Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC) - DXVA!

[janos666]

Check the About tab in their builds. They use SP1 too.

[Mercury_22]

Originally Posted by janos666

Check the About tab in their builds. They use SP1 too.

Just Alexins it's using SP1 XhmikosR's it's not SP1 I've just checked

[Shakey_Jake33]

Does anybody else have issues with the internal MPEG2 DXVA codec (MPC version 2855)? I've been trying to play some files which are 1440x1080 interlaced files (which used to work in previous versions of MPC-HC when I last tried about 6 months ago) and they judder back and forth between frames quite badly. These same files work fine using the Cyberlink codec with DXVA enabled.

My GPU is a GeForce GT240m 1GB (driver version 266.35, GPU supporting DVXA2), OS is Windows 7 64-bit. If any other information is required, I will of course try to provide.

[namaiki]

^ Post a sample of such a video.

[Casshern]

Originally Posted by tetsuo55

I just ran into that problem myself.
its caused by the "force 10bit input" option in combination with a decoder that does not support 10bit.

It is not limited to any of the 10 bit options. Without any of the 10bit options i get the black screen (i never used them anyhow). It is also regardless of decoder. Newer catalysts (>10.9) have unfortunate other problems (unrelated to mpc hc, related to crossfire configurations, fan control, resolutions above 2536 horizontal), which make them unusable (at least for me). It is also unlikely that the "black screen" issue is related to the catalyst driver. My system: 980X, 5970 (which is a dual GPU board and works in crossfire mode), 12GB RAM, Windows 7 x64 professional, Cat 10.9. A friend with with an almost identical configuration (albeit cat 10.10 and a 920i7) has the exact same problem. All decoders are effected (internal and external, DXVA and non DXVA) and renderer settings do not make any difference (color management on/off, Input 10bit on/off, output 10bit on/off) etc. Also MPC HC 2808 works!

[Peekstra]

For me, the only way to get EVR-CP working is to disable full FP processing (and all other renderer settings) & DXVA and use the test build from the previous page. cat 10.12a, 7 x64, 6950

[tetsuo55]

Originally Posted by Casshern

It is not limited to any of the 10 bit options. Without any of the 10bit options i get the black screen (i never used them anyhow). It is also regardless of decoder. Newer catalysts (>10.9) have unfortunate other problems (unrelated to mpc hc, related to crossfire configurations, fan control, resolutions above 2536 horizontal), which make them unusable (at least for me). It is also unlikely that the "black screen" issue is related to the catalyst driver. My system: 980X, 5970 (which is a dual GPU board and works in crossfire mode), 12GB RAM, Windows 7 x64 professional, Cat 10.9. A friend with with an almost identical configuration (albeit cat 10.10 and a 920i7) has the exact same problem. All decoders are effected (internal and external, DXVA and non DXVA) and renderer settings do not make any difference (color management on/off, Input 10bit on/off, output 10bit on/off) etc. Also MPC HC 2808 works!

My comment was directly aimed at the crushed image problem in the screenshot above my comment. The completely black screen is a different issue.
The ati drivers have recovered a lot with 10.12, but it causes crossfire problems with you.

There is still a lot of research and work being done on the renderer right now (we are lucky to have a new volunteer) so things should improve over time.
The best thing to do is open a support ticket with both your hardware manufacturer and AMD directly.
Make sure to open tickets for all the problems you experience with driver version 10.12. If you know anyone that can reproduce these problems ask them to open tickets too. AMD will put developers on a particular problem only when that problem reaches a certain quota of support tickets.

P.S the same is true for Intel and NVIDIA, dont hesitate to do the same if you have a bug on those hardwares!

[clsid]

So what is being done right now to fix the black picture problem? I think 2837 should be reverted until the cause is clear.

[tetsuo55]

This is the information i have.

issue one: Black screen on Exit when D3D fullscreen is used: This is not a regression, the renderer does not refresh the display on exit, it never has.

issue two: Crushed image (like the screenshot shown above), this has to do with the fact that some driver and codec combinations do not like "forced 10bit", again this is not a regression and will probably have to be fixed in the driver.

issue three: Black screen during playback with D3D and 10bit modes disabled, as far as i can see this is another driver bug, fixed in cat 10.12.


