madVR - high quality video renderer (GPU assisted)

[spon]

Hi everyone,

First I would just like to thank @madshi for such a wonderful product. I've been using MadVR for a few years now, but never really dove too deep into the settings until recently. I did a search in this thread and read through the last 15-20 pages before posting, so I hope this hasn't already been covered.

I upgraded my GPU to a GTX 960 a few weeks ago to specifically help with HEVC x265 playback. For non-x265 content, I am able to get smooth playback of 720p and 1080p sources to my 1080p plasma TV (Samsung PN64D7000) with MadVR rendering a fantastic picture. However, I am still having some issues playing back 1080p x265 content. I am can normally get smooth playback around 1200 kbps or under, but even in that range on some videos I get rendering times that jump well over 40+ on occasion. If I pause the playback (or even better, stop playback) and restart, the playback will be smooth for a while again. Higher bitrate x265 videos (2500 kbps +) will be well over 40-50 rendering times.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but my main question is this... Is my CPU potentially bottlenecking the GTX 960? My understanding was that the 960 decodes x265 content without the processor, but I could be totally off-base on that. I do have a under-powered CPU (AMD A6-6400k) so I'm guessing that's the culprit, but before I invest in a better CPU and new motherboard, I would just like to make sure that my thinking is correct.

Thanks guys!

[aufkrawall]

I'd try disabling deband fade- and black bar detection.
Are you using the latest LAV filters and what are your settings for it?

[spon]

I'd try disabling deband fade- and black bar detection.
Are you using the latest LAV filters and what are your settings for it?

Thanks for the reply. I never even thought about the LAV filters. I don't think I've updated those settings for a couple of years, but I do think I have the latest version. I'm playing media through Emby and I believe the latest version contains the latest LAV. However, I haven't updated anything in LAV so the settings are probably messing me up.

Screenshot below. Thanks again.

[Warner306]

Thanks for the reply. I never even thought about the LAV filters. I don't think I've updated those settings for a couple of years, but I do think I have the latest version. I'm playing media through Emby and I believe the latest version contains the latest LAV. However, I haven't updated anything in LAV so the settings are probably messing me up.

Screenshot below. Thanks again.

It sounds like hardware acceleration isn't functional.

Set LAV Video to allow hardware acceleration with DXVA2 (copy-back) and check the checkbox for HEVC. This will prevent the CPU from decoding this format.

Try this link for more detailed setup: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=209596&pid=1843541#pid1843541

[spon]

It sounds like hardware acceleration isn't functional.

Set LAV Video to allow hardware acceleration with DXVA2 (copy-back) and check the checkbox for HEVC. This will prevent the CPU from decoding this format.

Try this link for more detailed setup: [URL="

Thanks Warner. I've read a lot of your work in various forums over the past few months. Really appreciate it.

[spon]

It sounds like hardware acceleration isn't functional.

Set LAV Video to allow hardware acceleration with DXVA2 (copy-back) and check the checkbox for HEVC. This will prevent the CPU from decoding this format.

Try this link for more detailed setup: [URL="

Ok, so I think the problem is with Emby playback itself. Here is what I've found.

My LAV Filters are set up to with HEVC checked and DXVA2 (copy-back). When I play a HEVC file with MPC and check the LAV Video Settings during playback, I will see the HEVC box checked. However, when I play back the same file in Emby using the MadVR rendering, the HEVC box is NOT checked.

Checking the MadVR on-screen stats, I'll see that the average rendering time is around 11-12 ms, so plenty low. But the max render will jump to 50+ and sometimes 100+ ms. Very strange. Even when the average stays consistent around 12 ms, I still see dropped frames every few seconds.

[huhn]

can you make a screen from the OSD?

[spon]

can you make a screen from the OSD?

Attached. Thanks!

[ryrynz]

Attached. Thanks!

Upload it somewhere else and link it.

[spon]

Upload it somewhere else and link it.

My bad.

http://tinypic.com/r/dzxpqb/9

[ryrynz]

That happens to me too, honestly I never pay attention to those max stats.. I think this is actually normal.

[SamuelMaki]

Hey!

