2014-04-25, 01:07
Under 50$. Stable. Ok to run live TV and 720p.
What would be your choice ?
What would be your choice ?
2014-04-25, 04:50
Raspberry Pi.
Seriously. Find me something else that will handle HD MPEG2 (common for live TV) well for under $50.
I guess GameStick or something else AMLogic-based would be good too, but I haven't personally used any AMLogic device in stick form, and I think they're still in the $80-$100 price range.
Seriously. Find me something else that will handle HD MPEG2 (common for live TV) well for under $50.
I guess GameStick or something else AMLogic-based would be good too, but I haven't personally used any AMLogic device in stick form, and I think they're still in the $80-$100 price range.
2014-04-25, 15:21
Agreed, the Raspberry Pi has been my most stable and versatile XBMC build with a fantastic price point.
2014-04-26, 02:32
Just one thing about the Pi - you pretty much need a receiver to offload the audio decoding, right? That is, if you don't have that it's not up to the job of decoding the audio on the Pi and sending to the tv. Or has that changed?? To me that's the Pi's biggest PITA.
2014-04-26, 02:34
I've never had an issue with my Raspberry Pis and I've never owned a digital audio receiver/AVR/etc.
2014-04-26, 02:49
RPi doesn't do DTS HW decoding... Other than that it handles just about everything and even with DTS it's become much more efficient than it used to be.
Edit: RPi won't be able to handle Netflix - afaik.
Edit: RPi won't be able to handle Netflix - afaik.
2014-04-26, 03:07
@ned scott for years the wiki had notes about the pi not being able to handle the audio decoding, so I assumed you needed an AVR.
Now that seems to be gone or at least changed ... basically, although not for me, I am curious is a Pi is a good enough solution for giving to friends etc (I have run out of cast offs - my mac mini and 2 * ASRock IONs are happily in use with various people...).
Can the pi basically play back all your normal 720 and 1080 movie rips when plugged straight into a telly via HDMI? If so then it would be fine, great even - but if it chokes on DTS files regularly, then that's not cool.
But sounds like it works fine....
Now that seems to be gone or at least changed ... basically, although not for me, I am curious is a Pi is a good enough solution for giving to friends etc (I have run out of cast offs - my mac mini and 2 * ASRock IONs are happily in use with various people...).
Can the pi basically play back all your normal 720 and 1080 movie rips when plugged straight into a telly via HDMI? If so then it would be fine, great even - but if it chokes on DTS files regularly, then that's not cool.
But sounds like it works fine....
2014-04-26, 03:30
(2014-04-26, 03:07)bossanova808 Wrote: @ned scott for years the wiki had notes about the pi not being able to handle the audio decoding, so I assumed you needed an AVR.
Now that seems to be gone or at least changed ... basically, although not for me, I am curious is a Pi is a good enough solution for giving to friends etc (I have run out of cast offs - my mac mini and 2 * ASRock IONs are happily in use with various people...).
Can the pi basically play back all your normal 720 and 1080 movie rips when plugged straight into a telly via HDMI? If so then it would be fine, great even - but if it chokes on DTS files regularly, then that's not cool.
But sounds like it works fine....
Works fine as long as you use a decent SD card. For 1080p w/DTS you will probably have to run a wired connection (which I would assume most people do anyway) They've made a lot of progress the past year or so and DTS isn't really the issue it used to be. My biggest gripe with the RPi was the lag when navigating the GUI (especially if XBMC was updating the library or syncing with trakt) Can't really fault it on anything when it comes to media playback though.
2014-04-26, 08:11
Oh yeah, I remember that now. Now I can't remember when that stopped being an issue. My concept of time is all messed up right now :)
2014-05-05, 05:34
I don't know about Raspberry Pi because it have to be overclocked.. It's not a stick. and with a case + SD card is more expensive than high end USB stick.. even more than an Ouya.
2014-05-05, 05:51
(2014-05-05, 05:34)freddyboy Wrote: I don't know about Raspberry Pi because it have to be overclocked.. It's not a stick. and with a case + SD card is more expensive than high end USB stick.. even more than an Ouya.
Wrong, it requires no overclock, and a high end USB drive isn't required (nor does one make the whole thing cost more than $100).
But whatever. Go buy a crappy stick and have fun with mpeg2 not working.
2014-05-05, 10:42
I've installed 3 Raspberry Pis for myself and friends. All of them can stream 1080p/DTS through wifi, with DTS decoded by the Pi. I've tried videos with a bitrate of up to 50 mbit/s. Most of the files that i watch are around 10-20 mbit/s and are nowhere near 100% CPU utilization, even with DTS decoded by the Pi.
All of them are running the latest OpenELEC, overclocked, and are perfectly stable. Cases are not necessary. Just get a quality charger (iPhone works fine) and a good cable.
I would only recommend x86 HTPC to people who need Windows in the background for other streaming services, spotify or facebook photo albums. If you only need XBMC, Raspberry Pi works perfectly fine.
All of them are running the latest OpenELEC, overclocked, and are perfectly stable. Cases are not necessary. Just get a quality charger (iPhone works fine) and a good cable.
I would only recommend x86 HTPC to people who need Windows in the background for other streaming services, spotify or facebook photo albums. If you only need XBMC, Raspberry Pi works perfectly fine.
2014-05-06, 09:26
Work has been done and integrated in ffmpeg to optimize AAC and DTS decoding for armv6 (e.g., Rpi). From what it looks, work is being done to improve VC1 bitstream parsing, so I guess high bitrate VC1 (found on HDDVD?) is another scenario where Rpi has issues.
This also means the "HD" versions of DTS are not yet supported (afaik) and may actually require quite some optimization for the Rpi to be able to decode these versions. However, you usually still get the core part of the DTS stream decoded by the Rpi, so it's not like you get no sound.
This also means the "HD" versions of DTS are not yet supported (afaik) and may actually require quite some optimization for the Rpi to be able to decode these versions. However, you usually still get the core part of the DTS stream decoded by the Rpi, so it's not like you get no sound.
