Extreme video playback choppyness with HVAC software

**Dexter** · 04-05-2005, 03:40 AM

Hey guys,
me again, with a hopefully less stupid question/problem than last time. (if youre confused, dont worry, i know how to use DLLs now!)

Heh, anyways, backstory:
my HVAC software, written in C# .Net 2 (beta). For my stepper motor controls i have a parallel port controller, which came with this DLL to make direct parrallel port access a snap. It all works fine and good UNTIL im playing a video. (not DVD, havent even tested that). But in the frontends ive tested (frodo, centrafuse, RR), video lags like hell whenenver I move the motors.

I tested it with winamp running the video instead, and its perfectly fine, not laggy or choppy.

So i figure ill test Windows media player, (had the inkling it was media player, since im pretty sure all the front ends use it for thier video playing), open the video and test: bam, lag.

I only had 6.4 so i figured id check out, maybe 9 would work better. alas, not true.

So, two questions, I guess:
Why does it work great with winamp playing video?
and 2,
Is there some setting i can change in windows media player to make it act more like winamp?

Id really like to use *some* front end for video along with music, but i really cant have laggy video.

thanks for any ideas or input you might have!

**Bitoholic** · 04-05-2005, 03:49 AM

I am curious if MMC (Mobile Media Center) does this as well? Could you download MMC and try it and let me know if you get lag with it as well...

Take care

**Dexter** · 04-05-2005, 04:04 AM

Sure, lemme try it out.

**Dexter** · 04-05-2005, 04:13 AM

Oh boy, MMC wont install without .net 2.04... which...i should have, seing as how i wrote my program in .net 2......not sure why its doing this...

edit: lemme try uninstall my .net 2 and install yours from your site

edit2: well now MMC works but my program wont load...oh damn this .net beta.

**Dexter** · 04-05-2005, 04:52 AM

Eh, sorry MMC has video slowdown even when im not doing anything, just watching it

**Dexter** · 04-10-2005, 06:12 AM

Is there anything I can do to help this out?

The stepper motor DLL uses inpout32.dll. I am assuming that pretty much any parallel port access will cause 100% CPU utilization. I am still curious as to why winamp can continue to play video while Media Player will stutter.

Any ideas?

**0l33l** · 04-10-2005, 08:23 PM

Make your app multithreaded

When I was making LCDC plugins, I had this one plugin that always caused LCDC to freeze for a second. I made it multithreaded and it only lagged for 1/2 a second.

Do you have the parallel port access in a timer?

**Dexter** · 04-11-2005, 02:24 AM

I was thinking to make it multithreaded, but not sure what aspects to do the threading...i would have to rewrite the motor control i think..

parallel port access isnt in a timer.
hmmm not sure what to do..