Vista MC Live TV "stuttering"

[markmcrobie]

I have Vista HP, and a Hauppauge WinPVR150 TV card. I have my Sky digibox outputting into my card via composite.

I have the Guide and everything set up perfectly, and all is well *except* for 1 thing - when I have the mini-guide open while watching TV (i.e. browsing channels, etc), the TV picture "stutters". It's not horrendous, but it's noticeable.

It definietly only seems to happen when the mini-guide or program info is on screen.

I have a Core 2 Duo E6600 processor with 2GB 667Mhz RAM

[paulm187]

Originally Posted by markmcrobie

I have Vista HP, and a Hauppauge WinPVR150 TV card. I have my Sky digibox outputting into my card via composite.

I have the Guide and everything set up perfectly, and all is well *except* for 1 thing - when I have the mini-guide open while watching TV (i.e. browsing channels, etc), the TV picture "stutters". It's not horrendous, but it's noticeable.

It definietly only seems to happen when the mini-guide or program info is on screen.

I have a Core 2 Duo E6600 processor with 2GB 667Mhz RAM

Most likely video driver issue. Are you using the manufacturer's driver? Try uninstalling it and use Microsofts provided driver for your graphic card.

[markmcrobie]

I have an nVidia 7950GX2 gfx card, and I'm using the latest (stable) nVidia Vista drivers.

[tennant]

Originally Posted by markmcrobie

I have an nVidia 7950GX2 gfx card, and I'm using the latest (stable) nVidia Vista drivers.

I also have stuttering with an NVIDIA 6600 card...and mine stutters roughly every 6 secins on both live and recorded TV regardless of whether the guide is open. I'm pretty usre (although not totally convinced) that it is the NVIDIA drivers that are at fault. Have tried all the different versions as they have been released, and they all affect the degree of stuttering. The best version (ie least noticeable stutter) is 97.46 (I think that's the version without checking) that ships with Vista RTM.

Tennant

[tennant]

I believe I have found the answer (for me at least). In Vista with NVIDIA drivers you need to force vsync to be on, rather than being application specifc (in the Nvidia control panel under 3D settings). I've also turned on triple buffering as that seems to help.

It's too early to say if it's cured it completely, but first impressions look good.

Tennant

[16to9]

I've found this with Vista and a nvidia card. It only happens when there's some overlaid graphics, such as the mini guide.

I only get it however when using any nvidia driver. If I use the stock MS one it works fine. I will try the vsync tip though in a bit.

But I do also get occasional stutter anyway. It looks a bit like 60/50Hz stutter but it's not and it happens every few seconds. (It's not too noticable on normal video but it's obvious on news tickers.) I never saw anything like this on the old XP box (video was lovely and smooth) so it's either the driver (possible), the hardware itself (doubtful) or the MS mpeg decoder (possible).

[evolution400]

What TV cards are you guys using that are experiencing the stutter ?
I also blamed NVIDIA for my problem tried all the drivers from 100 > onwards I had the stutter with all of them I found the best to be 162.11 drivers, still had the stutter but more acceptable, now I have removed my Hauppauge Nova-T500 and replaced with my old Terratec 2400i since I have done this no TV stutter at all and channel changes are quicker, glad the Terratec works I was just getting ready to put MCE2005 back on.
so if you all are using Hauupauge could it not be thier drivers ?

[16to9]

Originally Posted by tennant

I believe I have found the answer (for me at least). In Vista with NVIDIA drivers you need to force vsync to be on,

Sadly that doesn't help. I'm still getting stutter aplenty when some interface graphic appears.

I have also tried different mpeg decoders. Cyberlink and the nvidia ones (when selected with the vista decoder utility) make no difference. In fact I think they look pretty crap in comparison to the normal MS one, or even the good old Purevideo on XP (which doesn't seem to work in vista )

Originally Posted by evolution400

so if you all are using Hauupauge could it not be thier drivers ?

I suppose that's a possibility and I'll see what I can look at here.

But there are two different issues here: one, the really bad stutter when there are some interface overlays such as the guide, is definitely a nvidia issue.

The other is the odd frame skip every couple of seconds that isn't too bad, but which I never saw on XP. This could I suppose be a Hauppauge issue because I see it with any display driver, even the "decent" nvidia one that for me is dated 22/6/06 (v 7.15.10.9746)

[16to9]

Originally Posted by 16to9

Sadly that doesn't help. I'm still getting stutter aplenty when some interface graphic appears.

Actually I now notice that what I just said isn't quite true. Now having installed the very latest nvidia drivers, and having selected the nvidia decoder, I don't get stutter.

BUT the quality of the video - particularly noticeable on the New 24 ticker - is awful. It's like its having issues combining the video fields properly.

