[topfs2]

There is a lot of hardware driver support (such as the AMD CPU driver support) that needs no cooperation with the playback mechanism. Hypertransport doesn't need, either. I understand Purevideo HD doesn't either, but I may be corrected. All these things happen under the covers, no need for XBMC to be aware of.

XBMC use internal codecs so it doesnt matter the slightest what codecs you have install, which purevideo is. When decoding video in XBMC the only thing important is CPU, doesnt matter if you have a onboard gfx solution or a fully fledged nvidia 9xxx card.

The better gfx card will handle 1080p better because it generally handles bigger textures better but that is usually small jitters.
But for dropped frames and real stutters gfx card doesnt matter

Cheers, Tobias

[avickery]

XBMC use internal codecs so it doesnt matter the slightest what codecs you have install, which purevideo is. When decoding video in XBMC the only thing important is CPU, doesnt matter if you have a onboard gfx solution or a fully fledged nvidia 9xxx card.

The better gfx card will handle 1080p better because it generally handles bigger textures better but that is usually small jitters.
But for dropped frames and real stutters gfx card doesnt matter

Cheers, Tobias

I just had to look that up. For some reason I had it in my head that FFMpeg supported gfx hardware accelerated encode/decode. Turns out not true. Kind of a let down, but I understand the need to use cross-platform-compatible tools, open source code, etc.

[rernst]

XBMC use internal codecs so it doesnt matter the slightest what codecs you have install, which purevideo is. When decoding video in XBMC the only thing important is CPU, doesnt matter if you have a onboard gfx solution or a fully fledged nvidia 9xxx card.

The better gfx card will handle 1080p better because it generally handles bigger textures better but that is usually small jitters.
But for dropped frames and real stutters gfx card doesnt matter

Cheers, Tobias

Nah, Purevideo is not a codec, it is (here NVidia):

H.264, WMV/VC-1, and MPEG-4 Hardware Acceleration
NVIDIA PureVideo provides ultra-smooth playback of H.264, WMV/VC-1 and MPEG-4 HD and SD videos with minimal CPU usage.

I very much assume you have to program the player to exploit it but I am not sure I see the need since all of the above can be played back by today's medium powered processors.

[topfs2]

Nah, Purevideo is not a codec, it is (here NVidia):

H.264, WMV/VC-1, and MPEG-4 Hardware Acceleration
NVIDIA PureVideo provides ultra-smooth playback of H.264, WMV/VC-1 and MPEG-4 HD and SD videos with minimal CPU usage.

I very much assume you have to program the player to exploit it but I am not sure I see the need since all of the above can be played back by today's medium powered processors.

Purevideo Decoder http://www.nvidia.com/object/purevideo_overview.html

and the definition on codec:

A codec is a device or program capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec may be a combination of any of the following: 'compressor-decompressor', 'coder-decoder', or 'compression/decompression algorithm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec

And yeah the program needs to be able to exploit it, ie PowerDVD and WinDVD but purevideo can be run without them.

[rernst]

Purevideo Decoder http://www.nvidia.com/object/purevideo_overview.html

and the definition on codec:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec

And yeah the program needs to be able to exploit it, ie PowerDVD and WinDVD but purevideo can be run without them.

Yeah, according to Wikipedia. Only use I was familiar with was codec as in algorithm (VC1/AVC/AVCHD/Sorenson, etc.). But who am I to argue with the masters?

[topfs2]

Yeah, according to Wikipedia. Only use I was familiar with was codec as in algorithm (VC1/AVC/AVCHD/Sorenson, etc.). But who am I to argue with the masters?

If you have a better source for what a codec is or not I love to know because Im long from an expert in this and its not my area of expertise at all.

Here are microsofts explanation to what a codec is:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows...codec.mspx
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/c/codec.html

Anyway I never meant to offend you just wanted to tell you guys not to buy and extreme GPU as it currently wont help XBMC decoding anything.
Hopefully we will support GPU offloading down the road, we had a GSoC project to get it working and NVidia is patching FFMpeg to get GPU acceleration aswell. Still the nvidia one is miles away from working and vendor specific.

Cheers,
Tobias.

[Sixfoota21]

Im about to order and build a HTPC.However, after reading multiple threads I still cannot decide if using an External Player would give me a better picture than using default XBMC player. I have a 3.0ghz 700mhz single core AMD processor with 2gigs ram on my current PC. I can play my dvd's fine on my 1080i 42" without enabling the "High Quality Software Upscaling" option under video settings. But when I enable it, my screen stutters and voice is lagging, however, picture quality is noticeably better. I'm assuming this problem is because of my specs ( Task Mgr shows 66% CPU usage under this condition) ..I'm guessing that an intel motherboard with HDMI and onboard intel gma 4500hd along with e8400 CPU should enable me to use this feature with no problems on a windows vista PC. Also I noticed when I am using the High Quality Upscaling feature, when i play a dvd and chg the OSD interface handling to bob or weave, the stuter goes away, but so does the better picture quality. Can someone using "High Quality Upscaling" please help me with some advise !!

[Sonic132]

I have an even better ultimate machine for xbmc. Here are the specs...
* Dimensions: Approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D)
* CPU: Cell Broadband Engine
* GPU: RSX
* Main Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM
* Embedded VRAM: 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
* Hard Drive Disk: 2.5” Serial ATA (80 GB HDD)
* Main Input/Output: USB 2.0 (x4), MemoryStick/SD/CompactFlash
* Ethernet: 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T
* Bluetooth: 2.0 (EDR), Wireless Controller (up to 7)
* Wireless Communication: IEEE 802.11 b/g
* Screen Size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
* HDMI: HDMI out – (x1/HDMI)
* Analog: AV MUTLI OUT x1
* Digital Audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL x1)
* Disc Drive: Blu-ray/DVD/CD (read-only)

And we raise the curtain only to reveal a (drumroll) Sony Playstation 3! Yes that's right, the PS3.
Only problem is I don't know exactly how to compile xbmc and/or Boxee for YDL 6.1 or any other YDL for that matter. Anyone have any idea how? They say they work with Ubuntu but don't make any mention of Yellow Dog.
Send me a message if you know how or know where a thread is that mentions how.

Thanks!

[harryzimm]

I have an even better ultimate machine for xbmc. Here are the specs...
* Dimensions: Approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D)
* CPU: Cell Broadband Engine
* GPU: RSX
* Main Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM
* Embedded VRAM: 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
* Hard Drive Disk: 2.5” Serial ATA (80 GB HDD)
* Main Input/Output: USB 2.0 (x4), MemoryStick/SD/CompactFlash
* Ethernet: 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T
* Bluetooth: 2.0 (EDR), Wireless Controller (up to 7)
* Wireless Communication: IEEE 802.11 b/g
* Screen Size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
* HDMI: HDMI out – (x1/HDMI)
* Analog: AV MUTLI OUT x1
* Digital Audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL x1)
* Disc Drive: Blu-ray/DVD/CD (read-only)

And we raise the curtain only to reveal a (drumroll) Sony Playstation 3! Yes that's right, the PS3.
Only problem is I don't know exactly how to compile xbmc and/or Boxee for YDL 6.1 or any other YDL for that matter. Anyone have any idea how? They say they work with Ubuntu but don't make any mention of Yellow Dog.
Send me a message if you know how or know where a thread is that mentions how.

Thanks!

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=40236

[Anastrophe]

superb thread