DivX playback problem - filter priority?

[yossarian82]

Hi, i'm having a problem with some movies i have encoded with DivX codecs 3.11 and 5.02. Originally i was working with 3.11, then i removed that and installed 5.02 and everything worked fine. Then recently i had problems getting a game called Freelancer to work, and for some reason i uninstalled the codec and nuked all the rogue mp3 and divx codecs i could find (using codec sniper) - don't ask me why i was just trying to get this godamn game to work. SO eventually i installed an up-to-date Fraunhofer mp3 codec and that got the game working fine. THen i went back and reinstalled my DivX codecs.

Then i got a problem. Originally (in media player 9) the films would start playing with really crap quality then switch to the proper quality after about 3 seconds - i always assumed this was nothing important and ignored it.

Well now the movies were playing back completely with that crap quality and not switching to the proper quality. It's not just poor quality either, it's really obvious that there's something really wrong cos it's like they're encoded at 15% of the actual bitrate. Now the problem might be related to the new drivers i installed for my GeForce 4 MX 440 (they're the most recent ones), cos they've also fucked up my subtitle support in MicroDVD - something to do with layers... However i've no idea how to solve this using the driver controls and i don't really want to go into installing older drivers to solve the prob.

I also thought it might be something to do with a filter from a previously installed codec that is interfering with the newer codecs, so i have installed DivX 5.05. but that's not solved the problem, and i have no idea how to alter the filter priorities to make Media Player use the right one (if that even is the problem). The weird thing is that BSPlayer and some other DivX players (like DivX Pro's player) can display the correct quality fine. But i really want to use Media Player because it has some nice features and much better sound.

Some info: i'm running a GeForce 4 as i've said, a 1.2 ghz P3 with 400 mb RAM, and i'm running Win2k with System Pack 4, as well as DirectX 9. I've tried using FFDshow, and it does work with WMP9, but it's not as good quality as the DivX codecs especially when you fullscreen.

I've already posted at several other websites and they couldn't help so i'd be really grateful if anyone knows how to solve this problem and could let me know. I have already searched the forum already and the only related thing i found was the following thread:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27369&highlight=filter

thanks in advance..

[jggimi]

Hello, and welcome to Doom9's forum!

It's not quite clear to me whether your problem is happening with content in DivX 3.11, DivX 5, or both.

Starting with poor quality and suddenly switching to better quality after a few seconds leads me to think "after an I-frame" -- but if the problem were due to the first frame not being an I-frame, you shouldn't be able to see any video, rather than degraded images.

These are just some thoughts of things that might help, since I can't figure it out from what you've provided so far. Try a different AVI player.You might try WMP 6.4 (mplayer2.exe), which has been reported by Doom9 members to be more stable than WMP 7+ releases, and is included in W95-based and NT-based Windows systems. You could also try one of the many non-Microsoft AVI players available for download from Doom9's websites.

Inspect the AVI file(s) with GSpot. This tool, also available for download, might by of some help to you. It's an AVI analysis tool, and will describe codecs, bitrates, resolutions, and other information about AVI files, and if it believes you are missing something from your OS configuration, it will tell you.

Open your AVI file(s) with VirtualDubMod. VirtualDub and it's variants will let you "inspect" the video stream frame-by-frame, and may provide additional insights.

Place a sample video stream on the web for download. If all else fails, sometime having someone look at your problem more closely can help.Lastly, please moderate your use of swearing. This is a forum where not every member is an adult, and you'll avoid problems with other members, and moderators, if you can keep it to a minimum. Thank you.

[yossarian82]

Firstly, thanks for the reply. Sorry about the language, I will tone it down in future :(

I'm pretty sure it's a decoding error, as the problem is occuring with files that have been encoded with 3.11 and 5.02. WMP 6.4 and 9 both produce the problem. Some other players work OK such as BSPlayer, but i'm not sure why.

I haven't used GSpot before, so i'll try that; but as i said i'm fairly sure it's due to a decoding problem, perhaps that WMP is using a dud playback filter while other programs such as BSPlayer use the correct one...

Virtualdub encounters no problems when viewing the any of the files - it displays the correct quality when playing them back. Dunno about VDMod, haven't got that. I'll try that too.

Placing a sample stream is unlikely to help IMO cos i'm pretty sure the problem is due to decoding rather than errors in the actual movie files themselves... i would do this if i had the bandwidth but i haven't (yet)..

anyway thanks for the help

[jggimi]

If it looks fine in Vdub, then you are correct that there is something going on with playback. You won't need to stick a sample up on the web, and you won't need VdubMod, since Vdub/Nandub already provide the same examination function.

You can see the video with VdubMod and BSPlayer, so as far as I can determine, your problem is not "decoding" but "playing." If there were a problem with decoding the video stream, neither BSPlayer nor Vdub would be able to show you any images.

You could, if you wanted, stop diagnostics now. You have a circumvention -- avoid using Microsoft WMP players.

If there is a problem with some sort of missing driver or missing codec, GSpot will tell you. But I suspect either video card driver issues, or DirectShow driver issues of some kind may be responsible. Start with DirectShow.

