UPDATE - PureVideo MPEG-2 Benchmark

[xtknight]

This is with a GeForce 6800 Standard PCI-E. I checked/unchecked Hardware Acceleration in the NVIDIA Video Decoder filter configuration page. I posted this to prove PureVideo isn't completely defunct. All tests done with DirectSound and Video Mixing Renderer 9.

Additional info: The NVIDIA Video Decoder was set to a Theater preset.

Source: High-Def MPEG-2 NASA video.

Unaccelerated NVIDIA Video Decoder, 76% CPU: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/xtknight/unaccel1.jpg
Accelerated NVIDIA Video Decoder, 39% CPU: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/xtknight/accel1.jpg
Unaccelerated Elecard MPEG-2 Decoder, 64% CPU: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/xtknight/unaccel2.jpg
Accelerated Elecard MPEG-2 Decoder (DXVA), 44% CPU: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/xtknight/accel2.jpg

As you can see, PureVideo comes just short of cutting CPU usage in half. Also, I think the image quality is greatly improved over third-party filters such as the Elecard decoder. Pretty amazing if you ask me. If only they'd release those WMV dlls.

UPDATE: Also added a DXVA-accelerated Elecard filter to the mix. The previous filter used was not hardware-accelerated by DXVA. The difference between the Elecard DXVA and NVIDIA DXVA is within the margin of error.

 

[ddogg]

:thumbsup:

 

[Pete]

Not to be too skeptical, but GPUs have had MPEG2 decoding assist for quite some time, so I'm not sure how this proves the PVP's worth. Does that checkbox enable/disable the PVP specifically, or simply GPU decode assist in general? Actually, does the GF6 even have the previous gen's MPEG2 decode assist h/w in addition to PVP, or did PVP take over all de-/encoding? (Most importantly, why don't I know this for sure a year after the GF6's launch?)

Do you have a link of a clip of that NASA vid? I was wondering if someone could try it with another card, be it an FX, a (my?) 9800P, or an X800.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Pete
Not to be too skeptical, but GPUs have had MPEG2 decoding assist for quite some time, so I'm not sure how this proves the PVP's worth. Does that checkbox enable/disable the PVP specifically, or simply GPU decode assist in general? Actually, does the GF6 even have the previous gen's MPEG2 decode assist h/w in addition to PVP, or did PVP take over all de-/encoding? (Most importantly, why don't I know this for sure a year after the GF6's launch?)

Do you have a link of a clip of that NASA vid? I was wondering if someone could try it with another card, be it an FX, a (my?) 9800P, or an X800.

I'm not sure if it disables the regular DXVA or not. What I think is that it does, and the regular DXVA shows some decrease in CPU usage also. I'm guessing the Elecard filter was using DXVA and gave me CPU usage inbetween that of the completely unaccelerated and PureVideo-accelerated NVIDIA fliter. So, PureVideo is like twice of the plain old DXVA that's been on cards forever. This is all just speculation though.

Yeah, here's the link: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="ftp://ftp.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/pub/iHDTV/andrews_18.mpg">ftp://ftp.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/pub/iHDTV/andrews_18.mpg</a> Beware, it's 569 MB.

Anyone else have a reaction to this, or just don't care about PureVideo?

 

[Lonyo]

Did you monitor CPU usage right the way through? If that's just a snapshot, obviously it won't really be accurate, as there could be jumps in CPU usage, but if that seems to be the average, it's more useful.
Just want to check your method of working out CPU usage

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I have a 1080p MPEG2 clip of a STS night launch I tried, this is downloading. Tried it on my Dual Opteron with Moonlight and its MPEG2 decoder and nvidia NStant media with NVDVD decoder. The moonlight had 1 CPU over 85% the whole time with the other CPU looking like the rocky mountains, dipping from 20s and peaking in 60's. Then I played it with the nV decoder and player, almost identical CPU graphs and never exceeded 30%, stayed below 25 most the time. Looked beautiful with the nV stuff too, DET 71.89's officials.

Played it on my W2K pro 2.5ghz XP 1gb ram GF3 64mb with 66.93's and Moonlight stays@100% as soon as they ingnite and never comes down again below 97%, then tried 44.03's same thing. MP9 with 66.93's was 88-99%, averaging 95% but with the 44.03's it was 85-95% averaging 90%, Perhaps they FUBARed HDVP support with the purevideo generation drivers? You can just set update speed on TM to low if you are worried about getting a good idea of usage over the length of the clip.

Just tried watching some of the Andrews clip on my dual opteron and regardless of player it never stresses over 35% though moonlight gives very uneven graphs with one nearly flatlining ewhile the other dips from sub 15% and peaks above 30. nV player and codec keeps both CPUs much more similar with mid 20's-low 30's usage.

