MPC-HC and Brodcom BCM70012 issue

[Shike]

Greetings,

I'm currently having issues with this combination and am trying to figure out if my broadcom is faulty or not. Currently I'm running svn 1976 of MPC and the latest Broadcom drivers. I set the external filters to the Broadcom Video Decoder and set it to preferred. I try playing a 720P mkv file encoded in AVC with subtitles, and using the DTS_Info tool to monitor usage of the Broadcom. The Broadcom gets listed as active, and my CPU usage hovers around 25% - however the video is EXTREMELY choppy, freezing for long periods while the audio continues to play. Using VLC and avoiding the broadcom (but experiencing high CPU usage) the video plays rather smoothly. Same for when I use the arcsoft video decoder in MPC.

Anyone know what the issue may be? :confused:

[Superb]

If you use Windows 7's internal H.264 DXVA decoder, do you see the issues?

[roozhou]

@Superb
If Shike's video card supports DXVA, he cannot be using a Broadcom BCM70012 card.

[Shike]

I'm using a N450 based system, so yes there's no hardware based decoding except for the Broadcom.

Using Win 7's internal H.264 decoder has the same result as using the Broadcom's (in fact, it's using the Broadcom hardware) - low CPU usage, but video that freezes like a screenshot often with the audio still playing.

It not only 720P material that does this, but also 480P too.

EDIT:

Sorry, seems I forgot to reboot MPC. It now plays similar to VLC, high CPU usage but bearable-ish in terms of video fluidity.

Another update:

Running the video directly through Arcsoft makes the Broadcom Active, reduces CPU usage, and plays smoothly. However, Arcsoft doesn't support subtitles :|

[Shike]

HUGE UPDATE:

It seems that all players will work without stuttering using the Broadcom, but ONLY IF Arcsoft is running in the background.

AustinPowersISU discovered this in post 231 at the XBMC thread here (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=65700&page=24)

Three of us are using an Acer Aspire 532H with the Broadcom, and ever instance the Arcsoft running in background seems to fix the issues. Any idea what it's doing guys?

[ashlar42]

Shike, do you manage to playback 1080p MKVs with Broadcom? Even with TMT running in the background I'm having 30-40% CPU usage but severe stuttering (it seems it's losing one frame for each two decoded).

Also, are you getting good seek times with MPC-HC? On my machine it freezes for several seconds whenever you try seeking ahead or backward with the slider...

[Veazer]

HUGE UPDATE:

It seems that all players will work without stuttering using the Broadcom, but ONLY IF Arcsoft is running in the background.

AustinPowersISU discovered this in post 231 at the XBMC thread here (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=65700&page=24)

Three of us are using an Acer Aspire 532H with the Broadcom, and ever instance the Arcsoft running in background seems to fix the issues. Any idea what it's doing guys?

Shike, do you manage to playback 1080p MKVs with Broadcom? Even with TMT running in the background I'm having 30-40% CPU usage but severe stuttering (it seems it's losing one frame for each two decoded).

Also, are you getting good seek times with MPC-HC? On my machine it freezes for several seconds whenever you try seeking ahead or backward with the slider...

Just for the record, I'm running a BCM970015 on a Dell Mini 9 (N270 processor). The BCM970015 should have similar results to the BCM970012, it just adds mpeg-4 decoding iirc.

I'm running XP and what i've noticed is that overlay renderer stutters a little bit, not unusable by any means, but EVR and EVR CP play very smooth. I'm using the v1.4.2499 build of MPC HC. I didn't need to add the broadcom as preferred, the default DXVA settings on the internal filter checklist select it just fine.

I've never installed any arcsoft players or anything like that, just the broadcom drivers and MPC HC. 1080p plays great. Seeking does take a few seconds for the machine to catch up, and the first few seconds of playback are choppy, but it's nothing too bad.