[noggin]

Interlaced VC-1 was used for some BBC Blu-ray releases I believe.

In Europe many TV series (and movies shot for TV like the Nordic crime dramas I enjoy) are shot 25p, which Blu-ray doesn't support natively. They are therefore released 50i (which is also, in some cases, how they are mastered for transmission) which means that Blu-ray releases are often 50i. I have a lot of European TV Blu-rays that are 50i - and some of them use VC1 encoding (though most use AVC/H264 these days to be honest)

[drhill]

Also VC-1 decoding acceleration was brought up. I don't care about VC-1 interlaced content as I don't have any, but I have about 50 of my ~300 movies that use VC-1 and not being able to playback properly would make this box a bad investment for me unless I used it as a normal chromebox, which I don't need right now. I am curious as to how some 1080i H264 content would perform on this box as I have some documentaries which in such a format.

I'd say these things are on topic for the OP and helpful to others, which I'll selfishly admit is me.

I feel you. If you have a big VC1 library your options in Linux are Nvidia, Nvidia and Nvidia. That is why my two primary viewing stations are Mini ITX rigs with Nvidia cards, and the one station where I have the Chromebox will be replaced with one as soon as Nvidia gives me another HTPC GPU worth buying.

With that said, interlaced VC1 is rare with Blu Rays. It happened early on and not as much recently. I think a Chromebox works great for 99% of people. But if you need interlaced VC1 support, or heck just the ability to upgrade what the box can decode, you are building.

Interlaced VC-1 was used for some BBC Blu-ray releases I believe.

In Europe many TV series (and movies shot for TV like the Nordic crime dramas I enjoy) are shot 25p, which Blu-ray doesn't support natively. They are therefore released 50i (which is also, in some cases, how they are mastered for transmission) which means that Blu-ray releases are often 50i. I have a lot of European TV Blu-rays that are 50i - and some of them use VC1 encoding (though most use AVC/H264 these days to be honest)

Looking at my movies which I did a sqlite3 import the only Interlaced content are all documentary type things which are all H264 except for two MPEG2 videos (one is SD). Obviously live tv 1080i content would be as well but that is all MPEG2.

So by that all my VC-1 is progressive which by your accounts I'm fine. Correct? I'd prefer to keep it simple for me and my wife so the chromebox is missing only Netflix and a blu ray drive from being perfect for that. Shame I can't sync Plex watched/resume status for my two Google TV boxes that can't use Kodi (damn you Google/Sony/Intel!).

I'll be using a Denon X2100W receiver and a Sony HW55ES projector. They both seem to indicate they support RGB Full range levels. I floated the question to my calibrator who is coming next month and he wasn't thrilled with the idea of using RGB Full Range.

[drhill]

Let me ask one more (set of) question(s).

What would buying something like a Pavilion Mini get me (http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/se...---300-020)?

Kodi at the same level as the Chrombox? Netflix with Super HD, 24p, and DD+ audio? Ability to add an external blu ray drive and software? Play low level steam games, which I've probably spent $300 on games I've never played because stupidity for a sale? I'm assuming that's a yes to all of that but would I still be able to have this stream lined with my Harmony Smart Control so that the wife could easily re/boot the machine if necessary, but I'd aim for always on/sleep, automatically start up to Kodi while still easily jumping to Netflix, blu rays, and back to Kodi. Games don't need to be easy to play, but I don't want a headache for her, and it needs to be done through that one smart control remote.

I'm assuming that setup still has all the need for a RGB Full range setup which I believe is fine.

Thanks for everyone's input, btw.

[ikecomp]

Let me ask one more (set of) question(s).

What would buying something like a Pavilion Mini get me (http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/se...---300-020)?

Kodi at the same level as the Chrombox? Netflix with Super HD, 24p, and DD+ audio? Ability to add an external blu ray drive and software? Play low level steam games, which I've probably spent $300 on games I've never played because stupidity for a sale? I'm assuming that's a yes to all of that but would I still be able to have this stream lined with my Harmony Smart Control so that the wife could easily re/boot the machine if necessary, but I'd aim for always on/sleep, automatically start up to Kodi while still easily jumping to Netflix, blu rays, and back to Kodi. Games don't need to be easy to play, but I don't want a headache for her, and it needs to be done through that one smart control remote.

I'm assuming that setup still has all the need for a RGB Full range setup which I believe is fine.

Thanks for everyone's input, btw.

