Custom Resolution Utility (CRU)

[ToastyX]

(04-03-2013 02:07 PM)who Wrote:  Actually I'm running a radeon 6850, is there any advantage for me if I have the extension block flag set?

The extension block usually contains HDTV resolutions and audio capability information. If you don't need that, you can disable it.

[Mangix]

I reported issues earlier with my HDTV not behaving with a high clock frequency but now with the LCD reduced option combined with the latest nvidia drivers, everything is working flawlessly. A few questions:

How does reduced work? I know that it lowers horizontal/vertical blanking but is there any standard for it anywhere? The reason I ask has to do with my second question:

Why does it not work for certain resolutions? for example, with 2560x1600 at 70Hz there is no difference between reduced and standard but at 75Hz there is.

[Kanade]

Hello, I'm having trouble setting my monitor's refresh rate to certain value.

I was recommended to use this software as I'm having judder/choppy problem during panning/tilting shots for anime playback. Since 99% of the time anime are recorded in 23.976 fps, I need to change my refresh to match it so that I can reduce/get rid of the juddering problem.

As a result, I've downloaded CRU and did the following:
- Edit the listed "detailed resolution" and change refresh rate to 72Hz
- Pressed ok and restarted my PC
- Via Catalyst and monitor properties, I tried to set the refresh rate to 72
- When I click ok, the screen goes black and after few seconds it turns back to normal
- However, the rate didn't change at all (it stayed as 60Hz)

I don't know what's the problem is but the refresh rate won't change it to 72Hz no matter what.

Did I set the value wrong? I thought 72 should be good to go as its multiple of 24.
Or did I do something wrong in the settings?


My spec is:
- OS: Windows 7 64bit
- GPU: Radeon HD7950
- Monitor: BenQ G2420HD @ 60Hz

I've took a screenshot of CRU settings, catalyst, monitor properties and detailed info about my specs.


I'm kind of new to this as I don't know what is what but I would appreciate any help.

Thank you.

[Black Octagon]

Isn't that BenQ just a regular 60hz monitor? It probably can't handle 72Hz

[ToastyX]

(04-07-2013 01:38 PM)Kanade Wrote:  - Monitor: BenQ G2420HD @ 60Hz

That monitor is single-link DVI or HDMI only, so it will not work properly beyond 165 MHz pixel clock unless the video driver is patched.

Try the "LCD reduced" option in the timing drop-down list in the detailed resolution dialog. That will keep the pixel clock under 165 MHz, but the settings may not work with your monitor. You can put in 71.928 Hz to get close to a multiple of 23.976.

(04-06-2013 10:01 PM)Mangix Wrote:  How does reduced work? I know that it lowers horizontal/vertical blanking but is there any standard for it anywhere? The reason I ask has to do with my second question:

Why does it not work for certain resolutions? for example, with 2560x1600 at 70Hz there is no difference between reduced and standard but at 75Hz there is.

It's non-standard based on what works with different monitors I've used. The goal is to keep the pixel clock from going above 165 MHz or 330 MHz, if possible.

2560x1600 @ 70 Hz with "LCD standard" is still below 330 MHz, while 75 Hz is not. I was considering making it reduce all refresh rates above 60 Hz to avoid having the same settings, but I haven't decided what settings to use yet. It should probably reduce the vertical total to 1625 in that case to give it exactly 70 Hz, but I don't know if that helps with any monitor.

(04-07-2013 02:23 PM)Black Octagon Wrote:  Isn't that BenQ just a regular 60hz monitor? It probably can't handle 72Hz

Many 1920x1080 monitors can get 72 Hz, but the timing parameters usually need to be tweaked. That's why I added the "LCD reduced" option to make it easier. Using standard timing parameters with DVI or HDMI would require patching the driver, and some monitors can't handle standard timing parameters at higher refresh rates. The settings I chose work with a lot of different monitors, but some monitors might need different settings.

[Kanade]

(04-07-2013 01:38 PM)Kanade Wrote:  That monitor is single-link DVI or HDMI only, so it will not work properly beyond 165 MHz pixel clock unless the video driver is patched.

Try the "LCD reduced" option in the timing drop-down list in the detailed resolution dialog. That will keep the pixel clock under 165 MHz, but the settings may not work with your monitor. You can put in 71.928 Hz to get close to a multiple of 23.976.

