[mythtv-users] Choppy video

[Michael T. Dean]

On 05/26/2009 09:58 AM, Jim Stichnoth wrote:
> On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 6:02 PM, Matthew Keefe 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.

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Prebuffering_pause

Mike