Make sure that your DirectX hardware acceleration features are enabled and working properly, using Msoft's "dxdiag" command. DxDiag also has a DirectX troubleshooter if needed. Secondly, check your video card drivers. Are they of recent release? I don't have any GeForce cards ... perhaps NVidia has a diagnostic utility available?

Lastly, if your P3 is on a motherboard with a VIA chipset, installing or reinstalling VIATech's latest Hyperion/4-in-1 drivers might help. (If you don't know whether or not you have a VIA-based motherboard, you don't have one.) VIA chipsets function at a low level of performance without the added drivers for Windows environments.

I hope this helps!

[Soulhunter]

@yossarian82

I've tried using FFDshow, and it does work with WMP9, but it's not as good quality as the DivX codecs especially when you fullscreen.
Uhm.. AFAIK you can reach the best output quality exp. with FFDshow... ;)

But, no matter...

Is this "crap quality" also visible when you watch the the file NOT in fullscreen ???

Because Ive got the same problem some time ago...

It look'd like that the resizeing to fullscreen was always nearest neighbour till the next keyfarme after...

But I dont know exat how Ive solved this problem...

I bet It was a update of my GC drivers... :confused:

Bye

[yossarian82]

To jggimi:

You could, if you wanted, stop diagnostics now. You have a circumvention -- avoid using Microsoft WMP players.

That's true, i suppose i'm being a bit pedantic given i could do that, it's just that it's annoying me that i can't use WMP.

If there is a problem with some sort of missing driver or missing codec, GSpot will tell you. But I suspect either video card driver issues, or DirectShow driver issues of some kind may be responsible. Start with DirectShow.

This seems to make sense. The error did start occurring after I installed the new GeForce drivers & DirectX 9, so it seems logical that it might be related to one of those. I was hoping it wasn't, though :/

Make sure that your DirectX hardware acceleration features are enabled and working properly, using Msoft's "dxdiag" command. DxDiag also has a DirectX troubleshooter if needed. Secondly, check your video card drivers. Are they of recent release? I don't have any GeForce cards ... perhaps NVidia has a diagnostic utility available?

I'll check the NVidia site soon when i have net access to my machine, thanks for the suggestion. DxDiag's tests all function correctly as far as i'm aware, but i'm not convinced it isn't a problem with DX9.

Lastly, if your P3 is on a motherboard with a VIA chipset, installing or reinstalling VIATech's latest Hyperion/4-in-1 drivers might help. (If you don't know whether or not you have a VIA-based motherboard, you don't have one.) VIA chipsets function at a low level of performance without the added drivers for Windows environments.

Don't think this applies to me but i will mention it to my mate who gave me the board :)

I hope this helps!

It has and thanks very much :D

To SoulHunter:

Uhm.. AFAIK you can reach the best output quality exp. with FFDshow...

Perhaps this will shed some light on the problem, but anyway when i try to play the movies in WMP with FFDShow installed, it uses a codec called the libavcodec or something to that effect. the result is a quite clear picture but not very smooth-looking at all (as in the lines are fairly blocky), and when i resize (e.g. fullscreen a 720 video while running 800 rez) it goes even more blocky... not pretty IMO; maybe this is my taste or maybe there is something wrong..

Is this "crap quality" also visible when you watch the the file NOT in fullscreen ???

When just attempting to play the movies in WMP with the DivX codec, the horrid quality is always visible no matter what i do, fullscreen or not... it's not just a taste thing either here, if you saw a pic you would agree that there is something gone wrong...

Thanks for your help!

[DigitAl56K]

http://forums.divx.com/viewtopic.php?topic=51065&forum=26

and

http://forums.divx.com/viewtopic.php?topic=51397&forum=26

[yossarian82]

If FFDShow has been installed on your system it is likely that it has commandeered DivX playback from the genuine DivX decoder. However, older versions of FFDShow can not correctly decode all content produced by DivX 5.03 onwards.

The majority of the movies i have are encoded with 3.11 and 5.02, with some newer ones encoded with 5.05. All produce the same quality with the version of FFDShow i have (which as far as i know is the latest version, obtained through Doom9.org's link). When FFDShow is not being used (i.e. it's uninstalled), the terrible quality mentioned above occurs with all the movies. I'll check my FFDShow version when i get back to my comp.

If the Video Path field does not contain this text then the geniune DivX decoder filter is not being used by the system to decode DivX video.

As far as i can tell, along with jggimi's info, the problem is not with decoding the movies. unless that it's possible that WMP is using a different decoder filter than VirtualDub/BSPlayer/etc, in which case it could be that. I'll check with GSpot when i have a chance.

As for whether the files are genuine DivX movies, (just covering all angles here) i'm certain they are because i encoded them...

thanks for your help

[yossarian82]

very strange, the problem has resolved itself! all players now display the correct quality, and though PowerDVD starts with the crap quality it quickly flickers back to the proper display, much the same as used to happen with all the players before the problem appeared. WMP doesn't do this though... i have absolutely no idea what fixed it, the only thing i've installed recently that has not been installed before is Tron 2.0... Tron hacked my computer! well anyway, it's fixed, so thanks for all your help and here's to hoping it doesn't happen again.