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Playing High Definition media on 9200??

post #1 of 18
12/17/04 at 1:45pm
Thread Starter 
I just got my new i9200! So far, I love it...especially after reinstalling windows and getting rid of all the shovelware that was taking up my system resources. However, I notice that i'm unable to play 1080p hi-def wmv files seamlessly ...they stutter and drop frames constantly in windows media player. Is this a problem with all i9200 notebooks or have I removed some critical driver during the reinstall process? I wish I attempted to play the files before reinstalling windows xp so I'd be able to determine if it's my notebook or if it's software/driver related. My specs are below:

1.8GHz, XGA, 512MB, 60GB 7200 rpm HD, 24x CD-RW/DVD, ATI 9700 (latest Omega drivers).

Thanks in advance!
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post #2 of 18
12/17/04 at 1:55pm
Is your compy running at the full 1.8 GHz? or is it downstepped to 600 MHz?
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post #3 of 18
12/17/04 at 2:26pm
Thread Starter 
Under my computer system information, it says 1.8 Ghz....is there another way of checking outside of going into the BIOS?
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post #4 of 18
12/17/04 at 2:49pm
underneath where it says 1.8 ghz does it also say 1.8ghz? look up cpu-z on yahoo and use that to check your true speed. Most likely you're running the proc at only 600mhz. Another way to make sure you have max performance is to go to desktop -> right click -> properties -> screen saver -> power -> always on. With the always on setting, your proc will run at full speed. Remember to turn this to something like minimal power management when you're running on batteries so that you can get more battery life!
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post #5 of 18
12/17/04 at 3:44pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the info, but my machine is running at full speed (1.79 GHz) yet it still stutters like crazy in 1080p. The video is 'stepping into liquid' and can be found at the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...tShowcase.aspx

BTW, I have run the microsoft test to see if my system SHOULD be able it to run the clip, and it passes with flying colors. I'm wondering if it is a codec issue?? Anybody want to let me know if they're able to run the video in 1080p?
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post #6 of 18
12/17/04 at 4:10pm
I run 1080's real nicely evern with speed steping, though i did format and installed all possible windows updates, PS: make sure u have windows media player 10
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post #7 of 18
12/17/04 at 4:24pm
Thread Starter 
Ok....I got it solved at least partially following the advice on another forum. I looked under my display adapter settings in the device manager and saw that there were 7 default monitors installed!!?? No idea why this is, but it appears to be a common result of reinstalling windows on some of the inspirons?? I removed all but one of the monitors and it now doesn't stutter nearly as much in media player 10 (although still unwatchable IMHO). However, using windows media player classic, I have no dropping of frames whatsoever. It's an OK solution for now, but I'm curious why it still stutters in version 10.0....thanks again for all who have contributed to this topic. I hope more people will contribute to this thread if they have any further insight into this issue.
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post #8 of 18
12/17/04 at 5:44pm
Try playing "The Magic Of Flight" 1080 and see if it stutters at the begining just after the opening credits with the scene of the birds. I've tried this on several notebooks, and so far the only on that played that without stuttering was an HP zd7380 PENTIUM 4 HT 3.2GHz (other P4 notebooks, such as Fujitsu, had the same issue).

Is the classic player the "mplayer2"? I tried that, downloaded the codec, but it didn't play.
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post #9 of 18
12/17/04 at 6:28pm
Thread Starter 
The media player classic is version 6.4.8.2 'unicode' build and was part of a CODEC pack I downloaded.

Now I just downloaded the 'magic of flight' 1080p and it worked perfectly. The strange thing is, it worked perfectly in both media player 10 and media player classic! Is there something about 'stepping into liquid' that is extraordinary that would work better in one media player over the other?

