XBMC artifacts when playing BD MKV
#1
I'm hoping somebody with more XBMC expertise than I have can help me out. I also posted this on AVS, but thought I could get additional XBMC specific help here.

First, my setup:

- HTPC is: Intel DH67CF motherboard, 8GB RAM, Intel i3-2100 CPU, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. NOTE: No separate graphics card, just the i3-2100 with built-in Intel 2000 graphics. The case I'm using doesn't have room for a separate GPU, so I must use the Intel graphics.
- HTPC is hooked to a Denon AVR-890 receiver via HDMI.
- Video goes from receiver to a Panasonic PT-AE4000 projector.
- Audio goes from receiver to a 5.1 speaker setup.
- XBMC is the patched version that bitstreams HD audio.
- Test video is Thor (2011) that was ripped from my own BD disk using MakeMKV, keeping only the main movie and forced subs (I think those were the settings, it's been a few days since I ripped it).
- MKV file is stored on a separate UnRAID server (one 800GB drive), that is connected directly to the HTPC via a dedicated gigabit Ethernet cable. No wireless is involved.
- Resolution in Windows is set to 1920x1080, 25Hz (IIRC, the HTPC is shut down right now).

The problem I'm having is...the video starts playing back no problems, and the receiver confirms it's receiving the bitstreamed HD audio from XBMC. But every few seconds, I get artifacts that flash on the screen very briefly, like for a couple tenths of a second, then go away. It doesn't fill the entire screen, more like a horizontal band that takes up about a third of the picture. They flash up there, then go away, then reappear again a few seconds later. They don't quite look the same each time, but each time they appear, it looks like a blotchy, multi-colored kind of artifact.

I've tried changing some of the various settings in XBMC like rendering in software, hardware, etc. Also, I tried changing that DXVA2 setting on and off. But nothing I've tried changing makes any difference. The video appears to be rendered, and suffers the same artifacts, no matter the setting. Unless you have to completely stop the video before changing settings? (which I didn't try)

I'm at a loss...according to everything I've read, the hardware setup I've got should be able to render this no problem, so I'm thinking it's got something to do with an XBMC, Windows, or video driver setting, but nothing I try seems to fix it.

Any ideas?

Thanks!
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#2
Why do you have the refresh on the HTPC set to 25hz? IME, leaving the refresh rate at 60hz jives best with an HDTV (although I have no xp with a projector). XBMC will take care of the 24 fps needed for most BDs.
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#3
For your Intel GPU, keep DXVA2 off.

You issue may be related to this one. Use MediaInfo or something similar to see if your MKV files has 4 or more ReFrames.
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#4
Actually, I think I figured it out very late last night. BTW, in my original post, I was wrong about the refresh rate. It was set to 24Hz (I made a typo).

Since the Intel driver had 23 and 24Hz settings, I decided to try setting it to 23Hz, and that fixed it.

I left software rendering on, since I've read threads that the i3-2100 and/or Intel drivers don't handle DXVA hardware decoding correctly, and the i3 CPU should have enough power to decode without any problems. Running on these settings, even the most action-oriented and fast-moving scenes in Thor only pushed the CPU to about 20% utilization.

Everything else - picture quality, HD audio bitstreaming, etc, seemed to work just fine.

I'll tinker around with some other titles and see how it does, but looks good so far.

Thanks!
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XBMC artifacts when playing BD MKV0