Windows XP Pro SP3: Video playback black

[bernhard71]

Hello!

I just have bought the Terratec Connect A1 USB-HDMI adapter which is shipped with the DisplayLink software. My aim is to show photos and HD videos from my notebook on my Panasonic TV.

Im using Windows XP Pro SP3, the DisplayLink resolution is set to 1280x720 since my TV is only "HD ready".
The windows desktop is shown nicely on the TV and photos look perfect.

But when I try to playback HD videos (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec) the video area on the screen (both on the notebook and on the tv) is black. The menues and the control buttons of the video software are still visible.

This issue occurs with

Mirillis Splash Lite 1.7.1 and
VLC Media Player

The playback of a simple DV-AVI with the Windows Media Player works, but the Media Player can not decode the above codec.

In the Display Corruption Thread (http://www.displaylink.org/forum/showthread.php?t=897) it is recommended to enable the aero modus on Windows 7. But this solution will not work with Windows XP. Are there any other suggestions?

Best regards
Bernhard

[jimAH]

Hi

I'd suggest trying the CCCP codec pack with WMP
http://www.cccp-project.net/

James

[bernhard71]

Hi James,

thank you for your advice.

At first I had with the CCCP player the same problem as with Mirillis Splash: The playback area got black when I moved it onto the tv.

But I could solve the issue by disabling the notebook display and defining the tv as primary display. With this configuration both CCCP and Splash work with the DisplayLink video adapter.

No I have the problem that my notebook fan gets quite loud due to the decoding work, but this is another problem. ;)

Best regards
Bernhard

[Wim]

Hi

This is due to the DisplayLink screens not supporting hardware acceleration on Windows XP. This is because we are a just a software based graphics card on Windows XP, so cannot use hardware acceleration.

We correctly report the level of hardware acceleration we support, however many applications check the hardware acceleration level of the primary display, or the display that the application starts on, and then assume that all other displays have the same HW acceleration. This means that when you open the player, it will assume that it has full hardware acceleration, and then fail to work when you drag to a DisplayLink screen, as it doesn't drop back to not using hardware acceleration.

Workarounds are to make the DisplayLink adapter primary (as you have found) because then the application reads the DisplayLink level of HW acceleration and drops back to software rendering. Or you can reduce the HW acceleration of the primary graphics card, which will also force the player to software rendering, but on all screens.

Hope that helps.

Wim