Tech-related problems

[Biggie578]

MPlayer. Amazing video player, only problem is that there is no GUI and if you have high CPU usage, the video lags and then it becomes unsynced with the sound.  Also give The K-MPlayer a try, also very awesome, but sometimes it forces widescreen videos to 4:3 aspect ratio.

[huggumwuggums]

Some isp's do something called "traffic shaping" to stop people using bittorrent.  If you use a bt prog that encrypts the data you might be able to get around it.

I tried using Azureus for this purpose and I've tried every encryption setting/combination it's still slow as heck.

An isp I was on a few years ago moved all the "heavy downloaders" onto the same server so they were all slowing each other down and that left the other servers for the others.  They even used a statistic similar to your "70% of the bandwith are drained by only 17% of the users" as the reason why they did it.

[frblckstr1]

^ Just a comment about Morning Musume .ts files, they have a tendency not to be '.ts' in the sence I normally see them posted on newsgroups (mpeg2 transport streams).

Aside from a variaty of resolutions, they seem to use a lot of times use different audio codecs then 'just' MPEG2 (like AAC or even ogg), this throws off AutoGK and a lot of players. A lot of times they are also interlaced, which gives problems with VLC (you have to selected the de-interlace setting to match and that a lot of times requires more CPU to do)

[SacredCultivator]

Well yeah that is true... Another kind person has helped me and I will try her method and see if it helps.. thanks.

[tiny]

Two players I have found to play Japanese TS files: Media Player Classic and VLC. (American and European TS are slightly different.)

With MPC make sure to not use the internal MPEG2 decoder unless you have lots of processing power. Otherwise use an MPEG2 codec with support for hardware acceleration. Video cards have had hardware acceleration for MPEG2 for quite some time now, even my (relatively) old Radeon 9600 has it. Codecs that support hardware accelaration are for example the Intervideo and the Cyberlink MPEG2 codecs, which come respectively with Intervideo WinDVD and Cyberlink PowerDVD. The problem is that many programs install their own MPEG2 codec, such as Nero. The trick is to force MPC to load the codec of your choice. Look in the options of MPC for External Filters. There you can add filters to a list to block or prefer.

VLC also needs some configuration. In the preferences make sure to enable the deinterlace video filter. For the deinterlace mode I prefer the blend mode. It's a good trade off between performance and quality.
In the general video options set the overlay video output option. It should give better performance. You can also set to always use fullscreen video output or you can just press F during playback to switch (keyboard shortcuts can also be reconfigured).

The aspect ratio of TS videos is encoded in the video stream. The player should be able to determine the correct aspect ratio automaticly. MPC has the useful option "keep aspect ratio". Older versions of the Cyberlink MPEG2 codec had problems with the aspect ratio, an update from the Cyberlink website fixed that.

[ebc]

^ Just a comment about Morning Musume .ts files, they have a tendency not to be '.ts' in the sence I normally see them posted on newsgroups (mpeg2 transport streams).
 
Aside from a variaty of resolutions, they seem to use a lot of times use different audio codecs then 'just' MPEG2 (like AAC or even ogg), this throws off AutoGK and a lot of players. A lot of times they are also interlaced, which gives problems with VLC (you have to selected the de-interlace setting to match and that a lot of times requires more CPU to do)

Yeah that's cause Japan uses aac in broadcasts. I dunno where you got the idea that a .ts HAS to be an mpeg2 stream but that's up to you (some countries even use mpeg4)
 
But yeah VLC is a software player and doesn't use dxva so that's the reason the cpu suffers so much. (also the reason I don't use vlc) But some people seem to find it's the only program that works for them.
 
Like Tiny said, the best way to play Japanese TS files is with MPC, IF you can get it to work propperly and force it to use a hardware decoder like the cyberlink one.
 
PowerDVD 7 actually does support aac now though and I've had no trouble playing Japanese .ts files with it but then other people I've talked to said PowerDVD was slow and terrible. I'm not sure what the issue was but everyone's computer is different so it's hard to make something work excellent on one computer the same as another.
 
