CoreAVC binary DLL codec under XBMC's DVDPlayer?
#1
Question 
Can XBMC be made to support the CoreAVC binary DLL codec?

Most of the in 1080p (1920x1080) native resolution high-definition video content that I watch are 4,5GB or 8.5GB h.264 encoded rips of Blu-Ray or HD DVD movie discs. These high-queslity rips are currently extremely popular downloads on usenet and on private torrent sits, so I would say that they today represent the baseline benchmark of 1080p. In my personal computer I now have an Intel Core2 Duo E6300 CPU which I overclocked from 1.86GHz up to 2.8GHz. I am on Microsoft Windows XP so far but maybe I should also try to put Linux or OSx86 (Mac OS X 10.5) on the same hardware to find out for sure if the operating-system makes a difference. My experience is other third-party video-player softwares like VLC, MPC, and MPlayer (or FFdshow under Windows Media Player) which all uses FFmpeg simply shows that FFmpeg currenty cannot playback 1080p h.264 files without drastic stuttering due to loads of frames being dropped, nor does any FFmpeg-based video-player seem to be able to handle those huge 1080i files if they are encoded with a h.264 codec. So I am skeptical that a 1.8GHz or 2.0Ghz laptop processor in say a Apple Mac Mini can handle the 1080p resolution h.264 standard.

My concern is the naked prejudice in the open source community against CoreAVC. Why does almost all open source developers demonize and fight aganest this codec?, is it simply evil because it costs $8 ro what? Are they just jealous because it is practially twice as fast as any open source h.264 decodec? Yeah, they say that any day now FFmpeg will magically double in performance or any day now Apple will release a Mac Mini with a 3GHz CPU, but I am tired of this what to me sounds like FUD. Anyway, the Linux version of MPlayer have made some accomodation for compiling in a way to load the closed-source CoreAVC DLL codec files for Microsoft Windows. I think that should allow these older Mac Minis to playback native 1080p videos.

I urge that CoreAVC support be integrated into XBMC, (the users of XBMC should then simply have the option to buy the CoreAVC codec then put it in the right folder under XBMC and XBMC video-player should automaticly detect and use it instead of FFmpeg for h264 encoded videos).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoreAVC "An open source project hosted at Google Code CoreAVC-For-Linux, patches the dshow loader code in mplayer and allows it to connect to the win32 CoreAVC DirectShow filter. It does not include CoreAVC, but simply allows mplayer to make use of it.

http://code.google.com/p/coreavc-for-linux/ "CoreAVC is a proprietary Windows codec for H.264 video decoding. It is much faster than any currently available open-source codecs. Being multi-threaded, and able to play PAFF streams, it can handle HD H.264/AVC streams that no freely available codecs can. Amen brother! And the multi threads will leverage the 2 cores.
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#2
Thumbs Up 
i second that...
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#3
I think that this is why we have Grumpy Bastard Developers.
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#4
BigJim,

Feel free to download the latest SVN and code a plugin module for XBMC/ffmpeg that uses coreAVC.
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#5
If you want xbmc to use it then you'll probably have to patch it yourself...
I for one wouldn't dream of spending my time on something like this.
What's next? we have to pay 8$ for videodrivers aswell, and another 12$ for the audiodrivers...
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"Well Im gonna download the code and look at it a bit but I'm certainly not a really good C/C++ programer but I'd help as much as I can, I mostly write in C#."
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#6
I don't understand the resistance on this one (except for the fact that it would take me quite some time to get this integrated). I for one would gladly pay $8 for a component that would make my 1080p video play smoother. Not that I have all that much trouble with the current state of affairs Smile

There is nothing wrong with for-pay components that add value.

-elan
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#7
elan Wrote:(except for the fact that it would take me quite some time to get this integrated).
Yeah my last message was a bit short.

The the problem I found with the OP, we don't even have DVD support working and we're expected to drop everything and code for this. I do agree, if there was a cost involved to get flawless video playing I would be happy to pony up for it.