I would assume all your points are correct. However it might depend on which pavilion you choose. I believe there's a pentium version and a i3 version. I honestly know nothing about the pentium version so it may or may not be as good as the chromebox. If you went with the i3 version I would expect it to better than the chromebox. Particularly for items that require software decoding as the i3 has more grunt under the hood.

[Matt Devo]

the Pentium 3558U is going to be slightly faster CPU-wise, and about the same GPU-wise as the Celeron 2955U-based ChromeBoxes. The i3-4025U is going to be faster than both for both CPU and GPU, though the only difference in terms of media playback performance is for software-decoded video, such as Hi-10p. Given HP's pricing, I'd go with either the Stream Mini (2957U) or an i3-based NUC. The Pavilion Minis aren't priced very well IMO

[drhill]

the Pentium 3558U is going to be slightly faster CPU-wise, and about the same GPU-wise as the Celeron 2955U-based ChromeBoxes. The i3-4025U is going to be faster than both for both CPU and GPU, though the only difference in terms of media playback performance is for software-decoded video, such as Hi-10p. Given HP's pricing, I'd go with either the Stream Mini (2957U) or an i3-based NUC. The Pavilion Minis aren't priced very well IMO

No Hi-10p. Just MPEG2 (mostly progressive except live TV), VC-1 (progressive), and H264 (mostly progressive, some MVC too). Other then that I would be adding a blu ray drive and using it for Netflix. Some indie gaming and older games, but I'm sure the cpu/gpu isn't up for any of today's "big games" which I may eventually get a PS4 for.

The biggest concern is usability with a Harmony remote switching between things for my wife (and me). Any usability opinions out there?

[poofyhairguy]

and it needs to be done through that one smart control remote.

The answer to that question is Flirc.

[ikecomp]

the Pentium 3558U is going to be slightly faster CPU-wise, and about the same GPU-wise as the Celeron 2955U-based ChromeBoxes. The i3-4025U is going to be faster than both for both CPU and GPU, though the only difference in terms of media playback performance is for software-decoded video, such as Hi-10p. Given HP's pricing, I'd go with either the Stream Mini (2957U) or an i3-based NUC. The Pavilion Minis aren't priced very well IMO

No Hi-10p. Just MPEG2 (mostly progressive except live TV), VC-1 (progressive), and H264 (mostly progressive, some MVC too). Other then that I would be adding a blu ray drive and using it for Netflix. Some indie gaming and older games, but I'm sure the cpu/gpu isn't up for any of today's "big games" which I may eventually get a PS4 for.

The biggest concern is usability with a Harmony remote switching between things for my wife (and me). Any usability opinions out there?

I would probably go with the i3 nuc because of the extra power and ir sensor built-in. I currently have an old 360 mce remote mapped to turn on and off the nuc, launch kodi and launch plex home theater. The remote also fully controls both applications. I tried using the remote to navigate the windows 8 Netflix app but it only partially works. Play, pause and stop work but navigating directionally is a no go for me. There may be a way to map the buttons in the Netflix app but that's above my pay grade. I got the same results with my harmony 650

[southlegend]

Sorry for my lack of responses.. I've been really busy with work so I haven't had much time to concentrate on nerding out

I've had my Chromebox for a few weeks (went with the Asus) and I'm planning to set it up this weekend, so I'll report back on my experience!

I've been wondering though... the Chromebox has the Celeron 2955U processor - would I get even better deinterlacing/scaling if I built a little mini-itx system with an i3 4150? That has HD 4400 (GT2) graphics while the Chromebox has standard HD graphics.

Anyone able to shed any light?

[Matt Devo]

I've been wondering though... the Chromebox has the Celeron 2955U processor - would I get even better deinterlacing/scaling if I built a little mini-itx system with an i3 4150? That has HD 4400 (GT2) graphics while the Chromebox has standard HD graphics.

no.

[southlegend]

I've been wondering though... the Chromebox has the Celeron 2955U processor - would I get even better deinterlacing/scaling if I built a little mini-itx system with an i3 4150? That has HD 4400 (GT2) graphics while the Chromebox has standard HD graphics.

no.

Cheers Matt. Are you able to explain why this is?

[Matt Devo]

Cheers Matt. Are you able to explain why this is?

the additional execution units (EUs - 20 vs 10) in the GT2 have zero effect on scaling or deinterlacing, as the GT1 is not limited in any way for those functions (unless we are talking 2160p60 output). I have both i3 and 2955U ChromeBoxes, there's zero performance difference between them for anything GPU related at 1080p