'Screen Tear' using 8600GTS in WMP & PowerDVD

[jamienufc]

I keep geting 'screen tear' when playing back downloaded avi files in windows media player. The tear always occurs in the middle of the screen and is more noticable when there is fast moving images. Before posting I tested a HD DVD and a DVD in PowerDVD ultra. The HD DVD playback was fine, but I experienced tearing during the DVD playback.

I suspect that it is a codec problem, due to the ok HD DVD playback, but to be honest I wouldnt really know where to start diagnosing the problem. I've had a look in WMP options, the nvidia control panel, PowerDVD settings and ffdshow settings but cant see anything obviously wrong. (dont know what I'm looking for to be honest). I dont know the recommended settings either so the problem could lie here?

Has anyone got any ideas?

My sytem is a custom built pc (2.66ghz dual core, 2gb 800mhz DDR 2 ram, Nvidia 8600GTS, LG Dual HD DVD/ Blu Ray drive, Vista Home Premium 32bit)

I am connected to my 1080i (1366x768) HDTV via a DVI to HDMI adaptor. The TV is a Samsung - around 2 years old.

I am using ffdshow codecs for video playback. I dont know which version, but downloaded and installed them around 1 month ago.

My copy of media player is the one that came with vista (not sure where to look for version).

Not sure on version of PowerDVD ultra. Been in information and it dosnt tell me.

My nvidia drivers are 7.15.0011.6375. I know these arent the latest, but recently formatted pc due to poor vieo playback (HD/Blu Ray). Couldnt really diagnose fault, but after some advice suspect latest nvidia drivers to blame.

Didnt realise I had Direct X 10 installed (didnt manually do it). Typed in dxdiag to get some system info.

Have all windows security updates installed.

I have Kaspersky Internet Security installed (version 7.0.0.124). Anti virus, firewall are enabled).

Im sorry if any of the above info is useless. Just want to give as much info as possible to help people who reply.

If anyone needs any additional info please let me know.

[jamienufc]

Anybody got any ideas at what could be causing the 'screen tear'?

[Wo0zy]

If the TV is a plasma you might want to see if you have the "Just Scan" feature in the picture menu. This has helped considerably with several Samsung issues I've dealt with now.

Also, are you actually running 1080i to the screen? If so try might be worth trying 720p (just for comparison). Doing this means the screen doesn't have to deinterlace the signal and might provide better results.

Hope this helps a bit

Wo0zy

[jamienufc]

The TV is an LCD.

I think I am running it in 1080i mode, so will try 720p.

Whats confusing is that AVI's and DVDs are tearing, but HD content is not.

[jamienufc]

Set the card to output at 720p in the nvidia control panel, but this hasnt stopped the screen tear.

Has nobody else experienced this or have any ideas for stopping it?
(I dont know what else to try!)

[psikey]

Is it the 32R41 series. If so, the Samsung had a tearing issue which needed a firmware upgrade. They had to send me a cable & CD to do it or collect/fix return.

I did it myself with the cable.

I now have a Sony Bravia which has no issues.

Think that was with component/VGA connection so not sure about HDMI & doesn't explain the HD DVD being OK.

[Wo0zy]

Originally Posted by jamienufc

Set the card to output at 720p in the nvidia control panel, but this hasnt stopped the screen tear.

Has nobody else experienced this or have any ideas for stopping it?
(I dont know what else to try!)

Have you tried disabling HW Acceleration in PDVD yet just to see what happens?

Wo0zy

[jamienufc]

Sorry for being MIA (been busy at work all week)

I had a look around last night and tried a few things out to see if I could solve this problem. (AVI's having a line across the middle when playing back in WMP11, also DVDs in Power DVD ultra).

I'm convinced that this is a codec issue as HD content from HD DVD and Blu Ray disks is fantastic.

Im using ffdshow as my codec for Divx, Xvids etc. I reinstalled this last night and am using version .1746. I still get the line WMP 11.

I then tried to update WMP 11 using windows updates - However I'm up to date.

I dont really know what else to try. Do I need to set up ffdshow? If so are there any good guides outthere?

