6600GT and WMV-HD Questions

[Kenjix]

I just bought a SN95G5V3 XPC case and I'm heading to the computer show this weekend to get some parts.

1.I want to hook this up to my DLP tv and I would like to play Quicktime and WMV-HD videos with no hickups or excessive CPU usage. I was thinking of getting a 6600Gt since it's listed as being the only Geforce 6 product that has


WMV-HD Hardware Acceleration
Playback videos in Microsoft?s Windows Media Video High Definition (WMV-HD) format without skipping frames or losing video detail. Accepted by the HD-DVD consortium as a new HD format, WMV-HD is now part of Windows XP to make it easy for users to edit and save their favorite videos.


I was wondering if anyone has tested this and if it's worth it's wait in gold or just crap?

Also if anyone has which card did you use to test it and was it quiet?

2. I wanted to also consider putting in one of the passive/fanless cards but I wasn't sure if anyone had tested these in the small shuttle cases as well.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[dug777]

I'm not sure with the 6600GT, but it certainly should work.

I just installed the MS hotfix and with the latest Cats i've seen an amazing improvement in WMV-HD CPU Usage with my 9800 pro. Before with a 2.1Ghz Axp i was at 100% CPU usage and dropping frames like mad with a 1080p clip (Coralreef 1080p), now i sit at about 65% CPU usage for the same clip

For 720p (Step into Liquid) i was well over 70% CPU usage before, and it sits just over 30% now, it's awesome

I can't believe it took MS this long to take advantage of the feature tho, i mean it was present in hardware in the 9700 Pro

 

[Demons]

I have a Media Center 2005 box with a MSI 6600GT hooked up to my Samsung DLP over a DVI cable. Video is beautiful! But as for the WMV-HD patch from Microsoft... it works... but not very well in 16:9 mode. I've done a serise of tests with the patch from Microsoft to enable the DXVA for WMV-HD and it does lower CPU utilization when I'm in a standard 4:3 resolution like 1024x768, but if I'm in 720p or 1080i, strange things start to happen and I even saw an increase in CPU at times. I think that Microsoft and nVidia still have to work out some of the bugs. I'm still hopeful that there will be a better, more optimised patch from nVidia or Microsoft to help with the 16:9 resolutions, which is really what WMV-HD is all about.

If anyone else would like to confirm this, you can use a regular computer monitor and just set your resolution to 1280x720 and then use your monitor controls to squish the picture down vertically so that the aspect becomes correct... don't worry, as soon as you change back to a regular resolution, your monitor will return to a regular aspect as well. What I saw in 720p after I installed the Microsoft patch was, at times, higher CPU %, and occasional framerate slowdown... not dropping frames but slowing down and then speeding back up to high speeds to catch up on lower-motion frames. Remember of course that the DXVA patch only works on the APG all 6600s and all 6200s, and PCIx 6800-(standard only! non-gt or ultra!) 6800-NU, all 6600s,all 6200s. I would be very interested to see if anyone else sees the same thing.

-Demons

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: Demons
I have a Media Center 2005 box with a MSI 6600GT hooked up to my Samsung DLP over a DVI cable. Video is beautiful! But as for the WMV-HD patch from Microsoft... it works... but not very well in 16:9 mode. I've done a serise of tests with the patch from Microsoft to enable the DXVA for WMV-HD and it does lower CPU utilization when I'm in a standard 4:3 resolution like 1024x768, but if I'm in 720p or 1080i, strange things start to happen and I even saw an increase in CPU at times. I think that Microsoft and nVidia still have to work out some of the bugs. I'm still hopeful that there will be a better, more optimised patch from nVidia or Microsoft to help with the 16:9 resolutions, which is really what WMV-HD is all about.

