[mythtv-users] HD-PVR playback--high CPU usage

[Zach C]

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 2:10 PM, Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> wrote:
> Zach C <uid000 at gmail.com> says:
>> I'm having trouble playing back recordings from my Hauppauge HD-PVR.
>> The CPU on my Pentium dual core frontend is pegged and playback is
>> unwatchable.
>
> "Pentium dual core" = Not even close to having enough CPU to use
> software decoding for HD-PVR h.264 files, which you are doing since
> you aren't using VDPAU.
>
>> What is weird is that I can play back 720p h.264 torrented video files
>> with no problem.  In that case playback is perfect and cpu is probably
>> around 30%-50%.
>
> Irrelevant. As others have stated, such files use very different
> bitrates and possibly aren't true 720p (more like, say,
> 640x400). Also, just because a pirated video file has h.264 in the
> file name doesn't mean it's actually encoded in h.264; it could very
> well be a lower-resolution Xvid created from a h.264 "master."
>
> Bottom line: Pay $30 for a VDPAU-capable video card and enjoy
> excellent playback of your HD-PVR recordings with <5% CPU usage.
>

Thanks for your input.

--I've inspected the files with VLC and other tools; they are fully 1280x720
--You're probably right, they're likely encoded and a different
bitrate, though as Andre explained previously, the relationship
between bitrate and ease of decoding may be less than straight foward.
 I do plan on experimenting with that next.
--Yes the files I'm working with are h.264; as I said, I've inspected them.
--Please don't jump to the conclusion that just because the file is
torrented that it is "pirated."
--As I mentioned above, I do have what *should* be a VDPAU capable
card, but am having trouble getting VDPAU going on it.  I *am* using
VDPAU on other frontends with great success.  May investigate this
next.  I may query for help on that front in a separate thread

Thanks again for your help.

Zach