Conclusions:
-Ati has to fix its drivers, users need to have at least 10.12(which fixes many other bugs as well like SD dxva) (intel and nvidia seem completely unaffected).
-We need to add code to refresh the display on exit to D3D fullscreen mode.


Based on the above its easy to see that we are again running into driver bugs with ATI, and a revert is not required.


finally, nightly/unstable builds are exactly that, not meant for daily use. We would not release a stable build in this state.

[clsid]

I strongly disagree. Users should not be forced to update their drivers to fix a problem that did not occur before. That is a very bad attitude to take as a project leader. Many people don't even know what a driver is, let alone how to update one. MPC should at least provide a workaround option to get the old behavior, which might be wrong but at least works.

(talking about the black picture regression here)

[tetsuo55]

I do not believe in hacks to keep old driver versions in use. Having driver manufacturers correct their mistakes and users updating is the best solution.

I'm aware that sometimes updating the driver causes a regression in some other application, thus forcing the user to stick with an older driver. This situation will only last forever and keep getting worse if the user does not open support tickets for those issues.

As i said work on the renderer is still in full progress, we might just find a non-hack way to make the problem go away at some point.
Right now though, all the things you see are by design, thus not bugs.

[Casshern]

You are in error here. The black screen issue has nothing to do with D3D Fullscreen mode. It affects both normal modes and D3D Fullscreen mode of MPC HCs custom presenter. A revert or bugfix is needed - also i know of no case where the upgrade to cat 10.12 fixed this. You are talking about other issues. Please also note Peekstras comment. He tried cat 10.12a (not even "official") and that did not work with DXVA enabled. It also did not work with other renderer settings enabled. Clearly something was broken. This is a bug and not a problem of the cat driver!

Originally Posted by tetsuo55

This is the information i have.

issue one: Black screen on Exit when D3D fullscreen is used: This is not a regression, the renderer does not refresh the display on exit, it never has.

issue two: Crushed image (like the screenshot shown above), this has to do with the fact that some driver and codec combinations do not like "forced 10bit", again this is not a regression and will probably have to be fixed in the driver.

issue three: Black screen during playback with D3D and 10bit modes disabled, as far as i can see this is another driver bug, fixed in cat 10.12.


Conclusions:
-Ati has to fix its drivers, users need to have at least 10.12(which fixes many other bugs as well like SD dxva) (intel and nvidia seem completely unaffected).
-We need to add code to refresh the display on exit to D3D fullscreen mode.


Based on the above its easy to see that we are again running into driver bugs with ATI, and a revert is not required.


finally, nightly/unstable builds are exactly that, not meant for daily use. We would not release a stable build in this state.

[cca]

Also using Catalyst 10.12 here, cards are 2 x ATi Radeon 4850 in crossfire, no black screens observed with or without 10bit input. I do not use 10bit output, and never use D3DFullscreen either. All the decoders I use are forced to a NV12 output, which is what the DXVA decoders also use. Aero is always on too, without it I get tearing sometimes. FP32 processing is enabled in the renderer options.

[edigee]

My issue regarding D3D fullscreen mode exit is not a black screen one but the whole desktop goes very dark as if the brightness is set to minimal. However if I play the video in D3d fullscreen mode it plays fine with normal brightness. Disableing the D3D fullscreen mode the video plays in windowed or full screen mode with the same minimal brightness.
MPC-HC v1.4.1.2845, Ati HD 3650, W 7 Ultimate 32bit, EVR-Cp, driver 10.5, 10bit RGB output, force 10bit RGB input.

[tetsuo55]

Originally Posted by Casshern

You are in error here. The black screen issue has nothing to do with D3D Fullscreen mode. It affects both normal modes and D3D Fullscreen mode of MPC HCs custom presenter. A revert or bugfix is needed - also i know of no case where the upgrade to cat 10.12 fixed this. You are talking about other issues. Please also note Peekstras comment. He tried cat 10.12a (not even "official") and that did not work with DXVA enabled. It also did not work with other renderer settings enabled. Clearly something was broken. This is a bug and not a problem of the cat driver!

What you are talking about is issue 3 in my quote, i cannot find the post you are referring to, but i understand you are saying that for some people the problem occurs even with 10.12.

