Nvidia 8600GT dual monitors problem

[rozroz]

Hi-
hope you can see my specs. took the time to put all info. the two monitors are
calibrated for optimal use and resolution, the Nvidia software was updated today.

i have a strange problem:
when i play VLC movies on the 2nd HD monitor, sometimes the video starts to
stutter and strobe, and after a few seconds goes back to normal play.

i found out it happens especially when i load or refresh firefox (on the other monitor, the first one-main) while watching a video on the second HD monitor.

any tips? help? (again, i wrote down my full specs at my page details)

thanks in advance

 

[Maguscreed]

The only suggestion I can find in relation to this issue, is simply to try another driver version. The problem is apparently known and has been happening off and on since 94.24 or so.

Unrelated personal note, I would set the 1080p monitor as the primary. ...that's just me though.
as you can see it's not any one card type or driver that seems to end in this problem though
Dual Monitor flicker - Nvidia - Graphic-Displays
Dual monitor flickering 7950GT - NVIDIA Forums
GeForce 210 - dual display flickering/flashing issue - Nvidia - Graphic-Displays
T3400 dual monitor flicker - Desktop General Hardware Forum - Desktop - Dell Community

...you get the ideal, the only suggestion I have is to try a different driver version.

 

[brady]

do you have identicle monitors?

 

[Maguscreed]

do you have identicle monitors?

His specs indicate they are different resolution.
Though both widescreen format.

 

[rozroz]

thanks,
but i think i refer to a different issue:
both screen look perfect, no flickering.
it's just on the VLC player itself, while the movie plays, something makes the movie itself strobe and stutter for intervals of 5 sec, especially when i use other stuff on the main monitor (like browsing firefox).

and about making the HD monitor as main, i cannot do this mainly because i use Avid for editing and i need the Right (2nd) screen to be the bigger, more comfortable for my editing needs.

i hope this explains my issue more precisely.

 

[Maguscreed]

In this scenario something came to mind, are both monitors using the same refresh rate? My HD monitor sets to 59hz for some reason, while my older monitor defaults to the normal 60 you'd expect. I could see this causing a problem with video when both monitors are actively being used.

 

[rozroz]

In this scenario something came to mind, are both monitors using the same refresh rate? My HD monitor sets to 59hz for some reason, while my older monitor defaults to the normal 60 you'd expect. I could see this causing a problem with video when both monitors are actively being used.

huh, almost got me there
but nope, they have the same (60Hz)
btw- i put both on native resolution, although on the smaller one (main one) Nvidia
has another 'recommended' option - 1280x1024 which seems irrelevant as it is a wide
screen...

thanks.

 

[Maguscreed]

Am I correct in assuming the model of card you have has 2 dvi's like my old 8800gtx?
Or is it a newer release of the older model with a hdmi?

 

[rozroz]

correct, no HDMI..
(although the Samsung monitor only has HDMI for digital input, so it came with DVI to HDMI cable

 

[Maguscreed]

shoot... that basically eliminated my last suggestion.
Hope someone else can help you, that was my last ideal.

 

[rozroz]

thanks anyway. it LOOKS like something causing the VLC engine to get heavy when i do something else...

 

[Maguscreed]

Have you been monitoring cpu usage during this issue?
Video players are generally very heavy on cpu time, and not so heavy on the graphics card. Stuttering could be a result of cpu choke.
Outside of that I would see if you have the latest version of vlc.

A final note if you are trying to play actual full bluray streams I had to get the latest version of powerdvd to get that smooth on my sytems. VLC/kmplayer/wmp/gom no player would play them smooth but powerdvd did.

 

[rozroz]

i'll check the cpu.. but how heavy can a dvdrip be on the VLC ??

 

[rozroz]

cpu's fine, vlc updated.. still same problem

 

[Maguscreed]

I did find this on the vlc forums.
The VideoLAN Forums • View topic - Flicker when playing video

pretty much thinking the player is causing it at this point so you may want to cruise there if this doesn't solve your problem. Sorry I wasn't more help, I tried.

 

[rozroz]

i guess it's the player.. i don't think i get it with other player i tried.
the link you put is again talking about flickering.. i only get video playback stutter/strobe..

i'll try to dig up at vlc

 

[Maguscreed]

You should be able to play the video in windows media player with a codec pack installed. I use this one.
CCCP - Combined Community Codec Pack

 

[rozroz]

thanks, i'll try the WMP..
but- i get the same stutter even when i view Vimeo stream.. same issue
there is some kind of lag. happens every time i the video is starting.. after 5 seconds turns ok.. and then suddenly can start lagging again

 

[Maguscreed]

Well we can't point any finger at any system component directly and cpu usage seems under control. I'm starting to wonder if there may be a problem with the video itself. (vlc is generally really good for compatibility and general playback)

 

[rozroz]

hmmm... i forgot to mention this:
the HD screen is new and i put it yesterday instead of a crappy Proview i had (sure, i updated it's driver, etc).
i never had this problem before (i'm using dual monitors for years)