14 replies to this topic

[Baniboy]

Okay, my video card isn't the best possible(ATI Radeon HD 3450, sounds complicated but operates like a garbage can), but I would like to play HD video without lagging all the time, or at least less lagging. 800 € laptop's video card is cursed
Any software that makes this possible, I don't mind if it's windows/whatever(just not solaris or mac os )

Edited by Baniboy, 15 October 2009 - 05:49 PM.

[truefusion]

I'm not sure if this is possible (i.e. without upgrading the graphics card itself), but i can only recommend two things: For one, get a better driver for your integrated graphics card. And two, from a complaint a friend of mine had on a similar issue: get better codecs (assuming you're talking about DVDs here, as online video players tend to make HD optional).

[k_nitin_r]

Hi!

As an alternative, till you get a better graphics card, you can use a converter to convert the HD videos to regular quality to watch them on your laptop. I sometimes use a converter named Xilisoft to convert videos between different formats though you can even use the DownloadHelper plugin for Firefox to do the conversion for you. The DownloadHelper plugin leaves a tiny logo on the videos to advertise itself, which shouldn't be a problem especially since it is free for use. I believe you can also use the tools available with Ahead Nero for multimedia editing and conversion to convert the videos from HD to normal quality.

[Baniboy]

Actually I'm talking matroska files, a friend sent me a few. I want to plug my laptop to our TV with HDMI cable, and watch it on the bigger screen. I don't want to reduce the quality, the whole idea is to play high-quality video.

Well, which are the better codecs? I'm playing them on vlc and they lag, I play the on Mplayer on linux, they lag. So is there some magic codec around?
I could update my graphics card, but it's a laptop and I've never opened up one. One of the other things that worries me is that it has warranty left, so if I open it up, *poof* warranty is gone. Besides, I don't know if any other graphics card fits in the laptop! It's pretty big yes, chose it because I want a big screen and enough power.

[rob86]

Just how good is your video card? I have a pretty old Desktop with an NVidia 5200 Fx 128mb. I wouldn't call it a great video card and I have no problems playing pure HD movies. I remember one person had a problem where their videos would skip if they didn't have their laptop plugged in. Have you tried that? The videos wouldn't work with the laptop running off the battery.

Edited by rob86, 16 October 2009 - 04:39 PM.

[minimcmonkey]

Install the latest drivers for your video card, make sure your using a recent and reputable media player, if your PC is slow generally the problem may not be caused by graphics, in many cases a total OS re-install will speed things up a lot.

[truefusion]

Baniboy, on Oct 16 2009, 04:43 AM, said:

Well, which are the better codecs? I'm playing them on vlc and they lag, I play the on Mplayer on linux, they lag. So is there some magic codec around?

I do not know of "better" codecs, especially for Linux. I've always used the ones in the Ubuntu repository, and they've worked for me. But i've also always used a graphics card whose core clock was at least 620mhz. Using different video players won't help solve the issue, as they all use the same codecs. If you are using a high resolution for the monitor (like 1280 x 786-900), lowering the resolution temporarily may help reduce the lag.

[iGuest]

luckily I use Moyea HD Video Converter which adopts advanced audio and video synchnization. Therefore, we don't worry tha issues about audio out of video. Moreover, with this program's built-in codecs, it will never add the burden to the original system.

-reply by partake06

[rayzoredge]

It's probably not the best idea, but is there a way to prioritize your media player process to the highest so that full CPU usage and GPU usage is directed at displaying your HD movie? Shut down any other processes and reap as much CPU power and RAM as you can so that you can focus your computer on just playing the movie.

The ATI Radeon HD 3450 is toted on AMD's website (go figure) as being HD-capable, but it just reminds me of how laptops had that stupid "Vista Ready" sticker on them.

You can't upgrade the GPU in a laptop UNLESS you have a similar part in the same form factor... NVIDIA has their MXM form factor working for them, but even that is limited. The only upgrade I've ever done was an NVIDIA GPU and it was basically from a Dell Latitude to a Dell Inspiron, and although it did work, I was doubtful. It's a pain but it's possible... but not likely.

I ran into this same issue with my HP Pavilion zd8000... the ATI Mobility Radeon X600 did not like most 720p HD movies. Playing a 1080p HD Matroska version of The Dark Knight was so bad that I actually just got rid of the movie... it was unwatchable.

[Baniboy]

Quote

Just how good is your video card? I have a pretty old Desktop with an NVidia 5200 Fx 128mb...

Here are the specs of my computer:

I have a HP dv-7 1090 (laptop):
Processor: AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core mobile ZM-80, 2.10 GHz
RAM: 3 GB, 800 MHz
Videocard: ATI Radeon HD 3450, 256 MB
Memory: 2x 232 GB Hitachi (5400 rpm) HDD
OS: Ubuntu and Vista Premium

Quote

Install the latest drivers for your video card, make sure your using a recent and reputable media player, if your PC is slow generally the problem may not be caused by graphics, in many cases a total OS re-install will speed things up a lot.

I don't know, is 2.10GHz slow for HD? I wouldn't like reinstalling the whole thing.

Quote

I do not know of "better" codecs, especially for Linux. I've always used the ones in the Ubuntu repository, and they've worked for me. But i've also always used a graphics card whose core clock was at least 620mhz. Using different video players won't help solve the issue, as they all use the same codecs. If you are using a high resolution for the monitor (like 1280 x 786-900), lowering the resolution temporarily may help reduce the lag.

I'm using a 1920 x 1080 "monitor", the TV.

Quote

ATI Radeon HD 3450 is based on RV620 chipset and features a 525MHz clock speed, 400MHz memory clock speed

My graphics card's decoding is hardware-based, so it should run with HD videos? It's supposed to support x264 too. I'm not using linux to play FullHD, as the drivers on linux aren't good enough.
I also found a review here.

Quote

The clock speed for the card is 600MHz on the core and 1GHz on the memory. DirectX 10.1 and ATI PowerPlay are supported as well.

Pretty confusing, isn't it?
Apparently, the card is for watching HD movies, but doesn't work for me? I must be cursed or something.. Anyway, maybe the second quote about clock speeds is for non-mobility radeon 3450 and the regular one.

Quote

It's probably not the best idea, but is there a way to prioritize your media player process to the highest so that full CPU usage and GPU usage is directed at displaying your HD movie? Shut down any other processes and reap as much CPU power and RAM as you can so that you can focus your computer on just playing the movie.

The ATI Radeon HD 3450 is toted on AMD's website (go figure) as being HD-capable, but it just reminds me of how laptops had that stupid "Vista Ready" sticker on them.

You can't upgrade the GPU in a laptop UNLESS you have a similar part in the same form factor... NVIDIA has their MXM form factor working for them, but even that is limited. The only upgrade I've ever done was an NVIDIA GPU and it was basically from a Dell Latitude to a Dell Inspiron, and although it did work, I was doubtful. It's a pain but it's possible... but not likely.

what is a form factor? I'll try shutting down every useless process and stuff. I considered clocking, too, but I don't want to fry my card.
Does vista ready sticker do anything? I tried looking the card specs up at amd's website on this page. After clicking on the link of "ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3450 Graphics" I get an error page.
I found another site that gives me the specifications of the card. All these specifications are confusing, they all give different results. I hate AMD right now, can't even have an error-free site for me to check the right specifications. Screw them!

Any more ideas? I could install xp, but I'm not sure it'll work..