How good is your HD video playback?

[agmg]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, if you think it should be moved, please do so.

At home I have two computers:

1) Toshiba L505-12Q laptop, with an Intel Core2Duo T6600 processor (2.2GHz,2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB), 4GB RAM DD3@1066MHz, ATI Mobility Radeon HD4650 with 1GB dedicated DDR3 RAM and a 5400rpm 500GB Sata2 hard disk. Laptop's monitor has a maximum resolution of 1366x768 pixels and there is also and HDMI out which I use to connect it to a 40'' Samsung TV (FullHD) to watch movies.
2) A custom made desktop pc with a Core2Duo E6300 (2M Cache, 1.86 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB), 2GB RAM DDR2@667MHz, ATI Radeon HD5570 with 1GB DDR3 RAM and a 7200rpm 250 SATA2 hard disk (WD). Desktop's monitor is a LG 22'' FullHD connected via DVI.

I have PCLinuxOS KDE installed on both computers (using the latest 2012.08 images), updated and using the proprietary Catalyst drivers (configured through PCC). Desktop has no problem playing EVERY HD video I put on it, out of the box, no matter the size or the resolution. Laptop cannot play 1080p videos no matter what I've tried so far. I have tried several videos (mostly 1080p movie trailers) with various players (mplayer, VLC, XBMC) and many options for each one of them, following numerous tips and tutorials across the net. In general the problem is with the video being too slow or not playing at all and the audio being ok. 720p videos mostly play without problems on all players.

I'm close to the conclusion that it's my slow hard disk to blame. I just wanted to have some feedback from ATI users around the forum so maybe I could come up to something I haven't tried so far. Maybe run some tests to verify the speed of the laptop's hard disk?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If someone wants, I can give more info about my system or what I've tried so far and failed.

Thanks in advance!

[gseaman]

I get smooth full screen view on my 1.7ghz core2 intel toshiba laptop with a kernel compiling in the background and only 1gb of ram and intel 965 onboard video at 1600x900. The only glitch is the network on the server's end. If I really want to watch for enjoyment, I download first, even if the website tries to prevent it. If I keep an openoffice window open and two or three additional tabs in firefox, I can freeze up. But I have to try hard.

I cheat a little with a custom kernel, but I'll share it very soon.

Galen

[T6]

you mention that you have two good machines with ati video cards but you don't mention what driver is being used and if you are using hardware acceleration in hd content from youtube and similar sites or not

[agmg]

Both machines use the proprietary Catalyst driver found in the repos (version 12.4) set in PCC right after the initial system update.
Desktop uses kernel 3.2.18.pclos2.bfs and laptop 3.2.18.pclos2.pae.bfs (to utilize the 4GB of RAM).

I don't really watch HD content over Youtube, especially on the desktop pc which is used by my kids. I wouldn't know about hardware acceleration on these videos. How can I tell if I'm using it or not? One thing is sure, laptop can't handle streaming videos well neither: on low resolutions (360p, 480p), videos play but have momentarily pauses making the experience annoying. On higher resolutions the videos are simply very slow or unplayable. I can do some tests on the desktop pc when I get back home and tell you more if this can help.

Two more things worth mentioning (I think): I tried playing some of my 1080p videos on the desktop pc from an external USB hard disk (TOSHIBA 5400rpm) and they also play fine. Same videos from the same HDD don't play on my laptop. So, I guess, it may not be a hard disk related problem after all.

When I first boot up PCLinuxOS from the USB, my laptop's monitor resolution is not properly recognized. It shows as a 1024X768 flat panel when in fact its maximum resolution is 1366X768. So, I have to go to PCC and set the monitor as "Flat Panel 1366X768" and select "custom" on the list of resolutions and go for the right one. On the desktop, the monitor is working properly from the first boot. I don't know if this has some effect on the problem but I'm noticing it anyway.

[Just17]

Pick one video file that is giving problems.

launch mplayer in Konsole to play the video, and see if Mplayer reports some problems.

Post back with info

You might also need to use multiple threads if not set

Check   ~/.mplayer/config

there should be an entry something like this

Code: [Select]

# Write your default config options here!
[default]
lavdopts=threads=2

[agmg]

Just18, thanks for dropping by

I have tried running mplayer from terminal with almost every option that could be useful but the result is always the same: video starts slowing down and loses sync with audio and mplayer displays a message about my computer being too slow.

For example, trying to play the trailer of MIB3 with only "lavdopts=threads=2" in ~/.mplayer/config (which by the way was empty), gives this output:

Code: [Select]

[agmg@localhost Downloads]$ mplayer mib3_trailer.mp4
MPlayer 1.1-4.5.2 (C) 2000-2012 MPlayer Team
Can't open joystick device /dev/input/js0: No such file or directory
Can't init input joystick
mplayer: could not connect to socket
mplayer: No such file or directory
Failed to open LIRC support. You will not be able to use your remote control.

