Vertical Jitter on HDStorm Analogue Out

[ErnestTBass]

I just installed the HDStorm Plus and attempted playback of 4x3 Canopus DV AVI files that were previously captured via my DVStorm. These clips play great in the DVStorm, however, I’m encountering intermittent vertical jitter on my NTSC monitor when output via the HDStorm Bay’s analogue jacks. There’s no jitter in the E5 onscreen program monitor; the video plays great there. I’ve tried both the composite output and the S-Video output (using the supplied Y adapter) to no avail. The hardware settings are set for Composite/S-Video. To rule out potential issues with my monitor, I also output to another monitor and encountered the same problem.

I’m running XP SP2 on a Q6600 with 4GB of RAM & nVidia 8500GT. The HDStorm card is in the 3rd PCI Express x1 slot.

My Sony NTSC monitor has composite & S jacks only; no component. I plan to upgrade to HD next spring. Until then, the analogue outputs are a must.

Any ideas?

[Aristotelis]

what are your project settings?

[ErnestTBass]

"what are your project settings?"

I'm not in the studio at the moment, so I can't quote the settings verbatim, but I'm using the preset for NTSC SD 4x3, 59.94i DV.

[GrassValley_BH]

I suspect your display's scaler is introducing the intermittent glitch. Check your display's settings to ensure automatic processing is disabled. In particular, check for auto-film mode or 3-2 pulldown detection.

[ErnestTBass]

It isn't the display settings. I also output the video via composite to another monitor and the jitter is still there. I spoke with Tech Support yesterday and sent a clip for their review. The video plays okay when output via component.

[alibiman]

I just installed the HDStorm Plus and attempted playback of 4x3 Canopus DV AVI files that were previously captured via my DVStorm. These clips play great in the DVStorm, however, I’m encountering intermittent vertical jitter on my NTSC monitor when output via the HDStorm Bay’s analogue jacks. There’s no jitter in the E5 onscreen program monitor; the video plays great there. I’ve tried both the composite output and the S-Video output (using the supplied Y adapter) to no avail. The hardware settings are set for Composite/S-Video. To rule out potential issues with my monitor, I also output to another monitor and encountered the same problem.

I’m running XP SP2 on a Q6600 with 4GB of RAM & nVidia 8500GT. The HDStorm card is in the 3rd PCI Express x1 slot.

My Sony NTSC monitor has composite & S jacks only; no component. I plan to upgrade to HD next spring. Until then, the analogue outputs are a must.

Any ideas?

Try this out:

Apply a "Color Ballance" filter on the problematic clip, set the BRIGHTNESS to -1 or -2. You have good chance that the problem disappears.

[ErnestTBass]

"Apply a "Color Ballance" filter on the problematic clip, set the BRIGHTNESS to -1 or -2. You have good chance that the problem disappears."

Thanks a million! That did the trick.

This must be a bug with the HDStorm's analogue out when using composite or S. One shouldn't have to apply filters to the clips to prevent vertical jitter.

[STORMDAVE]

I don't have the HDSTORM, but what type of CRT monitor are you using? Also set your NTSC setup to 7.5 if there is such a setting (should be) under the HDStorm hardware settings in EDIUS5.

[ErnestTBass]

Setup is set to 7.5. The monitor is a Sony industrial. It's about 8-10 years old. The monitor isn't the problem, though. For an additional test, I output the video via composite to the input on my DVStorm, launched Storm Video to view it, and the jitter was there. Unless there's a setting for the HDStorm that I'm unaware of, I'm convinced this is a bug. I hope it's a bug in the software that can be fixed, instead of the hardware.

[STORMDAVE]

You might be on to something.

Maybe it has something to do with the bay? Did you call support and tell them?

[redgum]

Have you updated to the new HDStorm driver? (1.01)

[ErnestTBass]

"Maybe it has something to do with the bay? Did you call support and tell them?"

Yes, I've been in touch with tech support. I uploaded a clip for them to test. As of Friday, they haven't seen the jitter. I'm thinking I may have gotten a bad bay or card. It's just weird that by simply applying the Color Balance filter with the brightness set to -1 the problem goes away.

"Have you updated to the new HDStorm driver? (1.01)"

Yes.

[alibiman]

This is not really a bug. I do assume you have used some DV material. Several DV cams overshoot the brighness sligthly. It seems HD Storm D / A does not tolerate the such kind of anomalies. From the otherhand I'm sure there will be a fix released soon, because this behavior can be programmed in the video encoder chip. So this is not a big deal. Meantime this brightness adjustment helps.

[barnarjo]

Try this out:

Apply a "Color Ballance" filter on the problematic clip, set the BRIGHTNESS to -1 or -2. You have good chance that the problem disappears.

Thanks for that bit of advice. I have had a similar problem with composite output since I bought my new system a month ago, except the monitor picture sometimes flickered badly from colour to black and white. tried different monitor, s video output, even tried the same footage on my old Premiere system which played perfectly. I contacted my supplier (DVC in UK) for support but they have they have not been quick to help as their test images on my system play OK. With this one little adjustment on the brightness - the problem has disappeared. I can't help thinking this is a bug. Anyone know how to report the bug?
Thanks a lot Alibiman

[ErnestTBass]

Thanks for that bit of advice. I have had a similar problem with composite output since I bought my new system a month ago, except the monitor picture sometimes flickered badly from colour to black and white. tried different monitor, s video output, even tried the same footage on my old Premiere system which played perfectly. I contacted my supplier (DVC in UK) for support but they have they have not been quick to help as their test images on my system play OK. With this one little adjustment on the brightness - the problem has disappeared. I can't help thinking this is a bug. Anyone know how to report the bug?
Thanks a lot Alibiman

I reported it to Tech Support weeks ago and supplied some footage to them. They were going to have the engineers in Japan take a look at it. I never heard back from them.