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benareeno
Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 1614
Location: ottawa, canada
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| Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:40 pm Post subject: current state of htpc and mkv |
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So...haven't been working with my pc in quite a while..what is the current state of htpc?
Do we still need an ATI card in order to use custom resolutions and refresh rates?
Can we get smooth 48Hz playback with mkv's and hdmi audio?
Is reclock still an absolute requirement? I found the last I was playing around...reclock really helped, but playback was still not 100% smooth. It was likely 99%, but not 100...
Are people able to find mkv's with lossless audio on them?
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greg_mitch
Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 5320
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 12:32 am Post subject: Re: current state of htpc and mkv |
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| benareeno wrote: |
Are people able to find mkv's with lossless audio on them? |
I find them on the BR all the time. 
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akajester
Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:37 am Post subject: Re: current state of htpc and mkv |
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| benareeno wrote: | So...haven't been working with my pc in quite a while..what is the current state of htpc?
Do we still need an ATI card in order to use custom resolutions and refresh rates?
Can we get smooth 48Hz playback with mkv's and hdmi audio?
Is reclock still an absolute requirement? I found the last I was playing around...reclock really helped, but playback was still not 100% smooth. It was likely 99%, but not 100...
Are people able to find mkv's with lossless audio on them? |
I don't have experience with everything you mention. However, I do see alot of people using nvidia now so I guess ATI isn't necessary. I bought ATI because it was inexpensive. $40 for an ati 4350 pci-e.
I'm running spdif audio right now at 48khz with AC3filter, works great. I don't have an hdmi receiver so can't answer about hdmi audio. Although I've seen many on the Media Portal forums running hdmi for both audio and video.
I haven't needed to use reclock. although I've read of others using it successfully. my htpc setup is very trimmed down and clean. I run Media Portal with a small codec pack tailored to Media Portal use called SAF (standalone filters). StreamedMP skin pack. works great.
You can checkout some screenshots here;
http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/streamedmp-301/new-streamed-mp-beta-v0-9-601-02-sep-2009-supports-mp-1-1-0-beta-69712/
The only way to get high quality mkv's (video or audio) is to make them yourself from BD's, like Greg mentioned.
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benareeno
Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 1614
Location: ottawa, canada
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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all good points...yes, having the disc allows for great lossless audio 
I still have my doubt that anyone can get absolutely 100% perfectly smooth playback with a PC. I mean...even with reclock, I could still detect the odd issue. But I'm guessing that we're getting closer and closer to something that equals a standalone in terms of smoothness.
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akajester
Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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Most of the smooth playback issues you speak of I see because of low video bitrate. For instance I notice it alot less with recorded OTA HD which is 15Mb/sec video, whereas some bluray mkv rips are 5Mb/sec. Why in gods name would someone rip a 1080p bluray and lower the bitrate to dvd quality? omg! Anyways, I've heard of people getting smoother playback using vista and the EVR renderer. Also, the new MADvr renderer (although it doesn't work with media portal) will work with MPC-HC player.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146228
I decided to stay away from vista and use xp, so still using vmr9 renderer.
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benareeno
Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 1614
Location: ottawa, canada
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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I was using Vista and EVR...and yes...playback was 99% smooth. But there was still the odd bit of jitter or very slight stutter.
Vista with EVR and enabling aero interface...you should do it...it really is a lot better than XP!
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Mark_A_W
Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 3068
Location: Sunny Melbourne Australia
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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madVR + Reclock = perfection.
And stop downloading crap files. Create you own mkv files from the discs.
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MikeEby
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5237
Location: Osceola, Indiana
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:42 am Post subject: |
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| Mark_A_W wrote: | madVR + Reclock = perfection.
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Have you see stablity issues when running MadVR?....I've had problems with MPC-HC hanging if I make a chapter change.
I do agree...madVR and Reclock is great best image motion ever very smooth....Other then this little glich when changing chapter its flawless...Its not that big a thing just happend once in a while...Most of the time I never change chapter anyway.
Mike
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Doing HD since the last century!
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Mark_A_W
Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 3068
Location: Sunny Melbourne Australia
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:52 am Post subject: |
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madVR's buffer behaves a little strangely. When you pause it plays a few frames, and when you seek around it does some odd stuff - is that what you mean?
But madVR is unstable if you resize the image, or if you swap monitors. It's fine if you go fullscreen first, then press play, and leave it alone.
In Zoomplayer I use the renderer override for MKV files to use madVR, but for all other files I use Haali Renderer.
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akajester
Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:21 am Post subject: |
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| Mark_A_W wrote: | madVR + Reclock = perfection.
And stop downloading crap files. Create you own mkv files from the discs. |
ordered a bd player and it should arrive tomorrow. can't wait to do my own HQ rips!
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MikeEby
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5237
Location: Osceola, Indiana
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:38 am Post subject: |
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| Mark_A_W wrote: | madVR's buffer behaves a little strangely. When you pause it plays a few frames, and when you seek around it does some odd stuff - is that what you mean?
But madVR is unstable if you resize the image, or if you swap monitors. It's fine if you go fullscreen first, then press play, and leave it alone.
In Zoomplayer I use the renderer override for MKV files to use madVR, but for all other files I use Haali Renderer. |
Yes...that does sound like the issue I've been running MPC-HC full screen so its really a non-issue for the most part....One nice thing about the latest MPC-HC, it has built in support for MadVR. Take all the guess work out of what your using for renders.
I can't even get Zoom player to run on my system...I get a divide by zero error on startup...I haven't looked much at fixing it because I'm happy with MPC-HC.
Mike
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Doing HD since the last century!
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MikeEby
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5237
Location: Osceola, Indiana
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:42 am Post subject: |
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| akajester wrote: | | Mark_A_W wrote: | madVR + Reclock = perfection.
And stop downloading crap files. Create you own mkv files from the discs. |
ordered a bd player and it should arrive tomorrow. can't wait to do my own HQ rips! |
I'm telling you it is so nice to have a movie load in a second...with no ads...No warning about updating your player, FBI warning or fumbling with menus...Just the movie.
Mike
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Doing HD since the last century!
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benareeno
Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 1614
Location: ottawa, canada
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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Does reclock still prefer or only really work with analog output for the audio?
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Mark_A_W
Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 3068
Location: Sunny Melbourne Australia
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| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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Analogue or LPCM via HDMI is preferred.
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