[tennant]

Originally Posted by evolution400

What TV cards are you guys using that are experiencing the stutter ?

My original media centre was a 6600 (128MB), my new one is a 7600 GTL (256MB).

Originally Posted by evolution400

I also blamed NVIDIA for my problem tried all the drivers from 100 > onwards I had the stutter with all of them I found the best to be 162.11 drivers, still had the stutter but more acceptable, now I have removed my Hauppauge Nova-T500 and replaced with my old Terratec 2400i since I have done this no TV stutter at all and channel changes are quicker, glad the Terratec works I was just getting ready to put MCE2005 back on.
so if you all are using Hauupauge could it not be thier drivers ?

Yeah I blamed Hauppauge for a while too; but my new media centre PC came with a pair of AverMedia cards and the stuttering/tearing was exactly the same (although I have since replaced one of these with a Nova-T500 to give me three tuners). Have you tried your PC connected to a different display? I found mine only stuttered on my Pioneer plasma; connect to a JVC LDV TV and it's completely smooth.

Tennant

[evolution400]

Yeah I blamed Hauppauge for a while too; but my new media centre PC came with a pair of AverMedia cards and the stuttering/tearing was exactly the same (although I have since replaced one of these with a Nova-T500 to give me three tuners). Have you tried your PC connected to a different display? I found mine only stuttered on my Pioneer plasma; connect to a JVC LDV TV and it's completely smooth.

Tennant[/quote]
No I have a Sagem HD50 which is a DLP TV with DVI input never had any issues like this before so I assumed it was Vista and Drivers issue.
All I can say is I took out the Hauppauge and since then using the Terratec with old 1.55 drivers its been flawless no stutter no missed recordings so in this case I think it was the Hauppauge card, unless it could also be that the Terratec is PCIE and the Hauupauge is PCI ?
Anyway my problem is solved I was...... that close to rebuilding with MCE 2005

[LongView]

Found this thread while searching for others suffering with this issue.

I can get a perfect stutter/jitter free picture using an early beta nVidia driver (100.65) but as soon as I update to more recent ones the problems starts. I can record live tv, which stutters/jitters on both the live and play back, but if I revert back to the other drivers the picture is perfect again (using the same file). This would indicate that the stutter/jitter isn't being transferred to the recordings.

I can even copy over a program recorded on my main PC (running Vista Ultimate, Nova-T-500, with an nVidia 7950GT) which I know to be perfect but again it will stutter/jitter with newer nVidia drivers but playback fine with the older drivers.

Videos that I have which are xvid encoded playback fine with the latest drivers and if I watch the recorded TV through Media Player again the picture is fine. This issue seems to be isolated to Media Center which I'm watching through the s-video out using the RGB input on the TV. I've specified UK PAL within the nVidia driver settings.

Am really struggling with this one. I'd leave the drivers as they are but the fact that early nVidia drivers give other issues I'd really rather update them if at all possible. I'll also try the V-Sync setting that is mentioned ealier in this thread.

Looks like I'm not alone in finding the 100.65 drivers the only stable ones to use: http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/comm...stutter-b.html

[LongView]

Originally Posted by LongView

I'll also try the V-Sync setting that is mentioned ealier in this thread.

Nope, didn't work... Looks like the only thing I can do is revert back to 100.65 which appears to be the only driver giving me a stable s-video picture.

BTW, for those suspecting the Hauppauge drivers I don't think they are responsible. They work fine on my Vista Ultimate machine and on the main living room machine, where I'm getting the stutter, reverting back to an earlier nvidia driver (100.65) gives a perfect picture again. If it were the Hauppauge drivers then I believe that the recordings would also be affected.

[evolution400]

I think there is no definitive solution for resolving the TV stutter issue I had the same issue when MCE 2005 was launched I was originally running an NVIDIA 5700 then went to ATi 9550 tried all the drivers then I think when roll up 2 came along it was all resolved. I am betting this will be similar issue for people who are running Vista. I had the Haupauge DVB-T500 installed on my system and had terrible stutter tried all known fixes then reverted back to my Terratec 2400i and havent had a single stutter since some motherboards do tie in the SATA ports to PCI which takes up bandwidth this is a know hauppauge issue so mayeb thats why some people are fine with teh 500 and some arent the Terratec runs on the PCIE so that maybe why my system is now working.

[LongView]

Thanks for the response. I understand what you mean about the card, could well explain it. Based on the fact that the 100.65 nVidia drivers work I believe this to be a graphics driver issue. If I use a newer driver to record a show it stutters on the live and then playback. When I downgrade the graphics drivers that same recorded show is fine. I would expect the recorded version to remain stuttery if it was a tuner/bandwidth issue.

Guess I'm stuck with the 100.65 drivers or go out and buy a TV with a HDMI port so I can use the DVI outputs instead.