Hey everyone. I'm hoping this isn't an inappropriate type of question to ask in this forum. I am pretty much a total linux noob here could use some assistance/suggestions. I have setup a home media system using Ubuntu Mate 15.04 as the OS. The computer is connected to a 42" TV via HDMI cable for video and sound.

I was given the computer from a friend when the original HD died in it. It's a pretty basic computer: Gateway DX4860-UR15P. 4 GBs RAM, an integrated Intel video card with HDMI output. I've updated the HD to a 4 TB model and have some TV show and some Movies on there. Using Kodi (intalled 14x which a couple of weeks ago updated to 15x).

The installation/setup went fine. Once I figured out some of the settings for sound (through the HDMI connection) it was fine. I use this almost exclusively to watch the TV shows and movies. I will occassionally stream a sporting event (MLB game or NFL game).

The only real issue I have is the video card. If watching an SD TV show it's not usually noticalbe but on the movies or an HD TV show I'll see lines across the screen. The larger the video size (usually meaning more resolution) the more noticalble. So an old episide of Big Bang you might not see the lines at all but when watching LORT: Return of the King you'll see it a lot.

I figured it was the video card. I picked up an MSI card (1 GB) but that made it worse. I installed the card, downloaded the drivers (I tried the proprietary and the open source). But using that card I seem to be seeing the lines/black boxes more than with the integrated video card. I don't know if I should (can I???) diable the onboard video? Or is it just too cheap a card?

So my question(s) is what would you recommend for a video card that is EASY to install/configure for a linux noob? I am willing to go to a 2GB or higher if that is necessary. As a noob most commands are not known to me. The only information I could find for the computer in regards to video card acceptablility is that it is a PCI Express x16. The salesman at the computer store told me any PCI Express card would work as they are backward compatibile. But the one he sold em ($40) is not working (or I've installed/configured incorrectly). All I did was install then use the Additional Drivers configuration from the MATE menu.

I know this is not a lot to go on. I'm hoping (fingers are sooooo crossed) that there is a relatively inexpensive (less than $100) video card that will work easily with the system. I have no allegiance so nVidia or Radeon or whatever does not matter. I am just looking for ease of setup and a hopefully flicker/black box/lines free viewing experience. Again it is being output to a 42" TV via HDMI for both video and sound.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated. If I need to provide more information I will try. I am not at that computer right now but will be later today.

Here is the video card that I just purchased (and am willing to return if necessary):
MSI GeForce G210 1GB DDR3 PCI-e Video Card

Generally, Intel chipsets work very well with Linux; Intel has excellent Linux support. All my computers have Intel video and I'm quite satisfied with it, but I am not a gamer, unless you count PySOLFC solitaire games.

Here's a recent roundup that might help:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...Graphics+Cards

The Intel integrated HD graphics should be plenty powerful to play HD movies. It really sounds like a software issue. Try using different players to play the videos, try VLC, mplayer, etc. Try using the 'gl' drivers instead of the 'xv' drivers, that might help.

Intel has a known issue with video tearing in playback. I use a few laptops with I7 gen 2 and 4 cards and all exhibit this issue.
Solution is setting in /etc/X11/xorg.conf the TearFree option:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "AccelMethod" "sna"
Option "TearFree" "true"
EndSection
This will make xv or opengl playback synced.

Also, the I series video chips have built in hardware acceleration for h264/vc1/mpeg2 that can be used by video players that have support for them (its NOT automatic! and browsers html5 video or flash player does NOT have support for it). Its called va api. On Debian at least you have to install the i965-va-driver package. Testing can be done with vainfo (from the vainfo package) or playing back a HD video and see the CPU usage.

VLC and MPV (or KODI) have support for hardware decoding via vaapi.
For example on a i7-2675QM CPU (mobile) i have:

~$ vainfo
error: can't connect to X server!
libva info: VA-API version 0.36.0
libva info: va_getDriverName() returns 0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/i965_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_0_36
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
vainfo: VA-API version: 0.36 (libva 1.4.1)
vainfo: Driver version: Intel i965 driver for Intel(R) Sandybridge Mobile - 1.4.1
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264StereoHigh : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Advanced : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileNone : VAEntrypointVideoProc

2 members found this post helpful.

FWIW, I put together a system with that G210 video card three years ago, and I've found no need to upgrade since then. Some hassles at first getting the right proprietary driver, but since then no problem.

Just an opinion.

Nvidia cards need the proprietary nvidia driver properly installed. I mean properly with succesfully built kernel modules and xorg.conf set up to be used, nouveau driver disabled.
After that find a vdpau capable video player and fire away. Anything else than vdpau playback (its the best since it does the rendering best for v-sync and can do hardware decoding) might be subjected to tearing (from my own experience).
The OP mentioned KODI player - that one knows pretty much every hw decoding method. Only thing is make sure you have the driver properly installed.

Conversely if you experience issues with certain hardware decoded videos you can disable hardware decoding to check if thats the culprit. But keep the vdpau video output anyway.

BTW for nvidia cards (and newer radeons) you have the vdpauinfo package tocheck vdpau capabilities.

The tear free option works very well with both 'xv' and 'gl' drivers. This solves the problem. Not sure if I want to bother with VA API.

On recent Debian based distributions va api is easily usable. Having hw decoding for HD streams is really nice. You can use xv or opengl playback and use va api as decoding backend. Only vdpau is picky about the decoding+presentation (both have to use vdpau).

On one of my systems, the "TearFree" option causes Xorg to go blank when I run imagemagick 'import'. It does not happen on my other system. They both have Slackware 14.1 and the same processor and integrated video. Maybe a kernel issue or driver issue, will look into that.