[M()zart]

Offler, on Oct 22 2009, 06:46 AM, said:

Also i found sound editing software called Audacity. Works great. It seems they plan to drop win9x support so i will contact them and ask a few questions. This freeware met all my requirements.

As an alternative freeware sound editors I can recommend WavePad www.nch.com.au/wavepad and Wavosaur http://www.wavosaur.com
They should work on Windows 9x.

And what's so bad about HD video formats? Which ones cannot be played on Win98?

[Offler]

Well, all of them can be theoretically played on Win98, but common issue is that computers compatible with Windows 98 have too weak CPU... I was thinking about some special AMD build with single core, but i dont know about available mainboard for that socket.

The best way how to play them is to use hardware acceleration, but it is somehow limited too depending on codecs.

Even when i was really hard working on system optimizations I still cannot play HD videos smoothly. The limit for FullHD video using WMV container was somewhere at 56 FPS while the video containted 70fps.

The highest quality i was able to play was video with 720p at 30 FPS with matroska.

On my system the device which is decoding Mpeg stream is graphic unit, the sound is being decoded by sound card again on hardware level. CPU handles only renderer, but it is not strong enough (Pentium III-s, 1400@1638). Pentium 4 does not perform much better.

[Marius '95]

Offler, on Oct 30 2009, 06:26 PM, said:

On my system the device which is decoding Mpeg stream is graphic unit, the sound is being decoded by sound card again on hardware level. CPU handles only renderer, but it is not strong enough (Pentium III-s, 1400@1638). Pentium 4 does not perform much better.

MPEG (I assume you are referring to MPEG 1 or 2) is not the same thing as HD (H264, the most common codec used). Many old graphic cards have hardware MPEG acceleration but this is useless for HD.

Sound in HD video is usually AC3. I don't know about any sound card that can decode AC3. Passthrough to an external receiver - yes; hardware acceleration for AC3 - never heard of it. Most of sound cards can't even decode MP3...

CPU handles only renderer?? You contradict yourself. If video decoding is done by video accelerator, then rendering is too. Video stream cannot go to graphic card for decoding, then return to CPU for rendering (?!) and then go back to graphic card for display on screen. In the last 15 years rendering has been done by hardware acceleration: overlay or DirectX VA.
There are two other operations that must be done by the CPU: reading the file and splitting it into video and audio streams.


If you need hardware acceleration for HD, first you need a new graphic card that can do that. I don't know any that still have drivers for Win98.
I have ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. It can decode MPEG2 in hardware, but not in Win98 because the codec (Nvidia PureVideo Decoder) doesn't work in Win98.
Hardware decoding in Win98 is a problem, not only for HD, but for MPEG2 too.

You said that the container is WMV? Video in HD WMV files is usually Windows Media Video 9. I don't know any card or codec other than M$ that can decode WMV9 (hardware or not).

This post has been edited by Marius '95: 01 November 2009 - 03:04 PM

[Offler]

DXVA does not work on Windows 98. I use Overlay mixer or the VMR9 - Video Mixing Renderer 9 - which is also part of DirectX 9. I know that both should be hardware accelerated, but it is not so completely. The difference is that the program responsible for rendering is running on CPU, while the rendering is handled by GPU, but more modern method is to use GPU not only for rendering, but also for running the rendering dynamic library (or executable). This makes rendering completely CPU independent and mostly much faster.

Full HD format means for example 1920x1080 and 75 fps. It does not matter if it use Mpeg 1 or 2. Mpeg4 or H264 is used because of its better compression rate and later has now it is new compression standard. For Mpeg1 and 2 there is hardware which can accelerate the decompression process, or codecs which use GPU for this purpose even on Windows 98. For H264 the newer decompressor is not available even when there is hardware..

For AC3 decoding can be used old Soundblaster LIVE 5.1. I use it for this purpose and it helped me to bring another 10 percent of performance.

Also if you wish to use Radeon 9800 for video decoding you can use Cyberlink PowerDVD. It is not freeware, but it was bundled to many older graphic cards. Last versions which also works with Windows 98 is version 6.0. In version 7.0 and 8.0 is also present module which makes available decompression of H264, but the module does not work with windows 98 kernel.

WMV is container of media file... mostly based on WMV codec or Mpeg codec, but it can use other codecs. Its one of the worst methods of movie packaging because its too CPU consuming. Uncompressed AVI is something different, and also Matroska is something faster.

[Drugwash]

Apologies if I'm repeating myself: for (basic) image editing I use FastStone Image Viewer and Chun Sejin's Imagine (as both standalone and Total Commander plug-in). However I still miss the ability to crop and paste from different image files using positive/negative zoom levels; having scanned some documents I tried to copy/paste certain parts to create a printable image that fits to paper size, but failed even under XP with its MSPaint. If anybody knows of a free utility that can do that, please do tell.

[Offler]

Since I own one old but legal copy of Photoshop 7 i will always forget that somebody (including me) is looking for freeware replatecement. Here is list of some...

