DVD playback problem with 5.1

Mick L

I got a new soundcard and speakers for me PC recently and have been having problems with DVD playback. The DVD will play for a while but at random points the sound will stop, the video will continue for about 2 to 3 seconds and will then pause as well. After another 2 seconds or so, the audio and video will resync and the DVD will continue as normal until the next pause. There is nothing wrong with the actual discs and there is nothing specific about the scenes that cause the problem. If I rewind and watch the same scenes again they work fine. Finally, the problem only occurs if I have 4.1/5.1 selected in the DVD software. Stereo sound doesn't cause the playback to pause. This leads me to think that the 5.1 is putting a big strain on the CPU or memory and the PC just can't cope with the workload?? What spec do you need to run a DVD in 5.1, I didn't think it would need to be too high.

Here is the spec of my machine.

Hardware:
1.3Ghz Athlon
Abit KT7A motherboard
1Gb RAM (PC133)
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
Creative GeForce 4 Ti 4200
Creative DVD drive (6x)
Logitech Z-680 5.1 speakers

Software:
Windows XP (SP1, all updates installed and all drivers up to date)
WinDVD version 4

After reading the other threads on DVD playback I have tried the following:
Uninstalling and reinstalling WinDVD
Disabling all unneeded programs/processes
All drives are DMA
I reduced the resolution of the monitor to 1024 x 768
All drivers are up to date, all windows updates are up to date
The soundcard is set to analogue output for 5.1 speakers, it is synced with the control panel. Checking the CP confirms that 5.1 speakers are selected. The sound from the 5.1 is great, so much better than stereo. The speakers and soundcard are working fine, the surround sound works fine in games, no problem or glitches at all.

Anybody have any ideas? Do I need to upgrade my PC to watch DVDs?

Thanks
Mick

Mick L

Just an update to the situation,

I have now formatted and reinstalled windows. The only program running on the machine is WinDVD. The only other software i installed was the latest drivers for all hardware, directx 9b and the windows updates. Still the problem is occuring.

Anyone had the same problem?

Anyone....... beuller......... beuller?

Rambo

try another dvd player the creative dvd 6x
could be given you problems

Mick L

Thanks for the reply Rambo, do you know if it's possible to copy all the files from the DVD to the harddrive and play them from there rather than get another DVD drive somewhere?

Matt Simis

Yes, just Rip them using a Ripper (which is illegal) or else find a DVD with no Region Encoding and just copy the files.

Also, the EAX4 Driver update just released for all Audigys may help.



Matt

Oriel

Try different DVD software. There might be come weird conflict there.

Mick L

Thanks guys,

Have all the latest dirvers from Creative as of Wednesday evening. Don't tell me they've released something new since then!!!!

Trying DVD software other then WinDVD occured to me but Creative themselves recommend WinDVD for the card that I have. If however anyone knows of any free DVD software (don't want to have to pay for new software just for testing) that supports 5.1 then let me know.

I'll have a look at it again over the weekend and see if I can get any further with it.

Oriel

I'd say that the only reason Creative recommend WinDVD is because (I think) they have an contract with them for internal testing or something like that.
I had a few problems with DVD playback myself. I've an Audigy2 Platinum and the MegaWorks 550 from Creative. It appeared to be the software causing the problems, though I converted to WinDVD to fix the problem.

How about trying DVD software demos in the mean time, just to see if it fixes the problem? If the problem is still there in the demos, then you'll know it's not the software.