FAQ: H.264 / HD codecs (tested on DVB Dream)

[rel]

All tested on DVB Dream and working fine:

MainConcept
- Audio Sync is perfect, No dropped frames at all
- You can use it with the default options
http://www.mainconcept.com


Sonic
- Audio Sync is perfect, No dropped frames at all
- High CPU usage
- You can use it with the default options
http://www.sonic.com


ArcSoft
- Audio Sync is perfect, No dropped frames at all
- Low CPU usage
This codec is included in the TotalMediaExtreme trial version:
http://www.arcsoft.com/support/download ... loadid=384


CoreAVC
- Depending on your hardware, you might need to disable aggressive deinterlacing in codec options
- Audio Sync is perfect, No dropped frames at all
http://www.coreavc.com


Cyberlink (PDVD6.x)
- You might need to turn off the DxVA in the codec options depending on your video card & driver
- You might need to use overlay renderer depending on your video card & driver
- Audio sync problems
- VMR seem to need a DD restart to display the video on my PC (nVidia
8600GT)
http://www.cyberlink.com







Direct Download Links To These Codecs:
Search the words "codec mpeg4 avc" on google to find direct download links
http://www.google.com/search?q=codec+mp ... +avc&meta=
You can check the MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 section in the first site that you will probably find in the search results. I'm not sure that site is safe for downloads, so please make sure you have an antispyware and antivirus installed


You will also need an AC3 codec for HD channels. So here are the list of them you can find on the same site:
- Intervideo (works on both AC3 and MPEG2 audio)
- nVidia (works on both AC3 and MPEG2 audio)
- AC3 filter (works only on AC3)

* Intervideo is recommended for its stability (You could also have it by installing the WinDVD trial version.)


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the configuration I've tested these:
AMD x2 64 3600 Windows XP nVidia Geforce 8600 GT

- tested on 1080i channels
- only high CPU issue was with Sonic, even though HW accel is enabled on that.
- only audio syn issue was with Cyberlink
- guids.ini updated in v1.4i includes all definitions for these codecs
- used Intervideo as audio decoder in all configurations
- video was fluid on all except Cyberlink.

Video Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.5.43 - 23.05.2002)
Audio Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.11.83 - 25.02.2003)
H264 Codec......: MainConcept (v7.4.0.171 - 05.09.2007)
Video Renderer..: Video Mixing Renderer 9
Audio Renderer..: Default DirectSound Device


Video Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.5.43 - 23.05.2002)
Audio Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.11.83 - 25.02.2003)
H264 Codec......: Sonic AVC (v3.3.0.251 - 22.06.2007)
Video Renderer..: Video Mixing Renderer 9
Audio Renderer..: Default DirectSound Device


Video Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.5.43 - 23.05.2002)
Audio Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.11.83 - 25.02.2003)
H264 Codec......: ArcSoft (v2.15.14.8 - 21.09.2007)
Video Renderer..: Video Mixing Renderer 9
Audio Renderer..: Default DirectSound Device


Video Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.5.43 - 23.05.2002)
Audio Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.11.83 - 25.02.2003)
H264 Codec......: CoreAVC (v1.6.0.0 - 29.10.2007)
Video Renderer..: Video Mixing Renderer 9
Audio Renderer..: Default DirectSound Device


Video Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.5.43 - 23.05.2002)
Audio Codec.....: InterVideo (v4.0.11.83 - 25.02.2003)
H264 Codec......: CyberLink (PDVD6.x) (v1.99.0.183 - 07.12.2006)
Video Renderer..: Video Mixing Renderer 9
Audio Renderer..: Default DirectSound Device




I have decided to test Sonic and Mainconcept on the info I got last week from someone, *thanks for that*

[rel]

Codec definitions:
www.dvbdream.org/files/guids.ini

[jerryt]

Arcsoft trial in English;
http://www.arcsoft.com/support/download ... loadid=384

[rel]

Arcsoft trial in English;
http://www.arcsoft.com/support/download ... loadid=384

thanks, edited the first post

[SkyBeam]

I just did a try with ffdshow h.264/avc and got it to work partially.

What I did...

Removing the comments from guids.ini and inserting the correct codec number:

Code: Select all

H264CODEC10=FFDShow, {04FE9017-F873-410E-871E-AB91661A4EF7}
H264CODEC10_DESC=Seems not to work at all!|| If you can get it to run, let us know please .

Well, even if it says that it doesn't work at all I noticed that the upper most lines of the video show up correctly. So I went to Options => Video => Options tab and increased the Video Packet Size to 64kB.

The image was still not good but at the next keyframe (I guess) it was crystal clear. Unfortunately sometimes the image still gets blocky - I guess this is due to higher bandwith used in scenes with lots of movement.

Unfortunately I cannot increase the video packet size to > 64kB since the GUI does not allow me and I did not find the setting within any ini/cfg file.

What irritates me slightly is that the ffdshow codec property dialog shows an input size of 1440x1088 (not 1920x1080). By the way I increased the "Number of decoding threads" from 1 to 4 within the ffdshow properties (Decoder options). This better fits my quad-core CPU. Currently it's running at 2.4GHz and CPU load is somewhere between 30% and 50%.

