What kind of fps to you get with 'glxgears'?

If you're only getting ~100fps, as I first was, the video will be bad. Mine's now around 500fps and smooth, using vdr-xine.

Shuttle FX43G AMD 2.2G Fedora Core 5 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Martin" Martin@Air-MaXX.net To: "'VDR Mailing List'" vdr@linuxtv.org Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 8:28 AM Subject: RE: [vdr] TV-out, softdevice

Have your tried nvidia-config? Could be that you Sync to Blank.

Regards, Martin

-----Original Message----- From: vdr-bounces@linuxtv.org [mailto:vdr-bounces@linuxtv.org] On Behalf Of Johan Linder Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:19 AM To: vdr@linuxtv.org Subject: [vdr] TV-out, softdevice

Hi! I've been trying for a while now to get the TV-out working smoothly. It feels like the TV-out is "computerized", like it's only 20fps or something. I've been searching the net for answers but haven't found any helping tips. Is it possible to get a smooth TV-out, or should I accept some

studdering?

I start vdr with: vdr -l 3 -P "softdevice -vo xv:" -P "subtitles" -P "osdteletext"

vdr-1.4.0, softdevice-0.2.3

// Johan

# lspci 00:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a2) 00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a2) 00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2) 00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2) 00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2) 00:04.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 AC'97 Audio Controller (rev a2) 00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 IDE (rev a2) 00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2) 00:0a.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 Ethernet Controller (rev a2) 00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a2) 00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a2) 00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a2) 00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a2) 00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM

Controller 00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 01:07.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05) 01:07.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05) 05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6600] (rev a2)

xorg.conf: Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Monitor Vendor" ModelName "Monitor Model" #HorizSync 30.0 - 70.0 HorizSync 30 - 50 #VertRefresh 50.0 - 120.0 VertRefresh 50 - 50 Modeline "720x576" 13.5 720 744 800 864 576 586 590 624 -hsync -vsync interlace EndSection

Section "Device" Identifier "Card0" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "nVidia Corporation" BoardName "Unknown Board" Option "Connected Monitor" "TV" # Option "TwinView" "true" # Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone" Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO" Option "TVStandard" "PAL-B" Option "TVOverScan" "0.6" Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50" Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50" Option "MetaModes" "1024x768,1024x768;800x600,800x600;640x480,640x480;512x384,512x384" EndSection

Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Card0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 Option "dpms" Option "XvMC" Option "RenderAccel" "on" Option "Overlay" "on" Option "NoFlip" "off" Option "UBB" "on" Option "XvmcUsesTextures" "on" Option "MultisampleCompability" "on" Option "OverlayDefaultVisual" "on" Option "HWCursor" "on" Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "on" SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 # Modes "1024x768" Modes "720x576" EndSubSection EndSection

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I've tried both there, but no difference.

30 maj 2006 kl. 17.28 skrev Martin:

Have your tried nvidia-config? Could be that you Sync to Blank.

Regards, Martin

-----Original Message----- From: vdr-bounces@linuxtv.org [mailto:vdr-bounces@linuxtv.org] On Behalf Of Johan Linder Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:19 AM To: vdr@linuxtv.org Subject: [vdr] TV-out, softdevice

Hi! I've been trying for a while now to get the TV-out working smoothly. It feels like the TV-out is "computerized", like it's only 20fps or something. I've been searching the net for answers but haven't found any helping tips. Is it possible to get a smooth TV-out, or should I accept some

studdering?

I start vdr with: vdr -l 3 -P "softdevice -vo xv:" -P "subtitles" -P "osdteletext"

vdr-1.4.0, softdevice-0.2.3

// Johan

# lspci 00:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a2) 00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a2) 00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2) 00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2) 00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2) 00:04.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 AC'97 Audio Controller (rev a2) 00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 IDE (rev a2) 00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2) 00:0a.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 Ethernet Controller (rev a2) 00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a2) 00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a2) 00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a2) 00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a2) 00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/ Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/ Opteron] Address Map 00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/ Opteron] DRAM