I just tried it, setting it to "automatic - LCD reduced" and refresh rate to 71.928 Hz.
After restarting, I was able to set 72Hz like below:


However, after testing various playbacks the judder is still there. In fact, it got worse when I changed it to 72Hz...

Is there anything else I can try?

[Mangix]

(04-08-2013 06:38 AM)Kanade Wrote:  However, after testing various playbacks the judder is still there. In fact, it got worse when I changed it to 72Hz...

Is there anything else I can try?

Anime in general is animated poorly and so you can't improve it much. This is starting to change though. Using something like SVP may help in this regard. See: http://www.svp-team.com/

As far as judder goes, you have not identified the playback software that you are using. I personally use madVR which is dead smooth for my purposes.

On a related note, madVR can show the realtime refresh rate down to several decimal points of precision when playing a video by pressing Ctrl+J. My experience with AMD hardware(mainly laptops) is that the refresh rate in CRU has to be bumped up slightly(eg. .20Hz higher) as the actual refresh rate is slightly lower. Not sure if this is what's going on though.

[Kanade]

(04-08-2013 11:24 AM)Mangix Wrote:  Anime in general is animated poorly and so you can't improve it much. This is starting to change though. Using something like SVP may help in this regard. See: http://www.svp-team.com/

As far as judder goes, you have not identified the playback software that you are using. I personally use madVR which is dead smooth for my purposes.

On a related note, madVR can show the realtime refresh rate down to several decimal points of precision when playing a video by pressing Ctrl+J. My experience with AMD hardware(mainly laptops) is that the refresh rate in CRU has to be bumped up slightly(eg. .20Hz higher) as the actual refresh rate is slightly lower. Not sure if this is what's going on though.

Yeah SVP... that's what I've found out recently and I'm currently using it temporary until I can find a permanent solutions for this judder problem.
The reason for this is because I have this another issue when using SVP where I get dragonfly artifacts for some scenes/texts/subtitles like shown below (Take a close look at the plane on the left):
[Image: http://www.svp-team.com/forum/misc.php?item=2462]
And I've made a whole thread about it in their forum: http://www.svp-team.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1349.
As a result, I was able to minimize the effect but not completely... which is really annoying where I see subtitles or scene suddenly having a seizure interrupting my view.

I should of mentioned it earlier: I'm using potplayer with madVR as renderer. I've disabled smooth motion option from madVR when using SVP as someone told me those two won't work together.
Lastly, I didn't really get your last paragraph but are you suggesting me to bump up my refresh rate via CRU?

Anyway, I really need a perm solution or something and using CRU seems like a last resort as I have tried other softwares and they all failed.
Its either:
- Deal with judder/choppy panning shots
- Use SVP for smooth shots but deal with butterfly artifacts

Sigh... this is pissing me off so much.

[Mangix]

My 2 cents: don't bother with SVP. Just use madVR with its smooth motion. The nice thing about madVR's smooth motion is that it's designed to work with mismatched refresh rates(eg. 23.976fps at 60Hz).

Also, don't bother with PotPlayer. I've personally used it and have never gotten great results. For me the best results come when using MPC-HC Lite with LAV Filters and madVR, Unless PotPlayer has some really compelling feature, I would recommend moving away.

@ToastyX: Is there a point to decreasing the timings even further? I did some tests and it turns out that I can do 1080p75 at a 159Hz pixel clock but I have no idea if there is any benefit to doing this.

[Kanade]

(04-08-2013 07:27 PM)Mangix Wrote:  My 2 cents: don't bother with SVP. Just use madVR with its smooth motion. The nice thing about madVR's smooth motion is that it's designed to work with mismatched refresh rates(eg. 23.976fps at 60Hz).

Also, don't bother with PotPlayer. I've personally used it and have never gotten great results. For me the best results come when using MPC-HC Lite with LAV Filters and madVR, Unless PotPlayer has some really compelling feature, I would recommend moving away.

I wish madVR's smooth motion worked... if it did, I wouldn't even touched SVP at all.

Potplayer is basically: MPC-HC + fancy skin support + more granular control over filters being use for each file container and video/audio format + more.
I'm not using it since it doesn't have skin support (even MPC-BE fails at this support) as well as there is no immediate difference in using either of these two players.
FYI, I have MPC-HC lite installed as well and with same settings as my potplayer the videos have the exact juddering for panning shots.

Its all because of my monitor's inability to support certain refresh rate.