Blackgold BTG3595 poor HD performance

Nforce

Just had a new Sky+ install recently(basic package but with freeview HD channels added) and during the setup I had the installer run an extra pair of satellite feeds from the lnb for a separate htpc. I got a Blackgold BTG3595 tuner card last week and am having severe problems with HD channels...they are unwatchable due to freezing and break up. HD channels on the Sky+ box are perfect. I'm running the latest drivers,4 pin floppy power connector is connected and the htpc has ample power*. Anyone with similar issues? Perhaps I need a larger dish fitted?






*htpc specs:
Dell XPS420
Intel qx9650 quadcore processor
4gb of pc6400 DDR2 memory
nvidia 8800gtx
LG Bluray/HD-DVD player
2x500gb and 1x1tb hdd's
Win 7 Ultimate 64bit

John mac

the dish will not have anything to do with it.

must be something to do with the htpc setup.
(something similar here)

rlogue

It's not the dish. If you have a good enough signal for SD and for a Sky box then the dish is fine.

HD does require far more processing power than SD but you appear to have a decent spec PC.

What software are you using to watch TV? I would recommend DVBViewer and make sure you have the right codec selected. For me I have a dual core Athlon processor on the PC I'm writing this message from. I have also got a 1GB ATI graphics card and this makes a lot of difference on HD.

The codecs I use for HD are the Microsoft DTV driver, along with the EVR video renderer.

Nforce

I appreciate the help,folks.:)
I'm using Win7's Media Centre with the Shark007 codecs.I've no issue's running Bluray rips or any other HD media. The problem only manifests itself on viewing the HD channels through the tuner card. I'll install DVbviewer later and see if the problem remains. The Nvidia card should be more than powerful enough at 768mb. Of course,it may be possible that the tuner itself is faulty.

Nforce

An update..

I installed DVBviewer and the HD channels work fine,so my issue in Win 7's Media Centre is software bound ....most likely the codecs.

Nforce

So...

I spent the weekend uninstalling/re-installing codecs,altering virtual memory settings, disabling anti virus,re-scanning the channels and still the problem persists. Even DVBviewer gave up the ghost and began stuttering and pixelating. Surely I'm not the only one with this issue?:(

Boo_hoo

What is your cpu usage like when you're viewing HD channels?

Is it only the Saorview HD channels that jump or do the Freesat HD channels Freeze also.

Your pc should be powerful enough to run HD. Try installing CoreAvc Codec.

Nforce

Boo_hoo wrote: »

What is your cpu usage like when you're viewing HD channels?

Is it only the Saorview HD channels that jump or do the Freesat HD channels Freeze also.

Your pc should be powerful enough to run HD. Try installing CoreAvc Codec.

CPU usage was normal,iirc (I'll check it again). Both Saorview and Freesat HD channels are affected. The PC has no problems running any other HD media. I'll give the CoreAvc codec a try too.

Edit: Okay...CPU usage is ~6% on all four cores. Memory usage is ~50%. I've installed CoreAvc and the issue remains as before.

godskitchen

Have you ruled out a hardware fault....... It could be the card?

Nforce wrote: »

CPU usage was normal,iirc (I'll check it again). Both Saorview and Freesat HD channels are affected. The PC has no problems running any other HD media. I'll give the CoreAvc codec a try too.

Edit: Okay...CPU usage is ~6% on all four cores. Memory usage is ~50%. I've installed CoreAvc and the issue remains as before.

Nforce

I could lash it in another pc with a vanilla Windows 7 install to see if the issue remains...and I've a cheap usb DVB-T tuner that I might install to see how RTE HD transmissions appear.

John mac

on my usb tuner rte2 uses 30% cpu. (core 2 2.6ghz, 2 megs ram and winxp )

godskitchen

I have a card that sometimes plays up with HD, taking it out and putting it back in again fixes it, for a time. Need to do it about once a week. It's a fault with the card.

I too spent a long time thinking it was driver related.

Blackgold kit is pretty good in relation to drivers. I would strongly suspect a hardware fault.

I am sure there is someone on here that would live near you and let you try it on their set up.......

Nforce

I've just tried the USB tuner and am getting the same problem..jittery playback...so that rules out a fault with the BTG3595 . I'll install the card in another pc and see if the issue remains.
The only thing that I can think of that may be a possible candidate for this issue is my HTPC's psu (standard Dell 375watt unit)?

desaparecidos

I have a BTG3595 and have the same issues. My previous DVB-S card was also giving me issues.

I've tried the HTPC on three different sat dishes and still the breakup of HD channels and lately even SD channels have stutters and audio breakup.

I thought that my ATI HD5450 was the issue as it seems to have not the best video error handling.

So I bought a GF GT430 which gave me a slight improvement. The video stuttering / breakup / artefacting isn't as bad, which is almost even more annoying. Instead of obvious breakup, the video seems to slow down momentarily with audio breakups. I had a clean install of Windows 7 with only the Windows DTV codes present when testing out the new video card.

When I disabled DXVA on the HD5450 setup, it seem to fix the problem, no breakups on HD or SD, I assume it will be the same for the GT430. But then the CPU gets really hot and loud fan kicks in. Also De-interlacing isn't as good as with DXVA.

So after spending a bucket load on parts, then replacing with other parts, I still have no solution. Maybe PC tuners are just inherently weaker / not as sensitive as dedicated ones. Time to get a STB?

Maybe CoreAVC running with CUDA acceleration rather than DXVA might be a solution for HD, but this won't work in Media Center and I'm not sure your 8800gtx supports CUDA.

I have issues on both 32bit and 64bit so I don't think that has any influence.

Owning a HTPC is depressing.

EDIT:
I should also mention that I am getting 100% quality and 60% strength on 28.2E using http://www.fastsatfinder.com.

Nforce

It's doesn't bode well for my htpc then!:eek:

Btw, the 8800GTX does support CUDA. I've tried both enabling and disabling DXVA...without change. I also downloaded a small program to allow me to change codecs,..no change. I'll throw the tuner card in another PC tomorrow to see what happens.

STB

Its sounds codec related, probably some codec which is taking over preferred usage of all H264. Try playing it through VLC which wont allow anything other than its own x264 play the live transport stream.

If thats steady thats your answer. Best of luck tracking down all the installed codec dll's. From memory you can pick what preferred decoder does what - is it Haali Media Splitter?

Nforce

The programs that I've been using to swap codecs are MCDU and Win7DSFilterTweaker. None have solved my problem,however.:(

Nforce

Yet another update!

Well,after faffing about with the htpc over the past couple of days I've discovered that the issue is definitely codec related.Unfortunately,as I'm running Windows 7 64 bit Media Center it is not possible,as far as I'm aware, to change the 64bit h264 codec without breaking Live TV. Looks like I'm going to have to downgrade the OS to 32bit if I want a working HD live tv.

desaparecidos

I have Win 7 32bit and forced Media Center to use the CyberLink decoder but was very choppy on the HD5450, haven't tried with the Nvidia card.

I think the results can be a bit flaky when asking Media Center to use a decoder other than the Win 7 DTV decoder.

Maybe Media Portal might be an option for you, not as sleek an interface but works well with a range of decoders.

EDIT:
Also can I ask what kind of testing or what happened for you to come to the conclusion it is decoder related? Might help me with my problems.

Nforce

FIXED IT!


It turns out that the current batch of Nvidia drivers are somehow corrupting the WMC codec. By reverting to a much older driver (197.45) my HD live tv is fixed.
I'd previously tried different drivers but hadn't gone back as far as 197.45.