-drive and DVD-Video.
One other possibility is the configuration of the graphics card, which may
be deciding to not process with enough movie data as quick or something.