[kerpal2020]

I posted on other forums but got no response, so I figured someone here might know the answer to this.

I am trying to figure out how I can watch full 3D BluRays (Frame Packing and not SBS) on my current setup while retaining HD Audio. My current setup is:

TV: Panasonic TC-P60ST60 (In the next few days)
Receiver: Harmon Kardon AVR-1600
HTPC: Dual Core Celeron G530 w/4GB DDR3 Ram, Sapphire Radeon HD 6450 1 GB. This is running XBMC Frodo 12.2

The problem: My receiver only supports HDMI 1.3 and not 1.4a for full 3D, however my video card does support HDMI 1.4a which can be plugged in directly to my TV. By doing this I would lose HD audio. My only option I can think of is to then use Optical/Digital out for my sound. I also know that XBMC does not yet support 3D BluRays, so I would assume i'd have to use a 3rd party software player for this. (Any updates from XBMC if this will be supported in the future?)

Potential solutions: I could get a video card that has HDMI and Displayport. Displayport could be plugged directly into the TV and the HDMI out could go to my receiver for HD Audio. (I am not entirely sure if this works). If this does work, anyone have suggestions for a particular video card?

I'd like to avoid having to buy a new receiver and am looking for cheap alternatives to make this work. The simplest seems to just forgo using HD audio and settle for DTS/AC3.

Please share your thoughts!

[jammyb]

Don't think optical can do HD Audio. It's only 5.1

[noggin]

Does your motherboard support the on-CPU gfx for your Celeron G530?

It may be possible to get HD Audio out from the Intel gfx (to route the motherboard HDMI to your amp) whilst you can route the 6450's HDMI 1.4 output directly to the TV? Might be worth looking at this before replacing your video card?

Not sure if XBMC supports frame-packed 3D though.

[nickr]

XBMC does not support MVC if that is what you are after. You need to use an external player.

You may be able to get a HDMI splitter to feed to both the TV and the amp.

EDIT: to add, there is some talk, but nothing firm, about MVC support being developed for ffmpeg. Once it is in ffmpeg, you will have to wait for a ffmpeg-xbmc resync before you see it in xbmc. So my prediction? Certainly not in gotham. Likely not in [whatever comes after gotham].

Of course that assumes the ffmpeg guys even get on to it. Not much positive on that front presently.

EDIT2: Perhaps something like this: http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY%C2%AE-HDMI-...B0015YRMXI although it doesn't say what HDMI version is supported.

[Meelisv]

Silly question: have you actually tried playing 3D with current configuration?
In case of reciever, 3D/HDMI 1.4 should be only question of bandwith, since it essentially passes through video signal and splits out audio. Odds are that if reciever has enough bandwith it can pass through 3D signal even if it is only certified for HDMI 1.3.
Optical really doent support HD audio, but it might be a way to go if youre willing to sacrifice bit of audio resolution for 3D. It really depends how good your speakers are, if they can take real advantage of HD audio detail/resolution or not.

[kerpal2020]

Does your motherboard support the on-CPU gfx for your Celeron G530?

It may be possible to get HD Audio out from the Intel gfx (to route the motherboard HDMI to your amp) whilst you can route the 6450's HDMI 1.4 output directly to the TV? Might be worth looking at this before replacing your video card?

Not sure if XBMC supports frame-packed 3D though.

This is a great idea, I actually just tried this and technically it all works. However, my Celeron G530 doesn't seem to support the HD audio streams (I get a ton of stuttering when trying), but all other audio does get passed through to the receiver through HDMI. If I had a i3 with Intel 4000 graphics, it should support all HD audio.

---

Silly question: have you actually tried playing 3D with current configuration?
In case of reciever, 3D/HDMI 1.4 should be only question of bandwith, since it essentially passes through video signal and splits out audio. Odds are that if reciever has enough bandwith it can pass through 3D signal even if it is only certified for HDMI 1.3.
Optical really doent support HD audio, but it might be a way to go if youre willing to sacrifice bit of audio resolution for 3D. It really depends how good your speakers are, if they can take real advantage of HD audio detail/resolution or not.

I actually haven't tried this, but will do so the first chance I get.

[kerpal2020]

I was able to get bitstreaming to work using on-CPU GPU from the G530. I had to update to the correct drivers, but i'm able to get HDMI from G530 to receiver for HD-Audio and HDMI from Radeon directly to the TV. I'll test a 3D BluRay soon and see how it works.

[danbst]

I have a 6450 and despite reading everywhere that it supports 3D I can't get it to run smoothly. I can get it to play but it drops frames. I only have 4GB RAM on this particular HTPC mind so that may be the bottleneck.

[nickr]

I have a 6450 and despite reading everywhere that it supports 3D I can't get it to run smoothly. I can get it to play but it drops frames. I only have 4GB RAM on this particular HTPC mind so that may be the bottleneck.

What format is your 3D file in? My ION2 machine plays SBS fine and it has only 2G RAM. 4GB is more than sufficient RAM for any HTPC use.

[danbst]

Indeed. SBS is fine thanks.... I'm trying to get decent 3D ISO going.

[nickr]

When you say a 3D iso are you talking about an iso rip of a 3d bluray? If so it will be MVC encoded and won't play in XBMC at all.

[danbst]

Yup sorry nickr,
I noticed the OP had the same card as one of my systems and was inquiring about 3D. I am aware XBMC doesn't do MVC I was merely chipping in that I can't get this card to perform with MVC even in a full Windows environment. I know that you can use external players (with XBMC) such as PowerDVD but the fact remains despite info on the internet that suggests otherwise this card doesn't cut the mustard.
As you rightly pointed out earlier SBS rips are to all intents and purposes straightforward 1080p so any card that plays 1080 MKV will be able to handle SBS.