Box that can stream full mkv with HD audio?
#1
Have recently been using Makemkv to rip my Blu-ray movies with dts-ma, Dolby true-hd, etc. Currently ripping to a 3tb external (formatted to ext3) connected to my Netgear r7000 routers USB port and streaming up via wired connection to my Pivos Xios Ds. Unfortunately it seems the Pivos doesn't have the ability to stream these reliably. Most rips stutter like crazy especially if I use the HD audio (dts-ma). . In some cases (eg Frozen) the movies Wil play fine in DTS, but the majority still stutter.

Even if I connect the hard drive directly to the Pivos box it stutters (oddly more so this way). . They play fine off my HTPC so I assuming the Pivos box with the Arm7 processor just can't handle the containers that large and or with higher bit rates.

As opposed to building more HTPC (NUC or otherwise), are their any small for factor boxes with remotes that are capable of streaming full mkv files?

I may ultimately move to a NAS but not sure this will make a difference unless I get a NAS that transcodes, so will likely have the same issue with the Pivos boxes (have tried the new Pivos Xios XS but I has the same issues given it appears to have the same arm processor which is disappointing as Pivos has been otherwise flawless for xbmc).

I don't think it is a setting issue as I've tried just about everything.

Thx
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#2
Chromebox + PS3 BD bluetooth remote? That will play Blu-ray rips including HD Audio, has GigE, USB3, internal Bluetooth/Wifi, 16GB SSD, 2-4GB RAM etc. Very easy to install OpenElec, very easy to enable Bluetooth remote, no 24p bug etc. Currently an Intel driver bug for Haswell GPU - but believe it is being worked on. (Occasional freezes on certain clips)
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#3
Thx.. Looking at those but ideally something even simpler like a Pivos style box (small, built in ir, always on, around $100) would be great, if one exists that can play these kinds of files without stutter.
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#4
The only box you're going to get that meets those requirements is the DN2820FYKH NUC with the Bay Trail Celeron.
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#5
Have the issues with that box been resolved?
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#6
Not sure what issues you mean? Under Windows there are issues on the Baytrail platform with HD Audio (as the drivers don't support it) - but under OpenElec it is fine apparently. It also doesn't have the 24p bug that earlier generations of Intel GPUs had. I don't think it has the current driver bug that Haswell GPUs have - though hopefully they will be resolved soon.

That said - I'm not sure how much cheaper the NUC is than the Chromebox once you've put RAM and 2.5" SSD or HD in the NUC (the Chromebox has 2 or 4GB of RAM and a 16GB mSATA SSD already) though the NUC does have integrated IR (and unlike some other NUCs comes with WiFI/Bluetooth card installed - as does the Chromebox, though not sure if the NUC is 5GHz, the Chromebox is)

The Baytrail NUC doesn't have the worlds greatest GPU (so scaling can be compromised) and it doesn't have the grunt to do software de-interlacing of VAAPI decoded video, so you are left with Bob only (and not the software YADIF 2x) if you watch 1080/50i HD content (like TV)
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#7
Another option, ECS LIVA: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856501007

$165, includes 2GB of soldered on RAM and 32 GB of eMMC memory, wifi, bluetooth, USB 3, gig ethernet, and is fanless. About the same CPU performance as the N2820 NUC. I'm not sure about the GPU.
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#8
(2014-08-03, 15:01)Sdpbc Wrote: Thx.. Looking at those but ideally something even simpler like a Pivos style box (small, built in ir, always on, around $100) would be great, if one exists that can play these kinds of files without stutter.

$100 is a pretty tough budget for what you are after.

A used Boxee Box can be had for that price, can be rooted and you can install XBMC on it. It will play full BD rips but does not support HD audio. You will get 2 channel stereo from Dolby True-HD and you will get DTS core from a DTS-MA track.

I use Boxees in all of my secondary rooms to play my big library of ripped BDs. The performance is adequate for secondary use, although the scanning speed during playback can be a little laggy.

In main room I use an i3 Haswell NUC. It's not cheap but the performance is excellent.
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#9
The HP Chromebox is $150 shipped from Amazon currently, only downside is lack of built-in IR
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#10
(2014-08-05, 20:12)Matt Devo Wrote: The HP Chromebox is $150 shipped from Amazon currently, only downside is lack of built-in IR

That is indeed pretty tough to beat.
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#11
I haven't been able to determine from the specs: does the Chromebox have HDMI 1.4 output to support full blu-ray 3D video output if XBMC ever ends up supporting it?
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#12
I may be wrong, but I'm not sure the Haswell Celerons support 3D MVC decoding (which is required for hardware accelerated 3D Blu-ray playback).
http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-034162.htm Suggests that the Baytrail Celerons do but the Haswell (4th Gen) Celerons (which only have HD Graphics) aren't listed?

Not sure if the GPU can handle the frame packed HDMI output (that effectively outputs double-height frames - one for each eye) which would be required for Full HD 3D output even if the MVC was transcoded to a full resolution TAB or SBS MKV or similar.

Half res TAB/SBS stuff will be fine - but that's effectively the same as 2D 1080p/720p stuff.
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#13
(2014-08-04, 11:11)noggin Wrote: Not sure what issues you mean? Under Windows there are issues on the Baytrail platform with HD Audio (as the drivers don't support it) - but under OpenElec it is fine apparently. It also doesn't have the 24p bug that earlier generations of Intel GPUs had. I don't think it has the current driver bug that Haswell GPUs have - though hopefully they will be resolved soon.

That said - I'm not sure how much cheaper the NUC is than the Chromebox once you've put RAM and 2.5" SSD or HD in the NUC (the Chromebox has 2 or 4GB of RAM and a 16GB mSATA SSD already) though the NUC does have integrated IR (and unlike some other NUCs comes with WiFI/Bluetooth card installed - as does the Chromebox, though not sure if the NUC is 5GHz, the Chromebox is)

The Baytrail NUC doesn't have the worlds greatest GPU (so scaling can be compromised) and it doesn't have the grunt to do software de-interlacing of VAAPI decoded video, so you are left with Bob only (and not the software YADIF 2x) if you watch 1080/50i HD content (like TV)

Had read about USB issues...

http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2014/20140...e_way.html

Rumours that they discontinued the chip because of this and announced a new 2830.. wasn't sure whether this issue manifested itself with xbmc based usage.
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#14
Interesting. I hadn't realised that the N2807 (which the ECS Liva is based on) was a newer chip iteration than the N2820. The N2807 apparently supports PAP and thus allows Windows HD Audio bit streaming, but the N2820 doesn't. I wonder if this is also a tweak, alongside the USB tweaks?

Fritsch and Fernetmenta have got a lot further down the road of decent quality VAAPI de-interlacing with new pre-release Intel drivers, and whilst the 2955U does Motion Compensated de-interlacing, it is expected (the drivers are still buggy) that the N2820 will max out at Motion Adaptive (which isn't quite as good). However it will be better than Bob, which was previously all you could do with 1080i on a 2820 as it didn't support YADIF in software (not enough grunt).
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#15
A 2820 has come up on the used market that I might see if I can get a bit cheaper. What does it mean that it can't do windows hd audio bit streaming?

Will this box struggle with what I want it to do which is play some high bit rate mkv container movies with full hd audio? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy an i3?
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