DVD question

[giovanni]

Hello,

I have a Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM drive and I noticed that during DVD playback, the cpu usage is quite high, between 50-80%. My current setup is:

Leadtek Geforce 2 DDR GTS video card
SB Live! mp3+ 5.1 sound card
Amd Athlon Thunderbird (Slot A) 850 Mhz cpu
Cambridge SoundWorks DTT 5.1 2200 speakers (without external decoder)

I am using PowerDVD 3.0 and I want to know if there is something I can do to lower the cpu usage. I am not having any problems or slowdowns in DVD playback, though.

Any help appreciated.

[morriswindgate]

Get a Hardware DVD Decoder card.

[RJ]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Well, if you don't have any problems, why do you want to lower the CPU usage ? Just for fun or do you want to let something run in the background while watching DVD's ?

Thing is, that DVD-videos are saved as a MPEG-2 stream, and MPEG-2 is a compressed format.
So in order to watch DVDs they have to be decompressed.
So if you don't have a hardware decoder card your CPU will do that all, therefore the CPU usage is that high.
If you bought a hardware decoder then it would decode the MPEG-2, lowering the CPU usage drastically.

Well, there's something you can do: Your graphics card has hardware decoding assistance. That means that your graphics card can help the CPU decoding the mpeg-2.
Just open your PowerDVD, go to "Settings" or "Configurations" (however it's called), then switch to the video tab and enable "Use hardware accelerator" under Misc.

Now the GeForce 2 helps the CPU so the usage should be lower now.

RJ

[giovanni]

Hello,

I have a hardware decoder card. The problem with the card is that I can not get the sound to play through all speakers. It is the Sigma designs Holywood Plus with the EM8300 chipset. The Holywood Plus card has a line-out output, a coaxial-out to connect an external decoder, a TV-out, VGA-out and VGA-IN connectors. I have the Cambridge Soundworks DTT 2500 that include a external decoder, but they are connected to my PS2 and I have it in another room and I don't want to spend on another speakers. I have the Cambridge Soundworks DTT 2200 on my computers, these speakers don't have an external decoder. My sound card is a SB live mp3+ 5.1, it has a digital-out (not AC-3 like the one from my decoder card).

Any help with what type of connections I need to make will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the replies.

[giovanni]

Hello,

Strangely, I had the hardware acceleration from the video card checked in the configuration and the cpu usage is between 50-80%. I disabled it and the cpu usage lowered between 40-50%. I guess that the video card just does not have hardware assisted DVD playback and only through software like the SB live mp3+ 5.1. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)

Thanks everyone for reading.

[HAL9000]

It may just be hardware assisted but not true hardware decoding. This is what I found on the Nvidia site about the GeForce 2GTS cards

- High-Definition Video Processor (HDVP)
Turns your PC into a fully functional DVD player, and an HDTV player with the purchase of an additional third-party decoder.

[audiyoda]

Originally posted by giovanni
Hello,

I have a hardware decoder card. The problem with the card is that I can not get the sound to play through all speakers. It is the Sigma designs Holywood Plus with the EM8300 chipset. The Holywood Plus card has a line-out output, a coaxial-out to connect an external decoder, a TV-out, VGA-out and VGA-IN connectors. I have the Cambridge Soundworks DTT 2500 that include a external decoder, but they are connected to my PS2 and I have it in another room and I don't want to spend on another speakers. I have the Cambridge Soundworks DTT 2200 on my computers, these speakers don't have an external decoder. My sound card is a SB live mp3+ 5.1, it has a digital-out (not AC-3 like the one from my decoder card).

Any help with what type of connections I need to make will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the replies.

From what I've read, the Hollywood+ card is the best at what it does. To hear your audio via the card, you'll need a small 1/8" phono cable from the line out of the decoder card to the line in of your SB Live! I don't think the line out of the Hollywood+ is digital but rather component, so you should be all set.

-Craig

[Xayd]

I run DVDs through a 12x Toshiba drive on my NT 4 machine, through a Hollywood+ with the sound and video both output to my TV.

It works great, never a dropped frame, and the image/sound quality are both excellent.

I've seen alot of issues with certain movies and certain video cards with 'DVD assist' coupled with software decoders. I've had no issues with any movie and this card, it works great.

Xayd

[giovanni]

Hello,

After trying many connections, the only way I was able to hear sound through all speakers with the Holywood Plus decoder was connecting my DTT 2500 speakers and connecting the external decoder to the AC-3 output on the decoder card. Maybe some of my computer's cards don't like each other or the only way to get all six channels is connecting an external decoder.

Thanks everyone for helping.

[giovanni]

Hello,

I finally decided to add the MPEG decoder card and connect the receiver from the Cambridge Soundworks DTT 5.1 2500 and everything works great, the movies don't stop playing suddenly and the cpu usage is between 5-10%.

Thanks again to everyone for the replies.