[fishy007]

I'm getting a very weird series of horizontal white lines that flicker all over the XBMC menus on my Windows HTPC, but video playback is flawless. The issue only seems to arise in the menus of XBMC and I can't figure out why that is. It happens on every skin I use as well.

Just to be sure it wasn't something with the system software, I formatted and reinstalled everything (fresh XBMC database as well) and the same thing happened right from the start.

It's not a huge problem as videos play back without an issue, but it is annoying when browsing. I'm not sure if it's an XBMC problem or a problem with my video card. I've tried swapping HDMI cables and the issue remains. System specs are listed below. All drivers are current as of April 6th 2011.

If you think the video card might be to blame, I'd appreciate a recommendation for an Nvidia card in the sub $75 price range that can do HDMI passthrough audio to my receiver. The only reason I picked up the ATI card when I did was because it was cheap and could pass the audio through.

Motherboard: Asus P5N7A-VM (nForce)
CPU: Core 2 Duo (stock speed)
RAM: 4GB OCZ (stock speed)
Video: Sapphire ATI HD5450 connected via HDMI
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium x86 w/SP1

Thanks in advance for any help. I did a search and all the threads I found dealt with lines or artifacts during playback.

[PatK]

Yes the culprit is the graphic card in all likelihood. Sounds like you have a dual monitor/TV system set-up..?

I have the the ATI 5770 very similar design as yours... (I almost went for the 5450 but this one was only $20 more at the time) when I threw the video over to my TV in duplicate mode which is a slightly different resolution.. I got wild flickering on the bottom section of the TV screen. Playing around with Catalyst Control Center, I found turning OFF overclocking of any kind (defaults) cleared up the issue. This may not be your exact issue... but sounds like there is some sort of conflict between the interface res and video res and revolves around the gfx card output.

[fishy007]

Yes the culprit is the graphic card in all likelihood. Sounds like you have a dual monitor/TV system set-up..?

I have the the ATI 5770 very similar design as yours... (I almost went for the 5450 but this one was only $20 more at the time) when I threw the video over to my TV in duplicate mode which is a slightly different resolution.. I got wild flickering on the bottom section of the TV screen. Playing around with Catalyst Control Center, I found turning OFF overclocking of any kind (defaults) cleared up the issue. This may not be your exact issue... but sounds like there is some sort of conflict between the interface res and video res and revolves around the gfx card output.

The HDMI is the only video out that I'm doing. It's a single display to the TV through the receiver. The CCC is set up with defaults, but I'll reset it again and see if it makes any difference.

[PatK]

The HDMI is the only video out that I'm doing. It's a single display to the TV through the receiver. The CCC is set up with defaults, but I'll reset it again and see if it makes any difference.

Then it's coming down to the differences in resolution between the interface and video... try a skin with either a higher or lower res. Also check in settings to see if you're at a different sync speed for films vs interface. If you still have this issue in windowed mode, you must have this issue with the windows desktop? If not... then your interface full page needs to be re-calibrated.... You shouldn't be getting this.

[fishy007]

. Also check in settings to see if you're at a different sync speed for films vs interface.

I'm not sure what you mean by this.


I have tried it with different skins and have experienced the same results. I didn't think to check it out with a window vs fullscreen. I will do that ASAP. Thanks for that tip!

[fishy007]

I put XBMC in a windowed mode and the flickering was gone. I moved it back into fullscreen and so far (about 2 hours ago) the flickering has not come back. We'll see if it stays this way!