2008-03-02, 01:29
I've spent the good majority of the last two days tweaking OSXBMC, OSX Display Settings, and the settings on my Pioneer Kuro 1080p display, and I've finally reached the goal. I currently have 1920x1080p playback, 24hz refresh rate with buttery smooth motion and no juddering, and zero dropped frames. I'd like to share this info with those who would like to bypass the hours of trial and error.
Setup:
Mac Mini 2.33 ghz Core 2 Duo / 2 GB RAM
DVI - HDMI 1.3a cable from monoprice
Source : Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ (Radiator 4 ) XRaid
Connected through Gigabit ethernet, CAT-6 cables, optimized for OSX transfers, and AFP.
Pioneer PDP-5010 50" 1080p ( Kuro )
Necessary Settings - : Film mode OFF, HDMI Settings to Video, not PC
OSXBMC - Screen set to 1920x1080 , Vertical Sync set to always on
Set Streaming Cache to the maximum value
Test Files :
300 1080p, 12.7 GB, AC-3 audio
Transformers 1080p, 13 GB File, DTS 1.5mb audio stream
Apocalypto 1080p, 12.5 GB file, AC-3
Theoretically this should work for any Pioneer Kuro Display, including the 720p models which accept the 1080p/24 signal. I have not tested it with any of the 120hz LCD displays, but the results of my testing are telling me that 72hz very problematic with the current state of OSX/OSXBMC.
Here are the basic steps for those with a Pioneer Kuro Display:
- Connect the Mini with a DVI-HDMI connected to the Pioneer
- Power on the Pioneer, and set the HDMI Input to PC under HDMI settings.
- Boot the mini. it will default to 1920x1080 60hz.
- Open the Display Preferences. For 1920x1080, all Refresh options will be greyed out except for 23.9hz and 60hz NTSC.
- Select 23.9 HZ and wait for re-sync.
- Now you will have a 23.9hz choppy image sent to the Pioneer. The display input info on the Pioneer will show 1920x1080 24hz. The problem now is that the Pioneer is in PC mode and will not covert the 23.9hz input to it's native 72hz properly.
- The Trick: Sleep the Mac Mini. Go to the setup on the Pioneer and now change the input back to Video, from PC. Make sure under advanced settings that Film mode is set to : OFF.
- Wake the Mac Mini. Now the input will say 1080 24p, INSTEAD of 1920x1080 24hz. What's happening now is that the Mini is outputting a true 24hz signal to the Pioneer which is processing it as a 1080p HDMI video input instead of a 1920x1080 PC monitor resolution.
- Run OSXBMC, and have the resolution at 1920x1080 Fullscreen.
- Video Playback should be a true 3:3:3 cadence now.
I am experiencing zero dropped frames during playback. Even during intense scenes when the bitrate shoots to the roof. If I jump around the file during streaming, I do experience some dropped frames, but during actual continuous playback I have yet to experience any dropped frames. I have tested this through a USB2.0 Drive, and my ReadyNAS NV+ on gigabit.
I believe that this would be possible on a 2.0ghz C2D mini, but I did not have one for testing. Since the Refresh is now 24hz instead of 60hz, the Mini is not working nearly as hard to keep up. The only problem with this is that not many displays support 24hz.
I would like to thank Elan for bringing OSXBMC to us. It is amazing that at this early point in development that we have a solution for 1080p 24ghz film playback on relatively cheap hardware.
Setup:
Mac Mini 2.33 ghz Core 2 Duo / 2 GB RAM
DVI - HDMI 1.3a cable from monoprice
Source : Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ (Radiator 4 ) XRaid
Connected through Gigabit ethernet, CAT-6 cables, optimized for OSX transfers, and AFP.
Pioneer PDP-5010 50" 1080p ( Kuro )
Necessary Settings - : Film mode OFF, HDMI Settings to Video, not PC
OSXBMC - Screen set to 1920x1080 , Vertical Sync set to always on
Set Streaming Cache to the maximum value
Test Files :
300 1080p, 12.7 GB, AC-3 audio
Transformers 1080p, 13 GB File, DTS 1.5mb audio stream
Apocalypto 1080p, 12.5 GB file, AC-3
Theoretically this should work for any Pioneer Kuro Display, including the 720p models which accept the 1080p/24 signal. I have not tested it with any of the 120hz LCD displays, but the results of my testing are telling me that 72hz very problematic with the current state of OSX/OSXBMC.
Here are the basic steps for those with a Pioneer Kuro Display:
- Connect the Mini with a DVI-HDMI connected to the Pioneer
- Power on the Pioneer, and set the HDMI Input to PC under HDMI settings.
- Boot the mini. it will default to 1920x1080 60hz.
- Open the Display Preferences. For 1920x1080, all Refresh options will be greyed out except for 23.9hz and 60hz NTSC.
- Select 23.9 HZ and wait for re-sync.
- Now you will have a 23.9hz choppy image sent to the Pioneer. The display input info on the Pioneer will show 1920x1080 24hz. The problem now is that the Pioneer is in PC mode and will not covert the 23.9hz input to it's native 72hz properly.
- The Trick: Sleep the Mac Mini. Go to the setup on the Pioneer and now change the input back to Video, from PC. Make sure under advanced settings that Film mode is set to : OFF.
- Wake the Mac Mini. Now the input will say 1080 24p, INSTEAD of 1920x1080 24hz. What's happening now is that the Mini is outputting a true 24hz signal to the Pioneer which is processing it as a 1080p HDMI video input instead of a 1920x1080 PC monitor resolution.
- Run OSXBMC, and have the resolution at 1920x1080 Fullscreen.
- Video Playback should be a true 3:3:3 cadence now.
I am experiencing zero dropped frames during playback. Even during intense scenes when the bitrate shoots to the roof. If I jump around the file during streaming, I do experience some dropped frames, but during actual continuous playback I have yet to experience any dropped frames. I have tested this through a USB2.0 Drive, and my ReadyNAS NV+ on gigabit.
I believe that this would be possible on a 2.0ghz C2D mini, but I did not have one for testing. Since the Refresh is now 24hz instead of 60hz, the Mini is not working nearly as hard to keep up. The only problem with this is that not many displays support 24hz.
I would like to thank Elan for bringing OSXBMC to us. It is amazing that at this early point in development that we have a solution for 1080p 24ghz film playback on relatively cheap hardware.