High Def playback tests?

[fizzy]

Hi,

I'm trying to determine whether the hd acceleration section of the 2600xt I just bought is actually working?

Using XP 32 bit.

I've previously downloaded the ms wmv hd demo files (which have been around for some time now ) and playing those in media player 11, and there's no discernable difference when acceleration is switched off in ati drivers and media player preferences - in all cases the cpu usage seems low anyway.

I've also got a 1920x1080 mkv file which when played previously maxed out one of he cores on my 2.2ghz amd x2 processor. Apparantly this is in AVC1 format which the card should assist with...

...yet playing that with the new card in and there's no difference? Still maxes out the core - played through media player etc and still no joy.

Firstly, anybody know of a good high quality/data rate avi file I can download to test out, and any software that may be required? Just wondering if I'm missing something obvious here, as I'm definately not seeing the huge reduction in cpu usage that's mentioned in the various reviews?

 

[fizzy]

Hmm.. definately something odd going on here. I've been trying this high def movies off the net...

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/bbc-blue.html

...the 1080p version. I wait for it to cache it all, then play - and total cpu time varies from 50-90%? (Its utilising both cores too). Also tends to get jerky in places, then gets smooth in the same scene (so doubt content is the issue).

No difference when I enable or disable acceleration in quicktime player or drivers settings. (using 7.8 drivers).

Any suggestions anybody?

 

[Cyber-Mav]

iv never been able to get wmv acceleration or h264 acceleration to work in xp.

only thing that was ever accelerated in xp was mpeg2 hs content. i ran a video which was a mpeg2 file at 1080 rez and the purevideo decoder box bopped up shoing bitrate etc and cpu usage went right the way down.

now with the x1950pro avivo doesn;t seem to do anything. i think its a vista only feature or something.

 

[fizzy]

I hope that isn't the case - wasn't intending to have to buy vista too.

Considering its an option in the XP drivers as well, it should work?

Noticed that on the disk that came with the card, it installs the drivers as a number of sections, which include avivo codecs?

I removed the codec pack I had installed, nero, and windvd (all apps that have h264 codecs of some description). Tried playing a h264 file, and media player reported codec not found....

...installed the avivo codecs again, and media player played the file (did not complain of missing codec) - but the picture back blank.

Decided to try latest drivers again, but looks like things have gone wierd. I can't open the CCC anymore - nothing happens, and it doesn't appear in the task bar on startup. There are a few errors in the ACEEventLog though. I've tried using ati's removal tool, uninstalled .net (1, 2 & 3 for good measure), reinstalled .net and then the drivers (with reboots inbetween all stages) but had no luck - it still doesn't work??

May start from scratch, as I had an nvidia card in before, and its an nvidia chipset board - so perhaps theres some nvidia acceleration stuff still floating around somewhere...?