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+---- Thread: [APPLE TV] Playing 720p/1080p MKV files on the AppleTV? (/showthread.php?tid=44130)
- davilla - 2009-01-20 22:19
dimsumx Wrote:So ATV will never have any access to the GPU?
my crystal ball cannot see that far in the future.
- UnisonRuss - 2009-01-20 22:50
I think that as the software progresses and requires less power from the CPU MKV playback will improve...with the newest Launcher I have already noticed significant improvement (I am assuming this is because the app is using less resources now) - playback is actually watchable now, although still not perfect. Pleas note though, my 720P files are usually at L3.0 so they are not High Profile.
- edge777 - 2009-01-21 02:41
Does an increase in RAM help this out at all?
- davilla - 2009-01-21 03:29
edge777 Wrote:Does an increase in RAM help this out at all?
hahah, this is so funny. AppleTV ram is ball-grid surface mount. Good luck trying to a) remove it and b) putting a new chip on. This also assumes that there exists a memory chip with the same package but larger memory capacity AND that the additional address lines exist on the printed surface board.
- edge777 - 2009-01-21 05:02
davilla Wrote:hahah, this is so funny. AppleTV ram is ball-grid surface mount. Good luck trying to a) remove it and b) putting a new chip on. This also assumes that there exists a memory chip with the same package but larger memory capacity AND that the additional address lines exist on the printed surface board.
Well, I heard that upgrading RAM on the ATV was not easy, but after some research, you're right, it's pretty much impossible, as is upgrading the CPU. It makes me think I just maybe should have paid the extra cash and bought a Mac Mini. Oh well, new mini's are coming out soon I think!
- UnisonRuss - 2009-01-21 07:08
There is nothing we can do upgrading hardware wise, unless we all stripped the ATV bare and made our own box...that would be time consuming and costly though. it will have to be the developers that come up with a way to utilize the GPU somehow, or cut down on CPU usage even further through future updates.
- sircube - 2009-01-21 12:44
randywaterhouse Wrote:well, it's a transcode process so yes, theoretically you lose quality, but you'll still end up with very good quality
another option would be to use a couple of tools to convert mkvs into mp4s without re-encoding, but that's a bit more complicated: http://code.google.com/p/mkvtops3mp4/
here's another tutorial: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=622894
randy.
Further more you can try mkv2vob. Simple interface.
e.g. 8GB MKV with
Resolution : 1280x688
Video Bitrate : 7580 kbps
Audio Specs : Mayan AC3 5.1 @ 640 kbps
can be relative fast converted to vob or other container using "just" mpeg-2 encode (1.5 hours on my dual core T61p). File size grows 10% but disk space normally isn't a problem if you're in the highdef world.
Point is that MPEG-2 requires least processing that's why I go with it. 720p files play smoothly.
I still keep the original mkv hoping for a GPU acceleration some point in time.
- Fede84 - 2009-01-21 13:16
sircube Wrote:Further more you can try mkv2vob. Simple interface.
e.g. 8GB MKV with
Resolution : 1280x688
Video Bitrate : 7580 kbps
Audio Specs : Mayan AC3 5.1 @ 640 kbps
can be relative fast converted to vob or other container using "just" mpeg-2 encode (1.5 hours on my dual core T61p). File size grows 10% but disk space normally isn't a problem if you're in the highdef world.
Point is that MPEG-2 requires least processing that's why I go with it. 720p files play smoothly.
I still keep the original mkv hoping for a GPU acceleration some point in time.
But in this way i have a loss of quality or not?
- UnisonRuss - 2009-01-21 20:02
Are you transcoding the video into the VOB or just remuxing? That makes a big difference! If you are transcoding using this program it is the same as encoding the file using Handbrake...but if you are just remuxing and the 720P content is playing smoothly then you are on to something!
...I must do some testing now
- UnisonRuss - 2009-01-22 00:42
Same playback with the remuxed files as I suspected...I will add however that since the new launcher 720P files are playing back almost flawlessly, just some jitters on pan shots, and dropped frames here and there, definitely a noticeable difference though! Keep up the good work guys, soon ATV will do what we want it to do