We need more information in that case:
-Details of test file
-Exact renderer related settings (CTRL+J might still work)
-Video Codec
-Do subtitles and OSD work?
-Os, videocard type and driver version

EDIT: breaking news: After days of research we think we have found the trigger in the code for the black screen problems. There is a limitation or bug in the mixer that prevents certain surface types to be mixed, resulting in just black for the blocked ones. There are several ways to work around this problem, the devs are testing several solutions to find the best one. It wont fix the driver bugs but hopefully prevent triggering them.

[Casshern]

Here is the post by peekstra: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.ph...60#post1471760

Judging from the other posts the black screen issue seems to affect only newer cards in the 5xxx and 6xxx series to different degrees but independent of driver version (tested 10.9, 10.10 and Peekstra tested 10.12a and also has problems).

Here is the information you requested about the problem:

Files = ALL (tested with mkv, avi, m2ts, ts -> black screen)
Renderer = EVR CP with vsync, accurate vsync and alternate vsync ON (all other off)
Video Codec = ALL WITH NV12 OUTPUT (tested internal DXVA H264, internal software H264, ffdshow software H264, ffdshow divx, dscaler itcv mod mp2)
OSD = Works Fine (also CTRL-J)
OS = Windows 7 x64 Professional
Card = AMD Radeon 5970
Driver = Cat 10.9 (others have tried 10.10 and 10.12)

And now the kicker: changing output format of the decoder from NV12 to YUY2 brings back the picture. So basically NV12 input to the renderer is broken with certain configurations of the EVR CP renderer and newer radeon cards. Probably not so hard to fix.

Originally Posted by tetsuo55

What you are talking about is issue 3 in my quote, i cannot find the post you are referring to, but i understand you are saying that for some people the problem occurs even with 10.12.

We need more information in that case:
-Details of test file
-Exact renderer related settings (CTRL+J might still work)
-Video Codec
-Do subtitles and OSD work?
-Os, videocard type and driver version

[sansnom05]

Here's updated test build patched against r2860, added mixer surface to stats output. http://www.mediafire.com/?d53hawr1yxobkhg

For EVR/CP black screen problems, first test with all "10bit/full/half float point processing" options disable, see if it still happens, then add it back one by one. I now found out mixer surface format A8R8G8B8/ARGB32 definitely not working with Full FP, testing other combinations now.

[Casshern]

Originally Posted by sansnom05

Here's updated test build patched against r2860, added mixer surface to stats output. http://www.mediafire.com/?d53hawr1yxobkhg

For EVR/CP black screen problems, first test with all "10bit/full/half float point processing" options disable, see if it still happens, then add it back one by one. I now found out mixer surface format A8R8G8B8/ARGB32 definitely not working with Full FP, testing other combinations now.

Same result (all renderer settings off, except for alternate vsync, accurate vsync, vsync). Decoder output NV12 results in black screen:
Mixer output RGB32
Mixer surface X8R8G8B8
Formats: Surface A8R8G8B8 Backbuffer X8R8G8B8, Display X8R8G8B8.

Decoder set to output YUY2 works:
Mixer output (!): ARGB32
Mixer surface (!): A8R8G8B8
Formats: surface A8R8G8B8 backbuffer X8R8G8B8 Display X8R8G8B8

It seems like NV12 input triggers different mixer formats -> black screen

[cca]

Very interesting, tried the debug build, in my case is the exact opposite!

YUY2 results in black screen, mixer stats as metioned in Casshern's post for YUY2
NV12 displays properly, stats again as above for NV12.

BUT! It only happens if I force 10bit Input in my case. If that is disabled, YUY2 gives same output as NV12.

A bit of warning, when testing the renderer options you must completely stop playback and reopen the file, when I disabled 10bit input the video remained black until I reopened it.

EDIT: to be more precise, black screen if floating point processing is enabled also. If only 10bit RGB is on, it gives strange colors, video is unwatchable.

[cca]

Originally Posted by sansnom05

I now found out mixer surface format A8R8G8B8/ARGB32 definitely not working with Full FP, testing other combinations now.

Seems to work in my ATI though. Too many bugs in those damned drivers, it's different for each ATI card.