HDTV and hardware.. I just dont get it

[mohanman]

I dont understand guys. I have a server which is hdtv stutter free. I have a client which is a mac mini which stutters. Everyone told me that mac mini probably cant handle hdtv because of the hardware.. well some people said yes, some people said no.

But.. I can play hdtv fine in 720p, and 1080i, even 1080p using my mac mini when using hdhomerun VLC player!! Not even a smidge of a stutter, What gives? 720p works just fine in sage also, but using 1080i causes stuttering.

I just dont get it, wouldnt that make it more of a software issue??

Thanks
Mo

[mohanman]

By the way, has anyone tried this thing?

http://www.dvbportal.de/projects/hdtvpump/

Thanks
Mo

[NEOSG]

I used hdtvpump before I started using Nvidia's Decoder. Worked AOK at the time.

[carlgar]

Originally Posted by mohanman

But.. I can play hdtv fine in 720p, and 1080i, even 1080p using my mac mini when using hdhomerun VLC player!! Not even a smidge of a stutter, What gives? 720p works just fine in sage also, but using 1080i causes stuttering.

I just dont get it, wouldnt that make it more of a software issue??

I would think it is probably more of a design issue than a software issue. I don't know what language VLC is written in but I suspect it is not Java and therefore would not have that level of software in it. Sage is written in Java and therefore has additional software to be executed. It is a trade off between speed and portability, Sage chose to go with portability.

[stanger89]

Sage doesn't do any decoding in Java, all decoding is handled by DirectShow filters.

It's probably a decoder/renderer issue. I don't know what renderer VLC uses (probably Overlay) but I know it uses it's own built-in decoders. You'll just have to try differen decoders and renderers in Sage.

[camus]

Yes, VLC uses overlay. The built in decoders are very efficient, note that by default it doesn't de-interlace, and I found that de-interlacing 1080i in VLC wanting compared other decoders.

[mohanman]

I have used VLC with deinterlace in bob/weave all that crap and still get excellent picture results with my mac mini client in 720p, 1080i programming and even 1080p output with absolutely no stutter!

At least, it makes me feel comfortable that the mac mini can indeed handle the HD that other people stated it couldnt. I'm pretty sure I also checked the cpu usage last night while trying this experiment, I think it was around 40%.

Mo!