cPEG™ C3.0 DVD / MPEG2 Decoder FAQ

cPEG C3.0 Decoder FAQ Page [Main Page][Spec Page]

FAQ

Q1. Is the cPEG™ C3.0 identical to the CineMaster™ C 3.0?  
A1. No. When we first acquired the technology we changed only the name, but have since made technical changes. To the untrained eye, they do look the same, however there are differences. Most notably the firmware has been upgraded as well as some PCB logic.

Q2. What is the latest revision of the cPEG™ C3.0?
A2. The latest revision of the card is C 3.0 rev 1.5. It was released Q12004.

Q3. How do I know I have rev 1.5?
A3. It is indicated with a sticker on the back of the card which states "cifelli*rev1.5".

Q4. How is cPEG™ C3.0 rev 1.5 better than CineMaster™ C3.0 rev 1.4 or 1.3?
A4. If you are an average home user who just watches the occasional DVD movie on your PC, and nothing else, then 1.3 or 1.4 is adequate. That was the original market for the card - PC DVD playback. The card's use has expanded significantly since 1998. New applications keep pushing the envelope. Content authoring and transfer of video to DVD in particular is driving these changes. If you are an author, video QA specialist, post transfer shop, or doing high-end commercial playback with custom servers and players, you need rev 1.5. It handles any stream timing and synch issues. Frame blending will be smooth, hard cuts will be clean, and high rate stream bursts will not be interrupted. PAL format (vs NTSC) playback is also cleaner.

Q5. I need rev 1.5, can I download and apply this upgrade?
A5. No. It is burned right on the card at time of manufacture. We can upgrade it at our shop but is a rather involved process (de-solder, program, re-solder, test).

Q6. I work for a company which creates as well as transfers content. I bought a CineMaster™ C 3.0 card from someone who said the card was identical to yours in every way, only that it was cheaper. But now there are subtle audio synch issues and the system is unstable and frequently crashes - the Blue Screen of Death "Divide by Zero" error occurs daily. Production is adversely affected since we are forced to shutdown and sometimes lose our work when this happens. We can't work like this. I checked the back of the card and it is rev 1.4. Can you help us upgrade?
A6. See A5 above - we can upgrade your card if you send it to us but it is not a simple or inexpensive process. Ends up costing $100 short of buying the rev 1.5 card in the first place. 

Q7. I upgraded to WinXP Service Pack 2 and I get "Current display mode not suitable for DVD video". Everything was working fine before.
A7. We have tested WinXP SP2 on several different hardware configurations so we know it works. The XP SP2 upgrade resets video card drivers to the original Plug 'n Play ones. Download and re-install the latest drivers for your video card.

Q8. How do I buy the card?
A8. Click here.

Q9. Where can I find the latest drivers?
A9. Click here.

Q10. Are WinNT drivers available for the cPEG™ C3.0?
A10. No. If you are DVDMaestro® user, upgrade your OS to Win2K or WinXP cPEG™ C3.0 rev 1.5 will work with it.

Q11. Are Linux drivers available for the cPEG™ C3.0?
A11. Yes. Requires Linux kernel - 2.6.1x or greater. These are in Beta testing now and pre-released on a limited basis to custom product developers. Contact us if you need them.

Q12. Are WinXP drivers available for the cPEG™ C3.0?
A12. Yes. Use the Win2K drivers found in the 30Installer.zip file.

Q13. Does the cPEG™ C3.0 rev 1.5 work with Sonic DVDit®, ReelDVD®, DVD Producer™?
A13. Respectively: no, no, and no. We receive lots of e-mail about this. cifelli does not develop these products, Sonic does, so we can't "make" it work for you. Please direct your request for these features to Sonic product managers or technical support directly.

Q14. How come I don't get any sound coming out of my stereo speakers?
A14. First you have to connect the audio cable from the cPEG™ C3.0 to your sound card. Second, the driver default audio playback is Digital S/PDIF. Install the player that is bundled with the drivers. Open it and toggle the SPDIF button to blue SPDIF instead of red SPDIF.

Q15. What warranty do your products come with?
A15. All goods we sell are warranted for one year from date of Invoice. They are guaranteed to be 100% functional. If any of our products fail, for any reason (save damage caused by external forces) we will express ship you a replacement same day. We keep replacement stock and stand behind everything we sell.

[cPEG™ C3.0 home page]

More Info?

To find out more about cPEG™ C3.0, contact us.

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