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houdini5923 · 2012-01-28, 22:55

I just bought a new Mac Mini Server (quad core i7) and I'm using XBMC. This is replacing a Revo with XBMC that I had earlier. I have a particularly large Blu-Ray rip (31GB), encoded as H264 MPEG-4 AVC. This video plays fine in XBMC on the Revo and fine in XBMC on my 2010 MacbookPro. For some reason the Mac Mini has issues. The issue is hard to describe. There are very specific areas in the video (every 5 - 10 seconds) where you'll see specific horizontal bands of the video look pixelated/off-color/corrupted. The audio is just fine.

Could it really be that the Mac Mini is that underpowered? It has the quad core i7, 4GB RAM and Intel HD 3000 graphics. The Macbook Pro I have (on which the video works fine) has a quad core i7, 4GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics. Is it just that the Intel HD 3000 graphics aren't up to snuff? They do offer a Mac Mini with an i5 and an AMD Radeon HD 6630M card. Would that help at all?

Also for what it's worth I tried upgrading to Eden Beta 2 but the same issue persists. Perhaps a codec issue? Any advice is appreciated. I'm thinking of returning the Mac Mini but I'd really rather prefer to work out the issue.

davilla · 2012-01-28, 23:45

Could be VDA on Intel HD 3000, has issues with that particular rip. I'm assuming that you are running the identical osx and xbmc versions on both.

houdini5923 · 2012-01-29, 00:23

Correct, the I'm using OSX 10.7.2 and XBMC 11 (beta 2) on both.

Is the suggestion to stick to a Windows machine and not a Mac?

For what it's worth I tried playing back in Plex as well and the same issue persists. It's the exact same glitches at the exact same moments. When I try to play the file in VLC it can hardly keep up at all on the Mac Mini but on my Macbook Pro it works flawlessly. Maybe I simply got a lemon? It's crazy. I expected much better for the price.

davilla · 2012-01-29, 01:31

It's the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics, look around for the previous gen unibody MacMini, same NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics as your Macbook Pro and hdmi out. I have no clue why Apple decided to take a nice box and cripple video playback with crappy intel gpu.

houdini5923 · 2012-01-29, 03:12

davilla Wrote:It's the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics, look around for the previous gen unibody MacMini, same NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics as your Macbook Pro and hdmi out. I have no clue why Apple decided to take a nice box and cripple video playback with crappy intel gpu.

OK, thanks for the info. I just noticed that this thread should probably have been posted in the "Hardware for XBMC" so feel free to move it there.

I might have to reconsider the move to Mac for XBMC but I'm really tired of dealing with Windows and its endless updates.

activate · 2012-01-29, 12:55

If you can put a sample up of the rip, I can give it a try. I have the same mini.

houdini5923 · 2012-01-29, 20:05

activate Wrote:If you can put a sample up of the rip, I can give it a try. I have the same mini.

Here's a sample that showcases the issue: https://rapidshare.com/files/1768338357/sample.mkv. It'd be great to hear if your model gives you the same issue.

activate · 2012-01-30, 01:56

houdini5923 Wrote:Here's a sample that showcases the issue: https://rapidshare.com/files/1768338357/sample.mkv. It'd be great to hear if your model gives you the same issue.

XBMC:

Plays fine with hardware acceleration Off.
Artifacts with acceleration On.
Running Eden Beta 1 with Adjust Display Refresh Rate to Video On.

VLC:

Plays fine.

Setup: Macmini 2011 server via hdmi to Onkyo to Samsung plasma 720p

houdini5923 · (This post was last modified: 2012-01-30, 07:35 by houdini5923.)

activate Wrote:XBMC:

Plays fine with hardware acceleration Off.
Artifacts with acceleration On.
Running Eden Beta 1 with Adjust Display Refresh Rate to Video On.

VLC:

Plays fine.

Setup: Macmini 2011 server via hdmi to Onkyo to Samsung plasma 720p

I've now had similar results. The artifacts go away when I disable hardware acceleration... but then the video is playing back really choppy, not smooth at all. In VLC, it barely plays at all. The audio is fine but the video is dropping nearly every frame. How could this be? Do I simply have a "lemon" of a product? Pretty disappointing stuff from Apple.

Setup is: Mac Mini 2011 Server via HDMI to Onkyo to LG LCD 1080i

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2012-01-30, 07:58

a core i7 should be able to CPU (software) decode just about anything without making the video choppy.

activate · 2012-01-30, 08:29

I think its time to look at your xbmc and the vlc/console logs. Also, in each case are you completely shutting down the contrasting application. eg. is VLC shutdown when xbmc is being used and visa versa. You can also use Activity Monitor to ensure that no other app is hogging resources.

houdini5923 · (This post was last modified: 2012-02-02, 00:33 by houdini5923.)

OK, I've been able to isolate the issue a bit more.

Lots of dropped frames in VLC:
Mac Mini -> HDMI -> LG 1080i HDTV (42LC7D: http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-42LC7D-lcd-hdtv)

Perfectly smooth playback in VLC:
Mac Mini -> HDMI -> Apple Display at the Genius Bar
Mac Mini -> HDMI/DVI adapter -> Samsung computer monitor

So there's something up with either the HDMI or the TV itself? This seems crazy to me but I guess it makes sense given that the audio plays fine but the video drops frames. It must be something with the display settings. Very strange. If anyone has advice, it would be much appreciated. I'll continue to play around some more tonight.

Note: I've also tried three different HDMI cables but that didn't solve the problem.

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2012-02-02, 00:22

I've read on the apple forums about some crazyness where the HDMI port was freaking out on video, but using an HDMI adapter was smooth

houdini5923 · 2012-02-02, 00:32

Ned Scott Wrote:I've read on the apple forums about some crazyness where the HDMI port was freaking out on video, but using an HDMI adapter was smooth

OH! But I should add... I took the Mini into the Genius Bar and when he hooked it up to an Apple display via HDMI, all was smooth. I'll update my previous post with that information.

activate · 2012-02-02, 02:28

Did you try xbmc at the genius bar Wink

No doubt, hdmi does have compatibility issues. Without being to explain it, audio tracks can cause the video to drop frames. It may be worth seeing if this applies to you by selecting a different audio track where available.

Did you find anything in the tv mannual that provides compatiblity data for resolutions and refresh rates. eg. Although mine has 3 hdmi ports, only one of them supports 720p/hdmi at 50/60 htz.