Needed client specs (1 Viewer)

[mm1352000]

@RonD
This is probably stating the obvious, but decoding/displaying 1080i requires more processing power than 720p for 2 reasons:

1. More pixels.
2. The deinterlacing.

The first point is obvious; the second point, maybe not so much... but it's critical, because the requirement for deinterlacing - which is quite an intensive process, especially with the nice algorithms - can and does tip hardware over the edge (in terms of the hardware's capability to deliver smooth video).

Lots of relatively cheap low end graphics chipsets still seem to target 1080p as their baseline spec. That's probably due to the ability to market such a chipset as "full HD capable", "Blu-ray capable" etc. Lots of people buy [cheap, compact] products based on these chipsets, hoping to use them with HTPCs... and are disappointed when they find out that they can't get smooth HD TV playback.

 

[RonD]

In the other thread I tried desktop VLC and Windows Media Player, both played 720P and 1080i without visible problems. So basic HW can work not sure what causes problem for MePo. The win8.1 store-app VLC also had problems with 1080i.

 

[mm1352000]

At the risk of going a bit off topic...
Your VLC vs. WMC vs. MP (LAV) test is using different codecs, different buffering, and likely different deinterlacing algorithms too in all cases. So, it is not surprising that you get different results. I wonder what would have happened if you'd tried the MS codecs in MP, and/or fiddled with the LAV deinterlacing settings, and/or fiddled with the TsReader buffering config...

 

[Pat Clark]

@RonD
[. . .]

[. . .] the requirement for deinterlacing - which is quite an intensive process, especially with the nice algorithms - can and does tip hardware over the edge (in terms of the hardware's capability to deliver smooth video).

I'm curious why deinterlacing is required. Why can the incoming signal not be passed directly to the TV which can use the interlaced data properly?

 

[oscar615]

I'm curious why deinterlacing is required. Why can the incoming signal not be passed directly to the TV which can use the interlaced data properly?

Very good question. I hope someone has an answer.

 

[Vasilich]

you need to deinterlace picture because you (probably) want to have some progressive things e.g. OSD or proper scaling, And you don't have to wait until your TV reinitialises because you just have switched channel with 1080i or 480i to 720p.

 

[oscar615]

The Pipo X7 came in. Looks and feels quality enough. Though, I have not booted it yet.

I hope to try and set all of my systems up this weekend, server and two clients to start. But, alas, it is Mardi Gras Time and I am in the best city in the US. So we will see if I actually have time to get around to it.

Two straight weeks of parties and parades ending this tuesday.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!!

 

[MrTechno]

@oscar615 how are you getting on with the Pipo?

 

[oscar615]

Sorry I got away from this thread.

My pipo x7 works great for everything except live tv. I am using hdhr extend tuner. The picture gets jittery over time and media portal will eventually crash. It also seems like the ferfesh rate may be slightly off for tv.

I need to get this figured out one and for all so I can get the WOF enough to dump the dish.

Music, movies, everything sits on my server and plays wonderfully. Runs smoothly. Streams everything from my server.

I typically run Titan as my skin and have tried others, No problems with any of them.

 

[RonD]

The picture gets jittery over time and media portal will eventually crash.

wonder if you are seeing overheating in small form factor box with limited cooling. you might be seeing thermal throttling

In Win8.1 you can look in ComputerManagement > EventViewer > WindowsLogs > System for errors like Kernel-Processor-Power that say The speed of processor 0 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. Once you have the logs open, use Find and search for processor-power