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Full Version: What is the General Consensus of AppleTV v1 + CrystalHD + 720/1080p .MKVs
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Hey guys,

Sorry if it has been asked plenty before but I have searched the forum without a conclusive answer. But how is this possible combination?

Some of the files are about 30GB big, so they are quite intensive files. At the moment I am using PS3 and PS3Media Server, but I can't rewind or fast forward, so I normally have to watch films all the way through which is a bummer if I fall asleep near the end Sad

Anyway if I can get all of your answers I'll be grateful as I am about to pull the plug on the AppleTV

Thanks Big Grin
Why don't you try it? Worth while. I play mkv's of 8-9gb without issues. Granted, beta4 has issues with some files, but the final version will work; I have no doubt about that.

Crystalhd card is 'only' 80 usd (inc sending internationally) from logic supply. You have to like a bit of tweaking though...
Well I just jailbroke and played around with ATV2 with Plex for the last couple days (720p) and for what it's worth immediately went back to my Crystalbuntu+ATV1 setup (1080p)... such a nicer, smoother experience. The ATV2 is now going in the VW camper. Big Grin
I would try it but I don't have any of the equipement yet! Hence why I was wondering what the general concencus was before I buy it Smile

I will take a further look at the CrystalHDLinux + Apple TV solution and will take a look at the solutions this weekend

I love the physical aspect of the AppleTV and the low power consumption, hence why I'd like it working with that. Let's see!
Nod
MecPro Wrote:I would try it but I don't have any of the equipement yet! Hence why I was wondering what the general concencus was before I buy it Smile

I will take a further look at the CrystalHDLinux + Apple TV solution and will take a look at the solutions this weekend

I love the physical aspect of the AppleTV and the low power consumption, hence why I'd like it working with that. Let's see!
Nod

If you want something rock solid that you don't have to ever F* with then I would look elsewhere. I do love my Appletv, but as of late I've just wanted to throw it out the window. Now with RC1 out, it's finally working like it should. I have a $200 apple giftcard laying around that I need to decide what to do with. I'm either going to let it sit there until I want a new laptop and then switch to a MBP or buy an ATV with it. With the refurb ATV going for $129 straight from apple, it's mighty tempting. Now that ATV+CrystalHD is maturing, it's a nice little box. If I had to do it over again I would still go for the appletv over an Atom system.

Ideally I would like an ATV2 with XBMC on it. Does anyone know if they are almost done with that?Laugh
MecPro Wrote:Hey guys,

Sorry if it has been asked plenty before but I have searched the forum without a conclusive answer. But how is this possible combination?

Some of the files are about 30GB big, so they are quite intensive files. At the moment I am using PS3 and PS3Media Server, but I can't rewind or fast forward, so I normally have to watch films all the way through which is a bummer if I fall asleep near the end Sad

Anyway if I can get all of your answers I'll be grateful as I am about to pull the plug on the AppleTV

Thanks Big Grin


Why don't you just change the container from mkv to mp4 and then your PS3 will work fine? You won't have to transcode anything so it takes very little time. On the Mac MKVTools will do it as will Quicktime Pro. The problem lies with mkv since it's quite flexible and hard to support (and other obvious reasons).

In any case, depending on your audio setup, we are talking about a 1 minute operation.

I have an ATV with the Crystal HD card. Also an ATV2. The ATV2 will have similar restrictions to those found in the PS3. The ATV1 with the Crystal HD card is great, but isn't stable yet under OSX. I have to reboot my ATV1 after playing a lot of 720p mkv's occasionally since there seems to be some memory issue which results in the Crystal HD driver unloading.

Have to admit that the ATV1 with the card is pretty neat. However if playing mkv's is your main thing you should just pick up a cheap mkv player. You can get the Patriot Box Office for $60 after a rebate (that price fluctuates). There are many other media players. Most are a pain, but some are pretty nice.

In any case try the container switch and see how that works. The PS3 is pretty nice with access to a lot of online premium video.

philip
From using XBMC on my ATV since about February, and getting in at the start with these Crystalbuntu images, I can say it's good, but it's not right. I'm running B3 (I think), and it's *mostly* there but still has niggles.

I still can't get VC1 videos to play (that may be my setup, because nobody else complains about it - I'm just going to hang back until I can get a "final" image).
AVC videos play (generally) well, but sometimes stutter due to lack of memory (I reckon). I tried watching the second Twilight film, and it got so far and then just ground to a halt. No great loss!

It's a fairly hard one to call between the ATV and a teeny Atom box. XBMC is just stellar on the Atom/ION machines - it's brilliant (provided you have enough memory). But those are quite a lot more expensive. I'm hopeful that the ATV will be as good (ie good enough to play BD rips seamlessly) at the Dharma release.

For SD playback, it's spot-on. But then so is the XBox1 with XBMC. For HD, I've chucked 30GB .mkv files at it without trouble, but it comes down to the amount of RAM in the ATV and the encoding on that video file.
pmcd Wrote:I have to reboot my ATV1 after playing a lot of 720p mkv's occasionally since there seems to be some memory issue

I had to reboot a few times a week also with ATV1 OS, but thought it worth noting that I have yet to need a restart when running crystalbuntu after very, very heavy use (think surgery recovery laid up with 16+hrs a day of MKVs for days on end Nod )... just keeps on ticking... love it.
ddingle Wrote:I had to reboot a few times a week also with ATV1 OS, but thought it worth noting that I have yet to need a restart when running crystalbuntu after very, very heavy use (think surgery recovery laid up with 16+hrs a day of MKVs for days on end Nod )... just keeps on ticking... love it.

That's great to hear. At some point I am going to look into that more closely. I did use one of the images that were posted to get a feeling but it was an older version of XBMc and subtitles weren't playing right. With Dharma rc1 under OSX I am finding this really nice. It's not perfect yet but it's getting pretty close. Spent the week trying to get a Boxee Box working properly and am glad to be back to the ATV. I have an ATV2 and an iPad and eyeTV HD so I am tied into the OSX environment. Getting portability is more important to me than 1080p. Am quite content with 720p.

It certainly sounds like the cystalbuntu is stable. Are you using the internal drive to boot it? Which version of Crystal HD card?

philip
crystalbuntu is stabilish. With RC1 and the latest driver it isn't working quite right for me. My copy of Iron Man 2 won't play smoothly. I have most of my stuff in 1080p. I like having the extra resolution because I tend to zoom in to crop the black bars and having 1.5x the vertical resolution is nice. 1080p is doable just not the smoothest all the time.
pmcd Wrote:It certainly sounds like the cystalbuntu is stable. Are you using the internal drive to boot it? Which version of Crystal HD card?

Actually I'm just running off an 8gb usd stick since I like to occasionally boot back into atvos. early model 12 card from fleabay.. no issues so far.. *knock wood*