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Author Topic: What are the differences between MadVr and MC for video decoding ?  (Read 4845 times)

Adhara

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Hi,

Can you please clarify things for me while using ROHQ ?

What I understand is:

Video decoding (scaling, deinterlacing) can be performed either by MC (LAV ?) or by MadVR.
In MC by setting up in Tools --> Options --> Video --> General Video Settings
In MadVR by setting up in Processing --> Decoding.

   CPU is faster for video decoding so it's better to set hardware acceleration OFF.
 
Video Rendering (DNR, sharpness, AR, ..) is mandatory performed by MadVR.

I'm right ? Or Did I miss something around ?

What's the best way for decoding: MC or MadVR, in case of using Intel 3770K processor and AMD 7750 GPU ? Let MC do the job or MadVR ?
Is it better to activate Intel GPU (over bios menu) even if using a dedicated GPU (AMD 7750 here) ?

Regards.

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6233638

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Re: What are the differences between MadVr and MC for video decoding ?
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2013, 09:59:48 am »

I would not use madVR for decoding. I'm not sure why the option is still there really.
You are much better off using LAV Video for decoding, which Media Center uses by default.
 
LAV Video can perform either software decoding, or hardware accelerated decoding. Assuming you have a fast CPU, software decoding is going to be faster, and there's the potential for better error handling than the hardware decoders.
But speed is generally not an issue in either case, you would enable hardware acceleration to reduce the system's power consumption, or if you want to leave the CPU free for other tasks while videos are playing.
 
Red October HQ uses madVR for image processing, and Red October Standard uses EVR.
madVR does not perform things like noise reduction or sharpness enhancement, but it does offer very high quality image scaling, deinterlacing, color management and other functions for the best possible image quality.
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Adhara

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Re: What are the differences between MadVr and MC for video decoding ?
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2013, 01:25:16 am »

I would not use madVR for decoding. I'm not sure why the option is still there really.
You are much better off using LAV Video for decoding, which Media Center uses by default.
 
LAV Video can perform either software decoding, or hardware accelerated decoding. Assuming you have a fast CPU, software decoding is going to be faster, and there's the potential for better error handling than the hardware decoders.
But speed is generally not an issue in either case, you would enable hardware acceleration to reduce the system's power consumption, or if you want to leave the CPU free for other tasks while videos are playing.
 
Red October HQ uses madVR for image processing, and Red October Standard uses EVR.
madVR does not perform things like noise reduction or sharpness enhancement, but it does offer very high quality image scaling, deinterlacing, color management and other functions for the best possible image quality.


You're sure ?
Jinc, Lanczos, ... are a part of MadVR and they deal with video filters.
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astromo

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Re: What are the differences between MadVr and MC for video decoding ?
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2013, 05:16:41 am »

LAV Video can perform either software decoding, or hardware accelerated decoding. Assuming you have a fast CPU, software decoding is going to be faster, and there's the potential for better error handling than the hardware decoders.
But speed is generally not an issue in either case, you would enable hardware acceleration to reduce the system's power consumption, or if you want to leave the CPU free for other tasks while videos are playing.

Hey, thanks for this explanation. Fills a knowledge gap.

I don't know how many pieces of IT documentation I've read that work along the lines of:
Quote
The next feature is Hardware Acceleration. The configuration options are Enable / Disable
Motherboard manuals come to mind. You're often not told how a feature works and what the pro's / con's of employing it are.

Keep this kind of good stuff coming..  ;)
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6233638

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Re: What are the differences between MadVr and MC for video decoding ?
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2013, 05:51:26 am »

You're sure ?
Jinc, Lanczos, ... are a part of MadVR and they deal with video filters.
These are scaling algorithms, they're not applying processing to the video as such. (no sharpness enhancements etc.)
 
The upcoming version of madVR will have the option to use debanding though, which is image processing that can smooth out gradients.
 
Hey, thanks for this explanation. Fills a knowledge gap.
To be clear, the quality of the hardware and software decoders should be the same with well mastered content. I have not encountered any problems with Blu-ray discs.
Well, I have one in my collection where there might be an error with the hardware decoders, but I haven't investigated it fully - it may be a mastering problem.
 
But with TV recordings or poorly transcoded video, sometimes you might run into problems with macroblocking when using the hardware decoders.
 
I'm not sure what the source for this was (live TV?) but here's an example taken from a video that the hardware decoders show errors with, which someone posted on a forum a while ago - I keep a collection of sample videos that people have posted for testing things like this.

 
If you see problems like this where fast movement or flashing lights (this example had both) causes a lot of blocking/smearing of the image and you're using the hardware decoders, you may want to try using software decoding instead and see if it fixes things.
 
I rarely encounter this and prefer to leave hardware acceleration enabled so that high CPU usage does not interfere with playback.

I don't know how many pieces of IT documentation I've read that work along the lines of:Motherboard manuals come to mind. You're often not told how a feature works and what the pro's / con's of employing it are.
I know what you mean, that's very frustrating.
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mattkhan

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Re: What are the differences between MadVr and MC for video decoding ?
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2014, 08:16:13 am »

These are scaling algorithms, they're not applying processing to the video as such. (no sharpness enhancements etc.)
 
The upcoming version of madVR will have the option to use debanding though, which is image processing that can smooth out gradients.
 To be clear, the quality of the hardware and software decoders should be the same with well mastered content. I have not encountered any problems with Blu-ray discs.
Well, I have one in my collection where there might be an error with the hardware decoders, but I haven't investigated it fully - it may be a mastering problem.
 
But with TV recordings or poorly transcoded video, sometimes you might run into problems with macroblocking when using the hardware decoders.
 
I'm not sure what the source for this was (live TV?) but here's an example taken from a video that the hardware decoders show errors with, which someone posted on a forum a while ago - I keep a collection of sample videos that people have posted for testing things like this.

 
If you see problems like this where fast movement or flashing lights (this example had both) causes a lot of blocking/smearing of the image and you're using the hardware decoders, you may want to try using software decoding instead and see if it fixes things.
 
I rarely encounter this and prefer to leave hardware acceleration enabled so that high CPU usage does not interfere with playback.
I know what you mean, that's very frustrating.
I see the same issue in the 1st few minutes of The Breakfast Club BD with hardware decoding on & playing back on a HD4600 IGP (core i3-4340) in Windows 8.1. The offending scenes are completely innocuous mind you with no bright lights or fast transitions, switching hardware decoding off removes the problem completely.
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