[UnisonRuss]

I am not a n00b to XBMC, I have been using it for quite some time. However, I never really realized how much CPU power is used when playing back 720P and 1080P video files! For 720P it's roughly 60-80% and for 1080P it is between 89-110% according to my stats. Is there a way under Mac that can take some power away from the CPU without affecting picture quality? Thank you for any responses!

P.S. I have looked at a few threads on this topic, and so far it doesn't look good.

I looked at this thread in particular: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=52745

Surely there has to be a way to get video acceleration or GPU acceleration to offload the CPU, or something under MAC OS X right? Otherwise that's just silly :p I would install Windows on another partition, but my 4 TB hard drive with a LOT of stuff on it is formatted under MAC, please help! Plus I tried to install windows once, but my hard drive partition failed for some reason.

In case you guys need to know, I have the model prior to the nVidia model... Macmini2,1; 2 GHz, Intel GMA 950

[davilla]

I am not a n00b to XBMC, I have been using it for quite some time. However, I never really realized how much CPU power is used when playing back 720P and 1080P video files! For 720P it's roughly 60-80% and for 1080P it is between 89-110% according to my stats. Is there a way under Mac that can take some power away from the CPU without affecting picture quality? Thank you for any responses!

P.S. I have looked at a few threads on this topic, and so far it doesn't look good.

I looked at this thread in particular: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=52745

Surely there has to be a way to get video acceleration or GPU acceleration to offload the CPU, or something under MAC OS X right? Otherwise that's just silly :p I would install Windows on another partition, but my 4 TB hard drive with a LOT of stuff on it is formatted under MAC, please help! Plus I tried to install windows once, but my hard drive partition failed for some reason.

In case you guys need to know, I have the model prior to the nVidia model... Macmini2,1; 2 GHz, Intel GMA 950

crystalhd works nicely in a pre-nvidia MacMini.

[UnisonRuss]

UPDATE: I have enabled pbo's and have set skiploopfilter to 8... I think that may have helped It seems I have decreased CPU usage by about 8-10%

I have been thinking about crystalhd, but isn't it true it cannot play back 1080P yet (it scales it down)? Also, I would like to keep my wifi capability If there are advances in the technology that tackle these issues I will be there in a heart beat!

[davilla]

UPDATE: I have enabled pbo's and have set skiploopfilter to 8... I think that may have helped It seems I have decreased CPU usage by about 8-10%

I have been thinking about crystalhd, but isn't it true it cannot play back 1080P yet (it scales it down)? Also, I would like to keep my wifi capability If there are advances in the technology that tackle these issues I will be there in a heart beat!

MacMini != AppleTV

The 1080p display thing is an AppleTV issue.

Wifi.. AirPort Express.

[UnisonRuss]

Really? Well then I'm in! Couple quick questions:

-Is the wifi card also the bluetooth card? Meaning, if I put in this crystal hd card, will I lose my ability to use blutooth devices as well as wifi? Specifically, I use bluetooth for my keyboard and mouse... is there a way around this?

Lastly, how does the Airport Express exactly work if the Mac cannot receive wifi signals? Does it connect to a router, say downstairs, and you run an Ethernet cable from the Express to the Mac? According to Apple's website, the Express is suppose to connect to a internet router, and the computers pick up on the wireless signal sent out by the Express. How exactly will this work without my Airport turned on in my Mini?

Thank you for your help!

[D-tyme]

UPDATE: I have enabled pbo's and have set skiploopfilter to 8... I think that may have helped It seems I have decreased CPU usage by about 8-10%

I have been thinking about crystalhd, but isn't it true it cannot play back 1080P yet (it scales it down)? Also, I would like to keep my wifi capability If there are advances in the technology that tackle these issues I will be there in a heart beat!

If I'm not mistaken, you can also point XBMC to use Quicktime for playback (install perian for playback options) and therefore take advantage of Hardware Acceleration...

[davilla]

If I'm not mistaken, you can also point XBMC to use Quicktime for playback (install perian for playback options) and therefore take advantage of Hardware Acceleration...

Sir, you are wrong. XBMC does not use quicktime as a codec and perian also does not access any Hardware Acceleration of video decode.