Wrestling with my old laptop that I use as a HTPC (AMD Phenom II N930 2Ghz and AMD 5650m+4250 gpu), and after reinstalling windows 7 64-bit and updating mpc-hc and madVR (64-bit) to their latest nightly, I can barely get bilinear to work. Is there any change about performance in older rigs as mine from 89.x to latest? Or am I missing some requirement I am supposed to install (vcredist etc)? GPU-z shows that the clocks go up for 3D (550/800) and that the utilization is low (0%-20%), yet still I get "dips" in the queues occasionally and starting+switching to fullscreen results in around 20-30 dropped frames, no matter if exclusive or not. I am "forced" to use gpu-drivers from 2012 (Catalyst 12.4 to be exact) as I have a legacy GPU on my motherboard and AMD doesn't support them.

So, is there any queue-tweaks or rendering tweaks I should take into consideration? I was happily running Mitchell-Netravali for luma and Bicubic 75+AR on chroma (as well as debanding) before on my laptop, though it was pretty loud occasionally.

Another slightly off-topic question, does clock-speed affect temperatures if voltages stay the same?

[huhn]

My bad.

http://tinypic.com/r/dzxpqb/9

the decoding isn't fast enough.

until this is fixed i would ignore the max stats.

[spon]

the decoding isn't fast enough.

until this is fixed i would ignore the max stats.

Does that mean the MadVr decoding isn't fast enough? Or that my CPU isn't fast enough? Just trying to figure out if a CPU/motherboard upgrade will help or not.

I'm getting smooth playback for 10 min or so and then it gets very choppy until I pause or stop the playback.

Thanks!

[huhn]

Does that mean the MadVr decoding isn't fast enough? Or that my CPU isn't fast enough? Just trying to figure out if a CPU/motherboard upgrade will help or not.

I'm getting smooth playback for 10 min or so and then it gets very choppy until I pause or stop the playback.

Thanks!

that should be a CPU issue.
but i have no clue what type of content you are playing there.

you are saying it starts after 10 min that could mean the CPU is thermal throttling or something unlikely like the file get's way harder to decode. could be power saving mode too or something like that.

what so ever the frames are not delivered fast enough to madVR or it least that's what i see on the screen.

[spon]

thanks @huhn. I see this behavior with most HEVC content, especially with bitrates higher than 1800kbps or so. In most cases, I will play 1080p content on a 1080p display, so no scaling beyond the basic Chroma.

[aufkrawall]

Some tools (e.g. Nvidia Inspector) can read out video processor's utilization, how much is it during video playback? And how much GPU and CPU usage?

[huhn]

thanks @huhn. I see this behavior with most HEVC content, especially with bitrates higher than 1800kbps or so. In most cases, I will play 1080p content on a 1080p display, so no scaling beyond the basic Chroma.

what your is video card, CPU and decoder settings?

[Warner306]

thanks @huhn. I see this behavior with most HEVC content, especially with bitrates higher than 1800kbps or so. In most cases, I will play 1080p content on a 1080p display, so no scaling beyond the basic Chroma.

Your GTX 960 is not decoding HEVC. This sounds like a problem with DXVA2 (copy-back) and LAV Video.

Didn't you say MPC-HC was fine and Emby was not? Is Emby or your settings in Emby the problem?

[Della]

Ok, so I think the problem is with Emby playback itself. Here is what I've found.

My LAV Filters are set up to with HEVC checked and DXVA2 (copy-back). When I play a HEVC file with MPC and check the LAV Video Settings during playback, I will see the HEVC box checked. However, when I play back the same file in Emby using the MadVR rendering, the HEVC box is NOT checked.

Checking the MadVR on-screen stats, I'll see that the average rendering time is around 11-12 ms, so plenty low. But the max render will jump to 50+ and sometimes 100+ ms. Very strange. Even when the average stays consistent around 12 ms, I still see dropped frames every few seconds.

Emby keeps it's own copies of madVr and LavFilters in the Users userdata? folder. If you have LAV installed separately, Emby ignores it. You'll need to edit the config file in the Emby folder.

[JarrettH]

thanks @huhn. I see this behavior with most HEVC content, especially with bitrates higher than 1800kbps or so. In most cases, I will play 1080p content on a 1080p display, so no scaling beyond the basic Chroma.

