ATI cards "struggling" with HD channels in Windows 7

BBC HD on Freeview?

Are you sure?

By The_Scrote on 30 Oct 2009

Correction

Apologies. Should have read Freesat.

Barry Collins
Online Editor

By Barry_Collins on 30 Oct 2009

Bit of an extreme example...

Is Strictly really much improved in HD? Was his wife really nagging him so much that they couldn't just watch it in SD for a few weeks, until a driver update was released (which may well have solved the problem). One pretty extreme case and "solution" to it, it's hardly illustrative of a general problem.

By halsteadk on 30 Oct 2009

There are a lot of us affected by this issue!

This problem has been ongoing for months.

This thread on the Green Button (Microsoft owned site) would appear highly relevant

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/73544.aspx?Page
Index=2

By Farrinaf on 30 Oct 2009

This is not the only problem

I find that with my HD5850 card and the latest Catayst 9.10 driver on Windows 7 64bit, I get a blue screen at every wakeup from hibernation. Others have reported this on the AMD forum.

By petehow on 30 Oct 2009

Its been going on for a couple of months!

This issues sems to derive from a change in the way the BBC encodes its HD.

ATI cards don't work any more (mine was great for months prior), wheras NVIDIA cards are showing no problems.

AS an "IT Professional" whose daily work involves a lot of fault-finding & rectification, this is a pretty strong primae facia case against ATI!

By wittgenfrog on 30 Oct 2009

Edit my post

That should be "Weeks"!!! about 6 now I think.... It just seems longer with no HD....

By wittgenfrog on 30 Oct 2009

go for a walk!

if you're so bothred about a TV program you need to get a life! Go for a walk or do something physical instead of watching TV, it's bad for you.

By GlidemanUK on 30 Oct 2009

ATI -

Nice accurate article, shame the ATI comments are next to useless, just like there support for there customers.

How long does it take from a ATI developer to get on a plane to look at the issue. Just because they dont get this problem in the states they dont want to fix it!

@GlidemanUK - should you be walking somewhere - surely computers are too modern for you.

By jex77er on 31 Oct 2009

Gliderman and other's

I bet if your graphics card started playing up you would be pretty annoyed, or would just say 'oh well, I take a walk not to worry and forget about it!'

This has been going on since August, nearly 3 months! It also affects New Zealand as well as other countries.

I wasted time aligning my dish as I thought it was caused by that, in the end I bought a 9500GT, problem solved, but it cost me time and money!

By RonManser on 31 Oct 2009

Problem is real & ATI have failed to address it

Problem is real and has been occurring since the summer. It has been verified on countless systems including clean installs. ATI have studiously failed to respond to complaints till PC Pro got involved. Their comments are evasive not encouraging. Probably unfixable.

I would be interested to hear how OEM's who supplied media centre machines with ATI graphics are dealing with this.

By philbury on 31 Oct 2009

BBC to blame

What hasn't been mentioned in these comments is that the problems only started when the BBC changed the encoding system they were using for BBC HD. So AMD may be quite right in saying it's not their problem if the BBC isn't conforming to the H.264 standard.

Top tip: You can cure the problem in Media Center by just skipping back a few seconds. Works every time on my ATI HD 3470.

By Stiggy on 31 Oct 2009

BBC not to blame

There are lots of reports of the same problems with HD broadcasts in Germany and New Zealand, not just the BBC.

All of these broadcasters appear to be using the latest H264 encoders, which deliver much greater efficiency (i.e. lower bitrates for the same picture quality, or better picture quality at a given bit rate) However this may mean that the encoding is using all the bells and whistles that H264 allows for...

It sounds as if the nVidia drivers cope with these more advanced encoders better than the ATI drivers at the moment.

I don't think that the BBC can be blamed for this. AIUI their H264 encoders are perfectly within the H264 standard - and work fine with other hardware and software decoders.

The fact that the skip-back solutions solves the problem suggests that there is a small bug (possibly to do with timing reference handling)?

By noggin on 31 Oct 2009

Adding insult to injury!

My problems extend beyond the HD issue. I run a Gigabyte780G-based system using the on-board ATI graphics and the on-board hi-def audio. I use a toslink connection to my hi fi.

This setup worked pretty well for Vista and for early builds of Windows7. Now, in addition to the problems with BBC HD, I am getting nasty audio pops, clicks and slurs.

By wittgenfrog on 1 Nov 2009

AMD comments just don't add up, I'm afraid...

