DivX playback settings?

[sdsalsero]

I would like to increase the post-processing quality on my imported DivX files but I can't find any way to do it. Note that I am not talking about the DivX encoding-quality setting in the BTV Advanced Settings. The reason for this is that I see lots of macroblocking when playing files within BTV but none when played directly, e.g. with Media Player Classic.

Does BTV use it's own 'private' copy of DivX or does it use the existing installation (if there was one) ? I currently have DivX 6.2.5 installed and editing the decoder settings, e.g. enabling the DivX watermark, didn't seem to affect the BTV playback.

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by sdsalsero

I would like to increase the post-processing quality on my imported DivX files but I can't find any way to do it. Note that I am not talking about the DivX encoding-quality setting in the BTV Advanced Settings. The reason for this is that I see lots of macroblocking when playing files within BTV but none when played directly, e.g. with Media Player Classic.

Does BTV use it's own 'private' copy of DivX or does it use the existing installation (if there was one) ? I currently have DivX 6.2.5 installed and editing the decoder settings, e.g. enabling the DivX watermark, didn't seem to affect the BTV playback.

In Web Admin/Settings/Advanced Settings/Video Qualities, all of the standard/available divx qualities are listed. You can edit the standard, but I usually save as new in case I need to look back at what it was before I changed it. Once you are finished, go to Settings/Showsqueeze and change the Default ShowSqueeze Quality to your new custom quality (you can also set this at the recording job level if you want different qualities for different shows)

BTV uses it's own licensed version of divx, but it is typically a rev or two behind (as long as you are keeping up with the BTV releases)

[JacobHaley]

Nanook, I don't think you understood his question.

I too am having problems playing back .avi files in Beyond TV. I would describe the picture as very "grainy" or maybe like "film effect" is turned on to the max. Playback is perfect when using a different app.

Does anyone know how to change DivX playback - not recording - settings in BTV?

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by JacobHaley

Nanook, I don't think you understood his question.

I too am having problems playing back .avi files in Beyond TV. I would describe the picture as very "grainy" or maybe like "film effect" is turned on to the max. Playback is perfect when using a different app.

Does anyone know how to change DivX playback - not recording - settings in BTV?

I think that I understood the question, but maybe I can make the answer clearer.

• BTV uses it's own licensed version of divx.
• There are no playback adjustments, so the quality of the recording is the only method of controlling the quality of the playback.
• If the playback is not equal to the playback of the same file in other players, then you should submit a bug/tech support request so that they can look at it.

[JacobHaley]

Ok, thanks for clarifying. Maybe I just misunderstood your answer.

[sdsalsero]

I'm importing a lot of AVIs in addition to recording my own (and then using ShowSqueeze). Files that playback beautifully in other DirectShow players are blocky in BTV, not badly but noticeably.

Basically, the answer appears to be No, You cannot increase the playback quality.

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by sdsalsero

I'm importing a lot of AVIs in addition to recording my own (and then using ShowSqueeze). Files that playback beautifully in other DirectShow players are blocky in BTV, not badly but noticeably.

Basically, the answer appears to be No, You cannot increase the playback quality.

But you shouldn't be seeing that in playback. You should submit a tech support request:

http://snapstream.helpserve.com/

[kklarson]

Originally Posted by JacobHaley

Nanook, I don't think you understood his question.

I too am having problems playing back .avi files in Beyond TV. I would describe the picture as very "grainy" or maybe like "film effect" is turned on to the max. Playback is perfect when using a different app.

Does anyone know how to change DivX playback - not recording - settings in BTV?

If you see the DivX watermark when you playback a video, it means that BTV is using the DivX decoder. If that is the case, then you can adjust playback post-processing by using the Decoder Configuration Utility in the DivX Codec folder of the DivX folder in Program Files. If the source video is bad, it won't help. Personally, I can't see any difference when changing the effects whether using BTV or the DivX Player. One way to know for sure if you're system is using the DivX decoder is to use Microsoft's GraphEdit utility.

[sdsalsero]

No, I do not see the watermark, nor does editing the 'proper' DivX Decoder settings have any effect, e.g. enabling/disabling the watermark. So it certainly would appear as if BTV is using it's own 'private' copy of DivX and without any way for us to adjust the decoder settings.

If it would at least FF and RW properly (with preview so you can track the progress) then I wouldn't mind so much. But even that doesn't work correctly so I don't see the point of using an 'internal' copy of DivX.

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by sdsalsero

No, I do not see the watermark, nor does editing the 'proper' DivX Decoder settings have any effect, e.g. enabling/disabling the watermark. So it certainly would appear as if BTV is using it's own 'private' copy of DivX and without any way for us to adjust the decoder settings.

If it would at least FF and RW properly (with preview so you can track the progress) then I wouldn't mind so much. But even that doesn't work correctly so I don't see the point of using an 'internal' copy of DivX.

Well that is strange because I see the divx watermark at the beginning of every BTV recording that I showsqueeze. Do you see the watermark when you start playing the file in WMP ?

[sdsalsero]

damn, I hate when I test something one way but then when I try it again it acts different... Now it appears that BTV *IS* using my regular DivX decoder settings! I probably just wasn't watching long enough (the DivX watermark doesn't appear for the first several seconds) the first time around.

Any idea why the FF view is so bad? Is it because I have the playback Q max'd out? I checked the default Showsqueeze settings and it's only creating I-frames every 10 seconds. So that'd make it hard to show a continuous video preview. But even on my own encodings, where the I-frames are every 3-4 seconds, the FF preview is terrible.

UPDATE: I've had the DivX deblocking max'd out and I just tried turning it off. During playback, the cpu utilization dropped from 30% to 10% but the FF still previewed terribly. In fact, it looks like it's only trying to update the image every 10 seconds (in the video timeline).