Just wondering...what is a low (under 1,000 kbps?), medium (over 1,000 kbps?), and high bitrate (over, 2,000 kbps?) for x265? :cool:

[Warner306]

Emby keeps it's own copies of madVr and LavFilters in the Users userdata? folder. If you have LAV installed separately, Emby ignores it. You'll need to edit the config file in the Emby folder.

The menus in Emby Theater allow the user to enable hardware acceleration. There is no need to go into the folders. At least, as far as I know.

[spon]

Some tools (e.g. Nvidia Inspector) can read out video processor's utilization, how much is it during video playback? And how much GPU and CPU usage?

Thanks for the Nvidia Inspector suggestion. I downloaded it and I think it's helped me narrow down the problem. More below...


Your GTX 960 is not decoding HEVC. This sounds like a problem with DXVA2 (copy-back) and LAV Video. Didn't you say MPC-HC was fine and Emby was not? Is Emby or your settings in Emby the problem?

The menus in Emby Theater allow the user to enable hardware acceleration. There is no need to go into the folders. At least, as far as I know.

It looks like the primary problem is with Emby Theater not allowing HEVC hardware decoding in the LAV Video settings. I downloaded Nvidia Inspector and noticed that VPU Load is 0% during HEVC playback in Emby. If I play the same file in MPC-HT, the VPU load stays steady at 8%. The GPU and MCU loads both fluctuate between 10-30% in both Emby and MPC.

It seems that Emby Theater is using a separate version of LAV and I can't seem to locate the config file so I'm not sure how to enable HEVC hardware decoding. I'm hoping to get an answer in the Emby forums.


Just wondering...what is a low (under 1,000 kbps?), medium (over 1,000 kbps?), and high bitrate (over, 2,000 kbps?) for x265? :cool:

Great question. lol. I've generally seen most 1080p x265 encodes to be around 1200-1600 kbps, so I guess that's medium? I would prefer closer to 3000 kbps, if I can get smooth playback.


what your is video card, CPU and decoder settings?

I have a GTX 960 that I purchased specifically for x265 playback. My CPU is not too good though - AMD A6-6400k.

It seems that I get some dropped frames even playing x265 files in MPC, even though the GPU and MCU (is the CPU?) loads never go much higher than 30% or so. Is that to be expected?

My decoder settings for 1080p 24fps playback (1080p plasma TV) are pretty conservative. I have debanding @ edium, BiCubic Luma, upscaling, full screen exclusive, ordered dithering.


Thanks again for all the help guys. I really appreciate it!

[Della]

The menus in Emby Theater allow the user to enable hardware acceleration. There is no need to go into the folders. At least, as far as I know.

The latest Emby Theater does not expose many settings. Hardware acceleration is one of the few, but not H265 or many of the others. For madVr, Emby exposes smooth playback only - any other options need to be configured in the XML settings. And they are separate from any other installation.

[spon]

The latest Emby Theater does not expose many settings. Hardware acceleration is one of the few, but not H265 or many of the others. For madVr, Emby exposes smooth playback only - any other options need to be configured in the XML settings. And they are separate from any other installation.

Do you happen to know the folder location of the XML file?

[BluesFanUK]

Anyone tried the new GTX 1080 with MadVR?

[CHEF-KOCH]

Anyone tried the new GTX 1080 with MadVR?

Yes and it works, there are some things which are known that the driver is causing it but besides this, it works. Give it time it's new. :o

[Sunset1982]

there are some things which are known that the driver is causing it but besides this, it works.

what are these things?

[CHEF-KOCH]

Please stay on the topic, we already have 1000 pages with off-topic because most questions are how to setup madvr or how to configure your device.

I think we not need to talk about driver related issue, since it may get changed in the next version. It would be more important if it affects everyone and not only a specific range of people. The 1080 have thermal issue (due reference design) and gamut problems due driver, I not go into detail as long we not get another driver to compare. As said it takes time and 368.25 is the only whql currently for the 1080. There are under some environments also other problems with VXAO, TDR and HBAo+ but overall I don't think it affect something you can directly see within madvr.

[Dlget]

I posted about my RAM reaching 95% after ihr playback 3 pages back.
Please help me figure out the problem.
Since nothing is getting crashed,i'm unable to get crash log & this occurs only after long time of playback (1hr).
So reproducing same effect is a timetaking process.
Problem i'm getting is it's way beyond what RAM usase should be (25% at initial,then 23-35% seems okay value) & i'm unable to jump forward or backward properly.

