[mythtv-users] Choppy video

[Jim Stichnoth]

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 6:02 PM, Matthew Keefe
<learningtehlinux at gmail.com> wrote:
> Apologies if this has been addressed, but I've been at this installation for
> hours now, and the endless stream of forum postings is all looking the same.
>
> I finally managed to get video and audio out of my current mythtv setup.  I
> am using the following
>
> Pentium 4 2.8
> 2G ram
> ASUS EN9400GT with 1gig ddr2
> a dvico fusionhdtv5 rt gold card
> motherboard ich6 sound
> Ubuntu Jaunty
>
> Video and audio start up fine after a few seconds, but then stutter every
> few seconds (for buffer to fill again?).  When this happens sound and video
> stop.  Audio seems fine when the tv is 'playing' but the video is
> consistantly pixelated/mutilated.
>
> Pointers welcome.  Will post any error logs you think might help so long as
> you point me in the right direction.  Not only is Mythtv new to me, Linux is
> still fresh so I find I don't always know the implied commands, etc. I'm a
> quick learner though :)

I have a P4 2.4GHz that I have tried mythtv out on.  Even with the
proprietary (ATI) video drivers, the processor is not powerful enough
for mythfrontend to display HD content.  Maybe that's the case for you
as well.

1. Run "top" while displaying the problematic video.  If the
combination of processes adds up to around 100%, then this is your
problem.

2. Check whether 480i SD video displays fine.

3. If you see the problem with 1080i content but not 720p, then you
might be using a deinterlacer that is too CPU-intensive.  "Slim" is a
good one to try.

Jim