AIW Radeon and poor TV playback

[banesong]

I have recently installed an AIW Radeon to replace my aging and poor 3D quality Matrox Marvel G-200. I reinstalled ME (ack, but for my wife, 2k would be there), I stated to notice that the TV program is performing sub-par. I have watched the memory and processor utilization, and that doesn't seem to be part of the problem. It occurs whenever I have another program open in addition to the TV decoder. The video skips and pauses, and sometimes I get sound but no movement on the display. Any ideas?
Thanks,

Thomas

Asus P2B
PII 400
182Mb PC100
AIW Radeon
SB Live Gold
generic ISA Nic
Samsung 900NF running @ 1280x1024

 

[Guest]

Hey, I had a ton of problems with the 7.1 version but have no probs with the 7.0 version. I'm using the 7089 drivers with the 7.0 MMC. Something is wrong with the 7.1 setup. I had the same problems. Get the new CD by bitching about your DVD digi out.

KT7, TBird 800@1008, 9x112
Swiftech MC462

 

[bw37]

banesong: I concur with MethylONE, there's something about the 7.1 version that causes the TV function to consume huge CPU power (for either watching TV or video capture). 7.0 works fine for me. I've also read about the AIW being very sensitive to signal strength and quality, but that doesn't really sound like it's your problem. Check out <A HREF="http://www.rage3d.com" target="_new">http://www.rage3d.com</A> for lots of Radeon info.

MethylONE: What OS are you using? I went dual boot Win98 and w2k JUST to use 2K for video capture. Big joke on me so far: w2k drivers just don't work, particularly for TV and video capture (100% CPU usage, 50% dropped frames, etc.) I'm using the 3063 drivers with 7.0 in Win 98 and DX7.0, and everything works fine, but I assume I'm giving up some performance and will have to change drivers to go to DX8a.

BW

the more I learn, the less I'm sure I know...

 

[Guest]

Wow! bw... an AIW! This forum might help me out after all. I love the features of this card but hate the performance. It just doesn't want to live up to billing. And what is up with ATi making me order an update CD for the DVD? The claim that they cannot offer it for dload. Very strange. I'm totally dissatisfied with my ATi AIW. I wish I could go back and buy a GeForce 2 and add a TV/DVD card to it.

Oh... I'm using ME but I was using 98se. I happen to like a few of the ME features even though some companies (ahem) chose not to fully support ME. ...and I know that I'm taking a performance hit....

KT7, TBird 800@1008, 9x112
Swiftech MC462

 

[Guest]

bw... What monitor and resolution are you using? I have a NEC FP1370. It is their best 22". I can only get an enjoyable 1280x1024 out of it even though the monitor will do 2048X1536 at 85hz. I used 1600x1200 at 90hz for awhile but just couldn't get sharp enough text. I know the AIW is "supposed" to be great at 2D but my opinion is that it is average. What do you think? And, what do you use for DVD playback? I used the DVD player ATI sends until I started using PowerDVD which smokes the ATi in every way.

KT7, TBird 800@1008, 9x112
Swiftech MC462

 

[bw37]

MethylONE,

Just a quick response for now: I've got a Samsung 900ift. It's max resolution is 1600x1200 (or 1280, can't recall). I run it at 1280x1024 or less most of the time. I don't see any advantage in more resolution than that in a 19", for most of what I do, which will include some simple CAD. It's a shadow mask, flat monitor which is my preference, and I think a pretty good bang for your buck monitor. The picture quality with my AIW seems very good to me at all resolutions up to 1600 but MAYBE just a bit fuzzy at that res.

I had an old analog Sony 17" Trinitron (aperture grill) with a max. res. of 1024x768, and I found it to be quite fuzzy at full resolution. So we used it mostly at 8x6.

Don't know if this makes sense, but my strategy is to buy a monitor that can display at a higher resolution and refresh than that at which you plan to use it. I think that gives you a sharper picture (as above) and it should also increase it's life since it's not working at max. bandwidth all the time.

See my post (well down in "how fast is fast") under "graphics cards" for an extended impression of the AIW so far.

I haven't seen too many AIW posts around here either, but still get some good, general info. by following the Radeon vs. nVidia discussions. Always a kick to be the impartial observer!

I've downloaded and copied many a driver and post, trying to figure out how best to get the TV and, more important to me, video capture features to work, esp. in w2k. For now I've given up, and will just leave the 3063 drivers and MMC7.0 installed under Win98 since they work the best for the video features if not gaming. Best info. in general on AIW is at rage3d as posted above.

In the end, I think I'll have a firewire card for serious video editing, so the AIW, even as a stop-gap, may have been a mistake. (did I say that already???)

Good luck,

BW

the more I learn, the less I'm sure I know... <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bw37 on 03/27/01 01:18 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

IT tech here, i canpromise you that buy upgrading your processor to something equal or over 700mhz it would work just fine. Also if you add crucial 256MB PC133 CAS2 RAM it will work even better. Just because you would be adding a high bandwidth RAM that is faster also by the latency affect or the cas.

Also your runnng WinME! So don't complain, especially if you knew there is a performance hit on ME compared to 98SE and the drivers are just subpar! Thats what happens when you buy microsofts latest and the greatest pile of crap lol!

I have not had any problems ever since i got the LATEST drivers! Maybe you should get the latest drivers too. It just came out recently! Runs great! I love this card! i can even run MDK2 at 800x600x32bit color and running at an average of 70FPS. At 16 bit it actually ran worst, so pump it up to 32bit!

 

[Guest]

BW37: Are you referring to Win2k with the DX 8.0A? If so, then you should DEFINITELY install the update, because the video capture with AIW Radeon works MUCH MUCH MUCH better and the DVD player actually WORKS!!

 

[bw37]

Joel,

Updating w2k to SR2 solved almost all my problems. I'd installed the latest "official" ATI w2k drivers/DVD, etc. but it didn't work until I went to SR2. It was like magic! Hard drive speeds way up, video capture works much better.

My only remaining problem is getting sound capture with the video. I think I may need newer sound drivers or something as I understand they are utilized for audio capture.

I'll keep tinkering, but not too much for a few months. My summer racing habit calls, so I've got to focus on that for the time being.

BW

the more I learn, the less I'm sure I know... <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bw37 on 06/17/01 11:52 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[arsend]

Also, you need to update the drivers for your motherboard as well. I have the AIW and it gets great campture, great graphic and better still, speed. But in order to use your card at its best, the srivers you use must be updated to current versions! this includes but not limited to:
Motherboard Drivers
Video Drivers
Direct X and Active X drivers
Sound card Drivers
And any other multimedia device drivers that your commputer may use in conjuncture with your AIW.
Once the configuration is fully updated, you machine will work great. Ecpecially with Windows ME which I am using right now.

If it works for you then don't fix it.

 

[Guest]

Seems like loading the latest version directx 8.a and accompanying microsoft capture driver in addition to reloading the multimedia center(7.1) without the file player, sure seem to remedy my a7v133 using radeon AIW. Before doing this, cpu load was at 100% during tv play and mpeg recording.