Playing mib3_trailer.mp4.
libavformat version 54.6.101 (internal)
libavformat file format detected.
[lavf] stream 0: video (h264), -vid 0
[lavf] stream 1: audio (aac), -aid 0, -alang eng
VIDEO:  [H264]  1920x1024  24bpp  90000.000 fps  8645.1 kbps (1055.3 kbyte/s)
Clip info:
 major_brand: mp42
 minor_version: 0
 compatible_brands: mp42isomavc1
 creation_time: 2012-06-02 06:00:49
 genre: Trailer
 artist: Columbia Pictures
 title: Men in Black III - Theatrical Trailer
 encoder: HandBrake 4472svn 2012030401
 date: 2012
Load subtitles in ./
==========================================================================
Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
libavcodec version 54.23.100 (internal)
Selected video codec: [ffh264] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg H.264)
==========================================================================
==========================================================================
Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders
AUDIO: 48000 Hz, 2 ch, s16le, 146.6 kbit/9.55% (ratio: 18331->192000)
Selected audio codec: [ffaac] afm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg AAC (MPEG-2/MPEG-4 Audio))
==========================================================================
AO: [alsa] 48000Hz 2ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
Starting playback...
Unsupported PixelFormat 61
Unsupported PixelFormat 53
Unsupported PixelFormat 81
Movie-Aspect is 1.86:1 - prescaling to correct movie aspect.
VO: [xv] 1920x1024 => 1920x1032 Planar YV12  [zoom]
A:  14.3 V:  13.2 A-V:  1.082 ct:  0.000   0/  0 23%  8%  0.6% 50 0


           ************************************************
           **** Your system is too SLOW to play this!  ****
           ************************************************

Possible reasons, problems, workarounds:
- Most common: broken/buggy _audio_ driver
  - Try -ao sdl or use the OSS emulation of ALSA.
  - Experiment with different values for -autosync, 30 is a good start.
- Slow video output
  - Try a different -vo driver (-vo help for a list) or try -framedrop!
- Slow CPU
  - Don't try to play a big DVD/DivX on a slow CPU! Try some of the lavdopts,
    e.g. -vfm ffmpeg -lavdopts lowres=1:fast:skiploopfilter=all.
- Broken file
  - Try various combinations of -nobps -ni -forceidx -mc 0.
- Slow media (NFS/SMB mounts, DVD, VCD etc)
  - Try -cache 8192.
- Are you using -cache to play a non-interleaved AVI file?
  - Try -nocache.
Read DOCS/HTML/en/video.html for tuning/speedup tips.
If none of this helps you, read DOCS/HTML/en/bugreports.html.

A:  33.1 V:  26.3 A-V:  6.823 ct:  0.000   0/  0 72% 10%  1.4% 364 0


MPlayer interrupted by signal 2 in module: decode video
A:  33.2 V:  26.3 A-V:  6.841 ct:  0.000   0/  0 72% 10%  1.4% 365 0

Exiting... (Quit)
I have tried the suggestions given in the message and many others found across the internet but to no avail...

VLC has similar behaviour: audio is ok but video is playing like a slideshow

[pags]

Just some ideas (well, question, really, give give you something to ponder)...

• Is there any power-saving enabled on the laptop?  Could it be running at less than full speed?
  
• Is the laptop try to still drive the connected screen when watching movies through HDMI (could the video card be struggling with too much screen real estate)?

[Just17]

Check again that the video driver is set up correctly in PCC - Hardware ....

Have you tried a sample video in different formats retaining the same res & bitrate?

It may be a codec problem ...

I don't know how good the Intel Core2Duo T6600 processor is, but I definitely had difficulties with a dual core Pentium some time back, until I played about with threads, and got a better graphics card.

1080 video is very heavy so you are pushing the envelope when using less than reasonably good CPU & graphics ....  or that has been my experience.

Check your memory and CPU usage while trying to play a video ....  I expect the CPU is being maxed out (or nearly so)

[agmg]

Well, first of all thank you all for trying to help me...

I have never used PCLinuxOS to playback 1080p videos before because until recently I was dual booting with Windows 7 and used to watch these videos from there. Thing is that these videos play fine under Windows so I guess the laptop has enough horsepower for this task. Another thing that gives me some hope (and pisses me off in the same time ) is that my desktop pc  plays 1080p fine out of the box (after installing the catalyst drivers). Maybe it's some incompatibility with my video card, I don't know...

On to your questions...

Check again that the video driver is set up correctly in PCC - Hardware ....

When I go to PCC --> Hardware --> Configure video card I see "Radeon HD2000 and later (radeon/fglrx)" selected. This is the right one, no?
Also fglrxinfo gives the following output:

Code: [Select]

display: :0  screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
OpenGL version string: 3.3.11631 Compatibility Profile Context

Have you tried a sample video in different formats retaining the same res & bitrate?

