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**bradvido88** · 2010-11-17, 03:26

I have upgraded my Acer Revo 1600 to Windows 7 and installed the full ION drivers (not the LE). dxdiag now show DX10 is supported.

I did all of this to take advantage of DXVA2 with h264 encoded .mkv files. The hardware acceleration seems to work, but the videos commonly get artifacts. See the screenshots. I think this has something to do with XBMC itself as opposed to my driver configuration because the video plays back without artifacts in other players (MPC-HC is pictured for comparison).

XBMC:

Same file in played in MPC-HC:

**CrystalP** · 2010-11-17, 21:07

DX10 doesn't matter, we only use DX9.

Do you get the artifacts when skipping/ff/rw or all the time?
Can you try playing the same file with the latest VLC, after explicitely turning on VLC's hardware acceleration?

**bradvido88** · 2010-11-17, 21:09

CrystalP Wrote:DX10 doesn't matter, we only use DX9.

Do you get the artifacts when skipping/ff/rw or all the time?
Can you try playing the same file with the latest VLC, after explicitely turning on VLC's hardware acceleration?

The artifacts are not there all the time. Skipping forward or backward seems to make them appear, then they usually go away when a scene changes.

They also appear randomly when not skipping/ff/rw.

I'll test in VLC when i have a chance.

**bradvido88** · 2010-11-18, 02:50

OK, I just tried it with VLC (hardware acceleration enabled) and it did the same thing as XBMC, lots of artifacts, especially when seeking.

What does this mean? Any suggestions to improve playback?

jhsrennie · 2010-11-18, 11:05

I use a revo 3610 with Win7 Pro and I've never seen artefacts like that. I think I used the drivers from the Acer web site: looking in my driver archive I think the video driver I used was "VGA_Nvidia_186.34_Win7x86_AR3610".

If it were my PC I'd probably wipe it and put on a shiny new W7 installation with the Acer drivers, and then see how it goes.

JR

**bradvido88** · (This post was last modified: 2010-11-18, 22:57 by bradvido88.)

jhsrennie Wrote:I use a revo 3610 with Win7 Pro and I've never seen artefacts like that. I think I used the drivers from the Acer web site: looking in my driver archive I think the video driver I used was "VGA_Nvidia_186.34_Win7x86_AR3610".

If it were my PC I'd probably wipe it and put on a shiny new W7 installation with the Acer drivers, and then see how it goes.

JR

Done... Windows 7 is fresh and the drivers are up to date.
Still having the same problem with Dharma beta4... Also, this same problem exists on my other 2 XBMC PC's. One PC is the same Revo, and one is a desktop with an ATI card.

What typically causes artifacts like that?
Could this be a problem with the encoder? I'm using handbrake to convert HDTV recordings and using "High Profile" pre-set in handbrake. I've read about weighted p frames causing this issue if the player does not support it. Can an XBMC expert comment on if XBMC properly supports weighted p frames for h264 playback?

**steelman1991** · 2010-11-18, 23:48

Guys - you seen this thread and reply #12 from CrystalP - http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=84989&page=2

**bradvido88** · (This post was last modified: 2010-11-19, 00:14 by bradvido88.)

steelman1991 Wrote:Guys - you seen this thread and reply #12 from CrystalP - http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=84989&page=2

Yes, I see. He is saying it's a problem with Nvidia hardware. I've confirmed that this behavior exists on my ATI card as well.
Also, I am getting the artifacts even when not ff/rw is used. They just appear during any time that there aren't frequent scene cuts, then go away when the scene cuts.

**bradvido88** · 2010-11-19, 00:07

edit--Sorry... double post

**CrystalP** · (This post was last modified: 2010-11-20, 02:32 by CrystalP.)

The skipping issue is nvidia specific. About the weighted p frames, since MPC HC plays the video fine, it's most likely a problem in ffmpeg, since VLC, also ffmpeg based, has the same problems as xbmc. To get this fixed, I suggest you head over to ffmpeg to submit a bug.

(edited, since MPC HC plays the same video correctly)

**bradvido88** · (This post was last modified: 2010-12-15, 21:04 by bradvido88.)

CrystalP Wrote:To get this fixed, I suggest you head over to ffmpeg to submit a bug.

From what I've read, this problem may have already been fixed in the latest ffmpeg SVN.

How often does XBMC update the version of ffmpeg it uses? Just major releases?
Or.. Is there an easy way for me to add the latest ffmpeg to my XBMC installation in order to test?

**CrystalP** · 2010-12-20, 08:05

Is there a particular ffmpeg change that makes you think that?

ffmpeg is updated when there is a change we want. You can't just dump standalone ffmpeg dlls in the xbmc install and expect things to work, due to configuration differences and the xbmc specific patches added to ffmpeg.

**bradvido88** · 2010-12-23, 23:08

CrystalP Wrote:Is there a particular ffmpeg change that makes you think that?

ffmpeg is updated when there is a change we want. You can't just dump standalone ffmpeg dlls in the xbmc install and expect things to work, due to configuration differences and the xbmc specific patches added to ffmpeg.

I read a few of the recent bug fixes related to people having the same problem as me, that's what made me think it.

But, I believe i have fixed the problem. I changed the reference frames from 3 to 2 when encoding, and playback is 99% better. I now only get artifacts when seeking, and even then only for a second.

gigu · 2010-12-26, 05:03

bradvido88 Wrote:I have upgraded my Acer Revo 1600 to Windows 7 and installed the full ION drivers (not the LE). dxdiag now show DX10 is supported.

I did all of this to take advantage of DXVA2 with h264 encoded .mkv files. The hardware acceleration seems to work, but the videos commonly get artifacts. See the screenshots. I think this has something to do with XBMC itself as opposed to my driver configuration because the video plays back without artifacts in other players (MPC-HC is pictured for comparison).

XBMC:

Same file in played in MPC-HC:

I had the same problem when I first installed Dharma a couple of days ago - movies playing fine in MPCHC, but giving artifacts in XBMC. The artifacts appeared when I started playing the movie or when I skipped.

After I installed the latest Direct X and updated my graphics driver, the problems went away. According to a post in this thread by a dev, having the latest Direct X shouldn't matter, so it was probably the updated driver that made the trick for me. I have an ATI Radeon HD 4200 (embedded graphics). After updating the driver, all movies play just as fine in XBMC as they do in MPCHC.

I don't know if this is relevant to your problem, but it's my couple of cents.

**Prizm4** · 2010-12-26, 14:56

I had a similar issue outside of XBMC, using an ATI card. Certain MKVs would display artifacts for a couple seconds (like the screenshot) then return to normal. From what I gathered it was a codec issue. The problem would occur only on certain MKVs and in GOM Player. If I played the same MKV using Windows Media Player, there would be no artifacts.