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[essjay]

Hi guys,

I'm hoping to move to JRiver MC from Kodi but I'm having a couple of issues. Any help on the below would be appreciated.

1. My biggest issue is around the library not auto-updating. I'm guessing for MC to do this I have to restart the software or at least exit Theatre View. How do you guys handle this when you're only using a remote control? Is there a way of shutting down MC when the remote sends Windows 7 to sleep and then starting it back up when the PC wakes from sleep? I did this with Kodi using KodiLauncher and every time the PC started, the library updated.

2. How do you name shows where there's a chance of a duplicate show existing? For instance in Kodi I named "The Americans (2013)". MC seems to have figured the show but is not picking up the series and episode numbers.

3. How do you stop a movie or show so that when you start it again it begins from the very start and not where you left off?

4. My GPU can't handle RO-HQ (it's an nVidia 730). What's a pretty good one to get without going bankrupt? 750Ti, 960GTX and so on? Does RO-HQ use the CPU at all as that's fairly low in the power stakes?

5. Is it possible to get the default shows screen in Theatre View for movies? 8x2 posters and they flip up as you scroll down.

6. Any way to stop the individual shows grabbing a frame from the episode as it's a bit annoying sitting there watching the TV/screen flash.

Appreciate any input as I'm really starting to like MC after being a complete Kodi advocate for a couple of years.

[JimH]

Please check your auto import options.  Tools > Options > Import > Autoimport settings.  Add directories to watch.  Edit to specify file types.

Take a look at the wiki topic called "Carnac".

The first press of the stop button sets a bookmark.  An immediate second press removes it.  Stop, stop.

The screen flashing might be ROHQ if the GPU won't handle it. 

[essjay]

Please check your auto import options.  Tools > Options > Import > Autoimport settings.  Add directories to watch.  Edit to specify file types.

Take a look at the wiki topic called "Carnac".

The first press of the stop button sets a bookmark.  An immediate second press removes it.  Stop, stop.

The screen flashing might be ROHQ if the GPU won't handle it. 

Thanks JimH for your help.

The screen flashing is not ROHQ as it's only when MC is trying to generate a thumbnail for a TV episode or movie if it can't find the cover art. It's very annoying. Each time I get a message up saying something like resolution changed or something like that.

The auto import one is a bit strange. So dropped in the new episode of "Fear the Walking Dead" and waited a while for it to show but no luck. I started a stopped a previous version and when I returned to the screen, the latest episode appeared. it's like I had to completely exit the view for it to appear.

[CountryBumkin]

2. How do you name shows where there's a chance of a duplicate show existing? For instance in Kodi I named "The Americans (2013)". MC seems to have figured the show but is not picking up the series and episode numbers.

I like to have the Series Name, Season Number, Episode Number and Episode Number in the file name. So I name my files something like "The Big Bang Theory-S07E23-The Gorrilla Dissolution". MC works well with this file naming method. There are other ways you can do it too.

3. How do you stop a movie or show so that when you start it again it begins from the very start and not where you left off?

Go to Tools>Options>General and under "Behavior" set "Resume playback using bookmarks" to "Automatic" (or "Ask" if you want a choice every time you restart).

4. My GPU can't handle RO-HQ (it's an nVidia 730). What's a pretty good one to get without going bankrupt? 750Ti, 960GTX and so on? Does RO-HQ use the CPU at all as that's fairly low in the power stakes?

I have the 750Ti in two machines. it does a very nice job. It won't run madVR at it's highest settings but I don't think any card will.

5. Is it possible to get the default shows screen in Theatre View for movies? 8x2 posters and they flip up as you scroll down.

I'm not sure what your asking here.

6. Any way to stop the individual shows grabbing a frame from the episode as it's a bit annoying sitting there watching the TV/screen flash.

I don't know what you mean. I have no screen flashing. Can you provide more info on this?

Appreciate any input as I'm really starting to like MC after being a complete Kodi advocate for a couple of years.

[William-NM]

6. Any way to stop the individual shows grabbing a frame from the episode as it's a bit annoying sitting there watching the TV/screen flash.

If you keep your TV series in their own directories, you can dl (from thetvdb.com, for example) a show image and save it in that directory as "folder.jpg" and it will be used for all episodes of that series.

[essjay]

I don't know what you mean. I have no screen flashing. Can you provide more info on this?

Strange that my TV goes black for a few seconds for each movie or TV show that it pulls a frame from to use as a thumbnail. Can get a bit mundane when there's a lot of shows to capture an image for.

