Track IR 5 stuttering and laggy movement

[deflandre1]

for me the problem was resolved :
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en


you would simply install the directx update (for info : i have win7 x64)

i am very happy

[Raidhaennor]

I just tried that, and no changes for me. Even after a reboot, to make sure the changes were taken into account.

And... I just updated to the 10.2 version on the ati drivers, and still no luck.

[VincentG]

Any joystick software, hardware installed on the system?

TrackIR plugged in separately, from the TCP?

Any other USB devices installed on the system?

[Raidhaennor]

[quote=NaturalPoint - Vincent]1)Any joystick software, hardware installed on the system?

2)TrackIR plugged in separately, from the TCP?

3)Any other USB devices installed on the system?
[/quote]

1)Yes, the drivers of my X52 joystick, plus the profiler software of said joystick. Also the driver of a gamepad and a wheel (same driver for both), and the software of my mouse (it's a USB mouse).
I didn't plug my joystick for these latest tests, I unplugged the other devices (even my mouse, once the tir software was launched), and made sure no software related to the devices was running, using the task manager. No change.
Which, I might say, is not entirely surprising : as I explained earlier, I have a dualboot system, and on my XP hard drive, I have the same devices installed, and absolutely no problems.

2) I had tried that before, tried it again, doesn't change a thing.

3)The ones I just mentioned, plus keyboard (no drivers or software for this one).

Now, I did some more testing, things I had not thought of trying before : I decided to play with the light filtering setting. I had tried before to increase it, but since it made no difference, this time around I tried decreasing it. I did it in WinXP, and in Win7, to compare :

I launch the track IR software, I select Display>Camera view, and I set the light filter threshold to 30. When I do that, I see the 3 dots flickering (going from green to red really fast, but not all dots at the same time, usually just one at a time). Turning off the light in my room (at night) doesn't change that. But I assume this is normal as it happens regardless of the OS I use.
In XP, that doesn't affect the way track IR works : it's smooth in the software and in game (much to my surprise I have to say). In 7...well it doesn't affect it either, in the sense that the movement is still stuttery and jerky, in the software and in game.

When I set the setting at 230 or above : in XP, no more flickering of the dots, and everything works fine. But in 7, I still see flickering of the dots : it's slightly less noticeable, but still present, and of course the stutters are there.

One thing I noticed though : when the dots flicker, at the "30" setting, the number of "tracked objects" (in the upper right corner) and "frame rate" go wild. Again I assume this is normal. But in XP when I set the filter setting at 230, the number of frames is normal (it indicates "120(120)"). When I do the same in Windows 7, the number of tracked object is normal (3), but the frame rate remains wild : see the attached screenshot.



(I'm not moving while taking this screenshot). I also tried increasing IR brightness, but it didn't change a thing.
I don't what that indicates (if it indicates anything...), but in the hope that it might be useful...

[VincentG]

And this occurs with both the IR 4, and the IR5 software?

[Raidhaennor]

Well in the IR4 software, I can't see the frame rate, or the dots flickering like in the IR5, but what happens is, in the status bar (bottem left) the status changes very rapidly between "tracking" and "no data", basically in the same manner that the dots were flickering in the IR5 (and all of that is while the camera is on the left, the dots centered, etc.).

And in game the problem of the stutters is worse with the IR4 than with the IR5, whatever the light filter setting.

So, in short : yes, the same thing occurs in both versions of the software, and it's even worse with the v4.

[VincentG]

Can you try the device on another PC?

[Raidhaennor]

Well...yes, but since it works fine on Windows XP on my computer (same computer, just different hdd, and OS), what would that test show ?

Anyway, I'll try, and come back to give you the result.

edit : And here is the result : on another computer in my house, equipped with Windows XP, the behavior of the track IR (software version 5) is perfectly normal. No stutters oy jerky movement, no wild frame rate.

Just like on my computer when I boot with WinXP.

[wiltzei]

My pc is located in front of a window. Even if I keep curtains closed most of the time, I reckon that IR from the sun (and it�s reflection from snowbanks) confuse the sensor, as the light reflects though the headclip.

I�get stutters during daytime, and nothing at night. In the first case the problem is solved by increasing led brightness and filtering threshold.

[Raidhaennor]

Thank you for trying to help, but the problem described here has nothing to do with the sun, as should have been clear from reading my posts.

But let me say it again, so there is no confusion : I have a computer with 2 hard drives, one with Windows XP 32, the other with Win 7 x64. So the same hardware is used for both OS (graphic card and also drivers, motherboard, etc.)

When I play on Win XP, I have no problems at all, whatever the time of day.
When I play on Win 7, I experience the problem I've described, even at night, even with all lights turned off !

Also, I know what it looks like when the sun messes up the track IR : the view is very erratic, not responsive, it jumps all over the place.
In my case, the view remains responsive, it's not erratic. When I turn my head, what happens is that the movement is choppy : the view stops moving for a fraction of a second every few seconds. It's not erratic, or jumping all over the place, but it's simply not smooth like it should be. It constantly stops and starts again.