Experience with Broadcom BCM70015 HD Video Processor card

[dandreye]

Hi All,

Been reading here about what sounds like positive experience with Broadcom BCM70015 (aka AzurWave AW-VD920H) HD Video Processor card in WWAN slot of X61(s). Could anyone please supply a URL to some HD video or at least a benchmark that'd reveal deficiencies of X61s w/o such card at video playback?

Also will this card work in WWAN slot of X60s as well or only in X61(s)?


Many thanks in advance!

[Shredder11]

I've got mine in the X61 and Z61p and even on the latter, whenever I tried to play 1080p 50fps mp4 type video files without the Broadcom, it was like watching a webcam video from 1997 except at higher resolution. The onboard video of the Z61p is far more powerful than the X61s video chip, so imagine how that same video would have performed on that! However with the Broadcom now in use in both the X61 and Z61p, that same video type file will perform as smooth and at full speed in either machine. The X61 would even play YouTube 1080p 50fps video just as smoothly, until they YouTube dropped support for Flash plugins last year and even then you had to use Microsoft Internet Explorer, for it to be compatible with the Broadcom card. In this scenario the video would consume 100% of both my machines, but with the Broadcom this drops to around 20% I think in full screen mode. So in short I am extremely happy with the Broadcom card and find it very useful all the time, plus it cost barely anything which is rarely the case with video upgrades.

[dandreye]

Shredder11:

Thanks for your reply. At just GBP11.25 it's selling I'll likely give it a try. Hope it's possible to turn it off by means of disabling it in Device Manager whenever it's not in use so that it doesn't consume battery in vain during such periods (I mostly use my X61s's as remote terminals and rarely for video).

[danikayser84]

I find the Nvidia T61s will display HD video fine without the card; this card will be good on Intel T61s, as well as T60/Z60/Z61 series (has anyone tried a BCM70015 in a Z60m here? I want to put it in the WWAN slot on my Windows 2000 Z60m but I don't know if there's a Windows 2000 driver for it)

[dandreye]

Just tried watching a few HD videos in 720p downloaded from Youtube and tbh can't see any problems: CPU load is ~35-50% in particular. I suppose I need necessarily 1080p ones to get a chance to see the difference...

[axur-delmeria]

I find the Nvidia T61s will display HD video fine without the card; this card will be good on Intel T61s, as well as T60/Z60/Z61 series (has anyone tried a BCM70015 in a Z60m here? I want to put it in the WWAN slot on my Windows 2000 Z60m but I don't know if there's a Windows 2000 driver for it)

There's no point in installing a BCM70015 on T61s with nVidia GPUs-- the NVS 140m and the FX 570m already have hardware acceleration for H.264 and VC-1.

Also will this card work in WWAN slot of X60s as well or only in X61(s)?

It won't work because the WWAN slot on the X60, X60s, and X60 Tablet is USB only.

Just tried watching a few HD videos in 720p downloaded from Youtube and tbh can't see any problems: CPU load is ~35-50% in particular. I suppose I need necessarily 1080p ones to get a chance to see the difference...

Try this one.

[dandreye]

axur-delmeria:

> Try this one.

...getting this:

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /Planet_Earth_From Pole_to_Pole_1080p_sample.mkv on this server.

[axur-delmeria]

^ Looks like the server doesn't like hotlinks.

Here's the original page, scroll down a little to the section named "Test Files" -- it's the fifth one, titled Planet Earth: From Pole to Pole .

I hope it works now.

[dandreye]

axur-delmeria:

Thank you: CPU utilization peaks above 90% during its playback (from the disk after downloading) and video delays are clearly seen.

[axur-delmeria]

What program are you using toe play the video? Also, what are the specs of your Thinkpad and what OS does it run?

[dandreye]

It's an X61s model type 7667-Y24 (Core 2 Duo L7500 @ 1.6GHz each) with 4GB RAM currently running Windows 10 LTSB x64. I think it was Media Player Classic that played it (will check once I'm home again and disprove if it's a different one).

[axur-delmeria]

While playing the video, check what codec is being used.
I think it's under Play --> Filters then select whichever is the video decoder filter. Hopefully it's the LAV video filter.

If the active codec is avcodec, it's not using any hardware acceleration at all. Try selecting DXVA2 Native or DXVA2 copy-back, close Media Player Classic, then play the video again.

[dandreye]

axur-delmeria:

It turned out to be WMP and not MPC. I looked for the codecs in use inside out and didn't find any - had to install MPC-HC just to find that out and looks like it's LAV:
https://s21.postimg.org/o3tpctlxj/Codecs.png

> If the active codec is avcodec, it's not using any hardware acceleration at all.

