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Another PC-TV Question
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Author:  John_Vella [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:12 am ]
Post subject:  Another PC-TV Question
I've been having a look at the MD website, with a view to building PCTV MK II and have made this list...

Image
The first thing to note is that it's a single core CPU but looking at the blurb on the MD website suggests that it should be fine... I'll paste it below.

What do you guys think? I chose the Mini-ITX route purely because I fancied a small PC this time around, but any suggestions are more than welcome.

Thanks.

The Micro-Direct Website wrote:
Experience fluid and vivid high-definition video playback with the ultra-compact ZOTAC ION™ motherboard . The mini-ITX form factor ZOTAC ION™ motherboards combine a high-performance NVIDIA® ION™ graphics processor with a power-efficient Intel® Atom™ processor for the ultimate eco-friendly platform that has no troubles handling regular web browsing, e-mail, productivity and HD video playback tasks.

NVIDIA® PureVideo™ HD technology harnesses the power of the NVIDIA® ION™ GPU’s 16 high-speed stream processors for high-definition Blu-ray playback capabilities. PureVideo™ HD technology decodes HD video formats and enhances standard-definition videos with the NVIDIA® ION™ GPU for flawless HD and superior SD video playback.

NVIDIA PureVideo technology enables smooth DVD video playback with vivid colors and superior picture quality. With PureVideo technology, movies are displayed with stunning quality while keeping CPU utilization to a minimum.
Author:  saspro [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
Should be a nice setup.
You'll need an os still
Author:  John_Vella [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
saspro wrote:
Should be a nice setup.
You'll need an os still


I'm not too worried about the OS at the moment, as I want to try the RC version of Windows 7 before spending any money on that. For what I want to use it for I'm guessing that I could probably use XP, (with suitable Blu Ray software) or Vista/7 which should both support Blu-Ray, but the drive comes with software, (it says on the site)

Any opinions on the OS? I purposely left out Linux for now, as I don't know if the remote control would work with it.
Author:  saspro [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
XP doesn't support bluray as it doesn't support hdcp, you have to hack it with anydvd.
Arcsoft total media sorts out bluray & media centre integration in vista (and 7 I think)
Author:  John_Vella [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
OK, that's XP out of the frame, (sounds too much like hard work) so I guess Vista is the next best thing, as I have an unused license.

One thing I hadn't really thought about is wireless networking... I could try and find a mini PCI Express card thingy, (had a little look, but no luck so far) or I could get a USB adapter. I also seem to recall seeing a Ethernet to wireless adapter, tough that was some time ago...

Any thoughts?
Author:  saspro [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
For streaming media you really need a draft-N network although I find it easier to use homeplug
Author:  John_Vella [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
saspro wrote:
For streaming media you really need a draft-N network although I find it easier to use homeplug


I was thinking wireless networking more for iPlayer than anything else, as I already have a NAS box, which I'll use to store files.
Author:  saspro [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
Just use a dongle then.

Check out tunerfree mce for iplayer
Author:  John_Vella [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 3:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
saspro wrote:
Just use a dongle then.

Check out tunerfree mce for iplayer


This Link has been added to my favourites. Thanks!
Author:  saspro [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
John_Vella wrote:
saspro wrote:
Just use a dongle then.

Check out tunerfree mce for iplayer


This Link has been added to my favourites. Thanks!


I'll dig out my list on other plugins tomorrow (remind me) and post them here if you want.
Turns a simple htpc into something that rivals some very expensive home theatre systems
Author:  finlay666 [ Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
saspro wrote:
I'll dig out my list on other plugins tomorrow (remind me) and post them here if you want.
Turns a simple htpc into something that rivals some very expensive home theatre systems


I'd like this too for my freesat hd htpc :)
Author:  saspro [ Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
A few from memory

Tuner Free MCE (for iplayer etc)

My Movies


Total Media Theatre (bluray & HDDVD playback from inside mce)


[url=http://push-a-button.com/products/youglevista/]Yougle (youtube)
[/url]
Author:  JJW009 [ Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
John_Vella wrote:
I chose the Mini-ITX route purely because I fancied a small PC this time around . . . "The Micro-Direct Website"]Experience fluid and vivid high-definition video playback with the ultra-compact ZOTAC ION™ motherboard.


Any updates on this, John? I'm looking for a very similar solution so your feedback would be invaluable. Specifically, how does it perform and how quiet is it?

I'm finding that my core duo E4500 running at 2.2GHz with Intel 82945G on board graphics is, rather to my surprise, struggling with 720p 60fps. It can play 1080p 30fps no problem, but the higher frame rates seem to kill it. Running Media Player Classic Homecinema, it hits about 60% on both cores and skips frames very badly. I can't offload to the GPU, and the h264 codec seems to be single threaded :cry:

If anyone has any tips; one video I have trouble with is "Video: MPEG4 (H264) 1280x720 59.94fps Audio: AAC 24000Hz stereo 85Kbps"
Here's my CPU:

Image

Playback is about 50% stutter :?
Author:  John_Vella [ Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
No updates yet, as I am still waiting for the money to come through from my dads bank account... stupid legal stuff :roll:
Author:  big_D [ Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Another PC-TV Question
Not much help JJW, but the Intel HD4500 integrated graphics on my Toshiba seems to cope ok. The HD4500 specifically has H.264 and VC1 hardware decomprssion built in.

I don't have any public domain 60fps 720p material to hand, so I can't say exactly what the performance is like...
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