[essjay]

I like to have the Series Name, Season Number, Episode Number and Episode Number in the file name. So I name my files something like "The Big Bang Theory-S07E23-The Gorrilla Dissolution". MC works well with this file naming method. There are other ways you can do it too.

I usually do similar but not always with the Episode title.

Go to Tools>Options>General and under "Behavior" set "Resume playback using bookmarks" to "Automatic" (or "Ask" if you want a choice every time you restart).

Brilliant, thank you!

I have the 750Ti in two machines. it does a very nice job. It won't run madVR at it's highest settings but I don't think any card will.

Really? I thought the 750Ti would be plenty of card. I really don't want to spend big money on a 980GTX. Vast majority of my movies are 1080p ripped Blu-rays and just want to watch in the best quality I can.

I'm not sure what your asking here.

Sorry the default screen/list type for TV shows. I'm wondering can I do that for movies - 8x2 posters. There's one movie list type that's similar but I think it's 6x2 posters with some text down the right hand side.

Thanks for all your help - much appreciated.

[muzicman0]

Really? I thought the 750Ti would be plenty of card. I really don't want to spend big money on a 980GTX. Vast majority of my movies are 1080p ripped Blu-rays and just want to watch in the best quality I can.

My understanding is that ROHQ is only a benefit if you are upscaling...if you have 1080p movies, and a 1080p display, then there is no real benefit to ROHQ.

[essjay]

My understanding is that ROHQ is only a benefit if you are upscaling...if you have 1080p movies, and a 1080p display, then there is no real benefit to ROHQ.

Perhaps but then I switch on ROHQ the image stutters and judders so my card can't seem to handle it.

[mojave]

My understanding is that ROHQ is only a benefit if you are upscaling...if you have 1080p movies, and a 1080p display, then there is no real benefit to ROHQ.

Every pixel has a luminence (brightness) and a chrominance (color) value. These are abbreviated as luma and chroma. In order to make the file sizes smaller of content like on a Blu-ray, pixels close to each other share chroma values. This is known as chroma subsampling. The output to the display requires each pixel to have its own value. The video renderer must upsample chroma to provide a value for each pixel.

When one chooses ROHQ, they are then using the madVR renderer which allows for the most advanced way to upsample chroma. Consequently, a 1080p Blu-ray benefits significantly in the view of many, myself included, by using madVR. MadVR also offers advanced sharpening and may other features that can be of benefit to Blu-ray content. It even lets one use a 3D LUT file to calibrate the display.

[essjay]

Every pixel has a luminence (brightness) and a chrominance (color) value. These are abbreviated as luma and chroma. In order to make the file sizes smaller of content like on a Blu-ray, pixels close to each other share chroma values. This is known as chroma subsampling. The output to the display requires each pixel to have its own value. The video renderer must upsample chroma to provide a value for each pixel.

When one chooses ROHQ, they are then using the madVR renderer which allows for the most advanced way to upsample chroma. Consequently, a 1080p Blu-ray benefits significantly in the view of many, myself included, by using madVR. MadVR also offers advanced sharpening and may other features that can be of benefit to Blu-ray content. It even lets one use a 3D LUT file to calibrate the display.

Great thank you. What's the good card for ROHQ? I've been looking at the ASUS GTX 960 Strix 4GB and considering it. Either that or a 2GB model. I'm sure it should be sufficient?

[ferday]

FWIW I'm using a Radeon R9-290x and it plays quite nice with ROHQ in "standard" config. 

The nvidia cards seem popular amongst the JRiver power users.  I would think just based on specs the gtx960 would work fine but IMO more is always better so I'd be looking at the 4G not the 2G

[essjay]

FWIW I'm using a Radeon R9-290x and it plays quite nice with ROHQ in "standard" config. 

The nvidia cards seem popular amongst the JRiver power users.  I would think just based on specs the gtx960 would work fine but IMO more is always better so I'd be looking at the 4G not the 2G

Great thanks for that. Unfortunately the 290x is out of my budget at the moment. The GTX 960 4GB is about my max budget.

[RoderickGI]

Brilliant, thank you!

Don't overlook Jim's tip that pressing Stop twice when playing a program will both stop playback and clear the Bookmark. I find this method very handy.
See the Wiki section Clearing the Bookmark from a media file.

Great thanks for that. Unfortunately the 290x is out of my budget at the moment. The GTX 960 4GB is about my max budget.

