Problematic playback of 1080p mkv & h.264(.ts) on HD Extender

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by bjkiller

Anybody can advice which SageTV Client configuration can play such things? Looks like I will move to PC Hardware, becouse HD 100 does not play them.

I'm waiting for the new Nvidia 8200/8300 motherboards to go into full release. The AMD ones are onsale now, and the Intel ones are a month or two off. The on-board graphics can do full HD decode (offloads the CPU nearly completely), and it can do 8-channel PCM sound over HDMI. The MB is only like $90-$100, and you can slap a dirt-cheap CPU in it because of the graphics offload.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by bjkiller

Anybody can advice which SageTV Client configuration can play such things? Looks like I will move to PC Hardware, becouse HD 100 does not play them.

I have my PC client specs in my sig.

Any 2Ghz+ Core 2 Duo + an ATI 2xxx/3xxx or NVidia 8xxxx(except 8800) card combination should work fine.

[bjkiller]

Originally Posted by Slipshod

I'm waiting for the new Nvidia 8200/8300 motherboards to go into full release. The AMD ones are onsale now, and the Intel ones are a month or two off. The on-board graphics can do full HD decode (offloads the CPU nearly completely), and it can do 8-channel PCM sound over HDMI. The MB is only like $90-$100, and you can slap a dirt-cheap CPU in it because of the graphics offload.

I got also recomendation for GA-MA78GM-S2H
http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Products...ProductID=2758

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by bjkiller

I got also recomendation for GA-MA78GM-S2H
http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Products...ProductID=2758

The AMD 780G chipset also does full HD offload for graphics (and has been out longer), but doesn't do 8 channel over HDMI. You'll be stuck with 5 channel audio. If that's not a problem or concern, the 780 boards look good.

I've also heard rumors of black and white crushing issues in the 82xx Nvidia boards, so image quality may be better on the ATI until Nvidia fixes their drivers. I'm waiting for a more general usage on them to hear more feedback from people.

Lastly, in a couple of months the Intel G45 boards will be out, which will also do full HD decode. The G35 was the first 8-channel over HDMI board out, and works will if you through a big enough CPU at it. There's some ugly rumors about production issues with the G45 (it's been delayed a little), but it's all the kind of stuff that would be fixed by release.

So... If you care about high-end audio for Blu-ray, the Nvidia or upcoming Intel are good choices. If you don't care, the AMD is a great choice. And the "PDVD downsamples anyway, why bother" argument doesn't work for me. I'm planning on ripping them up to the server and converting the uncompressed audio tracks to multi-channel FLAC so I get full sound quality.

Cheers,
Slipshod

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Slipshod

The AMD 780G chipset also does full HD offload for graphics (and has been out longer), but doesn't do 8 channel over HDMI. You'll be stuck with 5 channel audio. If that's not a problem or concern, the 780 boards look good.

I've also heard rumors of black and white crushing issues in the 82xx Nvidia boards, so image quality may be better on the ATI until Nvidia fixes their drivers. I'm waiting for a more general usage on them to hear more feedback from people.

ATI crushes below black/above white too. They expand HD to PC levels and there's no way to disable it.

[mediahome]

As we get back on topic...

Concerning your issue with "For the h.264 files in the .ts container, there are no pixelisation issues but there is a stutter every 2 secs or so."

I logged a problem report regarding the "microstutter" every secord or two on certain h.264 streams back in January. Per Sage Tech Support... "This seems to be a problem with the decoder regarding something specific about the way this H264 stream is encoded. But the good news is that we found older versions of the drivers where it does work properly. So we're working with the provider of those drivers to resolve the issue in the current version."

In early February they said that "it shouldn't take too long" but we haven't seen a fix yet. This is really frustrating because it affects all of the local channel re-broadcasts on Dish. Anyone want to know how many times I have had to explain to my wife why Brothers and Sisters are stuttering all of the time?

Mediahome

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by mediahome

This is really frustrating because it affects all of the local channel re-broadcasts on Dish. Anyone want to know how many times I have had to explain to my wife why Brothers and Sisters are stuttering all of the time?

Yeah, its driving me nuts too. Had to tell the wife to use Dish's DVR to watch locals. OTA is rough where I am, so I'm stuck.

[m1abrams]

Originally Posted by stanger89

ATI crushes below black/above white too. They expand HD to PC levels and there's no way to disable it.

Is this an issue if your Display support PC levels?

[stanger89]

Less of one. It's still a problem though IMO, you should be able to output "untouched" video and calibrate the display appropriately.