There is a configuration that I've found works good though. If you have any of the latest nvidia graphics cards with the latest drivers. Then get PowerDVD 7 and turn on hardware acceleration. It should work well and do perfect hardware deinterlacing.

[frblckstr1]

Yeah that's cause Japan uses aac in broadcasts. I dunno where you got the idea that a .ts HAS to be an mpeg2 stream but that's up to you (some countries even use mpeg4)

I didn't say it 'had to be mpeg2', I said 'compared to the newsgroup postings'.

Aside from that, MPEG2 (with DD, DD Pro or DD EX), is currently still a 'more compatible' format then mpeg4 (btw which mpeg4 , cards are now available that can do H264 in hardware, so that saves on raw CPU power needed, but hardware players are not available yet.  Sigma's 8630 series seems to support it, but haven't seen no players based on it yet.

http://www.sigmadesigns.com/public/Products/SMP8630/SMP8630_series.html

[SacredCultivator]

Yaya the method the other person helped me with WORKED!!! I am sooo happy, and for future reference, the thread is: Problem

And although that doesn't go into specifics, it seems the problem in a sense was Codecs as I had to switch from K-Lite Mega Codec to Nvidia PureVideo Decoder + CCCP, and that seemed to solve the problem.

[Janihan]

I use MPlayer with vidix hardware acceleration for just about all videos. It has worked perfectly for all of the .ts I've played.

MPlayer. Amazing video player, only problem is that there is no GUI and if you have high CPU usage, the video lags and then it becomes unsynced with the sound.  Also give The K-MPlayer a try, also very awesome, but sometimes it forces widescreen videos to 4:3 aspect ratio.

Have you tried turning framedropping on? I think it's disabled by default.

[SacredCultivator]

UPDATE:

Okay I am stupid but my problem was fixed and I just had to update my Video Cards Driver to a Beta one and that is where my problem came in again..

Explanation: Fix: Used Nvidia PureVideo(Standalone) and CCCP and added the Nvidia Filters into MPC and then in my Properties->Settings->Video Card-> Full Screen Video-> Put Secondary Display(TV) on{As default is Off}. And there we go problem solved my videos didn't play all choppy and I didn't need to change my Resolution on Monitor (1280x1024) to see everything perfectly on my tv that plays at (1024x768) which in the past I had to change my Monitor res everytime I played via tv....

K and then I installed the dumb beta driver that features "Pure Video" and that is when the problem came...

And after uninstalling it reinstalling it (The Standalone Nvidia PureVideo and the Driver) I am stuck at my problem...

Problem: When I watch my videos on TV.. there are Black Gaps.. Depending on Files Extension(.TS/.AVI). For .TS files the gaps would be at the top and bottom (Almost as if I am watching WideScreen), and for .AVI files, the gaps are on the left and right. Of course... If I usemy TV Remote and change the Format, .TS=>Expand, .AVI=>Zoom, then they look just fine but that is a hassle and I don't want to do that as I didn't have to before i installed the dumb beta driver... And the settings within MPC were unchanged so it isn't like I changed anything on that to make it this way as things stayed the same as when it worked just fine.


So I am left at... What might have caused this to happen? When I uninstalled/reinstalled the Video Card Drivers I used DriveCleaner Pro, so I am sure it rid the driver... Not too sure if anyone has a clue as to what my problem is.. but if you do your help is greatly appreciated thank you.

PS: If it makes any difference, this is my TV. Just look at the Product Specifications (.PDF) if it helps.

[frblckstr1]

^ Sounds like a setting is overwritten still that gives the wrong info to the output driver.
Its like the videoplayer thinks its has a widescreen TV connected, but your TV input resolution is set to 1024x768 which is 4x3.
The output is 'scaled/zoomed' for 16x9 hence the black bars depending on input type.
More findling with options is required I think...

[SacredCultivator]

Hmm possibly.. I messed around to the poitn I gave up and just went to default.. Where I change my res to 1024x768 before I watch via tv... and for .TS files I can only watch on Computer with MPC set at 'Overlay Mixer' which doesn't show up on tv >< hopefully I can get this fixed without having to format, which I won't do haha.