This looks to me like all other MPEG2 based video gets the assist the same as DVD playback does, and the Nv decoder and player definitely worked great with these for me. The W2K system with GF3 seemed to do better with older Dets, though only marginally so, and only with MP9. Makes me think they borked HDVP support in favor of PV in the newer ones but my one system is too small a sample to draw any conclusion from obviously.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Did you monitor CPU usage right the way through? If that's just a snapshot, obviously it won't really be accurate, as there could be jumps in CPU usage, but if that seems to be the average, it's more useful.
Just want to check your method of working out CPU usage

Well I played that same spot +/- a couple seconds and CPU usage was very stable throughout the margin of human media positioning errors. If you know what I mean. Damn thats a mouthful. It's definitely not way off though.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: xtknight
This is with a GeForce 6800 Standard PCI-E. I checked/unchecked Hardware Acceleration in the NVIDIA Video Decoder filter configuration page. I posted this to prove PureVideo isn't completely defunct. All tests done with DirectSound and Video Mixing Renderer 9.

Source: High-Def MPEG-2 NASA video.

Unaccelerated, 76% CPU: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/xtknight/unaccel1.jpg
Accelerated, 39% CPU: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/xtknight/accel1.jpg
Elecard MPEG-2 Decoder, 64% CPU (probably plain old DXVA): http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/xtknight/unaccel2.jpg

As you can see, PureVideo comes just short of cutting CPU usage in half. Also, I think the image quality is greatly improved over third-party filters such as the Elecard decoder. Pretty amazing if you ask me. If only they'd release those WMV dlls.

also if you have intervideo windvd....you can have some hardware processing too. though dvd'd dont take up much cpu, and i think it just uses the actually pixel pipeline to render

 

[xtknight]

I wonder when they're coming out with encoding support. I'm REALLY looking forward to that. My educated guess is never. Hmm...maybe I should e-mail them, and see what they say about that feature on my NVIDIA graphics adapter that never came about. The fact that there's no development kit for PureVideo certainly doesn't help anything either.

 

[T9D]

I downloaded that andrews video. Do I have to have purevideo? It wont play in WMP or powerDVD. Do I need a codec or different player?

 

[Megatomic]

First: is there no audio in that clip?

Second: NV DVD Decoder works with my X800XL. I never saw CPU usage exceed 29% and it frequently stayed below 22%.

 

[Pete]

Man, that is some high-quality video. Nice heat shimmer when Clinton gets off the 'copter, and nice flames out the rear of that jet taking off. I see ~60-80% CPU usage throughout, so ~70% avg., using the ATI/Cyberlink DVD decoder via Media Player Classic. Neither WMP 6.4 nor 9 will even recognize the file. Dunno how to enable/disable hardware acceleration in MPC. either something is working in your PC or not in mine.

This is with a relatively geriatric XP 2400+, PC2100, 9800P.

Mega, no problem with sound (using nForce 1 onboard sound, so probably Realtek). The video had a minor issue with the color--I saw some extra yellow on some edges, probably a fault of my decoder--but it looked great, otherwise. Maybe you don't have the required audio codec?

 

[Megatomic]

Pete, did you have sound or not? I didn't get any audio playback while that clip was rolling...

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: xtknight
I wonder when they're coming out with encoding support. I'm REALLY looking forward to that. My educated guess is never. Hmm...maybe I should e-mail them, and see what they say about that feature on my NVIDIA graphics adapter that never came about. The fact that there's no development kit for PureVideo certainly doesn't help anything either.

I've been wondering about that too....they never even bothered to mention encoding after the initial hype a year ago.

 

[rbV5]

My ATI cards have nearly identical CPU utilization using Nvidia decoders compared to my ex-6800.

Purevideo MPEG decoding on Nvidia cards is about de-interlacing, color space/framerate conversion, not cpu utilization reduction....simple DXVA is doing the lionshare of that work..not Purevideo.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Pete, did you have sound or not? I didn't get any audio playback while that clip was rolling...

I get sound with NStant but not MP10, it starts off with "Hail to the chief".

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

Originally posted by: xtknight
I wonder when they're coming out with encoding support. I'm REALLY looking forward to that. My educated guess is never. Hmm...maybe I should e-mail them, and see what they say about that feature on my NVIDIA graphics adapter that never came about. The fact that there's no development kit for PureVideo certainly doesn't help anything either.

I've been wondering about that too....they never even bothered to mention encoding after the initial hype a year ago.

Hell, they haven't even managed to activate WMV HD decode after all this time, and the pooched that on the 68 series. PureVideo is Pure Bullsh!t.

 

[gsellis]

HA! To prove a point, laptops generally suck... ATI Mobility 9600 w/ 1.6 Pentium M... I get about 10 frames, then loss about 5, then 5, then loss about 5, then 10...

Sorry, OT, but I had to try.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Pete, did you have sound or not? I didn't get any audio playback while that clip was rolling...