BTW 'magic of flight' looked fantastic! Thanks for the suggestion of downloading the preview!
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post #10 of 18
12/17/04 at 6:45pm
I also experienced frames/sound drop with the stepping into liquid 1080p + latest omega. Uninstalled the omega's and installed the latest dell back, no more frame drops

btw, i am using older ver. mpc (6.4.7.5), latest mpc can't play some of my crappy realmedia files
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post #11 of 18
12/17/04 at 7:25pm
Listed below are Microsoft's recommended specs for HD playback through WMP. Available on this link is also a WMV HD Advisor which analyzes your computer's hardware and assesses how capable it is to play HD material. A P-M @ 1.8GHz is roughly equal to a P4 @ 2.7GHz (1.8*1.5), so it is slightly lacking in regard to the quoted optimal specs for 1080p playback (a P-M @ 2GHz equals a P4 @ 3GHz)...


Minimum Configuration (to play 720p video)

* Windows XP
* Windows Media Player 9 Series
* 2.4 GHz processor or equivalent
* 384 MB of RAM
* 64 MB video card
* DVD drive
* 1024 x 768 screen resolution
* 16-bit sound card
* Speakers


Optimum Configuration (to play 1080p video with 5.1 surround sound)

* Windows XP
* Windows Media Player 9 Series
* DirectX 9.0
* 3.0 GHz processor or equivalent
* 512 MB of RAM
* 128 MB video card
* DVD drive
* 1920 x 1440 screen resolution
* 24-bit 96 kHz multichannel sound card
* 5.1 surround sound speaker system

For either scenario, an AGP4x-based NVIDIA or ATI video adapter card with the most recent OEM driver updates is also recommended.
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post #12 of 18
12/18/04 at 2:04am
I downloaded 'The Magic Of Flight' again from Microsoft's demo site and noticed that the beginning of it had been edited off on both the 1080p and 720p versions- it starts with flying over water. However, I did find another place on their site that has the full version, which starts with the opening title. It's the first scene (after the title) of the flying birds I continue to have stuttering problems, even after a clean install and updated drivers.
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post #13 of 18
12/18/04 at 2:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Each Hit
I downloaded 'The Magic Of Flight' again from Microsoft's demo site and noticed that the beginning of it had been edited off on both the 1080p and 720p versions- it starts with flying over water. However, I did find another place on their site that has the full version, which starts with the opening title. It's the first scene (after the title) of the flying birds I continue to have stuttering problems, even after a clean install and updated drivers.
I tried that The_Magic_of_Flight_1080.exe, no stuttering for me either...
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post #14 of 18
12/18/04 at 7:32am
I tried mpc 6.4.8.2 and it plays everything without stutter. On WMP 10, I fouund there is a setting under Tools/Options/Performance/Advanced for Drop Frames To Keep AV in Sync. If I uncheck that, it doesn't stutter. I noticed that when it was on, the stuttering would become gradually worse as I played clips, but would recover if I restarted windows. I don't know if it was because I kept checking and unckecking, but after a while the 'Step Into Liquid' clip without that item checked was way out of lip sync. After restarting, it played OK. I guess I need a full length feature to see if it slips over time without that checked.

The only issue I have with mpc is the audio- I noticed on 'Speed' that the english dialog isn't there. I tried changing some settings, but no luck yet.

Another thing I noticed is that these files are 1440 x 1080, not 1920 x 1080.
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post #15 of 18
12/18/04 at 7:21pm
They are encoded at 1440*1080 with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and an anamorphic structure to render out at (1440*1.33)*1080 or 1920*1080.
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post #16 of 18
12/18/04 at 9:42pm
stepping into the liquid is incredibly demanding. i get stutters on my machine and the audio is slow behind the video.

3.4ghz extreme edition
1024mb corsair xms
hitachi 7k60
m18 256mb

and i still cant play it right - its not your machine its just the movie itself - all the other demos play just fine.
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post #17 of 18
2/15/05 at 12:31am
WOW!! These HD samples are AWESOME!

Thanks for the links!
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post #18 of 18
2/16/05 at 11:55pm
Try the 'Alexander' trailer, that's the only true 1920 x 1080 movie they have from what I've seen. This goes for everyone, the rest is that anamorphic crap.
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