I thought X61s has no HW acceleration whatsoever and that's why this BCM70015 helps so much...

[axur-delmeria]

The Broadcom's hardware acceleration only works if:
1. the drivers are installed
2. the software supports it

I don't know how good is the default Windows Media Player with regards to hardware acceleration support, but MPC-HC is decent enough to tell the use if hardware acceleration is being used. Usually, the status bar at the bottom of the MPC-HC will show [Hardware] or [DXVA] (older versions only).

If you manage to get to the Properties page of the LAV Video it looks like this:



The section at the upper right, labeled "Hardware acceleration" is what you're interested in.
As I mentioned earlier, try setting it to either "DXVA2 Native" or "DXVA2 Copy-back" then try playing the video.

Check it again while the video is playing. The "Active Decoder" (this is the codec that LAV filter is currently using) should be the one you set earlier. It it is "avcodec" instead, then something is preventing MPC-HC from using the hardware acceleration. avcodec is the CPU-only video decoder and is set as the default. If LAV cannot set up the hardware decoder, it will usually falls back to avcodec.

[dandreye]

> If you manage to get to the Properties page of the LAV Video it looks like this:

Found it in View > Options > Internal Filters > Video decoder button in the "Internal LAV Filters settings" block:

https://s11.postimg.org/ckdmzu4tf/HW_Decoder.png

> As I mentioned earlier, try setting it to either "DXVA2 Native" or "DXVA2 Copy-back" then try playing the video.

It was already set to DXVA2 (native), so I tried DXVA2 (copy-back) and noticed no difference at all: seconds after those flying birds are first shown, the CPU utilization jumps to 92% and heavy video delays start. Interestingly it's equally bad with Intel QuickSync, NVIDIA CUVID and None, selecting any of which grays out everything below in that area, so I understand HW decoding currently brings no improvement over SW decoding, right? But then again, what kind of HW acceleration can I expect on my X61s platform w/o BCM70015 when DXVA2 (native) or DXVA2 (copy-back) is chosen: is it implemented in GPU? (it's Mobile Intel 965GM chipset with 82GM965 northbridge incl Mobile Intel GMA X3100 graphics) I was under impression that a card like BCM70015 is the only HW acceleration option available for such platforms...

[axur-delmeria]

My friend has a Broadcom card in his X61, and he mentioned that it doesn't work on Windows 10, but works flawlessly on Windows 7. That must be it.

[dandreye]

In case you assume I already have it in mine: I'm only about to order one to play with. Will provide an update once I give it a try.

[dmdsoftware]

Does this work well in linux?

[Dekks]

Its unmaintained so its probably a crap shoot if it works.

[dmdsoftware]

Its unmaintained so its probably a crap shoot if it works.

Thanks, one less thing to waste my money on.

[dandreye]

The card has just arrived. Got Broadcom Crystal HD driver v3.7.20.0 dated 31/05/2010 installed from some HP package, so Broadcom CrystalHD Video Decoder device now shows up in my Device Manager.

Still no change whatsoever when playing above mentioned video: exact same CPU load, exact same video delays. In HW Acceleration section I currently have DXVA2 (native) and below Active Decoder: <inactive>, I guess that's why no HW acceleration occurs. Tried DXVA2 (copy-back), no difference. What do I do?

It's an X61s running Windows 10 x64.

[axur-delmeria]

It's an X61s running Windows 10 x64.

A quote from my earlier post:

My friend has a Broadcom card in his X61, and he mentioned that it doesn't work on Windows 10, but works flawlessly on Windows 7

OS downgrade is probably what you need.

[dandreye]

Thank you: sorry I've apparently missed your comment earlier.

Update: just tried it in an X61s running Windows 7 x64 - no improvement...

[Dekks]

What media player you using?

[dandreye]

Dekks:

Media Player Classic, the same one as in all my attempts earlier in this thread.

For mkv support (the Planet Earth video is .mkv) I had to install K-Lite Mega codec pack from here:
https://www.codecguide.com/download_k-l ... k_mega.htm

[Shredder11]

Earlier this evening I started to watch some Full HD 1080p 50fps football on my Broadcom assisted Z61p laptop, when I realised I also had my other Z61p running next to it. So this was an ideal opportunity to play the same football video file on two identical machines at once for comparison purposes. I made a quick YouTube video to show both machines side by side, and I think you can appreciate just what a difference this cheap video decoding card really makes to older laptops like these.


