Get COREAVC, in FFDSHOW, disable FFDSHOW for h264. This has literally solved EVERY problem I was having in MCE. No stuttering, no sync loss, no issues whatsoever. Hats off to the Core developers, they truly have created the best and fastes decoder. PERIOD.

IMO, here's is the best Vista Codec pack for XviD etc out there so far. (by Shark007)

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=66826&st=0&p=460040 
(see 64bit add on too)

ehhh...coreavc...a link ?

I have to respectfully disagree. That codec pack is buggy as hell. It plays some files fine and others give it fits. Try playing a matroska container with it and you will quickly see it's limitations. You can leave the Vista Codec Pack installed, and install the CCCP codec package. When you install CCCP, ttell CCCP to use ffdshow for everything but H.264, under file associations, leave them unchanged, make sure to select Autoload VSFILTER (WMP and MCE support), leave Enable AVI support unchecked, as FFDSHOW does a great job in that department, select RESET ALL SETTINGS, and RE-REGISTER FILTERS, also in setup, be sure to tell it to enable shell intergration and thumbnails for .mkv files. Once you have done this, install COREAVC to handle all of your H.264 content.

Here are two reg keys that will reg all of your extensions for MCE also. Thanks to Toyanucci for the keys. I know it says Quicktime, but it takes care of mkv, mov, and mp4.

http://rapidshare.com/files/8481453/Quicktime_For_MCE.rar

Here is the link for the CCCP package.
http://www.cccp-project.net/
For COREAVC, there a number of torrent sites with it. Be careful though, one of them floating around has the bloodhound viri.

Seriously though, I am know trying to be an ass or a know it all, I was pulling my hair out over all the damn codec issues, if you don't believe me, set a restore point and try it for yourself. Seeing is always believing. I was at the point where I was going to just convert every damn file to DVR-MS out of sheer frustration before one of the moderators at hdbits.org walked me through it. I literally have not found a movie I cannot play now. No sync loss, no choppy video, not a single problem whatsoever. I am playing .ts, x.264, h.264, mpeg2, WMV-HD, DVR-MS, BluRay, HD-DVD, etc.

For reference, my rig is as follows.

Windows Vista Ultimate
Asus PC-DL Deluxe
Dual P4 Canterwood Xeon with hyperthreading. 4 logical procs overclocked to 2.97ghz
4GB RAM
ATIX800 PRO 256MB running component output to HD set @1776x1000 (for overscan)
ATI 650 Pro
ATI 550 Pro
ATI HDTV Wonder
Primary Master 250GB PATA
Secondary Master Sony Dual Layer burner (will be adding XBOX HD-DVD next week)
Primary Sata Intel ICH5 Striped
Channel 0 Seagate 500gb
Channel 1 Seagate 500gb
Secondary Sata Promise 378 Striped
Channel 0 Seagate 500gb
Channel 1 Seagate 500gb
SoundBlaster XFI Platinum
Ultra 650 modular power supply (POS replacing it also. STAY AWAY INMHO)

Hardware is a little outdated in places, but she is built up enough that she holds her own. My current Vista score is a 5.2 due to the fact that I am running DDR400, but with the 4 procs and the amount of onboard cache, I haven't found a game I can't play at high settings, even while I am recording two shows at once with MCE. I am waiting for a good Dual Proc Intel or AMD quad core board to come out before I make the leap to next gen hardware. Nothing better then being able to set the processor affinity to individual programs, and the idea that many logical processors, along with dual GPU's and possibly a Physics card is very appealing. :)

This doesn't appear to support Vista yet.  Here is what their site says:

Unofficially with CoreAVC 1.2 we added our initial support for all RC versions of Windows Vista 32bit. However the RTM version of Vista is not supported and we will not officially support Vista till version 1.3.

Are you using it in Vista RTM?

tmg

Will a good H264 codec help w/ ATSC?

No, ATSC is MPEG-2.  CoreAVC is just for AVC, which there is very little content out them in.

TuuKAholiC:

I have to respectfully disagree. That codec pack is buggy as hell. It plays some files fine and others give it fits. Try playing a matroska container with it and you will quickly see it's limitations.

TuuKahoiC, Thanks for the feedback.  I posted to let Shark007 know so maybe he can add the missing matroska container support etc.  I dont know of any other Vista 64bit Codec Package out there though.
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=66826&st=200#entry638021

It's working great for my basic XviD and h.264 file playback.

You are absolutely correct on the ATSC question. On the other hand I have over 100 hidef movies in encoded in h264.

His question really drives another one of my frustrations home. There are simply too many damn codecs out there. I can't even begin to explain hbow much difficulty I have had putting together a set of codecs that work. I install one pack and this works, but breaks that. I install another one which fixes the broken one, and another one is broken. As of now, I have installed the CCCP package I mentioned, as well as the COREAVC and have checked every single movie I have. All of them work, so I am sticking with what I have. :)

Yes, I am using it in RTM Vista Ultimate. It is working wonderfully. I have been bedridden from surgery since the 12th and have watched no less than 20 movies encoded in h264 in that time, without a single glitch. Then again I am on so many painkillers maybe I am imagining it. LOL

S4Czech:

TuuKAholiC:

I have to respectfully disagree. That codec pack is buggy as hell. It plays some files fine and others give it fits. Try playing a matroska container with it and you will quickly see it's limitations.

TuuKahoiC, Thanks for the feedback.  I posted to let Shark007 know so maybe he can add the missing matroska container support etc.  I dont know of any other Vista 64bit Codec Package out there though.
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=66826&st=200#entry638021

It's working great for my basic XviD and h.264 file playback.

 

Nice setup. I am hearing great things about those procs. I was definitely an AMD whore for the longest time until I got these Xeons. I still have a dual Opteron I use for my recording studio, but I am waiting to see the comparisons on the respective quad cores when they start hitting the market, before I upgrade to my next box. The problem with upgrading at this point of course is the need to move to PCIe, and DDR2 at the same time. So I am looking at ram, cpu, mobo, and video card, and unfortunately I have my next bonus check aimed at a new PRS guitar. :-P

 

I also can't wait until DirecTv and Dish come out with their PC cards.

Does anyone know what the procedure is to play MKV / h264 files on MCE05?  I'm not running vista at this time, still using the MCE05 setup.  I would like to play MKV h264 HD files, but am having the skipping, jitter, sync problems discussed in this thread.

Any details or directions would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU.