Sparklies

[Cyberia]

EDIT: This is all with Beta 20.

Issue #1)
This issue remains in the original thread... (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62795)

Issue #2)
I believe I have discovered one source of 'sparklies' that appear in dark areas of a vob. It seems that playing a mpeg2dec3dg avs file in vdubmod WHILE dvd2avidg has the same vob open AND is directly behind the vdubmod window causes MAJOR sparklies and 'decoding errors'.

Not sure if this is a driver error or strange interaction between the the programs (DirectShow overlay issues), but I can easily reproduce it. I noticed the sparklies and was going to write a bug report, then I moved the vdubmod window and they went away. Moved it back, and they reappeared. Started closing windows but dvd2avi was at the bottom of the pile. IOW, many windows were open between the two screens.

[neuron2]

Originally posted by Cyberia
...and so does neuron2's reply.

[quote]I believe I have discovered one source of 'sparklies' that appear in dark areas of a vob. It seems that playing a mpeg2dec3dg avs file in vdubmod WHILE dvd2avidg has the same vob open AND is directly behind the vdubmod window causes MAJOR sparklies and 'decoding errors'.

Not sure if this is a driver error or strange interaction between the the programs (DirectShow overlay issues), but I can easily reproduce it. I noticed the sparklies and was going to write a bug report, then I moved the vdubmod window and they went away. Moved it back, and they reappeared. Started closing windows but dvd2avi was at the bottom of the pile. IOW, many windows were open between the two screens. Does it happen with the original non-dg versions? I'll have a look at it, but if it is not specifically due to my changes, I won't hold up the first release for it.

EDIT:
WOW! I just duplicated it as you say. DVD2AVI uses the graphics overlay while VDubMod does not. The sparklie pixels are actually transparent and let the underlying DVD2AVI picture show through. Somehow Windows/DirectShow is causing the VDubMod pixels to be treated as transparent. This is obviously a MicroSoft problem. I don't see what I can do about it.

Good find! This needs to be documented far and wide.

[hakko504]

Originally posted by neuron2
Does it happen with the original non-dg versions? I'll have a look at it, but if it is not specifically due to my changes, I won't hold up the first release for it. I've seen this behaviour too on other versions (i.e. 1.76) before so I don't think it's your code.

[neuron2]

Originally posted by hakko504
I've seen this behaviour too on other versions (i.e. 1.76) before so I don't think it's your code. I propose that you add this issue to your DVD2AVI FAQ.

[hakko504]

Originally posted by neuron2
I propose that you add this issue to your DVD2AVI FAQ. Q25 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59272)
Q25 updated to point to this thread

[Nic]

I've seen that problem before, DVD2AVI does use the DirectDraw overlay in a slightly strange way. Does anyone that can re-create the problem easily, have the same problem when using normal 1.77.3 ? I know Jackei changed some of the DD code with that build, so maybe he fixed it and the code can be cut&pasted into the dg version of 2da.

Just a thought :)

-Nic

[neuron2]

@Nic

1.77.3 original has the same problem. Anyway, my version is baselined off that one.

What do you mean when you say "DVD2AVI does use the DirectDraw overlay in a slightly strange way"?

[DDogg]

Well I guess this is sort of a "me too" post but AFAIK, this has always been around for years. I noticed it back in the NanDub days and thought it was common knowledge. This was with pre 1.76 versions and later. I don't think it effects the encoding at all, at least it never caused me a problem IIRC. I just thought it was a directdraw cosmetic problem when the two screens were lined up one behind the other and caused things to look funny when viewing. All this being said, I have not done mpeg4 in a long time so I don't know if anything has happened with later versions that might cause the actual encode to be effected. Has anybody actually reported bad encoding?

[Cyberia]

@Neuron2, nic, DDogg and anyone else who can (or cannot) reproduce the Sparklies problem:

What video card are you using?
What drivers are you using?

There is a chance that this is a problem with how the video driver implements the overlay/DirectDraw. If we can say "Yes, Nvidia or Matrox does NOT have this problem", then we can pin it to the drivers.

The reason for doing this? If it is a driver issue, we have a moderate posibility of getting it fixed. Video card companies fix this kind of stuff. If it is a Microsoft issue, we are screwed... unless someone can find a workaround.

My video setup:
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Catalyst 3.7 drivers (the latest)

[DDogg]

Cyberia, I don't want to get OT in this thread so if you want to start a thread on this I'll be happy to answer.

[hakko504]

I've split the threads so now you can answer ;)

[DDogg]

@hakko, thread splitting is a handy little feature ain't it :)

@Cyberia - Could not reproduce this problem on my Gforce4 card. I seem to remember it happening on a Radeon VE that is in another machine, which I still have, so tomorrow will try to see if I can reproduce the problem on it.

Later - Cyberia, the DD overlay is not even activated on my XP/Gforce2 machine so of course I would not have the problem on it.

[hakko504]

Sure is, but I think something went wrong, so it is possible that some won't get email notifications of the other thread. Just resubscribe if you are interested.