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The NVIDIA DVD decoder uppdate software.

post #1 of 12
4/17/05 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 
What does it do? I downloaded and installed the 14MB file. I must say I could not see any change. DVD films looked fine also before, and CPU usage during playing seems to be about the same. (varying between 10 and 20%). Perhaps our machines are so new that the decoder stuff already is installed with the DELL drivers?

Text on the recently set up NVIDIA page:
"This is the update kit of the NVIDIA DVD Decoder. This software will only install if you have previously purchased the DVD Decoder from a reseller or it was pre-installed on your OEM computer.
If the update kit does not find a valid activation key on your computer, it will install the 30 day trial version of the NVIDIA DVD Decoder on your system."

Probably, with 9300 we are the OEM category, in any case. When I installed this version, I got no warning about it expiring in 30 days or such.

BTW: THe CPU fan sometimes switches to "fast" during films.This can largely be eliminated through reducing the overall CPU speed, by using one of the low-power settings. (even if it is plugged in), I found.
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post #2 of 12
4/17/05 at 11:00am
I don’t have the decoder but I read this in the Nvidia FAQ:

"Is there a way to get access to the NVIDIA DVD Decoder settings or properties?"
Yes the properties can be accessed once an MPEG-2 file or DVD has started playing in Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center. Once playback has started, check the Windows taskbar for a new NVIDIA icon that displays the name “NVIDIA Decoders” when your mouse hovers over it. Right mouse click on that icon and select “Decoder Properties.”

You could do that to check if it is working?? Just a thought. Oh, i gather you also have to use Windows Media Player to use the decoder, i think.
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post #3 of 12
4/17/05 at 11:50am
Good to see the CPU usage is low, shows the hardware decoder functioning properly

On another note, we might fall in the OEM category but Dell never supplied the nV DVD package did they? Also wondering does the drive set the regions when you play DVDs?
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post #4 of 12
4/17/05 at 12:14pm
Yea, I installed the Nvidia decoder to check out and I can't tell a single difference between using Windows Media Player 10 with the decoder and PowerDVD 6.

More hype than performance?
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post #5 of 12
4/17/05 at 12:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by newguru
Yea, I installed the Nvidia decoder to check out and I can't tell a single difference between using Windows Media Player 10 with the decoder and PowerDVD 6.

More hype than performance?
Looked at your CPU usage in both instances? Also I thought the nV decoder supports some extra features you can use
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post #6 of 12
4/17/05 at 12:30pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Egmonster, I had to activate the WMP to find out (XP delivered without WMP active is probably an European thing after the EU decision against Microsoft?), as I had previously used only MediaplayerClassic and Power DVD.
Well I could not find any icon or any thing saying Hardware Decoder properties, or anything like that. But to my surprise WMP uses only between a third and and a half the amount of CPU power (Fangui says it varies between 3% to 10%, against -still- 10% to 20% for the two other players, roughly). No doubt about it!
But was it like this beforre the uppdate? Perhaps sombody else could try find out who is/was using WMP before uppdating the decoder.

AsGF2MX, what do you say now! 5-7% average!

(When it comes to DVD regions, I think Windows OS plays a central part. It sends signals to the drive that region now has changed a certain numbers of times. (you can see the number in device manager). After 4 times the drive locks. The most known DVD Free software simply stops Windows from sending this information to the drive. This is why the program is set by standard to pop up when you start one of the player programs. Or did I misunderstand your question?)
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post #7 of 12
4/17/05 at 12:40pm
That's more like it but I think some DVDs might consume more

Hmm...from what I understood you saying, if I use another program to play, it may or may not send this rubbish info. I understand how the program works though Now to find another app that will play DVDs without setting regions...I probably have DVD-Region free somewhere here...but I don't remember much about it
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post #8 of 12
4/17/05 at 1:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by streng
Thanks Egmonster, I had to activate the WMP to find out (XP delivered without WMP active is probably an European thing after the EU decision against Microsoft?), as I had previously used only MediaplayerClassic and Power DVD.
Well I could not find any icon or any thing saying Hardware Decoder properties, or anything like that. But to my surprise WMP uses only between a third and and a half the amount of CPU power (Fangui says it varies between 3% to 10%, against -still- 10% to 20% for the two other players, roughly). No doubt about it!
But was it like this beforre the uppdate? Perhaps sombody else could try find out who is/was using WMP before uppdating the decoder.

AsGF2MX, what do you say now! 5-7% average!

(When it comes to DVD regions, I think Windows OS plays a central part. It sends signals to the drive that region now has changed a certain numbers of times. (you can see the number in device manager). After 4 times the drive locks. The most known DVD Free software simply stops Windows from sending this information to the drive. This is why the program is set by standard to pop up when you start one of the player programs. Or did I misunderstand your question?)
This is great and all but honestly....whats the benefit of it using less CPU power? Are you honestly going to be watching a movie on your laptop AND doing something else at the same time? If I'm on the road for work and want to watch a movie, I'm watching it full screen and I won't be doing anything else. Do you watch your movies windowed or something where you might be doing other things at the same time?
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post #9 of 12
4/17/05 at 2:19pm
Now if nVidia would get off their high horse and let their decoder be used with Zoomplayer. Grrr.
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post #10 of 12
4/17/05 at 2:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by newguru
This is great and all but honestly....whats the benefit of it using less CPU power? Are you honestly going to be watching a movie on your laptop AND doing something else at the same time? If I'm on the road for work and want to watch a movie, I'm watching it full screen and I won't be doing anything else. Do you watch your movies windowed or something where you might be doing other things at the same time?

It would be interesting to see if battery life is improved with the new codec. If the CPU is doing less work, maybe battery life will be improved when watching movies.
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post #11 of 12
4/17/05 at 2:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by newguru
This is great and all but honestly....whats the benefit of it using less CPU power? Are you honestly going to be watching a movie on your laptop AND doing something else at the same time? If I'm on the road for work and want to watch a movie, I'm watching it full screen and I won't be doing anything else. Do you watch your movies windowed or something where you might be doing other things at the same time?

I mostly agree, and there is more than enough of CPU power. Still there may be some small potential advantage by less CPU usage. It may be easier to keep the CPU fan -the most noisy of the two- at low speed, say. And as suggested above, if the decoding is done more effectively by the GPU chip, the machine may run longer on battery.
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post #12 of 12
4/17/05 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by newguru
This is great and all but honestly....whats the benefit of it using less CPU power? Are you honestly going to be watching a movie on your laptop AND doing something else at the same time? If I'm on the road for work and want to watch a movie, I'm watching it full screen and I won't be doing anything else. Do you watch your movies windowed or something where you might be doing other things at the same time?
Ya never know, could be some crazy multitaskers that fold @ the same time!
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