If anyone else would like to confirm this, you can use a regular computer monitor and just set your resolution to 1280x720 and then use your monitor controls to squish the picture down vertically so that the aspect becomes correct... don't worry, as soon as you change back to a regular resolution, your monitor will return to a regular aspect as well. What I saw in 720p after I installed the Microsoft patch was, at times, higher CPU %, and occasional framerate slowdown... not dropping frames but slowing down and then speeding back up to high speeds to catch up on lower-motion frames. Remember of course that the DXVA patch only works on the APG all 6600s and all 6200s, and PCIx 6800-(standard only! non-gt or ultra!) 6800-NU, all 6600s,all 6200s. I would be very interested to see if anyone else sees the same thing.

-Demons

and it certainly works on my 9800 pro

i'll give that res change a go now and report back.

EDIT: it works just as well at 1280 by 720 on mine with Coral Reef 1080p

 

[Kenjix]

so the 6600 doesn't really make a difference with HD videos as far as CPU goes?

I currently have a 9800 in my office PC but it can only run those videos if I do absolutely nothing. The 1080p videos are 50/50

Also any responses on the passive/fanless video cards.

 

[HDTVMan]

Originally posted by: Kenjix
so the 6600 doesn't really make a difference with HD videos as far as CPU goes?

I currently have a 9800 in my office PC but it can only run those videos if I do absolutely nothing. The 1080p videos are 50/50

Also any responses on the passive/fanless video cards.

Get an IODATA Linkplayer 2 for $250.00 and run a network line.

To answer your question. NO the only card I am aware of that has support for HD acceleration is not available. ATI next gen is supposed to have additional support. Now you can get a card from Sigma Designs that will help. But Currently just a faster CPU is the best if your going to do from the PC direct to the TV.

My Config is this. I have a dedicated PC doing HD video capture. ATI HDTV Wonder with ATI Radeon 9500 output. In my office not near my HDTV.

Connected to my TV I have an IODATA LinkPlayer 2 HD-DVD Player. (249.00) Its a networked DVD player that has the Sigma Designs chip in it.

I can stream my HD content (Wmv9, TS, HD Divx) to the linkplayer connected to the TV. This is the best looking solution I have seen that doesnt break the bank.

 

[HDTVMan]

Here is a link to the HD-DVD Player I am using.

IO-DATA HD-DVD Player

I have to laugh at the war on HD-DVD and Blue Ray. With this I have been enjoying HD movies on my PC and DVD's for over 8 months now. It has some really good options other than the HD ability and its way ahead of the one offered by buffalo technology. They are also constantly adding updates which add and improve things. At some point I will do a full review on my site njdevil.com when I get that site going. There is also some 3rd party software that allows you to stream every type of format your PC understands to the unit which is cool.

It can handle some extreme bitrates on HD too. I have some encoded at 25-27meg and its latest bios is able to handle them.

The next gen version is coming soon but I am not sure when or what it can add.

 

[Kenjix]

This is the info I'm trying to verify and see how much it really adds up.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/pg_20040406350192.html
6800 series

High-Definition MPEG-2 Hardware Acceleration
Smoothly playback all MPEG-2 video with minimal CPU usage so the PC is free to do other work. Battery-life is extended when watching DVDs while running on battery. MPEG-2 is the standard format for DVDs, is accepted as a format for HD-DVD, and is also used for HD broadcast.

High-Quality Real-Time Video Recording
Get full digital video recording functionality without losing data. With NVIDIA PureVideo technology, high-quality recording preserves picture detail while also using minimal space to store videos on the hard drive.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/pg_20040809885583.html
6600 series

High-Definition MPEG-2 Hardware Acceleration
Smoothly playback all MPEG-2 video with minimal CPU usage so the PC is free to do other work. Battery-life is extended when watching DVDs while running on battery. MPEG-2 is the standard format for DVDs, is accepted as a format for HD-DVD, and is also used for HD broadcast.

High-Quality Real-Time Video Recording
Get full digital video recording functionality without losing data. With NVIDIA PureVideo technology, high-quality recording preserves picture detail while also using minimal space to store videos on the hard drive.

WMV-HD Hardware Acceleration
Playback videos in Microsoft?s Windows Media Video High Definition (WMV-HD) format without skipping frames or losing video detail. Accepted by the HD-DVD consortium as a new HD format, WMV-HD is now part of Windows XP to make it easy for users to edit and save their favorite videos.

