Slight Flicker only inside Boxee

[scottwilhelmi]

I'm getting a slight flicker when playing videos (mkv, ISO) saved on the hard drive, Internet videos, and even when playing a DVD from inside Boxee. I am not getting this flicker when playing the same files outside of boxee.

I've tried turning on/off the hardware acceleration. I messed with the Interlace a bit but it doesn't seem to help.

The flicker looks often like a line across part of the screen about 1/3 way down the screen. The line cause the video to look out of sync above the line. This happens mostly on action scenes or changing scenes.

My hardware is:

Dell Core2 Duo E4600 @ 2.4ghz
3GB RAM
32-bit Vista
ATI Radeon 2400 (Just installed the last driver and Catalyst control center)
Resolution at 1024x768

I run the sytem attached to a 42" Vizeo Plasma currently using VGA

With the flicker happening with different sources of video and only inside of Boxee, I haven't been able to find anythihng relevant to try next.

[Prospero424]

This happening due to a refresh rate mismatch between what Boxee is outputting and what your display is trying to run at. The technical term for this type of artifact is "tearing".

It's usually solved by matching refresh rates manually or using vertical sync (v-sync) in the playback software.

Go into the "look and Feel" options in Boxee and try different resolution/refresh rate settings in the "screen" section and see if that solves your problem.

Unfortunately, v-sync is disabled in the current version of the Boxee desktop software due (I think) to temporary issues with hardware acceleration compatibility. So you'll have to solve this manually.

Also check the display options in your TV's settings.

[judgeschambers]

The main issue here is his video card does not support GPU acceleration. It needs do be an HD 3XXX or higher series ATI card.

So, outside of boxee his CPU juuuuuust covers things on it's own. Add the intensive cpu resource hog of boxee and no GPU acceleration to take up the slack....and flicker or lag-o-rama. Until the proper card is installed, it most likely cannot be solved unless you throw an i5 or i7 quad core CPU at it to handle all the grunt work.

Check my First STop sig link. I've got everything windows needed there.

[joe46168]

Hi Judge,

I've been fighting the exact same tearing problem with my system. I've adjusted through all the available refresh rates offered in windows and none seem to eliminate the issue.

I'm running an 880GM-UD2H MB with a phenom II X2 3.2GHZ chip and 4GB of ram.

I've tried updating the video drivers and that was no help either.

I'd really appreciate ANY advice you or anyone else could offer.

FYI, when I adjust the windows refresh rate it does change the degree of the problem but it just won't ever completely go away.


Thanks,

Joe