PureVideo/PureVideo HD HOWTO ;), let's found the way to access this h/w! Options

[FireGate_13]

Times Edited : 8

I am sure I am not the only one that has spent hours searching drivers, settings, ways to access this new hardware inside our gpu. I decided to start this tutorial and I will be here to update it every day, so it will become sticky and really easy for everyone.
so.. let's start:

First: What do we need ?
1. A PC with Windows XP or Vista
2. A gpu which support Purevideo (GeForce 6 and 7 series) PCI Express Version(?)
You can check the available gpus here.
3. Media players (anyone between PowerDVD,WMP,and Nvidia Decoder)
Every single decoder--WMVHD, CyberLink h.264, PureVideo--works in any Direct Show player!
4. The last Purevideo Driver from Nvidia (v93.71 here)
Second:Nvidia claims that PureVideo can accelerate MPEG-2, H.264, WMV9.
So we must find How we can do that because there is nowhere a tutorial!
I will start with my experience, and I am expecting yours..

1. MPEG-2 ACCELLERATION USING PUREVIDEO.
I have found two ways:
1. Install Nvidia Purevideo Decoder (here but not free)and from that moment any directshow player will use this codec to decode mpeg2 movies. You can see at the taskbar that! a nvidia icon appears there. Double clicking you can make sure Hardware Acceleration is enabled.
Note: The NVIDIA PureVideo decoder is now the new name for the NVIDIA DVD Decoder. So It is responsible for mpeg-2 decoding only!!
2. Install PowerDVD7 (here) with the latest patch added. If you go to the video configuration you can see Enable Hardware Acceleration(PureVideo) check button. Just click it and when you play mpeg2 content purevideo comes into work;) You can check that while playing by selecting Informatio Tab in the configuration window. You should see "Video Accelerator: DirectX VA (in use)"
I noticed a major drop in cpu usage. From 60-70% it went only 20-35%!!! So it is working;)

2. WMV/WMVHD ACCELLERATION USING PUREVIDEO.
WMV accelleration only works when:
1. Use Windows Media Player 10 with the patches (first and second ) installed. Then go to Tools->Options->Performance and check the Use DXVA option.
2. Use Windows Media Player 11 with again selected the "Turn on Direct X Video Acceleration" option under the Performance->Advanced menu.
Note: The wmv video must be at least 30fps!
I noticed a drop from 64-94 to 30-54% cpu usage,so it is working again! Notice also a new process called wauclt.exe is running everytime you play a wmv movie!

3. H.264 ACCELLERATION USING PUREVIDEO.
I am downloading a sample video this weekend to test that claim.
Have in mind that:
1. Cyberlink is selling a H.264 PowerPack (here 39$) that can enable acceleration to H.264 to windows media player and all the other direct show players.
2.Power DVD supports that it can accelerate H.264 content. After installing powerdvd any direct show used its codec to decode H.264. You can access decoder properties from Options->Filters in bsplayer and enable dxva acceleration from there
3. CoreAVC claims tha it is the fastest HD H.264 decoder. BeWare! This is a software decoder that claims is faster than those who use hardware acceleration??? Even though it promises GPU support in a future release..

Thank you for the help! Keep on!!!

I will continue my tutorial soon. Just stay tuned. I hope some day this will be sticky
All I need is your help

This post has been edited by FireGate_13: Dec 8 2006, 04:38 PM