HOW TO: Nvidia/Xgl/Compiz - Improve video playback performance/Eliminate Jaggies

[kpkeerthi]

About:
1. How to eliminate choppiness and tearing in fullscreen Video/DVD playback and Cube rotation.
2. How to eliminate jaggies from compiz cube and window edges (wobbly plugin) - antialiasing

Prequisites:
1. Nvidia graphics card
2. Binary "nvidia" driver.
3. Ubuntu 6.06
4. Xgl/Compiz

Step 1: Verify OpenGL
Part 1
Open a terminal and do:

$ glxinfo | grep OpenGL

If you get something similar to:

OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce Go 7800 GTX/PCI/SSE2
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (2.0.2 NVIDIA 87.62)

... then proceed to Part 2 of Step 1.

If, otherwise, you see

OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (1.5 Mesa 6.5.1)

... follow instructions here to install "nvidia" binary driver.

Part 2
Now, check if opengl libraries are linked properly:

$ ls -al /usr/lib/libGL.*

The result should be similar to:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     19 2006-08-19 09:39 /usr/lib/libGL.so -> /usr/lib/libGL.so.1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     17 2006-07-11 20:08 /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 -> libGL.so.1.0.8762
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 540136 2006-07-10 07:10 /usr/lib/libGL.so.1.0.8762

Most importantly, you should see the line highlighted above. If not, do

$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 /usr/lib/libGL.so

Reboot.

Step 2: Eliminate "tearing" in DVD and other video playback
Now that OpenGL has been setup properly, lets get the "tearing" fixed in fullscreen DVD playback.
Part 1
Enable vsync:

$ gksudo gedit /etc/init.d/gdm

Open the file and locate the line (near line# 37) containing:

if [ -r /etc/environment ]; then
  if LANG=$(pam_getenv -l LANG); then
    export LANG
  fi
  if LANGUAGE=$(pam_getenv -l LANGUAGE); then
    export LANGUAGE
  fi

fi

Now add

export __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK="1"

above it. It should now look similar to below:

export __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK="1"

if [ -r /etc/environment ]; then
  if LANG=$(pam_getenv -l LANG); then
    export LANG
  fi
  if LANGUAGE=$(pam_getenv -l LANGUAGE); then
    export LANGUAGE
  fi

fi

Save and exit.

Enable tripple buffering in xorg.conf:

$ gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "NVIDIA Corporation NVIDIA Default Card"
        Driver          "nvidia"
        BusID           "PCI:1:0:0"
        Option          "RenderAccel"   "true"
     Option          "TripleBuffer" "true"
        Option          "NoLogo" 
EndSection

Save and exit. Reboot.

Part 2
Enable opengl driver in your favorite player. I personally prefer Totem-xine.

$ gedit ./.gnome2/totem_config

Search for video.driver and add

video.driver:opengl

Save and exit.

Now, play your favorite video/DVD movie fullscreen in Totem-xine and enjoy tearless smooth playback.

Did you notice that cube rotation is also free from tearing? I'm sure you did. If not, try it now.

Step 3: Eliminate jagged cube edges [OPTIONAL]
Its also possible to eliminate the jaggies we get along the edges of the cube. Enable antialiasing by adding

export __GL_FSAA_MODE="2"

to /etc/init.d/gdm. Reboot. You should now have smooth antialiased cube and window edges. To see it in action, <Ctrl> <Atl> + left click on desktop and drag the mouse. Also dragging the windows by title bar (wobbly) should produce smooth edges.

Here is a setting that works best for me:

export __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK="1"
export __GL_FSAA_MODE="4"
export __GL_LOG_MAX_ANISO="4"
if [ -r /etc/environment ]; then
  if LANG=$(pam_getenv -l LANG); then
    export LANG
  fi
  if LANGUAGE=$(pam_getenv -l LANGUAGE); then
    export LANGUAGE
  fi

fi

Refer to OpenGL Environment Variable Settings for more information.

EDIT:
This guide also helps improving the cool animations available in the latest version of compiz (quinn's). Try it to belive it.

[lordsavant]

Will ATI cards work with this tutorial past step 2 with the ATI binary drivers? Thanks!

[kpkeerthi]

Unfortunately, no. The environment variables are nvidia specific.

[neikous]

Hm, I did everything this said, but I still have tearing in cube and wobbly. Any ideas?

I've got a PCI-E 7900 GT OC, 4 GB DDR2 4200 ram, dual 250 SATA 7200s, Pentium D 940 - 3.2 GHz.

Everything works great except the vsync.