I've posted similar in the related thread on AMD/ATI's own forum, but the formal quoted response in the article above just doesn't match the facts. The issue has been reported by multiple users in the UK, Germany and New Zealand when viewing broadcast HD with ATI cards in Windows 7. It was first reported in August in the context of the UK and BBC HD, and confirmed as replicated by both Microsoft and AMD in the very same month. We're now in November, and with no reported progress at all other than "it's being investigated" and "[no] ETA for a fix though" (from AMD/ATI's forum thread...in August). In fact, not even the moderators will respond on the related thread at AMD Game Forums any longer...

The bottom line is that if you want to watch free OTA HD in the UK, then ATI don't provide a solution that works in Windows 7.

Personally, over two months of waiting for a fix is enough for me - I'm looking at an nVidia solution now.

By _c128_ on 2 Nov 2009

I spent a lot of time and money trying to fix a problem, only to find it's a fault of ATI/AMD. Well I suppose the dish and LNB did need replacing - NOT.

This fault occurs with Windows Vista with TV Pack and hacked .dll file as well as all versions of Windows 7 MCE.

At least now I have a fix - disable the onboard graphics and install a 9500GT nVidia card. Pity BBC-HD picture quality has taken a nose dive though. See here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/09/pic
ture_quality_on_hd_a_respon.html

By Betamax_man on 2 Nov 2009

I spent a lot of time and money trying to fix a problem, only to find it's a fault of ATI/AMD. Well I suppose the dish and LNB did need replacing - NOT.

This fault occurs with Windows Vista with TV Pack and hacked .dll file as well as all versions of Windows 7 MCE.

At least now I have a fix - disable the onboard graphics and install a 9500GT nVidia card. Pity BBC-HD picture quality has taken a nose dive though. See here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/09/pic
ture_quality_on_hd_a_respon.html

By Betamax_man on 3 Nov 2009

codfangler

Has anyone tried using a different codec for HD? Windows 7 comes with it's own H264 codec and maybe it's not as compatible with the ATI hardware as it is with the NVidia. Just a thought.

By codfangler on 5 Nov 2009

codfangler

Has anyone tried using a different codec for HD? Windows 7 comes with it's own H264 codec and maybe it's not as compatible with the ATI hardware as it is with the NVidia. Just a thought.

By codfangler on 5 Nov 2009

ATI drivers again

I gave up on ATI a few years back when then didn't release ATI1800 mobile drivers for vista. Hence, I couldn't watch DVDs on my then expensive laptop.

ATIs response: "It is now the responsibility of your OEM to provide drivers for our hardware."

Never, ever again! Nvidia all the way for me now.

This does not surprise me at all.

By dr_japeel on 5 Nov 2009

So, are the new ATI cards affected?

Hi all,

I have been waiting for the next gen cards to come out and was looking at new 5870. Looks like I'll wait until the NVidia cards are released - which maybe some time.

By sinster70 on 5 Nov 2009

So, are the new ATI cards affected?

Hi all,

I have been waiting for the next gen cards to come out and was looking at new 5870. Looks like I'll wait until the NVidia cards are released - which maybe some time.

By sinster70 on 5 Nov 2009

Codec not at fault

I tried changing the codec last evening and it has no effect at all on my ATI system. I conclude, therefore, that it seems likely to be a driver issue on the ATI setup.

By codfangler on 6 Nov 2009

Why not comment to one of the top men at ATI/AMD...?

Feel free to put your comments on the here (some other ATI customers already have!):

http://blogs.amd.com/nigeldessau/2009/10/22/celebr
ating-windows-7/comment-page-1/#comment-1565

Nigel Dessau is the "Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer" - I’ve put some comments up but unfortunately they have not been published (much like those on the ATI forum which are sometimes deleted!!)

They do say bad news travels faster that good news!

By jex77er on 10 Nov 2009

Nigel @ AMD replies...

For all of those that are still interested and haven't switch to the nVidia camp yet.... Nigel at AMD replied... He says "Was a new subject to me a couple of days ago. I am asking questions"

I for one am hoping that Nigel will take responsibility for this and investigate this further - Hopefully with a positive outcome for us all!

Nigel got word of this on his blog - Several angry ATI/AMD customers have put on updates and this appears to have done the trick....?!?

By jex77er on 13 Nov 2009

Jex77er - thanks for this. Lets hope Nvidia get ther new cards out soon!!!

By sinster70 on 19 Nov 2009

Jex77er - thanks for this. Lets hope Nvidia get ther new cards out soon!!!

By sinster70 on 19 Nov 2009

Some Progress

Update here (not much) but at least indicates that AMD and Microsoft have started talking to each other.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2008334

Nigel's blog here

http://blogs.amd.com/nigeldessau/2009/10/22/celebr
ating-windows-7/comment-page-1/#comment-1606

By Farrinaf on 22 Nov 2009