1. Gimp
- not working with win9x.

2. GimpShop
- looks more like photoshop, but works with original gimp.

3. Krita
Part of KOffice of KDE. Porting linux to win9x was bit hard as i remember...

4. Paint.net
Maybe should work but i havent test it yet.

5. Cine Paint
- available for all OS except Windows

6. Seashore
- another software not available for windows

7. Pixia
- works on windows. Seems promising.

8. Pixen
- Mac Only

Other image editors i've are Web based and thus OS independent. Any interest?

I shall look at Pixia, and Paint.net. If they fail to run on my machine it will be almost impossible to use something else as Photoshop 7 or web based editors.

Edit:
Pixia supports windows including all 9x versions. I am just bit confused at its GUI which is not as in photoshop and i have to learn how to work with it. At all will see.

This post has been edited by Offler: 10 November 2009 - 03:05 AM

[Philco]

Offler, on Nov 10 2009, 03:57 AM, said:

Since I own one old but legal copy of Photoshop 7 i will always forget that somebody (including me) is looking for freeware replatecement. Here is list of some...

...

Other image editors i've are Web based and thus OS independent. Any interest?
...

OpenCanvas 4.5 (not freeware) running properly without KernelEx... ;-)

[Philco]

And viewer? I provide very old ACDSee 3.1 :-)

This post has been edited by Philco: 12 November 2009 - 03:44 PM

[glocK_94]

Philco, on Nov 12 2009, 11:42 PM, said:

And viewer? I provide very old ACDSee 3.1 :-)

Don't forget about XnView. It's not as fast as ACDSee but it has lots of features and is freeware.

[Offler]

Four things happened:

1. I was able to set "VMR9 Mixer mode" On in Media Player Classic.
Effect: Enhanced DVD video playback, visible better color quality.

2. I found that i can play 4,1 (or 5,1) sound while in Surround mixer i can set any of the effect ON.

3. I use Creative Sound Blaster 5.1 with WDM drivers. anyway i was not able to reproduce my current system configuration. For me it is mystery how this works.

4. windows media player is after all able to play CDs via SPDIF interface without chops. This has been archieved by adjusting "Audio CD F:" properties. I selected "digital" playback and enabled "error correction".

Too many things fixed recently. I did some minor changes since last system restore, i probably forget how i set them previously to work fine and now when I set them to correct values I am amazed at the way how they work.

Just backing up my own system settings. Check them, i have been testing hundreds of any possible values on my hardware but these works best.

Autoexec.bat
@echo off
cls
@CTTY NUL
LFNFOR ON
set windir=c:\os
set winbootdir=c:\os
mode con codepage prepare=((852) C:\OS\COMMAND\ega.cpi)
mode con codepage select=852
lh keyb sl,,C:\OS\COMMAND\keybrd2.sys
rem c:\dos\xmsdsk\xmsdsk.exe 513732 K: /c1 /t /y
c:\dos\xmsdsk\xmsdsk.exe 524288 K: /c1 /t /y
rem C:\OS\COMMAND\label K: scorpion
lh C:\dos\blaster\sbeinit.com
c:\dos\shsucdx.com /d:AADVARK /Q /l:f
c:\dos\cmouse\ctmouse.exe
rem lh c:\dos\lsl
rem c:\dos\e1000odi
rem c:\dos\e1000pkt 0x60
rem c:\dos\ipxodi.com /a
rem lh vc
rem c:\umbpci\fastvid\fastvid.exe 111 -128 d0000000
SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\PROGRA~1\ATITEC~1\ATICON~1
c:\dos\umbpci\umbfill.com
CTTY CON


Config.sys
SWITCHES=/F /E
DOS=HIGH,UMB,noAUTO
FILEShigh=150
FILES=150
BUFFERShigh=50,8
BUFFERS=50,8
LASTDRIVE=k
FCBShigh=1,0
FCBS=1,0
STACKShigh=0,0
STACKS=0,0
DEVICE=C:\OS\HIMEM.SYS /numhandles=128 /hmain=64 /TESTMEM:OFF /Q
DEVICE=C:\dos\EMM386.EXE RAM NOTR
SET PATH=C:\OS;C:\OS\COMMAND;c:\vc;C:\DOS
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1
SET CTSYN=C:\OS
DEVICEhigh=C:\DOS\QCDROM.SYS /D:AADVARK
rem SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:1280 /L:160 /U:160 /P /F
ACCDATE=C- D- E- F-
DEVICEhigh=C:\OS\SETVER.EXE
DEVICEhigh=C:\OS\IFSHLP.SYS
devicehigh=C:\OS\COMMAND\DISPLAY.SYS con=(ega,,1)
Country=421,852,C:\OS\COMMAND\country.sys

System.ini
[boot]
oemfonts.fon=vgaoem.fon
shell=Explorer.exe
system.drv=system.drv
drivers=mmsystem.dll power.drv
user.exe=user.exe
gdi.exe=gdi.exe
sound.drv=mmsound.drv
dibeng.drv=dibeng.dll
comm.drv=comm.drv
mouse.drv=mouse.drv
keyboard.drv=keyboard.drv
*DisplayFallback=0
fonts.fon=vgasys.fon
fixedfon.fon=vgafix.fon
386Grabber=vgafull.3gr
display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv

[keyboard]
keyboard.dll=
oemansi.bin=xlat852.bin
subtype=
type=4

[boot.description]
system.drv=Štandardné PC
keyboard.typ=Štandardná klávesnica 101 alebo 102 klávesov alebo klávesnica Microsoft Natural
mouse.drv=Štandardná myš
aspect=100,96,96
display.drv=RADEON X850 Series

[386Enh]
ebios=*ebios
woafont=dosapp.fon
mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd
device=*dynapage
device=*vcd
device=*vpd
device=*int13
keyboard=*vkd
display=*vdd,*vflatd
MaxPhysPage=40000
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=0
MinSPs=16
DMABufferSize=64
PagingDrive=K:
MinPagingFileSize=523264
MaxPagingFileSize=523264
MaxDMAPGAddress=1000

[NonWindowsApp]
TTInitialSizes=4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22

[power.drv]

[drivers]
wavemapper=*.drv
MSACM.imaadpcm=imaadpcm.acm
MSACM.msadpcm=msadpcm.acm
MSVideo.VfWWDM=vfwwdm.drv
wave=mmsystem.dll
midi=mmsystem.dll
VIDC.IV41=ir41.dll
VIDC.IV32=ir32.dll
VIDC.IV31=ir32.dll
VIDC.YVU9=iyvu9.dll
VIDC.MSVC=msvidc.drv
VIDC.MRLE=MSRLE.drv

[iccvid.drv]

[mciseq.drv]

[mci]
cdaudio=mcicda.drv
sequencer=mciseq.drv
waveaudio=mciwave.drv 4
avivideo=mciavi.drv
MPEGVideo=mciqtz.drv
MPEGVideo2=mciqtz.drv

[vcache]
MaxFileCache=32768
MinFileCache=32768
ChunkSize=512

[MSNP32]




[drivers32]
msacm.lhacm=lhacm.acm
VIDC.VDOM=vdowave.drv
MSACM.imaadpcm=imaadp32.acm
MSACM.msadpcm=msadp32.acm
MSACM.msgsm610=msgsm32.acm
MSACM.msg711=msg711.acm
MSACM.trspch=tssoft32.acm
vidc.CVID=iccvid.dll
VIDC.IV31=ir32_32.dll
VIDC.IV32=ir32_32.dll
vidc.MSVC=msvidc32.dll
VIDC.MRLE=msrle32.dll
VIDC.IV50=ir50_32.dll
msacm.iac2=C:\OS\SYSTEM\IAC25_32.AX
msacm.l3acm=C:\OS\SYSTEM\L3CODECA.ACM
VIDC.YUY2=msyuv.dll
VIDC.UYVY=msyuv.dll
VIDC.YVYU=msyuv.dll
VIDC.I420=msh263.drv
VIDC.IYUV=iyuv_32.dll
vidc.X264=x264vfw.dll
vidc.xvid=xvid.dll
VIDC.HFYU=huffyuv.dll
vidc.ffds=ff_vfw.dll
msacm.avis=ff_acm.acm
VIDC.YVU9=tsbyuv.dll

[TTFontDimenCache]
0 4=2 4
0 5=3 5
0 6=4 6
0 7=4 7
0 8=5 8
0 9=5 9
0 10=6 10
0 11=7 11
0 12=7 12
0 13=8 13
0 14=8 14
0 15=9 15
0 16=10 16
0 18=11 18
0 20=12 20
0 22=13 22

Note: Since last of the tests i randomly performed was test of VcacheFix (which failed on my system) i have to put vcache.vxd info here.

Modified: 11.2. 2008
(obviously the "fixed" version). I use selfcompiled vmm32.vxd which uses newer versions as defaults - maybe some trouble have been caused by this, and maybe some memory settings have been correctly set. Not sure about that.

[betaluva2010]

you should include Ifanview for image viewing and enhanceing: http://www.irfanview.com/

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

A newer version is out and it plays well on my dell c600 750 mhz 384 mb computer.
http://sourceforge.n...ojects/x264vfw/
Has anyone tryed coreavc?

[Yushatak]

Opera 10 is good, but I prefer K-Meleon - it's faster and provides the same level of compatibility. I run it on a 200Mhz Pentium and it's about 3x as fast as Opera 10.6 on that box. They also actually support 98SE, as it's basically a version of Firefox targeted at weaker machines (and thusly older OSes than Firefox is).

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

Offler, on 02 September 2009 - 01:52 AM, said:

Power DVD 6
It is commonly bundled with DVD drives and graphic cards and in some cases with a legal CD-Key. Player itself is not interesting, but it contains a lot of usable codecs which are one of the best for Mpeg2 decoding. CLVSD.AX can decode mpeg using hardware acceleration which makec CPU load lower. Version 6 works correcly witn ProgDVB and MPC.

CLVSD.AX 6.0.0.3614 from PowerDVD 7.0.2414 works.

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

PowerDVD 12.0.11175 has CLVSD.AX 8.4.3427 and it works with no problem.