Running HD on SS2 PCI?

[delta_charlie]

Hi all, I'm kicking around the idea of moving my BUD over to 105w and trying to setup my PC to receive some mpeg4 HD (NBC channels).

I'm running ProgDVB and ffdshow with a Sky Star II PCI card. Looks like ffdshow supports mpeg4 but I think I have to purchase the pro version of ProgDVB to decode mpeg4. Anybody know if this is true?

Something else that is not clear to me is will my SS2 card handel the mpeg4? I'm under the impression that the decoding is done with the codec not the card so I'm thinking it should work.

My PC may be a bit marginal for HD but it runs SD so easy that I think it may be able to run HD. The CPU is a dual core 1.6 Ghz with 2 Gb memory runing XP Pro.

Any thoughts? Thanks, DC

 

[brentb636]

I think your pc is underpowered for that HD . CPU specs should be closer to 3 Ghz clock, I'm thinking . Let us know what video card you're using, since that plays a big role in decoding the h.264 mpeg4 stream. If the video card , with the appropriate codecs, can take over some of the cpu load, you will be better off. Using raw CPU power to decode takes a big number cruncher. I get good performance with my system, below.
-DVB setup
AMD Athlon dual core X2 6000+
ASUS mobo
2 GB ddr ram
ATI 2600HD XT 256 MB GDDR4
Genpix skywalker-1
TT s2-3200
I have ProgDVB Pro, but I prefer DVBviewer Pro. It's pretty cheap ( about $20) and seems less "glitchy" to me than ProgDVB .

You'll get other opinions, too, I know !
[edit] Before you spend much money on PC upgrades, look into buying a used Coolsat 8000 or 8100 . They'll handle those channels just fine, and will cost you under $200.

 

[gillham]

I think the sticking point is going to be that you need MPEG4 HD decoding and only some of the more recent video cards from ATI & NVidia support their AVIVO & PureVideo MPEG4 HD acceleration. The MPEG2 offload has been around for quite some time, but looking at the age of your PC I think MPEG4 HD is unlikely.

For example, NVidia supports H.264/MPEG4 acceleration on a wider range of video cards, but they specifically support H.264 *HD* acceleration only on PCIe GeForce8 or better cards.

You should be able to record it and then convert it to something that your PC can playback, but that loses the real-time aspect.

As brentb636 mentioned the Coolsat 8x00 is a great option and might be cheaper than the video card / PC upgrade. Admittedly the PC upgrade would support a wider variety of formats like 4:2:2 as well, but something to consider.

 

[delta_charlie]

I think the sticking point is going to be that you need MPEG4 HD decoding and only some of the more recent video cards from ATI & NVidia support their AVIVO & PureVideo MPEG4 HD acceleration. The MPEG2 offload has been around for quite some time, but looking at the age of your PC I think MPEG4 HD is unlikely.
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Hi Brent and Gillham, thanks for the replies. The motherboard in the computer is new (less then one month old) and the video card is built into the MB. I could not find much info on it other then it uses the Intel GMA 3100 chip set. The MB is a ASUS P5KPL-AM/PS. While not top of the line it seems to be quite a good MB and it can support much faster CPUs. I choose the Intel 1.6 GHz dual core (E1200) mostly because I wanted a cool running computer that does not use too much power. I'm really quite impressed with the performance of this computer and because it runs SD with so little effort (7 to about 15 % cpu usage when running ProgDVB and ffdshow) it seems like it might be able to run HD. I would love to give it a try but I really don't want to have to buy any software just to try it. Anybody know of a DVB program that offers a free trial that also supports mpeg4 HD? Thanks, DC

 

[starman345]

why don't you give the PBSHD channel a try and see how that works out? It will give you an idea what load hd will put on the machine. Mpeg4 stuff will take more machine but it will give you an idea of the difference between sd and hd power usage. I think you need more computer for mpeg4.

 

[gillham]

I would love to give it a try but I really don't want to have to buy any software just to try it. Anybody know of a DVB program that offers a free trial that also supports mpeg4 HD? Thanks, DC

Just download an Apple movie trailer in 1080P and play it back full screen. That will give you a rough idea if your system can do it.

For example:
ptth://movies.apple.com/movies/ifc_films/che/che-tlr1_1080p.mov

 

[ACRadio]

I'm running ProgDVB and ffdshow with a Sky Star II PCI card. Looks like ffdshow supports mpeg4 but I think I have to purchase the pro version of ProgDVB to decode mpeg4. Anybody know if this is true?

I've tested FFDShow with h.264 video (MPEG4) and the results were less than stellar...lots of breakup and pixellation. CoreAVC plays the NBC channels smooth as a baby's beehind.

One thing I can say for FFDShow. There is a 4:2:2 SD encoder that uplinkers for ESPN and Fox sometimes use that gives BitControl and Elecard a fit trying to deinterlace it. FFDShow plays it back fine...not quite as pretty as BitControl on a good signal but very useable.