DSCaler and Vista woes...

[Blue_MiSfit]

Hey guys,

Well - I just got digital cable at the house, and so I went out and bought a very cheap capture card.

It's based on the Conexant 2388x chipset, and I would ordinarily use DScaler.

My friend has the exact same card, and it works flawlessly in XP for live viewing and capture to HuffYUV, both tasks performed with DScaler.

Now - I can get DScaler to work in Vista x64, but it's not stable. It breaks Aero, and is generally unusable when multitasking (especially when gaming).

Is there a similar program, or some new version of DScaler out there that works with Aero?

Media Player Classic works, but is extremely laggy and has overall poor response.

DScaler on XP responds like a hot knife through butter - that's the kind of experience I'm looking for :)

Suggestions?

I'm open to using a different capture card - I just want something with a decent composite input (ATSC / QAM digital would be nice too) and good software for Vista x64!

Thanks in advance,

~MiSfit

[Kado]

The aero break is due to overlay mixer usage with nvidia cards, can't confirm for ati.

[Blue_MiSfit]

Damn. Any way to make DScaler use anything other than the overlay mixer?

I imagine the overlay mixer explains its excellent performance :|

~MISfit

[avih]

Damn. Any way to make DScaler use anything other than the overlay mixer?

I imagine the overlay mixer explains its excellent performance :|

~MISfit
Settings -> Output type -> Direct3D

It's somewhat experimental though IMHO, and with few limitations, but worth checking out.

Also, The video capture mechanisms of windows are very unstable by default. I wouldn't try using a video capture card while playing or while using other "complex" applications.

[dat720]

The aero break is due to overlay mixer usage with nvidia cards, can't confirm for ati.

It's not limited to nVidia, pretty much every chipset is broken with overlay and aero, i beleave it's because aero uses Direct3D where overlay needs DirectDraw

[Blue_MiSfit]

Gotcha.

I'll try the Direct3d renderer.

If this fails, are there any good programs that offer the same low latency functionality as DScaler - while maintaining full compatibility with Aero / D3D?

Thanks!!

~MiSfit

[dat720]

None that i've found!!!

at least none that are as functional as DScaler...

[avih]

Although I haven't played with it much, it's possible that you can achieve similar functionality to what you need with a somewhat more cumbersome interface.

I'd try the following components:

1. DScaler: just for controlling the capture card (change channels mostly). There could be better options (possibly some even integrated to the viewer), but I HAVE tried it and it works (i.e. when I capture using virtualdub or transmit using VLC). You just have to set DScaler with Actions -> Stop video, and then open your other capture app, and control the channels from the no-video DScaler. It would be better to make DScaler directly open in that mode, but I have not tried it.

2. MPC for the capture/view ("Open Device"). I'm naming MPC here because it can use filters to control the output.

Which brings me to..

3. ffdshow. It can deinterlace decently by itself and apply many of its filters, and it can also use DScaler for more deinterlacers and filters.

It's definitely not a simple setup, but I bet it could work well. Worth a try IMO if you're unable to use DScaler's output modes.

[Blue_MiSfit]

Okay - so DScaler 4.1.17 alpha works great in Direct3d mode!

1) Audio is a problem, I get no audio in DScaler, since my cables are like this:

Cable box -> Capture card (RCA) for video, and sound card (2x RCA -> 3.5mm)
sound card -> receiver (S/PDIF)

I need to real-time digitize analog input to S/PDIF. Media Player Classic can do this, but it doesn't render any video :(

I'm not using DScaler to change any channels, since I have a digital cable box.

Any idea how to make my sound card real-time digitize the analog input? It's a SoundMax integrated HD audio chipset on an Asus p35 chipset motherboard... I know it can be done, since Media Player Classic can do it :(

~MiSfit