It may be a codec problem ...

You mean convert the video to other formats?

I've tried the same videos (movie trailers) in 1080p and 720p versions. 720p play with no problems and no errors in mplayer output...

Check you memory and CPU usage while trying to play a video ....  I expect the CPU is being maxed out (or nearly so)

CPU usage from mplayer is around 60% and memory usage around 70MB...

[Just17]

I don't know what driver would be best for your card .....  but in your position I would be inclined to try another from those available if possible.

[T6]

i remember reviews some years ago about what you could need to see 1080p videos, the minimum was a dual core cpu at 1.6ghz and a ati video card hd3000 or superior so i would say that both machines should handle 1080p without much stuttering or none at all

about mplayer to watch videos, i would try first vlc

the driver, ati, was it set afte installed, are you sure you have it loaded?  installed and loaded is not the same

[agmg]

I'm sure the ati driver is properly installed and loaded. This is my xorg.conf:

Code: [Select]

# File generated by XFdrake (rev 262502)
# File generated by XFdrake (rev 262502)
# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the xorg.conf man page for details about the format of
# this file.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier     "layout1"
Screen      0  "screen1" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load  "v4l" # Video for Linux
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"

    # allows the server to start up even if the mouse does not work
    #DontZoom # disable <Ctrl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)
Option    "DontZap" "False" # disable <Ctrl><Alt><BS> (server abort)
Option    "allowmouseopenfail"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier   "monitor1"
VendorName   "Generic"
ModelName    "Flat Panel 1366x768"
HorizSync    31.0 - 53.0
VertRefresh  56.0 - 69.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier  "device1"
Driver      "fglrx"
VendorName  "Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI"
BoardName   "ATI Radeon HD 2000 and later (radeon/fglrx)"
Option    "DPMS"
BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device     "device1"
Monitor    "monitor1"
DefaultDepth     24
EndSection
...and I can use ATI Catalyst Control Center to change video card settings.

I tried different settings in VLC under Codecs/FFmpeg section like hardware decoding and interlace options (my VLC is in greek language so I don't know the exact terms in english) and seem to have made some progress... Some of the 1080p files started playing but some still don't. Maybe different files use different codecs so I will do a little more searching.

I also used hdparm to set my disk's acoustic level from 0 to 254 (max performance) and did some comparison between the hard disks of my two pc's. The desktop one uses udma6, has 16MB of cache and is spinning at 7200rpm while my laptop's uses udma5, has 8MB of cache and spins at 5400rpm. I'm sure this has a significant impact in performance.

Another question: I've read about VAAPI which can offer GPU acceleration for video processing. Has anyone tried it? I found in synaptic "vaapi-driver-fglrx". Is it meant to enable VAAPI under PCLinuxOS?

[agmg]

I'm returning to this thread because I discovered something strange.

In my test system I installed Catalyst legacy drivers 12.6, the latest drivers from ATI that support my card. I have removed everything related to fglrx from Synaptic (Catalyst 12.4) and used AMD's installer. I did that to do some tests with a game I recently bought and not with video playback in mind.

Well, since I am using those drivers, I decided to try some full HD videos (1080p) that I couldn't play before and I was absolutely AMAZED! Everything I have tried so far plays flawlessly, either in VLC or Media Player (SMPlayer). Youtube videos used to have very small pauses during playback and were unplayable in high resolutions. Now the pauses are gone and I can play HD content too.
 
Desktop effects work perfectly also. With the repo driver I had to restart or logout when I was enabling desktop effects because I was getting a message that "Desktop effects could not be activated". After restart they were there. Now I can enable/disable them without restarting/logging out.

I feel that my laptop is reborn. But in the same time I am wondering: how can this happen? I also tried installing version 12.4 from AMD but I got errors while setup was building Kernel modules.

Will it be bad for my system if I decide to use this driver instead of the one in the repos? I mean, will it affect future updates and stability? Is anyone using graphics drivers outside the repos?

[T6]

"Will it be bad for my system if I decide to use this driver instead of the one in the repos? I mean, will it affect future updates and stability? Is anyone using graphics drivers outside the repos?"

the driver will need to be reinstalled every time you change to a newer kernel if i remember correctly

it is common to destroy your install when installing the driver by using the version from the website, honestly don't know why but i did it once and learned to avoid it but fortunately for you worked well

it is simpler o use the driver from repos except when it doesn't work for your hardware

[agmg]

it is common to destroy your install when installing the driver by using the version from the website, honestly don't know why but i did it once and learned to avoid it but fortunately for you worked well

I was aware of that danger, that's why I tried it in my test system first.

I'm so happy from this driver's performance that I don't want to go back. I will keep using it for some time in my test system(s) and see how it goes. I won't touch my everyday system for the moment.

So, if I'm going to upgrade the kernel, I should uninstall the driver first and reinstall it after the upgrade?