Live TV stutter in Vista 32-bit

Media Centre generally works well for me in Vista Home Premium except for a
fairly continuous stutter in sound and vision when watching live digital TV
(Freeview) and concurrently using several windows in Explorer/IE - especially
when scrolling in IE.

My nearly-new PC has Core2Duo 1.8GHz processors, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 320GB HDD.

Is this performance to be expected with such a set-up - or are there
adjustments I could make to overcome the problem, such as prioritising the
processing of the TV receiver signals?

Is the digital TV "over the air" ?

If so, digital interference or signal loss can appear as stuttering or
block-like patterns instead of the "snow" on analog "over the air" signals.

- John

"John Edwards" <> wrote in message
news:8A17177E-133A-439A-8BC7-...
> Media Centre generally works well for me in Vista Home Premium except for
> a
> fairly continuous stutter in sound and vision when watching live digital
> TV
> (Freeview) and concurrently using several windows in Explorer/IE -
> especially
> when scrolling in IE.
>
> My nearly-new PC has Core2Duo 1.8GHz processors, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 320GB
> HDD.
>
> Is this performance to be expected with such a set-up - or are there
> adjustments I could make to overcome the problem, such as prioritising the
> processing of the TV receiver signals?

Yes John - Freeview (in UK) is digital over the air. However, when I watch
without other apps open, it is just fine, so I don't think it's a reception
issue (especially as other TVs in the house using the same aerial feed are
just fine).

"John Adams" wrote:

> Is the digital TV "over the air" ?
>
> If so, digital interference or signal loss can appear as stuttering or
> block-like patterns instead of the "snow" on analog "over the air" signals.
>
> - John
>
> "John Edwards" <> wrote in message
> news:8A17177E-133A-439A-8BC7-...
> > Media Centre generally works well for me in Vista Home Premium except for
> > a
> > fairly continuous stutter in sound and vision when watching live digital
> > TV
> > (Freeview) and concurrently using several windows in Explorer/IE -
> > especially
> > when scrolling in IE.
> >
> > My nearly-new PC has Core2Duo 1.8GHz processors, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 320GB
> > HDD.
> >
> > Is this performance to be expected with such a set-up - or are there
> > adjustments I could make to overcome the problem, such as prioritising the
> > processing of the TV receiver signals?
>

On Mon, 5 May 2008 16:27:00 -0700, John Edwards
<> wrote:

>Media Centre generally works well for me in Vista Home Premium except for a
>fairly continuous stutter in sound and vision when watching live digital TV
>(Freeview) and concurrently using several windows in Explorer/IE - especially
>when scrolling in IE.
>
>My nearly-new PC has Core2Duo 1.8GHz processors, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 320GB HDD.
>
>Is this performance to be expected with such a set-up - or are there
>adjustments I could make to overcome the problem, such as prioritising the
>processing of the TV receiver signals?

How is the TV tuner connected to the computer? USB? PCI? Look in
Device Manager at how interrupts are shared, and move the TV tuner to
a port that does not share interrupts with the video card or disk
interface.

It's a new computer that I haven't yet needed to open - but I presume its a
separate PCI board (and not integrated with the nVidia Geforce 8400GS
graphics card). It seems to be a Creatix SAA 7131 Hybrid Capture Device (?)
by Philips Semiconductors.

The only IRQ it seems to share (17) is with the High Definition Audio. How
would I change ports????

"andy" wrote:

> On Mon, 5 May 2008 16:27:00 -0700, John Edwards
> <> wrote:
>
> >Media Centre generally works well for me in Vista Home Premium except for a
> >fairly continuous stutter in sound and vision when watching live digital TV
> >(Freeview) and concurrently using several windows in Explorer/IE - especially
> >when scrolling in IE.
> >
> >My nearly-new PC has Core2Duo 1.8GHz processors, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 320GB HDD.
> >
> >Is this performance to be expected with such a set-up - or are there
> >adjustments I could make to overcome the problem, such as prioritising the
> >processing of the TV receiver signals?
>
> How is the TV tuner connected to the computer? USB? PCI? Look in
> Device Manager at how interrupts are shared, and move the TV tuner to
> a port that does not share interrupts with the video card or disk
> interface.
>

Since the computer came fully built with the TV tuner included, have
you spoken to the computer maker?
As far PCI interrupts are concerned, you have to determine which
interrupt is assigned to each PCI connector, and are other onboard
devices also sharing the interrupt. The ideal situation is for one of
the PCI slots to not share its interrupt with any other device. That's
the PCI slot that you would put the TV tuner in.

On Tue, 6 May 2008 16:34:15 -0700, John Edwards
<> wrote:

>It's a new computer that I haven't yet needed to open - but I presume its a
>separate PCI board (and not integrated with the nVidia Geforce 8400GS
>graphics card). It seems to be a Creatix SAA 7131 Hybrid Capture Device (?)
>by Philips Semiconductors.
>
>The only IRQ it seems to share (17) is with the High Definition Audio. How
>would I change ports????
>
>"andy" wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 5 May 2008 16:27:00 -0700, John Edwards
>> <> wrote:
>>
>> >Media Centre generally works well for me in Vista Home Premium except for a
>> >fairly continuous stutter in sound and vision when watching live digital TV
>> >(Freeview) and concurrently using several windows in Explorer/IE - especially
>> >when scrolling in IE.
>> >
>> >My nearly-new PC has Core2Duo 1.8GHz processors, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 320GB HDD.
>> >
>> >Is this performance to be expected with such a set-up - or are there
>> >adjustments I could make to overcome the problem, such as prioritising the
>> >processing of the TV receiver signals?
>>
>> How is the TV tuner connected to the computer? USB? PCI? Look in
>> Device Manager at how interrupts are shared, and move the TV tuner to
>> a port that does not share interrupts with the video card or disk
>> interface.
>>