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+---- Thread: To Apple TV 2 or not 2? (/showthread.php?tid=93094)
To Apple TV 2 or not 2? - SavellM - 2011-02-04
So Im seriously tempted to go out and buy a Apple TV2 just to run XBMC.
All my movies are 1080p .mkv's.
Most are pretty big around the 5gb or up mark.
If Im using Ethernet to a NAS (Buffalo NAS) will I be able to stream without stuttering?
I have seen a few comments or YouTube vids of it but with stutter.
Thanks guys.
And awesome work XBMC devs!
- johnsea - 2011-02-04
SavellM Wrote:So Im seriously tempted to go out and buy a Apple TV2 just to run XBMC.
All my movies are 1080p .mkv's.
Most are pretty big around the 5gb or up mark.
If Im using Ethernet to a NAS (Buffalo NAS) will I be able to stream without stuttering?
I have seen a few comments or YouTube vids of it but with stutter.
Thanks guys.
And awesome work XBMC devs!
Currently is there hardware acceleration from the graphics chip on videos encoded in x264. It works awesome, and there isn't any stuttering at all. However, if you hidef stuff is in other formats such as Xvid, there currently issn't any graphics chip support and it is put onto the CPU, which is very weak. 720p xVids buffer constantly, I can't imagine 1080p would work at all. Rumours have it they are working on a hardware decoder for xVid, but at the time it sucks for that.
- procrastinator - 2011-02-04
I'd say that you'd be better off splashing out a bit more on the hardware and going for a nettop.
AppleTV2 doesn't output at 1080p, and though it's possible that this could be developed in the future, it's not known for sure, and development of this isn't a priority at the moment. Presumably you've encoded all your movies at 1080p for a reason, so I imagine this is a bit of a let down. Even if output in 720p is OK then it's very unlikely that all your movies will play back smoothly on XBMC for ATV2 as is at the moment.
- DuMbGuM - 2011-02-04
I got mine and admittedly didn't realize that it can only decode 1080p, pretty foolish of me! However the quality doesn't seem much worse, especially when sitting back some distance from the display I can't see much of a difference, I'm really happy with it and hope 1080p playback will be possible in the future.
- SavellM - 2011-02-04
Im ok if it outputs at 720p.
Would love 1080p but guessing that Apple only made the hardware as good as it needed to be for 720p.
The only thing if it doesn't play smooth, then that's an issue for me.
- jd2157 - 2011-02-04
SavellM Wrote:So Im seriously tempted to go out and buy a Apple TV2 just to run XBMC.
All my movies are 1080p .mkv's.
Most are pretty big around the 5gb or up mark.
If Im using Ethernet to a NAS (Buffalo NAS) will I be able to stream without stuttering?
I have seen a few comments or YouTube vids of it but with stutter.
Seeing that you're using ethernet and .mkv files (/w x264 codec I assume) you have a good shot at success. It'll output at 720p though.
Definitely go with an unofficial build of XBMC though... bugs are being squashed by the minute and some were relevant to 1080p content.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=92261
If it doesn't work you can wait out the 30 day (or whatever) return period and if you don't like the progress with XBMC back it goes.
- SavellM - 2011-02-04
jd2157 Wrote:If it doesn't work you can wait out the 30 day (or whatever) return period and if you don't like the progress with XBMC back it goes.
I'll definitely give the daily build a try.
Thing is, Im planning on buying it in the US, but I live in the UK.
So returns will be a bit of an issue.
But then again, can always flog it on eBay for a profit if it doesn't work nicely
- Tomeq - 2011-09-28
Hi, this is my first post here, I don't want to make another similar thread, so I will use this one.
I'm reading this forum for a while - gathering some information about XBMC a Apple TV2. I'm XBMC user on my computer for a few weeks and I have to say - I'm in love!
I want to say - It's nearly perfect, even I have some problems with it (I have music on external HDD which is not connected to my pc permanently, so my music "library mode" always disappears after time or after reconnection of HDD, I can still see my files in "files mode", but I have to always use "scan item to library" to use library, which is bit annoying - can somebody help?)But main reason why I'm writing this - my Popcorn Hour A110 driving me crazy - it freezes, its slow, there is no "library mode" and always letting me down, especially if I want to watch some movie with my friends.
What I expect:
1. I really like the idea that I have one cheap, small, silent and nearly invisible box in my living room with simple remote
2. I want to watch my HD content stored on my pc (720p and few 1080p .mkv + low resolution xvid, wmv, avi files - mostly tv series - let's say 624x352) via wired home network
3. present high resolution pictures from holidays to my friends flawlessly on huge TV screen (stored in computer)
4. stream music from my computer to my stereo (using apple TV + DAC) without "TV ON" - all controlled over my iphone remote app
5. maybe some youtube videos, weather and that's it - no online TV watching, torrents, any other programs and services
6. it should be all always ready, always "ON" (apple TV has great power consumption for this)
7. I really don't mind to do some jailbreaking, tweaks and "tuning" at the beginning , but then I don't want any regular updates, againtweaking, video stuttering, or any other problems, simply because THAT'S WHAT I ALREADY HAVE
8. I like things simple, organized and I LIKE WHEN THINGS WORK (iPhone for example
)So what do you think guys? Is apple TV + XBMC for me, or not? Thanks
BTW - sorry for my English, it's my second language ;-)
- Scott R - 2011-09-28
Sounds like the ATV2 should work well for both of you. As johnsea stated, the key for successful playback of HD content is that the file must be encoded in x264. In Windows, you should be able to right click on your files, bring up Properties/Details, and find out if that's the case. If you're encoding your own content, you can be in control of that (HandBrake is a great tool).
