[johnnie.it]

Hi guys,

my screen died recently and I'm going to buy a new TV, so I figured I'd get myself a nice 3D samsung panel.
Now, I've seen this blog post and was trying to understand what would "relatively high powered CPUs" mean.
Right now my XBMC is running on a nice AMD E-350 APU board, along with drivebender, sabnzbd, sickbeard, nzbdrone, couchpotato, headphones, jdownloader and I'm really happy with this build.

So my questions so far are:
1. Would that kind of CPU be enough to decode 3D content?
2. Does anybody know whether hardware support for 3D is on the to-do list?
3. More importantly, is hardware support for 3D scheduled for release with Gotham final?

Since this kind of panel doesn't exactly come cheap, I would hate to buy one and then discover I can't use it.
On that line, I was also considering the possibility of an upgrade, and so:
4. Would a pentium g3220 be enough?
5. If not, how about a core i3-4130?
6. Is there anyway a suitable 1150 CPU with less than a 54w TDP? My current one does 18, and that's perfect for a 24/7 build.
I'm asking precisely about these two CPUs because I'm gonna need to get this mainboard. I really need more than 4 SATA ports.
Sorry I have to bother you with those questions, but this 3D thing is kinda new and I couldn't really find any info.

Well, thanks for your time.

[p750mmx]

The Samsung panel you're linking to has the ability to display "stunning true 3D visuals", for me that means Full (Real) 3D, that is something else then stereoscopic 3D that Gothem will support If you want to be prepared for a future XBMC version that supports Real 3D without the use of a external player, then you should get hardware that will be able to display Real 3D.
I don't think the G3220 will be able to display Real 3D butt I can be wrong with this.

[DJ_Izumi]

My screen died recently and I'm going to buy a new TV, so I figured I'd get myself a nice 3D samsung panel.
Now, I've seen this blog post and was trying to understand what would "relatively high powered CPUs" mean.
Right now my XBMC is running on a nice AMD E-350 APU board, along with drivebender, sabnzbd, sickbeard, nzbdrone, couchpotato, headphones, jdownloader and I'm really happy with this build.

How do you have ALL of that running happily on an E-350? My very first XBMC box was an Athlon 64 3200+, really about JUST as powerful as an E-350 and once I started using SickBeard/CouchPotato/Sabnzbd, it'd really go nuts when it came to unraring/paring stuff. It's what made me go 'Nope, time to get something WAY more powerful!'. I passed over an E-350 in favor of a much meatier A6-3500 (Now an A8-3870K).

[johnnie.it]

How do you have ALL of that running happily on an E-350? My very first XBMC box was an Athlon 64 3200+, really about JUST as powerful as an E-350 and once I started using SickBeard/CouchPotato/Sabnzbd, it'd really go nuts when it came to unraring/paring stuff. It's what made me go 'Nope, time to get something WAY more powerful!'. I passed over an E-350 in favor of a much meatier A6-3500 (Now an A8-3870K).

And that's not all: I store all my temp downloads (and therefore verify and extract them) on an external usb2 drive. Quite as reactive as an ashtray
But seriously, it's not that bad. That software downloads, verifies, extracts and organizes all my stuff automatically, so what if it takes 6 hours insted of 1? I'm still at work, or sleeping, or out with friends, or *insert your favorite activity here* anyway. And when I get back I find my stuff ready.
Also, as I said, it's only 18W TDP, what do you expect? And with the integrated radeon I never had the slightest problem watching a 1.5gbps movie (when it does something else while watching an avi file it can actually stutter a little bit).

The Samsung panel you're linking to has the ability to display "stunning true 3D visuals", for me that means Full (Real) 3D, that is something else then stereoscopic 3D that Gothem will support If you want to be prepared for a future XBMC version that supports Real 3D without the use of a external player, then you should get hardware that will be able to display Real 3D.
I don't think the G3220 will be able to display Real 3D butt I can be wrong with this.

I don't know, as I'm awfully ignorant about 3D. My only experience was with anaglyph cyan/red back in 1991, when I saw Nightmare 6.
Anyway I did a bit of research, and it appears that there's a difference between half SBS and full SBS.
From what I gathered apparently there's no hardware way (except perhaps with proprietary drivers, APIs, SDKs, or whatever) to *output* MVC from a pc because it has to pack 1.x images into 1 frame. That is, the left eye plus the delta for the right eye.
The TV can take care of that, but it still needs two images for the two eyes, so the PC has to output a 3840x1080 image, which is not supported by the graphics card, as it only supports 1920x1080. So that work has to be done on the fly by the processor, and that's why full 3D support needs this kind of juice.

Now, the question is: did I get it right?
And regardless, what kind of processor would be able to do that? An i7? I seriously hope not.
It would be so nice to have the opinion of an actual developer here...

[Dougie Fresh]

You need MVC decode for full 3D which is supported by Core i3 or better and AMD A6 or better though maybe not A6 Trinity/Richland but definitely A6 Llano.

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-034162.htm

[johnnie.it]

You need MVC decode for full 3D which is supported by Core i3 or better and AMD A6 or better though maybe not A6 Trinity/Richland but definitely A6 Llano.

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-034162.htm

Yes, I saw that. My point is that a graphics card provides *hardware* support, in my book.
Actually, my current Radeon HD 6310 seems to support HDMI 1.4a too, so that also should be suitable for playing back 3D content, isn't it?
I thought the "software" support would mean that it only had to do with raw cpu power. In that case it's not a question of if/how a processor supports MVC/HDMI 1.4a, but just how many cycles it could dedicate to 3D video playback.
From what you say, it looks like I'm wrong, and I certainly hope so

Oh and just to be clear: I'm looking for full 3D support INSIDE XBMC (upcoming Gotham, perhaps final), not using an external player.

[Dougie Fresh]

If the HD6310 can do it depends on if it's supports UVD3 or not. Otherwise, the MVC decode is done via CPU and I doubt the E-350 is powerful enough. UVD3 is what supports MVC decode in GPU in AMD. Then you need the software to support UVD3. No idea what Intel's acronym is -- I just know you need an i3 or better. AMD is harder to figure out. To be safe i3 or better, A8 or better though again some A6 might be enough to support CPU MVC decode but YMMV.

[nikc0069]

I've looked into this before - the e350 does not provide MVC decoding.

[p750mmx]

"Oh and just to be clear: I'm looking for full 3D support INSIDE XBMC (upcoming Gotham, perhaps final), not using an external player. "

Well, that seems to be not the case with Gotham, only 3D SBS/TB(OU), but if you want to be 3D (2x1080P) future-proof when buying hardware, then the i3 can do that (if Intel says it can), and maybe the AMD A6/A8 but I never tested them myself. The E-350 can't do it, only 3D SBS/OU. And if you don't wanna use an external player for 3D, it can take some time that it will be possible for you to play Real 3D by using only XBMC as player.

[johnnie.it]

Well, that's it, then.
Intel says it can, but they also say you'll need a suitable software (and tv), in order to do that.
Is there anything like a roadmap for when will XBMC have full 3D support? Maybe just an educated guess?

Anyway, thanks everybody.