Controller 00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/ Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 01:07.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05) 01:07.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05) 05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6600] (rev a2)

xorg.conf: Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Monitor Vendor" ModelName "Monitor Model" #HorizSync 30.0 - 70.0 HorizSync 30 - 50 #VertRefresh 50.0 - 120.0 VertRefresh 50 - 50 Modeline "720x576" 13.5 720 744 800 864 576 586 590 624 -hsync - vsync interlace EndSection

Section "Device" Identifier "Card0" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "nVidia Corporation" BoardName "Unknown Board" Option "Connected Monitor" "TV" # Option "TwinView" "true" # Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone" Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO" Option "TVStandard" "PAL-B" Option "TVOverScan" "0.6" Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50" Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50" Option "MetaModes" "1024x768,1024x768;800x600,800x600;640x480,640x480;512x384,512x384" EndSection

Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Card0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 Option "dpms" Option "XvMC" Option "RenderAccel" "on" Option "Overlay" "on" Option "NoFlip" "off" Option "UBB" "on" Option "XvmcUsesTextures" "on" Option "MultisampleCompability" "on" Option "OverlayDefaultVisual" "on" Option "HWCursor" "on" Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "on" SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 # Modes "1024x768" Modes "720x576" EndSubSection EndSection

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I actually have one of those laying around somewhere, I'll try with that!

31 maj 2006 kl. 02.31 skrev Niko Mikkila:

On Tue, 30 May 2006 09:18:30 +0200 "Johan Linder" tmp@damnit.nu wrote:

...

Hi! I've been trying for a while now to get the TV-out working smoothly. It feels like the TV-out is "computerized", like it's only 20fps or something. I've been searching the net for answers but haven't found any helping tips. Is it possible to get a smooth TV-out, or should I accept some studdering?

The TV-output of most video cards passes the video through only at 25/30 fps because filters are used to reduce the flickering of normal desktop image. The flickering is caused by interlacing, and the filters will break any interlaced image. Therefore it is not possible to display 50i/60i video unless you manage to turn all the filtering off and sync the fields correctly. AFAIK that is only possible with dualhead Matrox G400, G450 and G550 cards and possibly with a do-it-yourself VGA to Scart-RGB adapter (like http://www.sput.nl/hardware/tv-x.html). VDR-softdevice should work with the Matrox cards through DirectFB, but it will require some experimentation. The Scart adapter is even more unlikely to work with interlaced video; at least I couldn't get the fields synchronized properly with a Matrox G200 card even though 25p video worked very nicely.

If you want good interlaced TV-out with much less problems and tinkering, I'd recommend getting a full-featured DVB card or a Dxr3/Hollywood+ card (that'll cost less than EUR 15 on eBay).

--Niko

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On Wed, 31 May 2006 09:47:56 +0300 Marko Mäkelä marko.makela@hut.fi wrote:

On Wed, May 31, 2006 at 03:31:31AM +0300, Niko Mikkila wrote:

...

If you want good interlaced TV-out with much less problems and tinkering, I'd recommend getting a full-featured DVB card or a Dxr3/Hollywood+ card (that'll cost less than EUR 15 on eBay).

I'd say that -P"softdevice -vo:mgatv" (on a G450) is less hassle than -Pdxr3. Because my dxr3 broke only after a couple of months of usage and I've been using softdevice for almost 1.5 years now, I may be biased. Softdevice has gotten a lot more stable during that time.

Marko

Yeah, Dxr3 installation has its own twists and turns. It's a good thing the driver and the plugin are under active development and they are actually quite stable (for me). FF cards are easy.

Matrox Gxxx Scart-RGB is probably the best TV-output available for interlaced software-decoded video. For example one could encode MPEG-2 broadcasts to H.264 for storage and simply decode to the framebuffer when watching instead of re-encoding to MPEG-1/2, which is required with FF cards and Dxr3. Now I'm just waiting for well-integrated interlaced encoding support for x264 :)

--Niko

On Wed, May 31, 2006 at 10:06:43PM +0300, Ville Skyttä wrote:

The G450 is in the closet because I'm a fan of hardware decoded audio/video which helps keep the system cool and silent, and I was turned off by reading some TV-out setup docs for the G450 (looked complicated to (lazy) me, and I didn't find anything about getting everything right from the BIOS messages to go to the TV-out (the Radeon does that just by plugging in the cable)). So I haven't bothered to really even try it out.