Can anyone say what can i do to generate debug info or any log that can be useful to figure out problem????

[ryrynz]

Can anyone say what can i do to generate debug info or any log that can be useful to figure out problem????

You should really attempt some troubleshooting before posting... How do you even know this is related to madVR? Come back with more information after you've put in some effort to narrow it down. And also you should know about the debug batch file in the madVR directory....

[Dlget]

In debug mode log size increases as more time madVR runs.
But this memory leak seems to occur after long time of playback.
& with that time log will become like 4-5GB???
should i just run video for 5min & post log?

[ryrynz]

Check it isn't related to your decoders/media player first.
Then check media, certain types of files causing it? reset madVR defaults to see if it isn't a certain setting that's causing it etc.
Then once you narrow it down you can provide specifics on how to reproduce it.

[Dlget]

I suspect LAV video decoder 0.68.1 with hardware decoder when used for 1080p n above produce these.
Anyway thanks for reply.
Reverting to 0.67 to test if that works fine.(in 0.67 i don't remember having full RAM coz of video playback)

[CHEF-KOCH]

@Dlget

You already talked about memory leak so I guess you're right but this not belongs in here.

You need to report this in the official bugtracker (http://madVR.bugs.madshi.net). With video example, hardware configuration and your settings.

I would isolate this by trying to disable LAV and see if that happens with internal filters too. If it's only related to LAV you need to open an ticket on LAVFilters (https://github.com/Nevcairiel/LAVFilters/issues). But's impossible to say without any example video.

Edit: Just found this (https://github.com/Nevcairiel/LAVFilters/issues/92), don't know if it's you.

Edit2: See if DUMo (http://www.kcsoftwares.com/?dumo) detects newer drivers and try to update them.

[nevcairiel]

Thousands of people play videos using LAV Video and/or madVR, if there was a memory leak, someone would've noticed.
Its far more likely something specific to your system or setup.

[jkauff]

Sysinternals has a nice little utility called RAMmap that will show you in real time which programs are using how much memory.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/rammap.aspx

[petran79]

I upgraded Motherboard RAM and CPU and now the GPU has issues. Since CPU is better, the Nvidia GTX660 reaches over 90 % load when I enable NNEDI or similar algorithms. With previous CPU I'd get framedrops. As a result after 10-15 minutes I get occasional freezes due to GPU overload, even after I close the media player. I have to restart the system for problem to dissappear. Till I get one of the new and more powerfull GPUs this summer, I'll stick with Jinc

[hiepbg]

Hi,
New settings are great, low noise, sharp image.
New deringing artifacts filter + reduce dark halos is too heavy for my graphic cards (8750M), but without it, everything still great :D

If i enable deringing artifacts filter, rendering times increase from 18ms to > 40ms with high bitrate 720p video (>10000kbps), and framerate drops quickly.

[Uoppi]

When doing 720p -> 1080p, madVR OSD has started showing Jinc chroma upscaling (on the row after luma) in addition to the Super-XBR chroma upscaling that I've chosen for the profile.

I have no idea why this is happening because previously it's always been SuperXBR chroma only (meaning only one row in the OSD showing chroma instead of two, i.e. for some reason now Jinc chroma is showing up all of a sudden). I haven't changed any settings. My rendering times are screwed up because of this.

[XTrojan]

Does CPU bottleneck the GPU? My GPU Never hits 90% usage before it starts dropping frames. but my CPU never goes above 50% anyway. using software decoder

[huhn]

no that is normal.

[amayra]

there any way to disable exit fullscreen when i double click with mouse button in exclusive mode ?

[ryrynz]

there any way to disable exit fullscreen when i double click with mouse button in exclusive mode ?

That's done in your media player.

[strumf666]

Is it possible to use madvr for netflix?

[Warner306]

Is it possible to use madvr for netflix?

Maybe when combined with Kodi DSPlayer. Netflix addons exist. I think they have limitations when it comes the resolution and supported audio formats, but these addons will allow you to play Netflix content through Kodi.

DSPlayer is not available for Kodi v17. However, MPC-HC is and it can be used with the new interface, InputStream, which allows the playback of DRM-protected content. There is already an Amazon Instant Video addon that offers seamless playback similar to the Windows native app. Netflix will likely follow.

