Not completely satisfied with Blu-ray playback

[hienesey]

Here is my setup:

Dell Dimension 9200
Vista 32 bit
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8 GHz
3 Gig RAM
Pioneer BDC-2202 Blu-ray drive
OEM WinDVD 8
Diamond ATI HD 3450
HDMI/DVI cable to Sony XBR4

Blu-ray playback is usually smooth, but not as great when compared to the PS3. Sometimes there is a slight bit of stutter. CPU usage is 20-40%. Any ideas? Is it the drive, software, or video card?

[zweet77]

If you haven't you might try turning the aero interface on vista completely off to free up some ram while watching movies.

[Smokin Cola]

Could try downloading 'Arcsoft Total Media Theatre' see if that's any better. The trial version has full functionality so you don't have to splash out on new software. Other than that you could maybe try Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 (but I don't know if there's a trial version of that).

Personally I've tried Win DVD 9 and Cyberlink Power DVD Ultra 7.3 and found that I got stuttery playback in certain scenes with WinDVD but PowerDVD played them fine. Other people have found the opposite though.

My system spec isn't too dissimilar to yours I'm running an E6600 (2.4Ghz) Core 2 Duo coupled with an ATI HD3870 (Asus EAH3870)

[nycomet]

So you're ONLY watching BDs on your liptop computer? Is it hooked up to playback on your 52-inch LCD TV in full 7.1 surround?

That's like watching a 1080p movie on a miniscule iPOD screen while wearing a blindfold. .

[prerich]

Originally Posted by hienesey

Here is my setup:

Dell Dimension 9200
Vista 32 bit
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8 GHz
3 Gig RAM
Pioneer BDC-2202 Blu-ray drive
OEM WinDVD 8
Diamond ATI HD 3450
HDMI/DVI cable to Sony XBR4

Blu-ray playback is usually smooth, but not as great when compared to the PS3. Sometimes there is a slight bit of stutter. CPU usage is 20-40%. Any ideas? Is it the drive, software, or video card?

Weak CPU (move up to at least a 6400) and move up to WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray, you'll use your PS3 for playing PS3 games. I also prefer Nvidia video cards for BD playback, but thats just my choice.

[Smokin Cola]

Got no complaints with my HD3870 it's plays everything I have smoothly and the 3450 uses the same chip for decoding HD streams, so I have to concur with prerich the weak link is the cpu.

That said I get anything from 3% to 15% cpu usage during blu-ray playback so my cpu is clearly having to do nothing.

[maxmcleod]

Im quite partial to nvidia myself as well, mainly due to compatibility woes with ati and vista

but I have to say its gotta be the cpu... for sure everyone is right, everything else seems up to par...

I barely see any movement on the cpu cores when Watching BD...
Hell I've left it playing popped open photoshop and piddled with an image and it didn't stutter and seemed completely smooth

[IMind]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

Im quite partial to nvidia myself as well, mainly due to compatibility woes with ati and vista

but I have to say its gotta be the cpu... for sure everyone is right, everything else seems up to par...

I barely see any movement on the cpu cores when Watching BD...
Hell I've left it playing popped open photoshop and piddled with an image and it didn't stutter and seemed completely smooth

Before running out and buying anything... what's the disc situation like, when was the last time you defragged. Windows is incredibly disk bound. It swaps disk A LOT. The default power plan in Vista is Balanced. Change it to high performance. Vista by default throttles CPU utilization to 50%.

the most likely culprit though is WinDVD. If tweaking the system doesn't help at all I'd upgrade to the latest and greatest version of WinDVD.

[maxmcleod]

Originally Posted by IMind

Before running out and buying anything... what's the disc situation like, when was the last time you defragged. Windows is incredibly disk bound. It swaps disk A LOT. The default power plan in Vista is Balanced. Change it to high performance. Vista by default throttles CPU utilization to 50%.

the most likely culprit though is WinDVD. If tweaking the system doesn't help at all I'd upgrade to the latest and greatest version of WinDVD.

man i forgot all about the cpu usage throttle
I created my own power scheme, that is basically 10 min sleep, 8 minute monitor shut off, cpu full power

[CassilineKnight]

What are the main programs that a comp or laptop should use to play Bluray movies on it?

On my comp I have "InterVideo WinDVD Player". Of course it just plays DVDs. I'm just wondering if my laptop will have something already installed on it that will allow me to watch my movies on it without downloading anything new or buying a new program.

[DocNovak]

I have a Dell XPS quad core, not exactly sure which chip or video card as I am at work on POS computer right now, but I have noticed that what my video resolution is set too can cause stutter during playback. honestly I can't remember right now if I have to change it to 1920*1080 or leave it at native resolution (16:10 aspect ratio monitor) in order to prevent stutter, but check that your resolution is set properly as well. I will check back when I get home and can check my exact setup and settings.

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by hienesey

Here is my setup:

Dell Dimension 9200
Vista 32 bit
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8 GHz
3 Gig RAM
Pioneer BDC-2202 Blu-ray drive
OEM WinDVD 8
Diamond ATI HD 3450
HDMI/DVI cable to Sony XBR4

Blu-ray playback is usually smooth, but not as great when compared to the PS3. Sometimes there is a slight bit of stutter. CPU usage is 20-40%. Any ideas? Is it the drive, software, or video card?

you mean it stalls on you ? that happens to all computers and happens rarely . Do you think you have enough memory or ghz?

I'm more disappointed with instore display basically told them not impressed with their picture quality and setup being that they use components and default settings

[Obiit]

There is nothing wrong with your machines specification hienesey so i'd look at either the player (WinDVD 8 OEM) or the OS (Vista).

I'd recommend trialing Arcsoft Total Media or purchasing either WinDVD 9 Plus (current favourite on this forum) or waiting for PowerDVD 8 Ultra.

That is of course after updating all drivers to the latest versions

[hienesey]

Sorry for the late reply. I originally purchased an XFX GeForce 8600GT. I sent it back to XFX because it did not have the HDCP chip on it. In the meantime, I bought the ATI 3450, but I returned it because of the stuttering.

The 8600GT works much better now. So far, I've watched Ratatouille, and it looks great. My only issue now is that my computer won't start if it's connected with the HDMI/DVI cable. I have to start it with the VGA cable and go into Control Panel and switch it. If any one knows a way around this, let me know. Thanks.

-Hien