[tiny]

Somewhere in your videocard settings should be an option to set the aspect ratio of your TV (16:9). I can't tell you where to look exactly because I've got a ATi Radeon.
If the aspect ratio of the display device is set, the videocard driver should 'know' how to stretch the video or add black bars if necessary.

To make the secondary display (your TV) display the overlay you should either make your TV the primary display (may not be convenient), or set your videocard in clone mode where everything sent to the primary display is also sent to the secondary display. My Radeon driver even has the option to always display videos in fullscreen on a secondary display. Extended desktop needs to be disabled for that. Perhaps you nVidia driver also has such an option.

[sayumi_fan]

I've just in the last couple of days had a problem develop with the sound on my computer.  It was working fine...  I have a sneaking suspicion it started when I played a particular video file - it could have been the (PRESTIGE) Mira - First Time Experience Beautiful Girl Nakadashi 62 (CTD062).avi one downloaded from this forum (or it may have just been around that time the problem developed independently).

I get both low volume (you can hardly hear anything even with the speaker volume turned up full, but there is a low sound coming through);  AND what sound there is, is somewhat broken up / crackling / distorted.

I've checked the Windows XP Help & Support Centre - Fixing a Problem > Games, Sound and Video Problems > Sound Troubleshooter, and there's nothing showing up there.  I've tried to run a System Restore but for some reason there are no Restore Point dates available (and I didn't have System Restore turned off, but I've never used that before so I'm not sure how it's supposed to work).

I'm running Belarc Advisor so I can access any system info that might be helpful - for a start, it says I'm running SiS 7018 Audio Driver.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.  Is it possibly a hardware problem? - I'm running an Athlon 1200 MHz processor and I think the motherboard has the sound card mounted on it (or is what I just said a load of garbage?... I'm pretty much at the limit of my technical knowledge here).

[chera]

it could have been the (PRESTIGE) Mira - First Time Experience Beautiful Girl Nakadashi 62 (CTD062).avi one

... errrr... I think I uploaded that file.  Have you tried:

 - plugging in headphones?  It might be a problem with your speakers.
 - seeing whether line output works OK?  Again, it might be a problem with your speakers.
 - using a different application?  Changing applications (winamp, wmp, mpc, vlc, etc.) might do the trick.
 - diverting sound to disk?  In winamp, there is an output plugin called Disk Writer that diverts audio output to a file.  If the sound in that file is distorted (check with an external MP3 player), its probably a SW problem, but not related to DirectSound.
 - when your computer boots itself up, does it give a "beep"?  Does the beep sound OK?
 - last but not least, have you checked to make sure your speaker cables are plugged in snugly?

[SacredCultivator]

@Tiny: Emm actually my Nvidia Control Panel does have an option to set the resolution except.. I can't change it >< So I don't know about that. And also there is that Full Screen Video (Overlay) option which I did turn on but when I use MPC the res is still slightly off..

[~Dan~]

Does anyone have a souncard that has controls like this.

That's the icon in the taskbar.

And this is what it looks like when you open it.


Because I have Japanese language support all the damn controls are in Japanese.  If anyone has the same soundcard controls can they tell me if there's an option in it to change what language it's are displayed in.  I don't dare click too many things in case I screw something up.

[tiny]

@SacredCultivator: check your display properties (right click->properties on your desktop). Then on the settings tab click on the image of the second monitor (has a big 2 in it). The "extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" should be disabled. If so, the aspect ratio controls for the second display should be available.

A work around is described here.

What you need to do is open Media Player Classic on your secondary display (or drag it's window there) and then open your video. Do not open video on primary display then drag the window to the secondary display.

For this to work "extend desktop" has to be enabled ofcourse.

[SacredCultivator]

@Tiny: Emmm well for #2, I can change the resolution but then it goes back yo 640x480/Low Color (8-bit) whenever I try to put it at 1024x768, and then in Nvidia Control panal it is stuck at 1024x768..

As for that Workaround.. that confused me...

[tiny]

Sorry Cultivator, that might have been a solution to an entirely different problem...