The GTX 960 4GB would be my current best choice, and the ASUS GTX 960 Strix 4GB would probably be my preferred version. I haven't quite pulled the trigger yet though, in the hope of something just a little better for a HTPC, in the near future. The Strix is powerful, and supposedly quiet most of the time, but I would love something like it actually designed for a HTPC, and silent operation. If buying today though, that would be the card.

[mojave]

The GTX 960 4GB would be my current best choice, and the ASUS GTX 960 Strix 4GB would probably be my preferred version. I haven't quite pulled the trigger yet though, in the hope of something just a little better for a HTPC, in the near future. The Strix is powerful, and supposedly quiet most of the time, but I would love something like it actually designed for a HTPC, and silent operation. If buying today though, that would be the card.

I've bought 1 MSI Gaming GTX970, 1 GTX 960 2GB, and 2 GTX 960 4GB. The MSI's are fanless at cool temps just like the ASUS. However, if they heat up during madVR or gaming use, the MSI will stay quieter. See this for a comparison:

Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 review: ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, Inno3D, MSI and Zotac put to the test

I think the MSI or the ASUS are the perfect HPTC cards since they are completely silent most of the time. The fan doesn't even spin when listening to music.

[essjay]

Great, thanks guys for the tips on GPUs - the 4GB 960 Strix seems like the one to get. Card noise is not really an issue for me as all my kit (AV processor, power amps, Darbee, HTPC etc) is located in a 19" rack in another room so I can't hear it.

One issue I noticed last night while we were watching the new Mad Max movie on the projector. The movie was fine for the first while until after the Mad Max logo comes up and we see Furiosa for the first time. It's like the screen split in 3 with the top and button thirds matching but the middle third like it was shifted slightly so the picture was a mess. This is with ROHQ not enabled. I also noticed it when the kids were watching a Scooby Doo movie on the TV yesterday so it's not the display (as happening on both TV and projector). I switched to Kodi on the HTPC and it played perfectly.

Any idea what this could be? Is it a hardware limitation? The machine is pretty low end but Kodi can handle 1080p on a 1080p TV/projector:
64GB Crucial RealSSD
AMD A6 5400K Black Edition CPU
Asus F2A85-M LE, AMD A85X
4GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3
Zotax GT 730 2GB GPU
400w PSU

Think this is a hardware issue and would the GTX960 save the day? Would it also be worth upgrading the CPU to an A10 5800K?

[lepa]

It sounds like you have experienced tearing-problem. I have old i5 2500k and fanless gt 430 and using RO HQ is no problem. Of course I don't use madVR's most advanced algorithms for picture scaling.

[essjay]

Could easily be - thanks for the tip I'll have a read now.

Here's some photos of what I'm seeing while the kids have "Epic" on. RO is set to standard but must check my hardware acceleration settings

[essjay]

Great, thanks guys for the tips on GPUs - the 4GB 960 Strix seems like the one to get. Card noise is not really an issue for me as all my kit (AV processor, power amps, Darbee, HTPC etc) is located in a 19" rack in another room so I can't hear it.

One issue I noticed last night while we were watching the new Mad Max movie on the projector. The movie was fine for the first while until after the Mad Max logo comes up and we see Furiosa for the first time. It's like the screen split in 3 with the top and button thirds matching but the middle third like it was shifted slightly so the picture was a mess. This is with ROHQ not enabled. I also noticed it when the kids were watching a Scooby Doo movie on the TV yesterday so it's not the display (as happening on both TV and projector). I switched to Kodi on the HTPC and it played perfectly.

Any idea what this could be? Is it a hardware limitation? The machine is pretty low end but Kodi can handle 1080p on a 1080p TV/projector:
64GB Crucial RealSSD
AMD A6 5400K Black Edition CPU
Asus F2A85-M LE, AMD A85X
4GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3
Zotax GT 730 2GB GPU
400w PSU

Think this is a hardware issue and would the GTX960 save the day (even though the motherboard is PCIE 2)? Would it also be worth upgrading the CPU to an A10 5800K?

[RoderickGI]

Any idea what this could be? Is it a hardware limitation? The machine is pretty low end but Kodi can handle 1080p on a 1080p TV/projector:
64GB Crucial RealSSD
AMD A6 5400K Black Edition CPU
Asus F2A85-M LE, AMD A85X
4GB Corsair DDR3 XMS3
Zotax GT 730 2GB GPU
400w PSU

Think this is a hardware issue and would the GTX960 save the day? Would it also be worth upgrading the CPU to an A10 5800K?