Well, my TV will normally be powered on by the VDR relay plugin, and if I needed to view any BIOS messages, I could plug a VGA monitor to the primary head connector. The system is rather silent. The only fan is a 80 mm CPU fan that blows air through a 80 mm hole on the back of the case. The power supply is cooled passively. CPU temperature (900 MHz Celeron) is usually below 30°C, and system temperature is around 40°C when the output is not suspended. Hard disk temperature is usually around 38°C.

I'd say that this system is much more quiet than the underclocked 200 or 250 MHz AMD K6-2 that drove the DXR3 card. Without CPU fan, it reached over 60°C, and the power supply was rather noisy. :-)

In any case, noise is not that much of an issue when you use nvram-wakeup. nvram-wakeup has worked pretty reliably for me. A couple of times over the past two years, something in the VIA chipset has required power cycling. The symptoms were that Linux would hang while initializing the PCI bus, or it would fail to recognize the DVB-T tuner cards. Rebooting or soft power-off wouldn't fix the situation. Luckily, this has never occurred with the wakeup timer.

I'd ask you to sell me the G450 if I were building another VDR box now. Instead, I'm waiting for better hardware in HTPC or small desktop case with a built-in dual DVB-T tuner and Linux friendly onboard graphics. I guess I'll have to wait a couple more years.

Marko

On Thursday 01 Jun 2006 00:59, Malcolm Caldwell wrote:

On Wed, 2006-05-31 at 09:47 +0300, Marko Mäkelä wrote:

...

On Wed, May 31, 2006 at 03:31:31AM +0300, Niko Mikkila wrote:

...

If you want good interlaced TV-out with much less problems and tinkering, I'd recommend getting a full-featured DVB card or a Dxr3/Hollywood+ card (that'll cost less than EUR 15 on eBay).

I'd say that -P"softdevice -vo:mgatv" (on a G450) is less hassle than -Pdxr3. Because my dxr3 broke only after a couple of months of usage and I've been using softdevice for almost 1.5 years now, I may be biased. Softdevice has gotten a lot more stable during that time.

I also switched from dxr3 to softdevice with a matrox G450 about 10 months ago.

My old system used to be a 1 GHz Athlon with a dxr3 in it and it was rock solid most of the time. The system did sometimes fail to boot but I eventually tracked that down to a dodgy PSU. I changed this for my current Via Epia system because the Athlon made lots of noise!

For me the G450 has been a lot more stable. With the dxr3 I had crashes, OSD failures etc etc. I was upgrading my vdr dxr3plugin version every week or so hoping things would improve.

Reading the lists it would seem that the dxr3 solution has improved: perhaps I jumped ship just a bit early... Even if this is so I am still glad I converted.

Regardless, IMHO softplay makes softdevice a superior solution.

Softdevice also gives a much better OSD than the dxr3.

I replaced the dxr3 with a G450 and moved that system upstairs to use with streamdev and an nfs-mounted /video directory. After a little bit of fiddling with kernel patches and making an RGB component cable, the picture was perfect.

However, since I upgraded softdevice a few weeks back, interlaced streams tend to judder a bit on the G450, and the video gets jerky when the OSD is displayed. :(

Bizarrely, if I move the 'cursor' down a menu by holding down a key, I get a weird ghosting trail of the cursor, i.e. it fades out behind it as it moves. I presume it isn't meant to do this (doesn't on my Epia system) but it looks quite cool!

I'm sure softdevice was perfect with interlaced streams before the upgrade (it has been kept quite up to date with softdevice CVS so it must be something recent). I haven't looked into this yet but suspect something has changed with the mgatv option (triple buffering enabled or disabled or something?).

As you say, softplay is a great, simple solution without needing mplayer running too! Shame I don't get sound from RealMedia files!

Cheers,

Laz