[kpkeerthi]

Can you post the output of

$ glxinfo | grep OpenGL
$ ls -al /usr/lib/libGL.*

.. and the environment variables in your /etc/init.d/gdm

[neikous]

$ glxinfo | grep OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce 7900 GT/PCI/SSE2
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (2.0.2 NVIDIA 87.62)
OpenGL extensions:





$ ls -al /usr/lib/libGL.*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 2006-08-24 12:09 /usr/lib/libGL.so -> /usr/lib/libGL.so.1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 2006-08-08 17:07 /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 -> libGL.so.1.0.8762
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 540136 2006-07-10 10:10 /usr/lib/libGL.so.1.0.8762



Here's my whole GDM file, I'm not very Linux savvy so I wasn't sure exactly what to post. -

#! /bin/sh
#
# Originally based on:
# Version: @(#)skeleton 1.8 03-Mar-1998 miquels@cistron.nl
#
# Modified for gdm, Steve Haslam <steve@arise.dmeon.co.uk> 14mar99
# modified to remove --exec, as it does not work on upgrades. 18jan2000
# modified to use --name, to detect stale PID files 18mar2000
# sleep until gdm dies, then restart it 16jul2000
# get along with other display managers (Branden Robinson, Ryan Murray) 05sep2001

set -e

# To start gdm even if it is not the default display manager, change
# HEED_DEFAULT_DISPLAY_MANAGER to "false."
HEED_DEFAULT_DISPLAY_MANAGER=true
DEFAULT_DISPLAY_MANAGER_FILE=/etc/X11/default-display-manager
PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
DAEMON=/usr/sbin/gdm
PIDFILE=/var/run/gdm.pid
UPGRADEFILE=/var/run/gdm.upgrade

if [ -e $UPGRADEFILE -a "$1" != "restart" -a "$1" != "force-reload" ]; then
SSD_ARG="--startas $DAEMON"
rm -f $UPGRADEFILE
else
SSD_ARG="--exec $DAEMON"
fi

# Allow cdd to override the config
if [ -f /etc/gdm/gdm-cdd.conf ]; then
CONFIG_FILE="--config=/etc/gdm/gdm-cdd.conf"
fi

test -x $DAEMON || exit 0

export __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK="1"

if [ -r /etc/environment ]; then
if LANG=$(pam_getenv -l LANG); then
export LANG
fi
if LANGUAGE=$(pam_getenv -l LANGUAGE); then
export LANGUAGE
fi

fi

. /lib/lsb/init-functions

case "$1" in
start)
if [ -e "$DEFAULT_DISPLAY_MANAGER_FILE" -a "$HEED_DEFAULT_DISPLAY_MANAGER" = "true" -a "$(cat $DEFAULT_DISPLAY_MANAGER_FILE 2>/dev/null)" != "$DAEMON" ]; then
log_warning_msg "Not starting GNOME Display Manager (gdm); it is not the default display manager."
else
# if usplash is runing, make sure to stop it now, yes "start" kills it.
if pidof usplash > /dev/null; then
/etc/init.d/usplash start
fi
log_begin_msg "Starting GNOME Display Manager..."
start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --oknodo --pidfile $PIDFILE --name gdm $SSD_ARG -- $CONFIG_FILE >/dev/null 2>&1 || log_end_msg 1
log_end_msg 0
fi
;;
stop)
log_begin_msg "Stopping GNOME Display Manager..."
start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --oknodo --pidfile $PIDFILE --name gdm $SSD_ARG --retry 30 >/dev/null 2>&1
log_end_msg 0
;;
reload)
log_begin_msg "Reloading GNOME Display Manager configuration..."
log_warning_msg "Changes will take effect when all current X sessions have ended."
start-stop-daemon --stop --signal USR1 --quiet --pidfile \
$PIDFILE --name gdm $SSD_ARG >/dev/null 2>&1
log_end_msg 0
;;
restart|force-reload)
$0 stop || true
$0 start
;;
*)
log_success_msg "Usage: /etc/init.d/gdm {start|stop|restart|reload|force-reload}"
exit 1
;;
esac

exit 0





Thanks for the quick reply

[BongoBob]

Would anyone happen to know how would I go about enabling openGL for VLC media player?

[metathran]

I already knew this tips and it really increase image quality, tearing in video, and cube edge aliasing...

But there is a disadvantage to use

export __GL_FSAA_MODE="2"

With this setting everything is smooth but FSAA seems to be applied to the font too, so when you wait 3-4 seconds when watching pages in firefox you can clealy see that font become blur, and this effect disappear if you click on the page then come again a few seconds later...

In fact it affects everything displayed on the screen for example the toolbar of this form become blur...

[junamuno]

Great Guide!!!! ThX

[kpkeerthi]

Originally Posted by metathran export __GL_FSAA_MODE="2" With this setting everything is smooth but FSAA seems to be applied to the font too, so when you wait 3-4 seconds when watching pages in firefox you can clealy see that font become blur, and this effect disappear if you click on the page then come again a few seconds later... In fact it affects everything displayed on the screen for example the toolbar of this form become blur...

Hmm.. Thats strange. I don't see the problem with my setup. Did you check the FSAA settings that is appropriate for your video card here...
http://download.nvidia.com/solaris/1...ppendix-e.html

FSAA="2" seems to have different effect in different cards. May be that should explain why. Just wondering?