Please bear in mind that my Smartphone only captures video at 30fps, so the actual Broadcom performance on the laptop is MUCH smoother than it appears here.

https://youtu.be/Fr8SfUB2UaA

[dandreye]

Shredder11:

The difference is hard to miss indeed ) Still struggling to get mine working though. Hardware Acceleration section in my MPC-HC (Media Player Classic) keeps showing Active Decoder: <inactive> and Active Hardware Accelerator: <none>. With DXVA2 (native) the Hardware Device to use: field is grayed out; with DXVA2 (copy-back) it allows switching only between Automatic and Intel's onboard 965 graphics, as if it doesn't see the card for some reason. Could you please supply a screenshot with your Hardware Acceleration settings? Which driver as you using? Mine is version 3.7.20.0 dated 31/05/2010 from some package sp50472.exe I found at HP site or elsewhere. My particular card is signed BCM970015 (hope it's the same thing as BCM70015) and its HW IDs are:
PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_1615&SUBSYS_161514E4&REV_00

One more detail: is it OK to use K-Lite codec pack? (I use Mega pack)

[Shredder11]

Shredder11:

The difference is hard to miss indeed ) Still struggling to get mine working though. Hardware Acceleration section in my MPC-HC (Media Player Classic) keeps showing Active Decoder: <inactive> and Active Hardware Accelerator: <none>. With DXVA2 (native) the Hardware Device to use: field is grayed out; with DXVA2 (copy-back) it allows switching only between Automatic and Intel's onboard 965 graphics. as if it doesn't see the card for some reason. Could you please supply a screenshot with your Hardware Acceleration settings? Which driver as you using? Mine is version 3.7.20.0 dated 31/05/2010 from some package sp50472.exe I found at HP site or elsewhere. My particular card is signed BCM970015 (hope it's the same thing as BCM70015) and its HW IDs are:
PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_1615&SUBSYS_161514E4&REV_00

One more detail: is it OK to use K-Lite codec pack? (I use Mega pack)

I also have this card running perfectly on my X61 by the way and installed in the WWAN PCIe socket. In my Z61p the WWAN socket is not as fully specified as the X61, so I had to remove the WiFi and use that instead. The Z61p in the YouTube video is running Windows 7 Pro 32-bit and the video driver is the standard Lenovo Vista - 79d533ww.exe (v8.383.1.1000). The Broadcom driver is v3.7.20.0 and mine is also PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_1615&SUBSYS_161514E4&REV_00. I have K-Lite Mega Codec Pack v12.1.2. I'm also using DXVA2 (native) and the "Hardware Device to use" is greyed out and set to Automatic. I have not changed the default install settings.

On my X61 this is running Windows XP Pro SP3, with the same Broadcom driver version and same Hardware ID number. The Intel GPU driver is v6.14.10.5218. The "K-Lite Codec Pack 11.3.6 Full" is installed and the LAV Video Decoder settings, shows "Hardware Decoder to use" set to "None". I just ran the same football video on my X61 and it is silky smooth and full speed in full screen mode, with CPU use at approx 11%. This was also while being run only on the battery, as I am using the PSU for the Z61p to watch the football and the WRC Australia Rally 720p 50fps.

[dandreye]

Mine's in X61s, so I think it should work. Just read somewhere about the need to add it as an External filter (while that Hardware Acceleration section resides in Internal Filters > Video decoder), tried that - still no luck. When however I right click on "my" video in MPC-HC and select Filters in the context menu I don't see my card among several decoders listed. Just tried the same on a different file (divx) and it does show up there although that video plays perfectly fine even if I disable my card in Device Manager (couldn't even see the difference in CPU util).

Could you please try watching on your X61 with the card the sample recommended earlier in this thread?
https://imouto.my/download/5th-test-vid ... pole-pole/
What CPU utilization are you seeing starting ~25s into it, and are you getting any video delays at all starting that moment onwards?

Meanwhile is there a way to access that football video you're referring to?

[Shredder11]

Could you please try watching on your X61 with the card the sample recommended earlier in this thread?
https://imouto.my/download/5th-test-vid ... pole-pole/
What CPU utilization are you seeing starting ~25s into it, and are you getting any video delays at all starting that moment onwards?

Meanwhile is there a way to access that football video you're referring to?

Your download link did not work for me, so I Googled for the file name and downloaded a 141MB file which has a 23.97 film frame rate.

Hmmm.....I think we have found your problem! When running the Planet Earth Pole to Pole video, it does not utilise the Broadcom and infact this decoder is absent from the Filters menu in the K-Lite Codec pack; CPU use at around 25secs is approx 60% on my Core2 Duo T7500. If I then run my football video again, the Broadcom is fully available and running. By the way I am not sure if you know this, but there is a file here C:\Program Files\Broadcom\Broadcom CrystalHD Decoder\DTS_Info.exe and when launched, it places an icon in the Windows System Tray and this lights up red and green if the video decoder is operating or not.