ReClock DirectShow filter : try it !

[Chibi Jasmin]

Originally posted by ogo
This is called the "rate" in directshow. For example, when you "increase rate" in MPC, you will change the directshow "rate" for all the filters in the graph. reclock as a filter can also be slaved by rate change (try it with MPC).

Okay...thanx for explaining...

Originally posted by ogo


The only way to correct audio is to slow it or to accelerate it, by two means :
(1) pitch change by the hardware (with limitations on some sound cards)
(2) software resampling
i only implement solution (2) in the current version. But you make me think i could also propose solution (1) in future versions. In fact my very early work was using version (1) but i was not happy with the results.

In fact I would like to see also version 1 in ReClock...maybe as an option for the user to chose, depending on what the user wants. I have been using method 1 for some time now (with DivxG400 (48000Hz->50049Hz) or DVobSub (rate 1.00 -> 1.04(27...)) without any problems on an SB PCI 128 and an SB Live card.

[gabest]

- AC3Filter: strange again. This time it works for Chibi Jasmin and me, but not for Gabest. Which version of AC3Filter do you use Gabest ?

Just noticed something, this problem only happens with pure, demuxed ac3 files. (demuxed with dvd2avi)

[Chibi Jasmin]

Just tried that...pure ac3 with ac3filter and reclock also sounds kinda weird...

[ogo]

Hi again

0.96 is available. It contains :
- hopefully a fix for intervideo audio decoder
- hardware resampling by your sound card (see properties) :-)
- a manual frame rate combo when frame rate cannot be determined

Known bugs still to be corrected :
- sometimes sound is creaking like mad on some channels with software resampler. Pausing and restarting the graph fix the problem
- a deadlock (seen when playing DVD with MPC)
- looping sound in DVD menus (seen with MPC)
- does not work under win98 (i'll see that next week end)

I played a bit with AC3 filter and iviaudio, and here are my results with ac3test.vob on my 4 channels sound card :
- with iviaudio : left front ok, right front ok, i got center on left+right front, right surround ok, left surround ok, lfe on left front (!)
- with ac3 filter : 2_2 quadro config. Same results (even for lfe)

Update:
Gabest i also reproduced the problem with pure AC3 file extracted with DVD2AVI. This sure is a reclock bug since it works fine with the default renderer

OGO

[gabest]

"center on left+right" is ok to my opinion, and lfe coming out on left front is not a bug, that's the correct mapping if you don't have a real lfe output.

[cca]

I tested your new version Ogo and found that AC3Filter does not work when set to outpout olny 2 channels. But it works with 4 channels. On the other hand, the intervideo filter works fine. The AC3Filter, when set to output only 2 channels invokes by default the directsound renderer and not ReClock. When set for 4 channels, ReClock loads by default. If I force ReClock for 2 channels, no audio is played. I have not tested with more than 4 channels. The previous version works with AC3Filter and 2 channel output.
One other thing I noticed is that the first 1 or 2 seconds of the audio are cut off. But this is minor bug compared to the AC3Filter issue.

[FredThompson]

All that's on this page:

http://www.geocities.com/casimir999/

is what looks like a DSL optimizer.

Would you please add links for your ReClock filter?

[gabest]

You can find the links at the very first post of this thread.

[FredThompson]

Yes, I know. I'd like to add this to the links lists I maintain on Donald Graft's site and deep linking into the Doom9 forum is somewhat awkward compared to going straight a support site. Some of the links are into forums but that can become a problem. For example, there are threads on one of the TiVo forums that run into the thousands of replies. If people are directed to a support site, it reduces the demand on the discussion boards.

edit: oops, that should read, "hundreds"

--

(OT) Love VobSub, btw.

[gabest]

Ah, I see

[BlackSun]

I was wondering if you can add a switch to prevent the filter from loading (that's easier than registering/unregistering).

Welcome back OGO (remember mpeg4-fr ? )

[Chibi Jasmin]

Man, this thing works great now! You made me very happy...finally I can do frame rate conversion on dvds with multichannel without any hassle! This manual frame rate thing works fine...intervideo audio is fixed for me to (5.1) and hardware as well as software resampling also works...THANX A LOT!

Can you make the setting for hardware resampling on/off stick?

[ogo]

Quick update: 0.96b is available and fix two problems :
- 2 channels not working with AC3Filter (i'm so stupid sometimes)
- volume/pan not restored correctly when switching from hardware/software resampling

Next version is due only this week-end. I need time to find and fix other problems (deadlocks, win98, etc ...)

Hi BlackSun, it's a long time ago ... Nice to talk to you again

Chibi Jasmin, the setting for hardware resampling should stick. It's always saved in registry

FredThompson, i'll do a little support site on geocities later in the week

[Chibi Jasmin]

Will try, if it sticks, I was under the impression it doesn't, well, I'll see...thanx for everything...

UPDATE: Seems to stick indeed...

[ogo]

The little web site is online. All future versions will be on this site.