Kodi v16 allows playback of Netflix content -- but with restrictions, I'm sure. Kodi 17 is the way forward for streaming apps and Kodi. But no native madVR like DSPlayer.

MPC-HC + Kodi. See here for instructions: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=209596.

[chros]

I have a FullHD screen with BT.709 colorspace (calibrated with 3DLUT and only the BT.709 entry is filled on the calibration tab of the display).
I just downloaded these LG 4K demos http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1769080#post1769080 (Thanks Patrik for posting the links!)

MadVR properly detects the simple HDR ones (not the dolby vision ones), e.g. LG_2_DEMO_4K_O_H_5_Chess.mkv, and uses BT.2020 for both matrix and primaries (and HDR metadata).

Some of them doesn't have any colorspace declaration (e.g. LG_2_DEMO_4K_O_H_2_Dolby Trailer.mkv) and MadVR uses BT.709 (best guess) for primaries and for matrix.
If I hit source decoding matrix toggle, I can only select from these: BT.709 , BT.601 .
If I hit source primaries toggle, I can only select from these: BT.709 , SMPTE C, EBU/PAL .

Shouldn't I able to select the other ones (DCI-P3, BT.2020) as well with both of these options?
If I assign keyboard shortcuts to DCI-P3 and BT.2020 then I can select them as primaries. Though there's no option for the matrix.

One more question: If I'm certain that a source uses BT.2020 (let's say) what source decoding matrix and source primaries should I use on my BT.709 calibrated FHD display? (I guess BT.2020 for source primaries and BT.709 for decoding matrix, but I'm not sure).

Thanks

[Sunspark]

There's a strange thing happening that I cannot figure out, I can trigger a bug with a specific certain combination upscaling 1920x1080 to 2048x1152. The render times will be about 5ms for the first minute, and then after that minute it shoots up to 35ms, stays there and starts choking with presentation glitches galore.

There is something very specific tied to the use of ReconSoft with the anti-ringing in Jinc. Broadwell HD Graphics 6000, Windows 7 D3D9 Overlay Exclusive mode.

Bug triggers with this combination-
Chroma: ReconSoft
Image: Jinc AR

Does not trigger on these combinations below-
Chroma: ReconSoft
Image: Jinc (without AR)

Chroma: ReconSoft
Image: Lanczos 3 or 4 AR

Chroma: Mitchell-Netravali AR
Image: Jinc AR

Chroma: Jinc AR
Image: Jinc AR

[huhn]

thermal throttling of the GPU or the GPU get's power capped.

1920x1080 to 2048x1152 with these setting in 5 ms is more than strange with a GPU like that.

I have a FullHD screen with BT.709 colorspace (calibrated with 3DLUT and only the BT.709 entry is filled on the calibration tab of the display).
I just downloaded these LG 4K demos http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1769080#post1769080 (Thanks Patrik for posting the links!)

MadVR properly detects the simple HDR ones (not the dolby vision ones), e.g. LG_2_DEMO_4K_O_H_5_Chess.mkv, and uses BT.2020 for both matrix and primaries (and HDR metadata).

Some of them doesn't have any colorspace declaration (e.g. LG_2_DEMO_4K_O_H_2_Dolby Trailer.mkv) and MadVR uses BT.709 (best guess) for primaries and for matrix.
If I hit source decoding matrix toggle, I can only select from these: BT.709 , BT.601 .
If I hit source primaries toggle, I can only select from these: BT.709 , SMPTE C, EBU/PAL .

Shouldn't I able to select the other ones (DCI-P3, BT.2020) as well with both of these options?
If I assign keyboard shortcuts to DCI-P3 and BT.2020 then I can select them as primaries. Though there's no option for the matrix.

One more question: If I'm certain that a source uses BT.2020 (let's say) what source decoding matrix and source primaries should I use on my BT.709 calibrated FHD display? (I guess BT.2020 for source primaries and BT.709 for decoding matrix, but I'm not sure).

Thanks


you should ignore HDR files that are just broken with incorrect infos. correct meta data is key to display them correctly!
it doesn't matter to what your display is calibrated as long as madVR knows that.
so the primaries info should be the primaries of the source no matter the calibration target.

[chros]

As huhhn says, check with e.g. GPU-Z whether your GPU falls back to a lower performance state.