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**ashlar** · 2010-01-07, 15:59

I currently use an E8400 clocked at 3.6GHz, plus an ATI 4890. I should have plenty of horsepower for whatever video content.

On the other hand, I'm wondering about Crystal HD addition to my machine for a couple of reasons:

1) VC-1 interlaced playback. Is it capable of this? Does it handle it flawlessly? If it does, then it's great news, as some BluRays have this kind of content (BBC stuff mainly, at least IME) and it's pretty much impossible to play it back correctly unless using PowerDVD or TMT (which on the other hand insists on playing stuff using overlay, messing up the calibration of your display if you happened to calibrate for 0-255). Setting their codecs up on MPC-HC it's another nightmare. If Crystal HD does this right I might consider it, it's not expensive at all.

2) Post processing. Does it allow any advanced rescaling options? Today? In the future? Under DirectX we are limited to bilinear scaling, which to be honest feels pretty antique.
Any other post processing features? Hardware de-interlacing? Deblock? Denoise?

**spiff** · 2010-01-07, 16:19

1) wouldn't help you in any case since ffmpeg can't demux them.
2) no. it's just a decoder. it is NOT a video card. bilinear scaling has absolutely nothing to do with being antique. it is still the best compromise between speed, blur and sharpness. also there's a ticket on trac with placebo scalers for you, like bicubic and lanczos. both of which introduces horrible artifacts imo.

**ashlar** · 2010-01-07, 17:07

Hi spiff. Happy New Year to you too! Big Grin

Thanks for the answers. This VC-1 interlaced thing... I wish it never happened. Why the heck is people using it. I bought BBC Life in glorious HD, I can't play it on my HTPC unless I buy a crappy piece of software (Power DVD) that I have no other need for. Damn.

And regarding the scalers, I think it depends on the screen size. Not entirely placebo.
I'm not saying bilinear is crap. But it's a step down, IMHO.

Cheers!

**ashlar** · (This post was last modified: 2010-01-08, 14:13 by ashlar.)

I'm wondering though... when you state "ffmpeg can't demux them" are you referring to the BDs themselves? I planned on ripping them to m2ts with AnyDVD HD.

davilla · 2010-01-08, 21:36

ashlar Wrote:I'm wondering though... when you state "ffmpeg can't demux them" are you referring to the BDs themselves? I planned on ripping them to m2ts with AnyDVD HD.

Bluray uses m2ts as it's container format, what's inside the container can be many things. In your case, the m2ts contains VC1 interlaced. Something has to demux the audio and video and in the case of XBMC, it's ffmpeg. If ffmpeg does not understand the video contents inside the container, then it can't really demux it can it ?

All you are doing with AnyDVD HD is removing the decryption which AnyDVD HD can do at the BD drive level. Just let the disk mount in windows, AnyDVD DH will "scan it", then copy it off to another location.

**ashlar** · (This post was last modified: 2010-01-08, 23:43 by ashlar.)

But you did play the sample .m2ts I sent you. So the problem lies in decrypting (not a problem for the use I have in mind), decoding and deinterlacing which apparently CrystalHD can do. Honestly I would have been surprised of the opposite: after all CrystalHD is a solution compliant with the standards adopted by BD and VC-1 interlaced is part of those.

Edit: sorry, didn't notice your message here had been written before the PM you sent me, after testing the sample I sent.

davilla · 2010-01-09, 02:32

ashlar Wrote:But you did play the sample .m2ts I sent you. So the problem lies in decrypting (not a problem for the use I have in mind), decoding and deinterlacing which apparently CrystalHD can do. Honestly I would have been surprised of the opposite: after all CrystalHD is a solution compliant with the standards adopted by BD and VC-1 interlaced is part of those.

Edit: sorry, didn't notice your message here had been written before the PM you sent me, after testing the sample I sent.

The Crystal HD hardware codec has no problem decoding interlaced VC1, ffmpeg codec barfed at it. Demuxing using ffmpeg was not an issue.

**ashlar** · 2010-01-09, 15:09

Just bought my card from ebay, plus regular PCI-E adapter.

Does VDPAU handle VC-1 interlaced correctly?

Otherwise CrystalHD really is the ultimate hw decoding solution, considering the unofficial L5.1 support up to 10 reference frames that davilla mentioned elsewhere.