I wouldn't consider 5GB to be "big" for 1080p movies. A Blu-ray .MKV rip can easily exceed 20GB, and I've had success playing some of those without stuttering so long as they were encoded as x264 and I didn't need to turn on the subtitles. A 5GB file, OTOH, should play fine (if it's x264), even over 802.11n.
- dirtymurt - 2011-09-29
i have an ATV in the bedroom. I was quite disappointed with XBMC with my vast library, it is just so slow. I am a huge fan of XBMC running it in variouis flavours on more powerful hardware all over the house.
i do however, love the ATV2, but is use it with, dare i say it, PL3X and it runs brilliantly
- chuckles - 2011-09-29
Tomeq Wrote:Hi, this is my first post here, I don't want to make another similar thread, so I will use this one.
I'm reading this forum for a while - gathering some information about XBMC a Apple TV2. I'm XBMC user on my computer for a few weeks and I have to say - I'm in love!
But main reason why I'm writing this - my Popcorn Hour A110 driving me crazy - it freezes, its slow, there is no "library mode" and always letting me down, especially if I want to watch some movie with my friends.
What I expect:
1. I really like the idea that I have one cheap, small, silent and nearly invisible box in my living room with simple remote
2. I want to watch my HD content stored on my pc (720p and few 1080p .mkv + low resolution xvid, wmv, avi files - mostly tv series - let's say 624x352) via wired home network
3. present high resolution pictures from holidays to my friends flawlessly on huge TV screen (stored in computer)
4. stream music from my computer to my stereo (using apple TV + DAC) without "TV ON" - all controlled over my iphone remote app
5. maybe some youtube videos, weather and that's it - no online TV watching, torrents, any other programs and services
6. it should be all always ready, always "ON" (apple TV has great power consumption for this)
7. I really don't mind to do some jailbreaking, tweaks and "tuning" at the beginning , but then I don't want any regular updates, againtweaking, video stuttering, or any other problems, simply because THAT'S WHAT I ALREADY HAVE
8. I like things simple, organized and I LIKE WHEN THINGS WORK (iPhone for example
So what do you think guys? Is apple TV + XBMC for me, or not? Thanks
BTW - sorry for my English, it's my second language ;-)
I do all of this now no problems but I do have a wired cat6 gigabit hub link
- Tomeq - 2011-09-29
Ok, I think I get one and give it a try... How is general UI of XBMC on apple tv? There is few videos on youtube and in few of them XBMC skin doesn't look really smooth.
- Ned Scott - 2011-09-29
Tomeq Wrote:Ok, I think I get one and give it a try... How is general UI of XBMC on apple tv? There is few videos on youtube and in few of them XBMC skin doesn't look really smooth.
Huge improvements have been made in this area, and that's even without turning Dirty Regions on (which improves GUI response even more, and for all XBMC platforms). Feature heavy skins like the Aeon's still don't do so well, but that also happens on some Atom-based HTPCs.
For most skins it UI is very snappy now and a pleasure to use. Like night and day when you compare it to the early XBMC for ATV2/iOS builds.
- craigpd - 2011-10-03
Sorry to hi-jack this thread but I've been browsing the forum for a couple of weeks looking at what HTPC would work for me and I was going to make a post similar to Tomeq but from the replies it seems like the ATV2 fits the bill as my video collection is only DVDs, which I will transcode to mkv's with the appropriate codec.
However even though I now know what box to use I was wondering if someone could tell me if http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-ShareCenter-Network-Storage-Enclosure/dp/tech-data/B004AIWOXY/ref=de_a_smtd would work well as the network storage?. My goal would be to stick 2x2tb drives in it (probably WD greens as people here seem to rate them) and eliminate my dvd collection.
Many thanks for any advice you can provide.
- universaljoint - 2011-10-03
We bought our ATV2 last year, about a week after XBMC was announced as running on the platform. In general, I love it, and for the money, you can't really go wrong. However, here are my thoughts:
Pros:
1. Our TV is wall mounted, and the ATV2 is small and light enough to attach to the back of the TV with 3M command-adhesive strips. This means a *very* clean look is possible. (huge upgrade from our old XBOX aesthetically).
2. Capable of playing HD content (which original xbox never could).
3. Power consumption is less than 5% that of the original xbox, and probably less than any of the alternatives.
Cons:
1. XBMC on ATV2 is still a work in progress, especially compared to more stable builds on other platforms. I use the unofficial daily builds, and the devs, who are awesome, have improved it a great deal already since it came out.
I've seen some issues with sound quality, occasional buffering, but generally the ability to view video is quite solid - we use it for this every day with very few complaints. Most of the issues that annoy me are minor UI details -- no software volume control yet (so I have to use 2 remotes), no rolling remote control repeats, meaning there can be a lot of button presses to scroll through long lists (I miss scrolling with the XBOX's analog triggers!!).
2. APPLE TV 2 REMOTE. Small, sexy, but a pain in the ass. I want to like it, but it is always falling through the cracks in our reclining sofa. Eventually I got so frustrated with this that I ended up wrapping it with this stuff to make it bigger. It also doesn't really have enough buttons for the optimal XBMC experience. That's not to say it doesn't work. It does -- just takes a bit of getting used to -- and if you hate it you can always use the available iphone and android remote apps, which are pretty cool.