[MPlayer-users] Higer CPU usage in video codec without -nosound?

[Brian J. Murrell]

Using the latest CVS sources, I am trying to get better than mediocre
play of Divx4 (fourcc:0x58564944) on my K6-300.  Looks like with audio
I am about 10% or so (of CPU) within getting it to play without having
to drop frames.

I was experimenting with different audio and video codecs (any
suggestions for lowest CPU usage audio and/or video codecs for the
above fourcc much welcome) along with using -nosound to see their
different CPU usages and was surprised to see that CPU usage in the
video codec goes up (significantly) when sound is enabled (no -nosound
flag).

Here is the status lines (the first is spaced out to line up to the
second accounting for missing audio values) after 40 seconds of play
with -nosound and without (respectively):

V:  40.0                                  1201       45%  9%  0.0%   0 0 0%
A:  40.1 V:  40.0 A-V:  0.101 ct:  0.152  1201/1201  68% 16%  7.7% 852 0 0%

Notice that with -nosound, CPU usage of the video codec is only 45%,
but without -nosound, the CPU usage of the video codec goes up to 68%.
This is using the odivx codec.  Similar results for other codecs.

Why does enabling sound add CPU to the video codec?

b.

-- 
Brian J. Murrell