[mythtv-users] choppy audio/video in dark scenes

[Howard Cokl]

--- Zach <uid000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have a problem where the audio (and video?) get's
> real
> choppy/stuttery.   This consistently happens when
> the scene is
> particularly dark such as a black screen with light
> text.  It happens
> in live TV as well as recorder shows.  An example of
> this are the
> promos the Cartoon Network runs just before
> returning from commercial
> break during The Family Guy.  Some commercials also
> have dark screens
> with white or light text.  Some shows which are very
> dark, such as
> X-Files do it to a lesser degree.  This mostly dark
> screen consistenly
> causes the playback to become very choppy.  The
> audio is the most
> noticeable, but it could be the video, too.  It's
> hard to tell since
> it's usually during a still scene.  Does anyone know
> what may be
> causing this and if there is a fix? This is a really
> strange anomaly;
> intuitively it seems that a simple dark background
> with text would be
> less intensive than fast moving video.
> 
>  My system originally had 512mb ram, and I added
> 512mb more to see if
> that would help.  I also read something about
> setting the recording
> profiles to 720*480, so I did that (they were
> 480*480 by default) and
> that helped some but not completely.  Plus 720*480
> takes up a lot of
> disk space, so I'd like to change that back if
> possible.
> 
> The cpu usage is consistenly low (<10%?).
> 
> Any help is appreciated.  Will post logs or configs
> if necessary.
> 
> My system is based on KnoppMyth R5A12 (Myth 0.17)
> Combined FE/BE
> It is a chaintech 7NIF2, Athlon XP 2600+
> 1GB Ram
> Onboard geforce video w/tvout
> PVR 250 (debug=1 for ivtv)
> Maxtor DiamondMax 10+ (dma enabled)
> 
> Thanks
> Zach
In mythfrontend setup - tv settings - playback, first
screen make sure there is a check in extra audio
buffering.  That's what fixed it for me.

Howard