Video scan type

suggest a way to improve Neat Video
barney
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Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:00 pm

Video scan type

Post by barney »

Please consider adding a confirmation dialog when changing "Video scan type" at the top of the initial Neat Video configuration window (32-bit Pro plug-in for Virtualdub). And/or limit the selection area to only the specific radio button rather than the areas "o Progressive " and "o Interlaced ".

It's happened to me more than once that I've found it's been toggled from interlaced to progressive, and I'll end up throwing out a lot of files that may have been processed incorrectly. There's basically 3 ways to discover it's been changed: notice the wrong type selected, notice the preview window is not displayed as expected, or notice that the processing is much too fast or slow. But I'm never really sure if I've caught it right away or it's been wrong for days.

It probably has something to do with the fact that each time I open the filter Windows tends to position it a little higher than the last time it was opened, until eventually the title bar is off screen. I'll always try to grab it with the mouse cursor until I finally get it back with a (alt-spacebar) M (down-arrow).
NVTeam
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Post by NVTeam »

Do you mean the original problem is the fact the window moves upwards when you open it several times? And the unintended switching of the scan type is just a consequence of that original window problem, is that correct?

Vlad
barney
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Post by barney »

NVTeam wrote:Do you mean the original problem is the fact the window moves upwards when you open it several times? And the unintended switching of the scan type is just a consequence of that original window problem, is that correct?

Vlad
Exactly. The window position is not saved, and seems to drift upward a bit each time it's opened, until eventually the title bar is off screen. I'm assuming I'm clicking near a visible radio button when I'm trying to grab the title bar to pull it down. And I only have to click near the radio button to inadvertently select it. Even clicking a couple of spaces to the right of the "Progressive" description is close enough to select it, it doesn't require clicking on the actual button position.

A confirmation dialog would at least bring it to my attention as it happens.
NVTeam
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Post by NVTeam »

Normally, the window position is saved. Something is not working correctly if it moves like that. To avoid that please try to open that window while keeping the Ctrl key pressed on the keyboard.

Thank you,
Vlad
barney
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Post by barney »

NVTeam wrote:Normally, the window position is saved. Something is not working correctly if it moves like that. To avoid that please try to open that window while keeping the Ctrl key pressed on the keyboard.

Thank you,
Vlad
Vlad,

Thanks for that, it does open the window centered on the screen.

Just to doublecheck myself, I opened the Neat Video configuration from within Virtualdub with the control key pressed, and hit the cancel button on the centered Neat Video window. I then repeated that without holding down the control key. Each time it opened slightly higher (no change left or right, just straight up). The 30th time it opened, the title bar was off screen. Moving the mouse cursor to the top of the screen only selected either progressive or interlaced; couldn't reach the title bar at that point. Cancelling and reopening, with the control key pressed, opened it centered on the screen. That beats alt-spacebar M down-arrow, or changing the screen orientation to reach it again.

If it matters:

Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit
Virtualdub 1.10.3 32-bit
Neat Video for Virtualdub 3.4.0 (32-bit)
2560x1440 monitor in landscape mode at the moment
1024x1280 monitors in portrait mode to the left and right
Windows desktop at 125%
Ultramon 3.2.2

Knowing that I can just hit cancel and recover it with control pressed should work fine for me. Thanks. I think a confirmation dialog on changing scan type would still be a good addition, but I understand that's debatable.
NVTeam
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Post by NVTeam »

Perhaps those additional monitors or Ultramon is doing that to the window..

Again, Neat Video itself saves the position of its window and re-opens it in the last used location. If that is not the case on a particular machine then most likely something is interfering and moving the window or misguiding Neat Video in some way. Could be those additional monitors together with Ultramon.

Could you please temporarily disable Ultramon to see if that stops the window from going up? And if that alone does not help, please try to temporarily disable the additional monitors leaving only one main display in the system for this test. If you find out that the problem goes away then we will know where to look further.

Thank you,
Vlad
barney
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Post by barney »

Disabling secondary monitors and closing Ultramon had no effect.

Neat Video 3.3.0 with Virtualdub 1.10.2 and Neatvideo 3.4.0 with Virtualdub 1.10.3 both exhibit the problem.

