Hardware support in PowerDVD messes up DVD image quality

Prlwytkovsky · Oct 10, 2002, 03:43 PM

When I switched on (default off) harware support in my PowerDVD 4 the motion correction was all messed up. With the software motion correction I get nice smooth video when the image pans, when I switched on the hardware support these pans became jittery and badly interpolated. What happened, isn't hardware acceleration supposed to improve DVD playback ?

Any other suggestions to improve DVD playback ?

Graphics card is an ASUS Ti 8460, a GeForce 4 card.
AMD Athlon 1200
Gigabyte GA-DXR

Ryoko · Oct 10, 2002, 11:36 PM

hardware acceleration does not mean better quality. it just means hardware acceleration. hardware decoders usually have all the perks like adaptive deinterlacing and idtc motion compensation (and better color, too), but nvidia just threw a hardware accelerator on their cards to say they had one. ati cards have hardware decoders built-in. if you really want the extra quality, look on pricewatch for a sigma designs realmagic hollywood plus decoder. i have one, and it kicks ass. (software's kinda buggy, but not bad at all) they're under $60us.

Prlwytkovsky · Oct 11, 2002, 04:01 PM

I am pretty interested in these hardware decoders but I can't find anything on the net comparing the quality versus software decoders. I used to have a ATI 8500 DV but the drivers are still so bad that I ditched it for the ASUS nvidia card. The DVD quality on the ATI card was ok but not to great when the image pans. Still so jittery it spoiled much of the fun watching the lord of the rings.

If anybody has any info on the DVD playback quality of hardware versus software decoders I would love to hear it.

Frodo301 · Oct 12, 2002, 03:53 AM

Ever thought about running it without hardware acceleration and see how it looks/performs? I also have a RealMagic Hollywood plus, two actually. One is in my machine right now and I have an older machine that I use with the H+ which is hooked up to my tv for dvd playing. On the tv the quality rivals some of the set top dvd players you can buy.

Oct 10, 2002, 03:43 PM	#1
Prlwytkovsky DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Washington DC Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Hardware support in PowerDVD messes up DVD image quality When I switched on (default off) harware support in my PowerDVD 4 the motion correction was all messed up. With the software motion correction I get nice smooth video when the image pans, when I switched on the hardware support these pans became jittery and badly interpolated. What happened, isn't hardware acceleration supposed to improve DVD playback ? Any other suggestions to improve DVD playback ? Graphics card is an ASUS Ti 8460, a GeForce 4 card. AMD Athlon 1200 Gigabyte GA-DXR

Oct 12, 2002, 03:53 AM	#4
Frodo301 Outraged Join Date: May 2002 Location: The mountains Posts: 584 Rep Power: 0	Ever thought about running it without hardware acceleration and see how it looks/performs? I also have a RealMagic Hollywood plus, two actually. One is in my machine right now and I have an older machine that I use with the H+ which is hooked up to my tv for dvd playing. On the tv the quality rivals some of the set top dvd players you can buy. __________________ The greatest thing you'll every learn is to love, and be loved in return.

Oct 10, 2002, 11:36 PM	#2
Ryoko American Soldier Join Date: May 2002 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posts: 1,725 Rep Power: 0	hardware acceleration does not mean better quality. it just means hardware acceleration. hardware decoders usually have all the perks like adaptive deinterlacing and idtc motion compensation (and better color, too), but nvidia just threw a hardware accelerator on their cards to say they had one. ati cards have hardware decoders built-in. if you really want the extra quality, look on pricewatch for a sigma designs realmagic hollywood plus decoder. i have one, and it kicks ass. (software's kinda buggy, but not bad at all) they're under $60us.

Oct 11, 2002, 04:01 PM	Thread Starter #3
Prlwytkovsky DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Washington DC Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	I am pretty interested in these hardware decoders but I can't find anything on the net comparing the quality versus software decoders. I used to have a ATI 8500 DV but the drivers are still so bad that I ditched it for the ASUS nvidia card. The DVD quality on the ATI card was ok but not to great when the image pans. Still so jittery it spoiled much of the fun watching the lord of the rings. If anybody has any info on the DVD playback quality of hardware versus software decoders I would love to hear it.