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[masterjoe]

I have been testing the TV function now with a DVB-C tuner (http://sundtek.com/shop/Digital-TV-Sticks/Sundtek-MediaTV-Pro-III-DVB-C/T/T2-FM-Radio-AnalogTV.html) and although it's nice to have the functionality there it does not really work satisfactory for two main reasons (see bleow).

I compare the playback with DVBViewer for Windows (http://www.dvbviewer.com/de/index.php?page=home) which is my favorite TV viewer for the desktop. It uses the same tuner and works flawlessly with everything I have ever tried. Compared to this viewer there are several issues that have to be improved so that MC can take over and be the only solution I would ever use.

1) there is a huge delay before the playback of a channel starts
It takes multiple seconds before I even see anything. DVBViewer only needs one second or less and then one second to switch channels. Zapping is currently unthinkable in MC.

2) the playback is rather "jerky"
Again I compare to DVBViewer where the playback is totally snooth as one would expect that. It really looks like TV. MC on the other side lays everything a bit jerky and stutterish. Its not bad but compared to DVBViewer it's in another class.


Are there any options which could improve the current behavior?

[JimH]

Neither of those are normal problems.  It's possible that the other application is interfering.

Are you sure you've chosen the right device in MC's TV setup?

[masterjoe]

Yes I am 100% sure it is the right device.
The other application (DVBViewer) is not running when I use MC.

[masterjoe]

Uninstalled DVBViewer. No difference.

Interesting observation: When the playback window is minimized to the sidebar (roughly 320x240 px in size) then the playback is NOT jerky. I tested HD channels this way.

Can it be that the rendering on my display is sluggish when it runs in full screen?

The delay still remains and is MUCH worse than in DVBViewer.

[Yaobing]

Which video renderer did you use?  (Is your video setting "Red October Standard" or "Red October HQ"?)

Regarding delay in channel changing, a 2 second or less delay is normal because we do have a 2 second buffer to ensure smooth playback.  What you should see is, after you issue a channel change command, the old channel continues to play for 1 to 2 seconds before the new channel shows.  As long as there is no long pause between switch, I consider it normal.

[masterjoe]

Can this buffer be reduced / configured?
And how can it be that DVBViewer plays back so smoothly with a much shorter delay before the channel appears?

[JimH]

Did you try changing the video to Red October Standard?

[masterjoe]

Yes I did. This is working much more fluid but looking worse pixelwise.
My computer is a strong Core-i7 quadcore. I am surprised that it does not work flawlessly with the HQ engine?

The delay is still rather inacceptable. Is there a setting to reduce buffering?

[kstuart]

The Red October HQ playback is almost entirely dependent on GPU performance, not CPU performance.

(One thing to try is to change the setting of Tools->Options->Video "Hardware accelerate video decoding when possible" - i.e. try it the opposite of what is set now. )

[masterjoe]

Well it's an NVIDIA GTX 770M here... should be enough, eh?

[mwillems]

masterjoe: try disabling the check box marked "crop edges to remove visual noise..."  I've found that setting can cause a significant performance "hit" in ROHQ.  Test and see if it runs smoother without it (you may not actually need it depending on your signal).  

That card should be able to handle the default config of ROHQ.  Have you changed any of the default configuration settings for ROHQ/MadVR? That card might choke on some of the higher scaler settings?

[masterjoe]

I have been using the defaults all the time.
Will try what you have suggested later today.