[davilla]

Really? Well then I'm in! Couple quick questions:

-Is the wifi card also the bluetooth card? Meaning, if I put in this crystal hd card, will I lose my ability to use blutooth devices as well as wifi? Specifically, I use bluetooth for my keyboard and mouse... is there a way around this?

Lastly, how does the Airport Express exactly work if the Mac cannot receive wifi signals? Does it connect to a router, say downstairs, and you run an Ethernet cable from the Express to the Mac? According to Apple's website, the Express is suppose to connect to a internet router, and the computers pick up on the wireless signal sent out by the Express. How exactly will this work without my Airport turned on in my Mini?

Thank you for your help!

No, on pre-nvidia MacMini's, bluetooth is separate hardware.

plug Airport Express into MacMini, tell AirPort Express to bridge to your wireless network. Done. The Airport express can also be a wifi bridge.

[D-tyme]

Sir, you are wrong. XBMC does not use quicktime as a codec and perian also does not access any Hardware Acceleration of video decode.

Never said XBMC uses Quicktime. So let me clarify...can you not edit a xml file to sparse an external Player? Hence, allow your encodes to run through Quicktime (if you choose that as your player)?

You said so yourself:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=489...stcount=10

Now the question is, when doing this on a Mac Mini, will it take advantage of hardware acceleration?

[davilla]

Never said XBMC uses Quicktime. So let me clarify...can you not edit a xml file to sparse an external Player? Hence, allow your encodes to run through Quicktime (if you choose that as your player)?

You said so yourself:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=489...stcount=10

Now the question is, when doing this on a Mac Mini, will it take advantage of hardware acceleration?

External Player using quicktime player, yes but ONLY if the MacMini is the newer nvidia based model. But not for any video content that Perian is handling. That mean MOVs and only MOVs which to me is so limiting that it's just not worth the effort. If you have an nvidia based MacMini, install a Linux distro and then you get vdpau and most everything (video content) is hardware accelerated).

[jannik]

Really? Well then I'm in! Couple quick questions:

-Is the wifi card also the bluetooth card? Meaning, if I put in this crystal hd card, will I lose my ability to use blutooth devices as well as wifi? Specifically, I use bluetooth for my keyboard and mouse... is there a way around this?

Lastly, how does the Airport Express exactly work if the Mac cannot receive wifi signals? Does it connect to a router, say downstairs, and you run an Ethernet cable from the Express to the Mac? According to Apple's website, the Express is suppose to connect to a internet router, and the computers pick up on the wireless signal sent out by the Express. How exactly will this work without my Airport turned on in my Mini?

Thank you for your help!

Hi

Thats exactly how I connected my PS3 to the internet and it works just fine (juat remember to tick the "use ethernet" box in the airportexpress settings


Jannik

[jannik]

UPDATE: I have enabled pbo's and have set skiploopfilter to 8... I think that may have helped It seems I have decreased CPU usage by about 8-10%

I have been thinking about crystalhd, but isn't it true it cannot play back 1080P yet (it scales it down)? Also, I would like to keep my wifi capability If there are advances in the technology that tackle these issues I will be there in a heart beat!

You can always use an Airport express and a cable to the ethernetport on the ATV (if you dont use the ethernetport for other stuff like a NAS HD)
In the instructions on how to mount the Broadcom Crystalcard the wires to the wirelesscard are cut- but dont do that just wrap the card in a bag and glue it to the cover thats what I did so I can put the wirelesscard back in if needed.


Jannik


Jannik

[UnisonRuss]

Thanks for the advice I will most likely grab the crystal HD card very soon!

[davilla]

Thanks for the advice I will most likely grab the crystal HD card very soon!

logicsupply if in USA, use the coupon code "XBMC10" for a few bucks off.

[D-tyme]

External Player using quicktime player, yes but ONLY if the MacMini is the newer nvidia based model. But not for any video content that Perian is handling. That mean MOVs and only MOVs which to me is so limiting that it's just not worth the effort. If you have an nvidia based MacMini, install a Linux distro and then you get vdpau and most everything (video content) is hardware accelerated).

I would agree, using .mov is useless, BUT using h.264 .mp4 (.m4v) with quicktime is very usefull for 1080p context with DD AC3 Passthrough. If you are going to want DTS passthrough, then you will need to use a different container (e.g. .mkv).