Im using Vista Home Premium 32bit

My system is a Nvidia 8600gts, 2gb 800mhz DDR 2 ram and a 2.4ghz dual core processor.

Any help or guidance would be much appreciated.

One interseting thing to mention is that my avi's playback without this problem if I play them in windows media center.

[Wo0zy]

See my previous post.

It's likely that ffdshow is not using the HW acceleration.

Also is WMP configured to use the PDVD decoder or the MS decoder? Which ever it's using, you could try the other.

You could also try the latest drivers again.

Wo0zy

[jamienufc]

Chers Wo0zy,

I'm willing to try anything to get things sorted, but havent had much experience with ffdshow. How do you turn on hardware acceleration within ffdshow?

Also how do you tell if WMP is configured to use the PDVD decoder or the MS decoder? and how do you change it?

once I know how i'll try the above and if no improvements I'll think about trying the latest nvidia drivers, but am a little bit apprehensious after the problems they caused me last time.

Before reading your reply I've been looking all over the web for different codecs etc (as I've not got much experience and only use ffdshow because they are recommended on these forums).

I first came across this codec pack

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multime...-Package.shtml

The author claims that this pack contains the bits you need froma number of codecs including ffdshow, but is this pack any good?

I've also found some interesting reading at projecthtpc. They claim that you should be using the following...

Windows Vista 32-bit
Motherboard Chipset Drivers
Graphics Drivers
Audio Drivers
KMPlayer
CoreAVC Pro
Haali Media Splitter
Daemon Tools
MediaPortal V0.2.3.0

They give a guide on their website of how to set these programs up and claim that everything will plackback ok. Any thoughts?

http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/htpc_software08.html

TBH I'm really confused at the minute, any pointers would be much appreciated.

Jamie

[jamienufc]

Finally solved the screen tear problem in windows media player!

I downloaded graphedit and dragged one of my avi's in to see what was going on. Seems I was using Nero avi splitter instead of the standard one.

Only had a trail version of nero 8 installed so uninstalled it and now avi's playback perfectly in WMP 11

Just need to find a guide to set up ffdshow with

Out of inerest if I install nero again how do I disable it from doing avi splitting?

[mikeandsalli]

I have a similar computer with a similar problem-
core 2 duo 2.66 ghz,
2g ram ddr2 dual channell 800 mhz,
windows vista home premium 32 bit, msi radeon hd26000xt 256 dual link dvi v card using a dvi to hdmi adapter
my tv tuner is a dntv live dual pci-expresss s2 card
my tv is a NEC 32 inch lcd approx 1.5 years old

I have no problems when using pc, but when I am on media player, and or watching/recording TV, or viewing picturers, i get screen tear and delays, when any fast images happen or when flicking quickly between thumbnails (pics)

Any help would be appreciated

[Wo0zy]

If it's happening with pictures as well as video then I'd start by checking your screen setup. What resolution and refresh rate are you using?

Wo0zy

[meansizzler]

This is a Vista Issue, I get it now and again in media player, happens on both ATi and Nvidia graphics cards on 32 bit and 64 bit vista, I have built a few vista systems with different hardware and the tearing is always present, not always happens just randomly, vista and media player is just really bad until they fix it., others don't have issue's not sure why, have used different monitors too, messed with various media player settigns, eg.. VMR, Overlay but no luck..

Any ideas anyone?

Are my eyes that well trained that I can spot what others cannot

[Wo0zy]

Originally Posted by meansizzler

This is a Vista Issue, I get it now and again in media player, happens on both ATi and Nvidia graphics cards on 32 bit and 64 bit vista, I have built a few vista systems with different hardware and the tearing is always present, not always happens just randomly, vista and media player is just really bad until they fix it., others don't have issue's not sure why, have used different monitors too, messed with various media player settigns, eg.. VMR, Overlay but no luck..

Any ideas anyone?

Are my eyes that well trained that I can spot what others cannot

Hi meansizzler,

Guess your eyes could be very well trained

Are you saying you only see this in WMP? All other players are fine?

Really curious about this one now

Do you see it with pictures and video the same as jamienufc?

Cheers,

Wo0zy