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• Morgue[FLB]

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  :: Mortal Wombat ::
  

  16 years ago

  Tue Nov 17 2009, 11:13am

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  Morgue[FLB]

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  :: Mortal Wombat ::
  

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  16 years ago

  ---

  Some of you may have read the document "The Cost of Windows Vista". It's really a rather alarming look at how Microsoft cares more about pleasing Hollywood fatcats and other industry players than it does about producing the best Operating System it can for its potential customers. No doubt, some palms are being greased somewhere there.
  
  What this boils down to is that Windows Vista *degrades* the quality of your media when it is being played back if it can't verify that you are the legitimate owner of the source media. (!)
  
  I never really worried about this before since I rarely used the Windows Vista that I could dual boot to. However, now that I use Windows 7 (aka Windows Vista Service Pack 2), I have a sinking feeling that this 'feature' has been implemented to some degree.
  
  I've noticed a degradation in the quality of some videos that I play. Whether this is rampant paranoia on my part or cold hard fact, I have yet to determine. I will attempt to play videos and take screenshots on both my Windows 7 machine at home and my Windows XP machine at the office, and I will post the comparative screenshots here.
  
  For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Cost of Windows Vista document, download it here - it's a mere 78kb. A long document, but you owe it to yourself to keep informed by reading it!
  
  The Cost of Windows Vista.txt (78kb)
  
   
• Enigma_2k4

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  16 years ago

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  Enigma_2k4

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  16 years ago

  ---

  I have noticed that playing blu-ray movies on my PC it's a bit grainier then the PS3. However, that could be because of the codec settings and the other enhancements that can be used (sharpening, etc). I've resported to going back to using the PS3 where-ever possible.
   
• Morgue[FLB]

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  :: Mortal Wombat ::
  

  16 years ago

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  Morgue[FLB]

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  :: Mortal Wombat ::
  

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  16 years ago

  ---

  I'm still hoping it's all in my imagination! I'll try to post comparative screenshots when I have the time...
   
• Dade_182

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  16 years ago

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  Dade_182

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  16 years ago

  ---

  I'm curious to see now. i don't know if it's just coz I'm such a laid back kinda guy that doesn't care but I haven't noticed it. then again I don't think there's such a big difference between onboard audio and a dedicated card to warrant getting one. I'm keen to see if the pics indicate otherwise.
   
• Morgue[FLB]

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  :: Mortal Wombat ::
  

  16 years ago

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  Morgue[FLB]

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  16 years ago

  ---

  Heck, even if the difference was so slight as to be imperceptible 99.9% of the time, I'd still be angry that Microshaft thinks they can degrade the quality of my media at their whim.
  
   
• MaTiCa

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  16 years ago

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  MaTiCa

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  16 years ago

  ---

  Hmm, I've been googling around for quite some time now and I still haven't been able to find any solid leads as to what might be the problem (let alone the solution)
  
  If it is in fact the fail DRM (Protected Video Path) then apparently (according to wikipedia) it has already been bypassed...
  
  Here's the article:
  Protected Video Path
   
• MayheM

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  16 years ago

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  MayheM

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  16 years ago

  ---

  
  I have noticed that playing blu-ray movies on my PC it's a bit grainier then the PS3. However, that could be because of the codec settings and the other enhancements that can be used (sharpening, etc). I've resported to going back to using the PS3 where-ever possible.
  

  Enigma_2k4

  This could be more than just that. You have to take the MEDIUM in which you transfer video from device to monitor into consideration as well as the DISPLAY itself. No point in playing a HD movie (1080p) on a Monitor with 1280x1024 res or even 1600x1200. This will cause degradation in clarity. You have to compare apples with apples. If your PC's LCD supports 1920x1080 then use that as your HD display image and compare then. Baring in mind that this should be the "Recommended" res for you monitor and not forcing it to it.
  
  I've encoutered frame-rate issues on Win 7 when using the TV-out which I havent experienced in WinXP. There are also a number of latest driver updates on nVidia, ATi and Intel's site to sort out a lot of Win 7's display issues.
   