 

[Kenjix]

any thoughts on this?

 

[HDTVMan]

Originally posted by: Kenjix
This is the info I'm trying to verify and see how much it really adds up.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/pg_20040406350192.html
6800 series

High-Definition MPEG-2 Hardware Acceleration
Smoothly playback all MPEG-2 video with minimal CPU usage so the PC is free to do other work. Battery-life is extended when watching DVDs while running on battery. MPEG-2 is the standard format for DVDs, is accepted as a format for HD-DVD, and is also used for HD broadcast.

High-Quality Real-Time Video Recording
Get full digital video recording functionality without losing data. With NVIDIA PureVideo technology, high-quality recording preserves picture detail while also using minimal space to store videos on the hard drive.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/pg_20040809885583.html
6600 series

High-Definition MPEG-2 Hardware Acceleration
Smoothly playback all MPEG-2 video with minimal CPU usage so the PC is free to do other work. Battery-life is extended when watching DVDs while running on battery. MPEG-2 is the standard format for DVDs, is accepted as a format for HD-DVD, and is also used for HD broadcast.

High-Quality Real-Time Video Recording
Get full digital video recording functionality without losing data. With NVIDIA PureVideo technology, high-quality recording preserves picture detail while also using minimal space to store videos on the hard drive.

WMV-HD Hardware Acceleration
Playback videos in Microsoft?s Windows Media Video High Definition (WMV-HD) format without skipping frames or losing video detail. Accepted by the HD-DVD consortium as a new HD format, WMV-HD is now part of Windows XP to make it easy for users to edit and save their favorite videos.

Note the IS ACCEPTED AS A FORMAT FOR HD-DVD. That doesnt mean it is the standard that everyone is using. Its just one format. Something like the ATI HDTV Wonder records in HD-MPEG2. TS and WMV9 are not MPEG 2 streams so the NVIDIA hardware wont get you very far. There are other formats but these 3 are the most popular.

Here is the chip I am talking about.
http://www.sigmadesigns.com/products/em8620Lseries.htm

You can see the specs of WMV9 here.
www.wmvhd.com

Here is the next gen ATI card where they talk about integrating it into the chip.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20050526100319.html

H.264 compression technology allows High Definition videos in 1280x720 or 1920x1080 resolutions to fit into 8Mbps ? 10Mbps bit rate, whereas typical MPEG-2 consumes 15Mbps ? 20Mbps for this type of quality.

Now the NVIDIA card may be able to handle the MPEG 2 streams but the other formats your going to need CPU power.

 

[HDTVMan]

I apologize I did not see the quote on WMV Hardware Acceleration.

WMV-HD Hardware Acceleration
Playback videos in Microsoft?s Windows Media Video High Definition (WMV-HD) format without skipping frames or losing video detail. Accepted by the HD-DVD consortium as a new HD format, WMV-HD is now part of Windows XP to make it easy for users to edit and save their favorite videos.

Its possible but I would look for some reviews. Overall its good to have extra CPU power.

You might also try a program called VLC Media Player. Its the only program I have seen to play TS files.

 

[Kenjix]

Ok that helps. Thanks.

what video card would you advise on then?

 

[dug777]

Dammit using the MS hotfix the 9800 pro DOES WMV-HD accelerate to a significant extent, look at my first post in this thread for details of exactly how much of a huge difference it made applying the hotfix and using the latest cats for me...

 

[HDTVMan]

Kind of like dug777 is pointing out your video card is sufficient. I use a radeon 9500 myself and its more than capable of doing HD all the way up to 1080P. Yup my monitor can handle it. Even doesnt struggle when downsampling. I output it once using the component video adapter and it did a great job but I found that cases to make a pc look decent for a video rack and a good remote cost nearly as much as just getting the Linkplayer.

What is the rest of your machines config? CPU and Ram? I have a feeling something else in your machine is just holding you back.