Yeah, I just noticed that I left an older Virtualdub residing in C:\Virtualdub_old, and it has the older plug-in in plugins32. I should probably clean that up.

Neat Video 3.4.0 is in C:\Virtualdub\plugins32 as well as its program directory.
NVTeam
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Post by NVTeam »

Is there anything else that could make your Windows different? For example, the location of task bar(s), is it in the bottom as by default?

Vlad
barney
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Post by barney »

NVTeam wrote:Normally, the window position is saved.
Vlad
I have yet to see it save the position in which the window was closed, if that's what you mean.

I tried a Vista x64 machine, Vdub 1.911, NV 3.0, and it never saved the window position. It always opened centered, same position as opening with control key pressed.

I changed to NV 3.4 on VD 1.10.2 and increased DPI to 120% and tried on an admin account also, and it never opened at a position in which it was last closed. It also never crept up from the centered position, always opened at the same point. Using a single 1024x1280 portrait mode monitor on that Vista machine, also with Ultramon.
barney
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Post by barney »

Taskbar is situated vertically on the right side of the single monitor on the Vista machine, vertically on the right side of the right monitor (VD running in the center monitor with no taskbar) on the Win7 machine.
NVTeam
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Post by NVTeam »

Still get the feeling that the problem is caused by something in the monitor setup but unfortunately cannot yet reproduce it here on our computers...

Vlad
barney
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Post by barney »

FWIW:

GTX670
left monitor, windows i.d. 2, DVI, display at boot, 1024x1280 portrait mode

center monitor, windows i.d. 1, displayport, windows primary, 2560x1440 landscape

right monitor, windows i.d. 3, DVI, 1024x1280 portrait mode, taskbar vertical at right edge

VD in center monitor, NV opens centered horizontally but about 1/2 title bar height higher than when last closed; open w/ control key opens centered

VD maximized in left monitor, NV opens (w/ control pressed) aligning top edge of its title bar w/bottom edge of VD title bar

opening w/o control pressed moves NV top edge of title bar to about 2/3 up into the VD title bar

next opens w/ top edge of NV title bar off screen (about 1/3 of title bar invisible)

next open about 2/3 of title bar invisible

next open title bar completely obscured

control-open aligns top edge of NV title bar w/ bottom edge of VD title bar (nowhere near centered on the screen)
barney
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Post by barney »

Take the above with a grain of salt, there's too many things in play here..
barney
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Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:00 pm

Post by barney »

I'd like to amend my request to a short wish list:

1) a confirmation dialog when changing scan type from interlaced to progressive or vice versa

2) an option at the initial configuration window to save and load named temporal filter radius/threshold combinations

3) a button on the initial configuration window to access the performance options (a shortcut to configure/tools/preferences/performance)

4) an option at tools/preferences/general "On opening plug-in window" to open plug-in window at last position, or open plug-in window at default position

Hopefully that default position would be where pressing the control key while opening would place it, which appears to me to be dependent on in which monitor the virtualdub filter window happens to be. Centered on the screen when in the primary monitor, centered on top of the filter window when on a secondary monitor.

5) if it's possible, an option at tools/preferences/general "On opening plug-in window" for positioning the virtualdub preview window above, below, or alongside it

These are all suggestions for ease of use; I hope you'll consider them. Thanks.
NVTeam
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Post by NVTeam »

We are currently working to find out why the position is NOT preserved on your machine (and probably on some others). It is of course designed and programmed to be preserved and that certainly works on our computers. However it apparently doesn't work on your computer and we are working to find out what causes that and to find a solution.

I don't think that adding a warning to the scan type selection as a kind of workaround of the window positioning problem is a good idea. If the position of the window was preserved then you would not unintentionally click into the scan type area to begin with, so there is no need to implement that kind of workaround if we can fix the window positioning problem itself. And we do currently work on that.

Again, how it is designed to work: positions of all NV windows are preserved from one run to another, so if you arrange them according to your liking then their positions remain unchanged (unless you use the Ctrl key or you manually move those windows). Our goal is to make sure this also works on your computer.

Thank you for the other suggestions. We will consider them as we work on the future versions of Neat Video.

Vlad
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