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[_noel_]

Hi all,

I've found MediaCenter a few days ago ... and it is marvelous! Exactly what I was looking for ... 
But I've found a showstopper for me: Playing avi files works fine, but mkv files with 720p or 1080p movies are not playing correctly: If you paus such a movie or call up the mouse context menu MC freezes and must be kille with the task manager 
Anybody else seen such problems?
(If tested it on two machines, Win XP SP3)

Regards and thanks for help
noel

[JimH]

It's probably missing the DirectShow filters for whatever filetype is stored in the MKV container.  Please see the Wiki (link above) and consider installing CCCP.

[_noel_]

It's probably missing the DirectShow filters for whatever filetype is stored in the MKV container.  Please see the Wiki (link above) and consider installing CCCP.

CCCP is installed, CoreAvc codec also. All (!) other players (dvbviewer, windows media player, mediaplayer classic, zoomplayer) play the MKVs without any problems. ?

Regards
noel

[JimH]

You may need to configure DirectShow settings for the filetype in MC.  You need to know what filetype is in the container. 

[_noel_]

You may need to configure DirectShow settings for the filetype in MC.  You need to know what filetype is in the container. 

is configured like in the other players. The problem is, that the movie is running, if you use the mouse context menu, it works exactly one time, but then MC hangs up (movie is still running ) but MC must be killed, because it respondes no more to keyboard or mouse, task manager shows MC as "not responding ..."

[glynor]

Just for the record... I use MC to play 1080p (and 720p) MKV files all the time.  They're my primary video file type.

What types of files are these specifically?  The fact that they happen to be MKV is coincidental, as the important fact is the filter processing the media stream, not the file container (unless it happens to be Haali causing the lockup).

[_noel_]

Just for the record... I use MC to play 1080p (and 720p) MKV files all the time.  They're my primary video file type.

What types of files are these specifically?  The fact that they happen to be MKV is coincidental, as the important fact is the filter processing the media stream, not the file container (unless it happens to be Haali causing the lockup).

I've installed the newest Haali splitter a few minutes ago: MC hangs up after using the mouse during playback, but the movie is going on ... very strange
I'm using CoreAvc decoder, anybody else using this decoder with MC ?

Regards
noel

[Yaobing]

Does the video contain x.264 format?  Alex B mentioned a while back there was a problem playing MKV files containing x.264 with CoreAVC decoder.  However, I just tried it and it worked fine.

Go to Tools -> Options -> Video -> DirectShow Playback Settings..., look for mkv from the list on the right-hand-side, highlight it and click "Select Filters" button.  On the resulting dialog window, try selecting a specific video decoder - CoreAVC or FFDShow Video Decoder. Experiment with either decoder, and see which one works better.  You can also try using different Video Renderer - on the same dialog window.

[_noel_]

Go to Tools -> Options -> Video -> DirectShow Playback Settings..., look for mkv from the list on the right-hand-side, highlight it and click "Select Filters" button.  On the resulting dialog window, try selecting a specific video decoder - CoreAVC or FFDShow Video Decoder. Experiment with either decoder, and see which one works better.  You can also try using different Video Renderer - on the same dialog window.

I wil tryout some other decoders and will keep you informed ...

[fitbrit]

I've installed the newest Haali splitter a few minutes ago: MC hangs up after using the mouse during playback, but the movie is going on ... very strange
I'm using CoreAvc decoder, anybody else using this decoder with MC ?

Regards
noel

I'm using CoreAVC version 1.6. I had some problems with version 1.8 and MC13 so I went back to 1.6. Since then MC13 has undergone lots of revisions so I may try CoreAVC 1.8 or above again.

[Yaobing]

I'm using CoreAVC version 1.6. I had some problems with version 1.8 and MC13 so I went back to 1.6. Since then MC13 has undergone lots of revisions so I may try CoreAVC 1.8 or above again.

I downloaded CoreAVC trial version today.  It is version 1.9.  Works very well.

[_noel_]

I downloaded CoreAVC trial version today.  It is version 1.9.  Works very well.

This hit the spot: CoreAvc 1.8 did not work - CoreAvc 1.9 does 

Lot's of thanks !

noel

[fitbrit]

Thanks Yaobing and Noel - I'll get 1.9 soon too!

[IlPadrino]

Thanks Yaobing and Noel - I'll get 1.9 soon too!

What's so good about CoreAVC?  It's just a codec that is some instances uses less resources?

[Yaobing]

It's just a codec that is some instances uses less resources?

That is one thing I did notice.  It uses 16% of my total CPU power, while FFDShow uses 50% on one particular video.

[)p(]

It also very stable...it just works for me...very important for htpc use.

peter

[glynor]

CoreAVC is widely regarded as the fastest MPEG-4 AVC (aka h264) decoder out there, and the one that results in the lowest CPU usage during decoding.  The most common use for it is for slower machines that couldn't otherwise handle the decode of a particular type of video stream (1080p h264 video on a Pentium 4, for example).  It is perhaps the best MPEG-4 decoder out there, but isn't free, so isn't nearly as widely used as FFDSHOW.

Aside from assorted bugs (which both FFDSHOW and CoreAVC suffer from in roughly equal quantities), there is no quality difference between the two major decoder options.

Being an open-source community developed project, FFDSHOW tends to evolve more quickly (have more versions, more often -- at least since the Tryouts project got going) which leads to certain bugs getting quashed faster.  However, this can also lead to new bugs cropping up more often, so it's pretty much a wash.  CoreAVC revs more slowly and is tested more thoroughly before release, but is tested on a much more limited install base.

It's pretty much a wash.  If you're supporting an older machine, and you're willing to pay the licensing fee, CoreAVC is a very good choice.  FFDSHOW is good enough for most people, though it is advisable not to live on the bleeding edge of FFDSHOW development.

[Shiraz]

Thanks Glynor, very helpful.