I can't give you a definitive answer on that, because so many settings affect video performance, and I'm not quite the expert in that area. If you don't get tearing with Kodi, perhaps you should try settings similar to Kodi and see if the problem persists. You should look at Video Clock, Hardware Acceleration, De-interlacing, and Options/Video/Display Settings in particular. As you are using RO STD, right click on the screen while a video that exhibits the problem is playing, select DirectShow Filters, then Enhanced Video Renderer, as see if the video is dropping any frames, that the frame rate matches the source file, jitter, and any other issues.

On the hardware, what I can say is that it wouldn't be a good idea to install a 4GB graphics card into a Pc that only has 4GB of memory. Windows is going to reserve a big chunk of the PC's memory for hardware, so you will probably see problems. In fact, you should have a look at the Windows Resource Monitor Memory page, and see how much of your 4GB of memory is already "Hardware Reserved". You may be surprised.

So if you are going to install a GTX 960, you need to upgrade your memory as well. Maybe you could get away with 8GB, but if the pricing isn't too different, I would go to 16GB. In fact, I have 16GB in my HTPC just so I don't hit problems when I install a discreet video card into it.

Of course, if you are using a 32bit version of Windows, you aren't even getting the full 4GB of memory. You will need a 64bit version of Windows.

Then you need to start thinking about how much power you have. Upgrading to 16GB uses just 4 Watts more power. Adding a GTX 960 adds another 72 Watts. Upgrading to the A10 5800K processor adds another 32 Watts, for a total requirement of 277 Watts, and a recommended power supply of 327 Watts. You are still okay with your 400 Watts PSU then, but it had better be a good quality PSU, or you may start to see troubles.

Those power estimates are based on just the components you listed above plus mouse and keyboard, and the "eXtreme Power Supply Calculator" at Outer Vision. You will see that the calculator recommends a 430W power supply with 16GB+GTX 960+A10 5800K. I haven't included any fans, USB devices, water cooling, Wireless, TV Tuners, or anything else.

Note: I have the registered version of the "eXtreme Power Supply Calculator", but I have no affiliation with the supplier. I have found it useful for years though.

[essjay]

I can't give you a definitive answer on that, because so many settings affect video performance, and I'm not quite the expert in that area. If you don't get tearing with Kodi, perhaps you should try settings similar to Kodi and see if the problem persists. You should look at Video Clock, Hardware Acceleration, De-interlacing, and Options/Video/Display Settings in particular. As you are using RO STD, right click on the screen while a video that exhibits the problem is playing, select DirectShow Filters, then Enhanced Video Renderer, as see if the video is dropping any frames, that the frame rate matches the source file, jitter, and any other issues.

On the hardware, what I can say is that it wouldn't be a good idea to install a 4GB graphics card into a Pc that only has 4GB of memory. Windows is going to reserve a big chunk of the PC's memory for hardware, so you will probably see problems. In fact, you should have a look at the Windows Resource Monitor Memory page, and see how much of your 4GB of memory is already "Hardware Reserved". You may be surprised.

So if you are going to install a GTX 960, you need to upgrade your memory as well. Maybe you could get away with 8GB, but if the pricing isn't too different, I would go to 16GB. In fact, I have 16GB in my HTPC just so I don't hit problems when I install a discreet video card into it.

Of course, if you are using a 32bit version of Windows, you aren't even getting the full 4GB of memory. You will need a 64bit version of Windows.

Then you need to start thinking about how much power you have. Upgrading to 16GB uses just 4 Watts more power. Adding a GTX 960 adds another 72 Watts. Upgrading to the A10 5800K processor adds another 32 Watts, for a total requirement of 277 Watts, and a recommended power supply of 327 Watts. You are still okay with your 400 Watts PSU then, but it had better be a good quality PSU, or you may start to see troubles.

Those power estimates are based on just the components you listed above plus mouse and keyboard, and the "eXtreme Power Supply Calculator" at Outer Vision. You will see that the calculator recommends a 430W power supply with 16GB+GTX 960+A10 5800K. I haven't included any fans, USB devices, water cooling, Wireless, TV Tuners, or anything else.

Note: I have the registered version of the "eXtreme Power Supply Calculator", but I have no affiliation with the supplier. I have found it useful for years though.

Great, thanks for all that info.