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1080p playback: hardware discussion

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superboyac:
How about XBMC on a Raspberry Pi?

The MPEG-2 license will only cost an additional $3.79. And the VC-1 codec costs $1.90. And that's for registered fully legal use. Read more here.


I plan on running OpenELEC on mine - if I ever get it. :-\
-40hz (September 12, 2012, 03:38 PM)
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I have another experiment for the Raspberry Pi, I'm calling it the portable university.  I tried it out last friday with a friend sans the Pi.  So once I get my hands on that, that will be something.

I know it sounds like overkill, but I need a full desktop pc if I'm going to do experiments.  Once I know exactly what I want, then I can settle on certain features.  And I hope people won't judge me too harshly for all the trees that will die and the money that could have been better spent on poverty.

40hz:
I know it sounds like overkill, but I need a full desktop pc if I'm going to do experiments.
-superboyac (September 12, 2012, 04:22 PM)
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It does not sound like overkill at all to me. If you're conducting experiments, and you're not able to run virtual machines, you're creating a lot more work and expense for yourself than you need to. And you can't do something like VMs or serious multitasking on most singleboard computers.
 8)

superboyac:
^^exactly!  That's why my priority for any computing device is always a desktop pc...and one I put together myself.  I struggle a lot with buying any ready-made pc's for any reason, because there's always another experiment waiting to be done.  I don't think there's any computer around me that I don't tweak and do tests with.  Actually, my tablets are like that and guess what happens?  I stop using them entirely after a short while and return to some old desktop to fuss around with.  And that means adapters and cables running around everywhere, with girls calling my place "such a bachelor pad".  I just can't help it.  I got my place date-ready 2 months ago, and now it's back to the lab look.  It's not worth fighting, it's too deep within me!

superboyac:
Ok update, this is exactly why I want to be clear about what I'm trying to do.  Most of us talk like "this SHOULD be enough" and "I've never had a problem with playback".  So let me describe exactly what is happening.

I just shot some 1080/60p video with my new panasonic camcorder.  These are my computer specs, should be pretty beefy even if it is a couple of years old:
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=16186.0

The files are m2ts files.  If I play them in Light Alloy, Daum Potplayer, and anything else, it struggles with it.  The playback is choppy.  The whole computer almost locks up as it struggles to handle all this video.  This is not a smooth experience.  It works, nothing crashes, eventually you can get the video to play decently.  But it's clear that it is lacking processing power somewhere.  So where is it?  This is what I want to figure out.  Why?  Because once I do, I will know exactly what parts to buy, what specs to look for when building a system that is primarily optimized for 1080p playback.  Not gaming, not rendering, not photoshopping, just 1080p playback.

Now, if you guys say that your raspberry pi or older and less powerful computers can play back these types of files with "no problem" then I will be surprised.  If that is true, there is some component in your system that is just the right thing for this.  What is it?  A special type of RAM?  A special type of GPU?

What I want is this:
--when a video is double-clicked to play, it should be as quick as possible.  no thinking about it for 10 seconds.
--dragging the seekbar back and forth should not lock up the computer.  Should be relatively quick also.
--playback should be smooth.  This is 60 frames a second at 1080 resolution.  It's a lot.  When it's smooth, it's a wonderful experience.  When it's not, it's not worth watching.

f0dder:
Never came across any m2ts files, so dunno about that.

I recently tried 1080p playback on my WDTV, though - and it was 100% smooth, even streamed across the wireless network. But OK, regular movies are ~24fps, not 60fps. The WDTV specs says it can do 1080p@24fps, 720p@60fps - which is fine for normal purposes :)

dragging the seekbar back and forth should not lock up the computer.-superboyac (September 15, 2012, 07:30 PM)
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Locking up the computer shouldn't happen, but you will have to accept a short amount of lag. When seeking to an arbitrary timepoint, the player will have to find the nearest keyframe, and then decode frames until it hits the exact timepoint you're asking for.

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