• Enigma_2k4

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  16 years ago

  Mon Oct 19 2009, 12:31pm

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  Enigma_2k4

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  16 years ago

  ---

  
  

  
  I have noticed that playing blu-ray movies on my PC it's a bit grainier then the PS3. However, that could be because of the codec settings and the other enhancements that can be used (sharpening, etc). I've resported to going back to using the PS3 where-ever possible.
  

  Enigma_2k4

  This could be more than just that. You have to take the MEDIUM in which you transfer video from device to monitor into consideration as well as the DISPLAY itself. No point in playing a HD movie (1080p) on a Monitor with 1280x1024 res or even 1600x1200. This will cause degradation in clarity. You have to compare apples with apples. If your PC's LCD supports 1920x1080 then use that as your HD display image and compare then. Baring in mind that this should be the "Recommended" res for you monitor and not forcing it to it.
  
  I've encoutered frame-rate issues on Win 7 when using the TV-out which I havent experienced in WinXP. There are also a number of latest driver updates on nVidia, ATi and Intel's site to sort out a lot of Win 7's display issues.
  

  MayheM

  
  Agreed, but I do watch it at 1920x1080 (the native resolution of both my monitor and projector). So it's the same, also, it's more granier on the projector too versus the PS3 which tells me it has nothing to do with the displays. But, I have formatted my PC now, I'll be alot more careful with codec's and things this time so hopefully that improves it a bit.
  
  I found an amazing site by the way : http://www.hack7mc.com/ - it's brilliant! So much very very useful stuff there!
  
  *Mod Edit - Fixed URL*
  
   
• Morgue[FLB]

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  :: Mortal Wombat ::
  

  16 years ago

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  Morgue[FLB]

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  :: Mortal Wombat ::
  

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  16 years ago

  ---

  
  If it is in fact the fail DRM (Protected Video Path) then apparently (according to wikipedia) it has already been bypassed...
  
  Here's the article:
  Protected Video Path
  

  MaTiCa

  
  Well, according to the link you posted, Alex Ionescu stated that he had bypassed Vista's Protected Media Path, but he never proved his claim, and Microsoft later responded that the described method would not work (after internal testing). So it seems that we don't yet have a proven way to bypass the Path.
  
  However, reading your wiki link has helped me to realise something that I should have picked up on a long time ago - the Protected Media Path only applied to protected content. Media that has had the protection removed will not be affected.
  
  So when I thought that I could detect a degradation in the quality of video playback in Windows 7, I was being overly paranoid !grin
  
  

  
  ...You have to take the MEDIUM in which you transfer video from device to monitor into consideration as well as the DISPLAY itself...
  

  MayheM

  Sure, there's unintentional degradation due to a poor setup like you've outlined. But the type of degradation I'm talking about is not due to mismatched sources and output. Its intentionally built into WinVista/Win7 by Microshaft. Egregious behaviour on their part. But of course, we're all gonna smile and take it, just like we always have.
  
  

  
  I've encoutered frame-rate issues on Win 7 when using the TV-out which I havent experienced in WinXP.
  

  MayheM

  Interesting. Frame rate issues are usually due to insufficient processing power (underpowered computer). However, sometimes its a hardware/driver issue. Be sure to post a thread if you'd like to hash the issue out.
  
  

  
  There are also a number of latest driver updates on nVidia, ATi and Intel's site to sort out a lot of Win 7's display issues.
  

  MayheM

  If *only* nVidia released an updated WDM driver. That would be nice.
  
  

  
  I found an amazing site by the way : http://www.hack7mc.com/ - it's brilliant! So much very very useful stuff there!
  

  Enigma_2k4

  Will check it out when I get a chance ;-) Remember, there is a dedicated subforum on PCD for posting links to websites that you find interesting or useful.
  
  Also, you need to include the http-colon-forward-forward part when you create links using BBCode (the square bracket tags that PCD and other sites that share this website template use). Otherwise, the link becomes corrupted.
  
   
• Enigma_2k4

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  16 years ago

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  Enigma_2k4

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  16 years ago

  ---

  ]Also, you need to include the http-colon-forward-forward part when you create links using BBCode (the square bracket tags that PCD and other sites that share this website template use). Otherwise, the link becomes corrupted.
  
  

  Morgue[FLB

  
  Ah, thanks for fixing that. I'm keen to see what comes out of this thread... :-)