Here is the url : http://www.geocities.com/reclockfilter

[cca]

Well, I found another bug. I have a DVD movie which starts without first going to the menu, it plays the movie immediately. If I go to the menu, normaly I hear nohing because there is no sound in that DVD's menu. With ReClock instead of silence I hear the last few seconds of sound repeating over and over until I resume normal playback. Just something to look over for the next release!

[Chibi Jasmin]

ogo, can you include a button to enable/disable the clock correction (leaving frame rate conversion working)? I am not sure and I am not blaming your filter, but I still have some jerkiness occasionally here and would like to do a few tests without clock correction, although I doubt it will help, because I have the same problems with DSound Renderer, might just as well be the VBR MP3 in the AVI I used for testing . The frame rate conversion still is very useful, anyway...

Did I understand it correctly, that your filter tries to deliver a steady frame rate correcting the audio speed/clock to match the video? And video is precisely played with the chosen frame rate?

BTW: I am using G400 DH with DVDMax option for playback on TV.

UPDATE: I just read this explanation on your page:

'It provides a new reference clock that is locked to the video card hardware clock, in order to ensure that frames are played at the exact speed of what is expected by the video card vertical sync.'

So, let's say I have 100 Hz refresh rate for the monitor...program choses to use pal mode and plays my 23.976 movie at 25 fps. But maybe 100 Hz is not exactly 100 Hz on my card but a little off...would that mean, that my movie is also not exactly 25 fps? This might be the reason for jerkiness on TV (expecting 25 fps, although I understood it doesn't have to be precise for the TV), what do you think? Just an idea...does the behaviour of reclock change, if I set it to auto,25 fps or refresh rate/4?

[gabest]

Hey ogo, can I ask you a favor, could you check if mpc and its audio switcher are transferring the data for spdif correctly? I can't try it because I don't have any external equipment, but those who have are saying that only silence is coming out.

[ogo]

cca> yes, i'm looking into it

gabest> my audio card has sp/dif but i don't have equipment to connect to it Moreover reclock does not accept digital media type. But i'll make quick test (make reclock accept digital) and see if data i receive contains all zeros or not, maybe it could help you.
I also have a question for you What do you do in MPC in DVD mode when the user click on "root menu" ? Do you pause/stop and restart the graph ? I have a looping sound problem, because my filter does not get notified at all ? Maybe it's another critical section problem ...

BTW is there something i don't know about 16 bits, mono, PCM sound format ? I have a bug that drives me crazy : playing a sound file in 16bits, mono, 11025hz PCM format just produce noise with reclock, where :
- 8bits, mono or stereo, 11025 hz plays fine
- 16bits, *stereo*, 11025 hz plays fine (!!!)
- 8 or 16bits, mono or stereo, all other sample rate plays fine (grrr)

The AC3Filter problem with "pure" AC3 files also is very strange. I'm beginning to think it's a problem in AC3Filter because :
- if i recompile AC3Filter in debug mode, all is fine
- if i recompile AC3Filter in release mode, the problem shows up
- if i recompile AC3Filter in release mode but disable optimizations, all is fine
Anyway, it does not confirm at all it is a problem inside AC3Filter.

Chibi Jasmin>Yes you understood right. I tried to explain with great length in the readme, but my english is not perfect (i'm french). Whatever mode you choose, the reference clock of reclock will ALWAYS be synced with your video card. So if for example your video card runs at 100hz, the reference clock will exactly thinks 1 second has exactly elapsed each time your monitor advance 100 vertical syncs. So if you play a DIVX with reclock at a framerate that is a multiple of your video refresh rate, it will play in sync with your hardware. It's very important ESPECIALLY for TV out (i explain that in the manual and it's the contrary of what you think about TV).
Without reclock, your video hardware, and directshow don't use the same time base, and there is some deviation. I've made a lot of test with my tv and my pc, and i can attest that reclock does work at least for me. But you will still get dropped frames if there are time consuming tasks in the backgrond (kazaa, edonkey for example) when you play a divx, or if your divx has some problems. As you know windows in not a real time OS, and media playback has very tight timings ... So a Win 2000/XP kernel is better for the task.
The whole problem is precision: the ppm indicator give you an indication of how precise the current correction is.
The frame rate detection and adaptation is just here to adapt DIVX where the framerate is not a multiple of the video refresh rate. When you play with the "media adaptation" combo, you just modify how the DIVX frames can match with the video card, you don't modify anything in the reference clock. Just choose an adaptation that will produce a final frame rate that is a multiple of your video card. Hope i'm clear
I don't see an interest in disabling the "corrected" reference clock. You can just uninstall reclock if you want to see the difference between reclock and the default audio renderer.

[gabest]

Originally posted by ogo
I also have a question for you What do you do in MPC in DVD mode when the user click on "root menu" ? Do you pause/stop and restart the graph ? I have a looping sound problem, because my filter does not get notified at all ? Maybe it's another critical section problem ...

Nothing more is happenning than a call to IDvdControl2::ShowMenu, but the dvd nav filter is a crap as it is, it can't seek while being paused, and everything it does has a huge latency, 0.5-1 sec is the minimum.