AVC/H.264 - The CoreAVC decoder updated

[Ken Maltby]

If it is AVC that you are interested in, consider this:

http://www.coreavc.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=4&id=21&Itemid=59

$8 for the Standard edition and $15 for the pro version.

CoreCodec has been a leader in H264 decoding right
from the beginning. They just updated a few days ago,
as well. The update and new package includes the
latest version of the Haali Media Splitter and the
Renderer ( that alone is worth the $15). The pro
version also adds a number of very useful DirectShow
Filters.

The Haali Splitter will likely improve playback of a
number of other video formats on your system, also.
It is especially good working with Media Player Classic.

Luck;
Ken

[Smarty]

Thanks Ken for posting this. Where / how does "the Renderer" become
available? Is it a stand-alone application, an installed codec accessible
externally, or what?

What has been your experience with the actual performance?

Thanks,

Smarty

"Ken Maltby" <kma...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
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[Ken Maltby]

"Smarty" <nob...@nobody.com> wrote in message
news:k1kCi.518$kI5.338@trnddc08...

> Thanks Ken for posting this. Where / how does "the Renderer" become
> available? Is it a stand-alone application, an installed codec accessible
> externally, or what?
>
> What has been your experience with the actual performance?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Smarty
>

Installing the Haali Splitter will register the Renderer filter
as well. When you play a video file in Media Player Classic
(MPC) you can right click and mouseover "Filters" a list will
pop-up with "Haali's Video Renderer" on it. Clicking on that
will take you to the filter's property page. There are several
settings available to effect the rendering.

The splitter's property page is reached through the file
properties ( at the bottom of the pop-up filters list). It
includes a running graph of the actual video and audio
bitrates, and there are a number of settings available under
the "Options" tab.

MPC makes it easy to adjust the filters for individualized
playback. If you were playing an AVC file and had the
CoreAVC filter installed you could adjust things in that as
well. One filter that I've always kept installed is the
AC3Filter (it works with most audio formats, not just AC3).

There are other DirectShow based players like the ZoomPlayer,
and you can also work with the DS filters using GraphEdit.

The performance of all these DS filters has been great, the
update provides some additional tweaking controls and seems
to be even a little better than before, ( but that could be just
expectation, it's still great in any case.) The default settings
work just fine and most people will never even know they are
there, but once you start working with DS Filters you will be
surprised how much control you can have over the processes.

Luck;
Ken

[Smarty]

Thanks once again Ken. I am checking them out....

Smarty

"Ken Maltby" <kma...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message

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[Ken Maltby]

One thing to keep in mind is that many of the filter
settings are persistent, and a number of them aren't.
For instance if you change the audio level to play a
video using the property page of the AC3Filter in
Media Player Classic; it will remain changed, unless
you reset it. So your capture program or editor
could be effected if you forgot to return things to
normal in the filter. This is both good and bad, it is
good in that you can set such filters for programs
that don't offer you the option, by doing it ahead of
time. It can be bad if you are too forgetful, and
leave filters set in an unexpected manner.

Luck;
Ken

[Smarty]

Thanks Ken. Any idea what the difference is between "software deinterlacing"
and DirectShow deinterlacing? These options show up in the renderer dialog
box, and I am assuming that the "software deinterlacing" may refer to the
replacement of DirectShow with CoreAVC's algorithm?

Smarty

"Ken Maltby" <kma...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message

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[Ken Maltby]

"Smarty" <nob...@nobody.com> wrote in message

news:PczEi.109$1n1.89@trnddc02...

> Thanks Ken. Any idea what the difference is between "software
> deinterlacing" and DirectShow deinterlacing? These options show up in the
> renderer dialog box, and I am assuming that the "software deinterlacing"
> may refer to the replacement of DirectShow with CoreAVC's algorithm?
>
> Smarty
>

That would make sense, but I can't find anywhere
that spells it out. My guess is that the best approach
would be to try each one, under all the circumstances
you may expect to use the filter.

If and where to deinterlace can be a complex decision,
there can be a number of options in a long chain of
programs and hardware from source to final display.

I usually make my video progressive, when transcoding
from MPEG to AVC/H.264. So, the CoreAVC Decode
filter is seeing progressive material and won't be using the
deinterlacing options, anyway.

Luck;
Ken

[Smarty]

I could also not find any place which spelled it out but was playing with
1080i video captured in mpeg2 from an HDV camcorder and looked at the
progressive scan rendering in AVC / h.264 with some effort to discern the
difference between the two choices. I don't see visually any differences at
all.

Other than a minor confusion of this type, the CoreAVC codec seems very
solid, performs very well, and is a very low priced item. Thanks for
suggesting it Ken.

Smarty

"Ken Maltby" <kma...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message

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