I get sound with NStant but not MP10, it starts off with "Hail to the chief".

I wonder why WMP10 doesn't playback the audio track? And here I was thinking it was that my Chaintech AV710 wasn't supported.

 

[Jeff7181]

I can't play the video at all... what codec is needed? I have WMP10 but no nVidia decoder... my trial expired.

*EDIT* Nevermind... using WinDVD.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Pete
Man, that is some high-quality video. Nice heat shimmer when Clinton gets off the 'copter, and nice flames out the rear of that jet taking off. I see ~60-80% CPU usage throughout, so ~70% avg., using the ATI/Cyberlink DVD decoder via Media Player Classic. Neither WMP 6.4 nor 9 will even recognize the file. Dunno how to enable/disable hardware acceleration in MPC. either something is working in your PC or not in mine.

This is with a relatively geriatric XP 2400+, PC2100, 9800P.

Mega, no problem with sound (using nForce 1 onboard sound, so probably Realtek). The video had a minor issue with the color--I saw some extra yellow on some edges, probably a fault of my decoder--but it looked great, otherwise. Maybe you don't have the required audio codec?

I noticed that as well. It might be called ringing.

Originally posted by: Megatomic
First: is there no audio in that clip?

Second: NV DVD Decoder works with my X800XL. I never saw CPU usage exceed 29% and it frequently stayed below 22%.

There is audio in the form of music in that clip. I'm using the NVIDIA Audio Decoder filter just fine.

Originally posted by: rbV5
My ATI cards have nearly identical CPU utilization using Nvidia decoders compared to my ex-6800.

Purevideo MPEG decoding on Nvidia cards is about de-interlacing, color space/framerate conversion, not cpu utilization reduction....simple DXVA is doing the lionshare of that work..not Purevideo.

It appears that the Moonlight DXVA-accelerated codec I downloaded yielded very similar results. I updated the original results.

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: gsellis
HA! To prove a point, laptops generally suck... ATI Mobility 9600 w/ 1.6 Pentium M... I get about 10 frames, then loss about 5, then 5, then loss about 5, then 10...

I wonder if your laptop HD is holding you back more than the low clock speed of the P-M? Especially if you have a 4200rpm drive....

 

[rbV5]

It appears that the Moonlight DXVA-accelerated codec I downloaded yielded very similar results. I updated the original results.

I've noticed the same thing myself. My theory is that they've resorted to using DXVA to assist/accelerate MPEG-2 (like any other DX9 class graphics solution) and enabled what little functionality that exists with the broken PVP (ie deinterlacing, 3:2 pulldown ect.)

Unfortunately, the result is that for interlaced HD MPEG-2 (1080i) what little advantage the PVP has for deinterlacing or 3:2 pull down, framerate conversion, ect, is essentially wasted when displaying on a HDTV display in its native 1080i resolution (none of it is needed) The same is true for 720p and 480p encoded video.

That leaves the only real advantage purevideo has over other existng solutions (IMO) is for 480i encoded DVD's (or other similar MPEG encodings) and then, the only noticable PQ advantage requires looking for scenes that are not handled properly by another solution that purevideo can take advantage of....the real world result is that for the most part, its no to very little advantage at all.

Purevideo is more of a joke as time goes on.....the lack of any support other than MPEG decoding, no word on encoding support...no other supported formats or codecs even though Divx, XVid ect. are well established, and enjoy hardware support in consumer electronics.

I've also got to think there is something seriously wrong on the WMV HD acceleration front. I wish someone would come clean with the real answers because users are being treated like stooges, and Nvidia isn't the only player on the hook as far as I'm concerned. It smells like a conspiracy to me, but what utter nonsense to the whole video enthusiast community.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: rbV5
Purevideo is more of a joke as time goes on.....the lack of any support other than MPEG decoding, no word on encoding support...no other supported formats or codecs even though Divx, XVid ect. are well established, and enjoy hardware support in consumer electronics.

I fully agree, and I'm very disappointed not to have heard anything at all about encoding since the initial release hype a year ago now...

I've also got to think there is something seriously wrong on the WMV HD acceleration front. I wish someone would come clean with the real answers because users are being treated like stooges, and Nvidia isn't the only player on the hook as far as I'm concerned. It smells like a conspiracy to me, but what utter nonsense to the whole video enthusiast community.

Whatever it is, it's bad for us. :thumbsdown:

 

[imported_humey]

BTW, his Purevideo may work and now mines does on mpeg2, i am just awake and back after a 2week "holiday" for my "sexual" remark to some troll i made here in forum, so i will post my findings after my breakfast, but it does for sure work and i hoped it didnt as im in line for a new gpu i was told long ago by UK Trading standards and Chaintech, but still it only 1 aspect works, it wont encode mpeg2 or en/decode mpeg4 or divx as i got in a early Nvidia press release.

Bbiab.