xbmc (Frodo) with pvr functions (6 Viewers)

[Holzi]

1) For me it is perfect smooth. MediaPortal even has got MP AudioRenderer (similar to ReClock) for speeding up video content to match your TV refreshrate. (Wiki: http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...s_New/1.3.x/MediaPortal_Audio_Renderer_(MPAR))

2) There should be no codec hell anymore. It is (highly) recommended to install the LAVF package which you can easily choose during the MediaPortal installation. Of course MediaPortal still gives you the chance to change the codec. It is user choice which codec they prefer.
Thats why MediaPortal has HD audio support since audio decoders/splitters support it.

3) I agree. We are working on it but I think we can not keep up with XBMC here. (anyway.. the startup time can be used for watching the beautiful splashscreens of our skins. )

Last but not least about slower development. I think we don't have the manpower XBMC has. And people should remember that we have to develop both, the TVServer part and the MediaPortal frontend part. And I think thats what MP makes unique. It is the only open source software which provides you a frontend and backend. (correct me if I am wrong ) XBMC has only to deal with the frontend.

There are pros and cons but without a doubt they are both great softwares. The user can decide which one fits best for his needs.

 

[Holzi]

Copied the post from @Lehmden to this thread too.

Hi

1) Videoplayback is still not silkysmooth and in xbmc it is.

No codec configuration in XBMC and HD audio engine.

Sorry, but this two point are really big advantages of MP and are bundled together. The Video Playback inside XBMC (talking about Windows Systems only) is much worse than in MP with build in (bundled) LAVF. To have the option of changing Codecs solves tons of issues. FFDShow (the "Codec Hell" that is used inside XBMC for Windows at least) is still a big crap on lots of (most) Windows Systems. You have to fiddle a lot on GUI Config, Video playback Content Menu and advancesettings.xml to get this working like a C. Without this really ugly fiddling the video playback is a F-- MPs Video Playback is a B without any fine tuning and an A+ if you tune the "codec hell" to really fit your system. On XBMC (Windows) the video image is a lot more blurry than on MP, Aside this it's a lot noisier. And you need to try hard to find a setting that no heavy stuttering is there. If you find this setting (I found them after some hours of try and error), the playback is smooth regarding stutter, but still a lot blurrier... BTW with XBMC you are stuck on DXVA, no way to use Intel Quick Sync or Nvidia CUDA to get the best out of your GPU. Only generic DXVA available...

 

[wouter1971]

I do not agree with you Lehmden. Playback in MP, while using MP audiorenderer, is always with some kind of random stutter. Not able to find in the dropped frames, but noticeable that picture hangs for a fraction of a second.

I both ask you to try Openelec (Openelec.tv) take the generic version on an SD stick in your HTPC. Let's forget for a moment about the TV part, for which you can use tvheadend as an Add-On in Openelec (heavily developed to get timeshifting in realy soon). Tvheadend uses a webgui for configuration, one that is very easy.
Just focus on the video playback with VDPAU and a startingtime of 10sec. GUI realy fast etc.

Now that's silkysmooth playback.

 

[Lehmden]

Hi
Maybe on Linux, but we're talking about Windows. And on Windows XBMC Video Playback is much worse than MP. I will try OpenElec next days/weeks also. But I'm waiting to get a likely stable Frodo Version. Beta 1 and 2 are really blown with bugs, Beta 3 seems to be lot more stable but I only have it installed some hours now...

Playback in MP, while using MP audiorenderer, is always with some kind of random stutter.

If this stutters on your system so why use it anyway? Never tried this, to be honest. I'm always use default direct sound device and never see any stutter like that. Afaik this is not the default audio device in MP. Last time I had a look at it was "experimental"...

VDPAU is as far as I understood, the Linux counterpart to Cuda and it's only working with Nvidia GPU. So Holzi can't use it anyway...

 

[wouter1971]

Lehmden i am talking about an HTPC appliance. Why bother installing a whole operating system for tons of hardware?
Holzi can use the native XVBA support.
AIRplay support.

But as a whole, development is a lot faster on the XBMC side, and from what i see XBMC is passing MP really soon now.

 

[Holzi]

For this XBMC needs to have its own native TVServer first.

 

[technick]

Hi
Maybe on Linux, but we're talking about Windows. And on Windows XBMC Video Playback is much worse than MP.

Sorry but I can't let say things like this ;-) Unlike MP and it DLL to replace to have a perfect playback, xbmc if you take time to search, has a perfect playback without replace anything. On my Nvidia system I just need to force the sync in the driver and don't use sync in xbmc. I use xbmc frodo (my own SVN builds) since 4 months now (with the MP tv server) and the only thing I prefer now on MP is the fast time of zapping...

 

[wouter1971]

Holzi, let's wait and see. tvheadend for tv server as a plugin(add-on) in Openelec is working really fine to. Recording to mkv is standard.
If others are doing a better job why focus on doing both?

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.

Unlike MP and it DLL to replace to have a perfect playback,

I never replaced any DLL in MP at all and have perfect Playback since a long time...

xbmc if you take time to search, has a perfect playback without replace anything.

Then I havn't fond it up to now. The image is way to blurry and way too noisy at all. It's the same as using VLC which also did a horrible job. Plays all files (that's why I have VLC installed on my System) but the Video Quality is far away from being acceptable (never talking about good). If I want to enjoy the video I watch I would never ever use VLC..

But as a whole, development is a lot faster on the XBMC side, and from what i see XBMC is passing MP really soon now.

The development speed is much faster on XBMC, that's true. But they need to gain 8 Years of TV (PVR) development, so this will take it's time to reach an equal level to MP's TV Part. And the development in using an acceptable Video Player seems to stall since ages. This old fashioned player is something that had to be dropped about 5 years ago to stay in touch with the possibilities. So on two of the most important things the development of XBMC is either in baby stage or old fashioned and not even near to "state of the art"...

To make myself clear, I really love the video database of XBMC, the pictures plugin is light-years ahead of MP's ugly MyPictures and the fluidness of the GUI is a Legend, and it's worth to be a Legend. But the video playback is lousy (at least on Windows systems tried it on 3 completely different systems with exactly the same result). The config is a pain in the a***, fiddling around with not even existent xml files, manually wrote the complete MCE remote support (in Beta 2 and 3 MCE did not work at all without an individual created xml file) and the rest of the config spread all over a thousand gui windows on total different places. And the PVR part needs some time to grow up, it's missing too much to be used on a regular basis now..

Someday I will change to XBMC completely as after a closer look at Windows 8 I decided to migrate to Linux. And there is no MP on Linux at all... But this will take a year or so until I really drop my last Windows machine (maybe even longer) And this last machine will be my main HTPC.

 

[technick]

You forgot the wonderful Owlsroost dshowhelper development ? We don't have the same definition of "perfect" FYI I use MP a long time but because of the too long time of development integration of contributors and decision to start again from scratch I leave it. During this time xbmc has changed.

I stop here and return to my xbmc ;-)