All these tests I made when watching HD Suisse. It did not work for Pro Sieben HD for example (probably the bandwith is higher there). So developers might try allowing larger video packet sizes.

DVBDream version: 1.4i

[Parkher]

I cannot understand why Cyberlink does not work.
Your video card 8600 has PureVideo 2 and fully supports hardware h.264 decoding. As does mine: 8800GTS 512.
I too was not able to make it work acceptably with Cyberlink.
BTW, PowerDVD 6x .... is actually PowerDVD 7x, not sure why it is shown as 6x, all the other software shows it as 7x, but the path to the file is the same

Anyway, Cyberlink PowerDVD 7x is working perfectly with AltDVB 2.2,
so there is no reason why it shouldn't with DVBDream

[rel]

Unfortunately I cannot increase the video packet size to > 64kB since the GUI does not allow me and I did not find the setting within any ini/cfg file.

maybe it just need lower values instead of higher values ? to get rid of those picture problems. higher than the default but lower than 64.

next patch will allow more.


@Parkher,
cyberlink is another story, I have no idea why it doesnt work either while others work fine here, already reported in bugs section.

[SkyBeam]

Unfortunately I cannot increase the video packet size to > 64kB since the GUI does not allow me and I did not find the setting within any ini/cfg file.

maybe it just need lower values instead of higher values ? to get rid of those picture problems. higher than the default but lower than 64.

No, I don't think so. I tried almost any value between 1k and 64k: 4k, 8k, 16k, 32k
Eeach tieme the value is increased I see some more parts of the picture. At 64k I see almost everything on some channels but it seems to depend on the content (bitrate?) as well.

next patch will allow more.

Would be great. In the meantime I noticed that SD-TV is not working properly using my nVidia pure video decoder and package sizes of 64k. I have to reduce the size since large ones seem to cause video "hiccups". So it might be useful to have different package sizes per codec.

Why not adding an "options" button next to the codec selection drop-down within the video options? In fact the buffer options already show options for buffer sizes independently for SD and HD TV. So it might be more logical to set all this parameters per codec. Just an idea...

[Parkher]

I have also tried MainConcept demo version (I was not able to use the one that comes in the Encoder 2.10 package retail version) :
it had some strange periodical burst of speed, like fast forward,
I read about increasing the h.264 video buffer size, but I reduced it from 32 MB to 4 MB instead - that solved the problem, it seems.

I also tried CoreAVC 1.6.5.0 - works very well with any buffer size.
I did not switch off the aggresive deinterlacing - works fine with it anyway,
although the cpu usage 25-50%, especially one core goes near 100%

AltDVB with PowerDVD hardware-accelerated decoder cpu usage 12-20% and picture quality seems to be even better, so I hope this issue with PowerDVD decoder will be fixed in DVBDream

[Tical]

AltDVB with PowerDVD hardware-accelerated decoder cpu usage 12-20% and picture quality seems to be even better, so I hope this issue with PowerDVD decoder will be fixed in DVBDream

IT'S TRUE.
And the quality on AltDVB on HD Channels with PowerDVD codec is most beautifull ever seen...
Is there any chance to make DD to work with graph files like AltDVB?

[toshiba]

MainConcept v7.5.0.54 12.18.2007 = {96B9D0ED-8D13-4171-A983-B84D88D627BE}

Works Great with VMR and InterVideo v8.0.6.109 3.20.2007.

[PiotrJakub]

Nobody is using ATI video cards?

I'm getting smooth HD playback (HD Suisse) using ATI Avivo H264 codec.

Judging by the high CPU and low GPU utilization it doesn't use hardware acceleration.

I cannot get a smooth playback using Cyberlink PDVD, despite that CPU and GPU usage are low (with hardware acceleration enabled), so I'm not CPU or GPU limited.

ATI Avivo codecs have to be downloaded separately from ATI/AMD

[flyerman]

ATI Avivo codecs have to be downloaded separately from ATI/AMD

Can you supply a link? I have the 3870 but don't see an option for avivo codec. Please.

[maçoku]

Testing DD 1.4i with Genpix Skywalker-1 for HD channels in Echostar 3

Video Card ATI HD 2600 PRO AGP
Pentium 4 - 3 ghz
2 gb RAM

Extreemly sharp picture....in some clear channels.

Video Codec Cyberlink DTV v 3.5.0.45 2/2/2004
Audio Codec Intervideo.......v 4.0.11.83 2/24/2003

Video Mixing Render 9
Default Direct Sound Device

H264 CORE AVC v 1.6.5.0 01/30/2008

Problem: # 1
Picture runs slow with a sound asyncronisation of 15 seconds.
So sound is normal but picture is sharp,excellent but runs as slow motion.

Problem #2 TS recorded files files cannot be played.

We have tried many video & Audio codecs with no luck.
Is anybody out there for help?

[dc007]

Mocoku,

I have the exact same setup and codecs. I also experiencing the same results. I am currently testing different combinations but without success.

Only difference is I'm testing Echostar 7 and 8,10.