Video Encode / Decode With 6800 GT

[jrphoenix]

I was trying to figure out how to use the encoder / decoder with my 6800 GT? Is this feature functional now? Any idea when Nvidia will have this feature working?

Thank you!

 

[Gamingphreek]

We have no idea when this feature will work... it is not functional now.... right now the Geforce 6 series uses more CPU utilization than the other cards in encoding decoding (without the onboard thing being activated)

-Kevin

 

[gsellis]

nVidia does not know either. They had a press release that had something like 30%, but with no parameters listed. I did see a benchmark were it did not appear to be on as Gamingphreek mentioned. The ATI one seems to be doing something, but not sure what yet either. Waiting to get one to test as I have a project that has a need for speed in the WMV HD space.

 

[jrphoenix]

Thank you for the updates! I was hoping that Nvidia would be quick to implement the drivers for these features. I had always heard they were better about drivers than ATI (my previous card 8500).

 

[Gamingphreek]

ATI doesn't have an onboard encoder/decoder. They have something similiar but it isn't HW it is software.

-Kevin

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: jrphoenix
Thank you for the updates! I was hoping that Nvidia would be quick to implement the drivers for these features. I had always heard they were better about drivers than ATI (my previous card 8500).

They are generally better about driver stability in my experience, but as far as features and the like goes, ATi is often the innovator.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: gsellis
nVidia does not know either. They had a press release that had something like 30%, but with no parameters listed. I did see a benchmark were it did not appear to be on as Gamingphreek mentioned. The ATI one seems to be doing something, but not sure what yet either. Waiting to get one to test as I have a project that has a need for speed in the WMV HD space.

Some of us tested with the Step into Liquid trailer in 1080p and it seems that right now the PVP is completely inactive. The CPU seems to get loaded the most and P4 HT's handle it perfectly, while some fairly high clocked AMD systems drop frames. I went from losing 10 frames with a 9800pro to zero with the 6800GT, why I'm nto certain, but it doesn't appear it had anything to do with the PVP.

 

[phreaqe]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: gsellis
nVidia does not know either. They had a press release that had something like 30%, but with no parameters listed. I did see a benchmark were it did not appear to be on as Gamingphreek mentioned. The ATI one seems to be doing something, but not sure what yet either. Waiting to get one to test as I have a project that has a need for speed in the WMV HD space.

Some of us tested with the Step into Liquid trailer in 1080p and it seems that right now the PVP is completely inactive. The CPU seems to get loaded the most and P4 HT's handle it perfectly, while some fairly high clocked AMD systems drop frames. I went from losing 10 frames with a 9800pro to zero with the 6800GT, why I'm nto certain, but it doesn't appear it had anything to do with the PVP.

i went from a 2 frame per second slideshow to dropping zero frames when i got my 6800 gt. this is on a athlon 2500 at stock speeds

EDIT: my old card was a geforce 3 ti 500

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
ATI doesn't have an onboard encoder/decoder. They have something similiar but it isn't HW it is software.

-Kevin

It is listed as part of the VideoShader HD as included in the RAGE Theater chipset. Sounds like h/w to me. ATI could not tell me what the percentage offload was in direct conversations. You would think that they would say that that h/w did not exist if we asked about it specifically.

edit - it is WMV9 decode only btw.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: gsellis

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
ATI doesn't have an onboard encoder/decoder. They have something similiar but it isn't HW it is software.

-Kevin

It is listed as part of the VideoShader HD as included in the RAGE Theater chipset. Sounds like h/w to me. ATI could not tell me what the percentage offload was in direct conversations. You would think that they would say that that h/w did not exist if we asked about it specifically.

edit - it is WMV9 decode only btw.

Its encoding and decoding, but its not the Rage Theater Chipset doing the acceleration, it uses the pixel shader pipeline. It's programmable, and ultimately will support WMV9, but isn't currently enabled.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: phreaqe

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: gsellis
nVidia does not know either. They had a press release that had something like 30%, but with no parameters listed. I did see a benchmark were it did not appear to be on as Gamingphreek mentioned. The ATI one seems to be doing something, but not sure what yet either. Waiting to get one to test as I have a project that has a need for speed in the WMV HD space.

Some of us tested with the Step into Liquid trailer in 1080p and it seems that right now the PVP is completely inactive. The CPU seems to get loaded the most and P4 HT's handle it perfectly, while some fairly high clocked AMD systems drop frames. I went from losing 10 frames with a 9800pro to zero with the 6800GT, why I'm nto certain, but it doesn't appear it had anything to do with the PVP.

i went from a 2 frame per second slideshow to dropping zero frames when i got my 6800 gt. this is on a athlon 2500 at stock speeds

EDIT: my old card was a geforce 3 ti 500

This just keeps getting weirder

Hey rbV5, have you tried the trailer since increasing your AGP aperture/ It'd be interesting to see if it solves this problem like it did with the demo *long shot?*

EDIT: Don't bother, it doesn't do a thing. However I'm on a SN45G while I wait for my psu for my A64 boxen to get here, and@400DC-DDR 2ghz it dropped frames like crazy, @2.2ghz it dropped 12. @2.3ghz it dropped 3, this is all about CPU power.

phreaqe was it the 1080p Step into Liquid you tried? Because I'm having difficulty believing a 1.83ghz CPU that differs only in cache size from mine, and that is running lower fsb can play this trailer flawlessly with the same vid card.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

n/m

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: rbV5
Its encoding and decoding, but its not the Rage Theater Chipset doing the acceleration, it uses the pixel shader pipeline. It's programmable, and ultimately will support WMV9, but isn't currently enabled.

Thanks. It is poorly documented. I walked through some other docs and could not find it referenced at all. Is the decode not enabled or the acceleration? I am thinking it may be the decode as one site showed little difference with older cards (Tom's?).

 

[rbV5]

Is the decode not enabled or the acceleration?

WMV acceleration is not enabled with either Catalyst or Forceware (encode, or decode). And yes it is poorly documented with both camps. Seems gaming performance is the thrust with the software guys rather than multimedia features.

2.3GHz seems to be the threshold for AMD (Barton anyway) for playing the most demanding 1080p WMV files, but it's using every bit of its crunching power to not skip any frames.

It looks like it would be a decent CPU/software benchmark if you could generate a results file. I know JetAudio6 seems far more efficient at playback than WMP for some reason, and Zoomplayer now supports DRM IIRC also. I also think an encoding benchmark using WME9 would be great. Encoding transport streams should be popular as more users get OTA HD tuners.

Another good test would be playback of the transport streams themselves. They are MPEG-2 with AC3 audio compression with a much higher bitrate than those WMV files. There is transport stream support in some software players now, so it would be another good test.