I'll even pitch in $8 bucks so Top can get a copy Wink
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#8
I would think you apple boys/girls would be resistant to anything pretending its windows to load it on your mac Smile

That aside from what I hear coreavc does these things at expense of a little quality anyway
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#9
Well I only have 720p screen so I have little problem with framedrops Smile but I'd rather see energy be put into making a viable solution that is free, ie using the GPU by shaders and such. Then again there might be a day when I'd have use for it Wink
If you have problems please read this before posting

Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.

Image

"Well Im gonna download the code and look at it a bit but I'm certainly not a really good C/C++ programer but I'd help as much as I can, I mostly write in C#."
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#10
iordonez Wrote:The the problem I found with the OP, we don't even have DVD support working and we're expected to drop everything and code for this.

Yes, completely agreed in terms of prioritization! Just because it's a good idea, doesn't mean it's an idea that should be worked on RIGHT NOW Smile

-elan
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#11
QUOTE=Jezz_X;182456]I would think you apple boys/girls would be resistant to anything pretending its windows to load it on your mac Smile
That aside from what I hear coreavc does these things at expense of a little quality anyway[/quote]

iordonez Wrote:Yeah my last message was a bit short. The the problem I found with the OP, we don't even have DVD support working and we're expected to drop everything and code for this.

coreAVC originated on windows but it now runs on linux. I don't care if it came from a PDP-8, since is is a proven solution that can save us a lot of trouble.

Regarding quality, I'd rather take a 2% drop in quality than not be able to use 1080p half the time! And as I described above, h.264 1080p rips, while they download faster than 25GB full images, do require CPU power and fast codecs.

Regarding cost, $8 is a lot less than hundreds of dollars if my existing mac can't cut the mustard or to bump up to a faster CPU. Or to be able to still use the nicely sized mini instead of being forced into a larger case to hold the faster CPU.

Nobody said anything about "drop everything and work on this" be reasonable. I'm just happy to see the response on this and know that it could be prioritized somewhere. If at that time ffdshow has been made fast enough, great, but if not, I'm glad to have the coreAVC alternative registered in your collective minds. It really could double or triple the installed base of macs that are capable of h.264-1080p.
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#12
BigJim Wrote:coreAVC originated on windows but it now runs on linux. I don't care if it came from a PDP-8, since is is a proven solution that can save us a lot of trouble.
.......

It may run on linux but thats because mplayer is useing a win32 wrapper/ dll loader to load it based on its windows port
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#13
Hmmm... that could be problematic. However, I found this thread. So there may be more than one way to skin this cat.

I spent $15 on CoreAVC for OSX today. I already knew that it would not pass AC3, but I wanted to measure what potential it had for h.264 playback on a mini. I installed CoreAVC on my 1.66 CD mini by mistake (it's locked to a serial number when you buy and I had the wrong number written down) instead of the 1.83 C2D which would have given the player a better chance to work well. However, it turned out that the lesser platform was the right test because CoreAVC could play (video only) any h.264 sample I could find. A good example was "Over the Hedge" which was 1920x1072 at 24fps. VLC statistics show a max stream rate of 15k. I don't know if VLC is accurate because it simply chokes on this movie. The max CPU I saw was about 130%. With CoreAVC, this sample was completely smooth! (pass-AC3 issue is being fixed BTW)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1000006 This forum is pretty over the top with video metal heads and apparently they have their eye on osxbmc too.

A good source for h.264 1080p test material is hdbits.org or usenet, though of course avoid anything with copyright issues.
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#14
Two more points. What I noticed on the private tracker is that even there, with access to all the HD content ever made, maybe only 20% of people have 1080p yet. Even I don't have it, I only use 1080p so I can feed my 720p projector a 24 fps source (even the 720p rips are 95% of the time 24 fps).

That said, the 1080p tidal wave is visible on the horizon to anyone with eyes to see. Hope the next poll here will ask "is your display 720p or 1080p" and "do you plan to buy 1080p in the next year". I'm not exactly sure which if any of the products from corecodec.com is best integrated with (os)xbmc, they have several. And apparently plans for more, like a standalone player for os x which would basically "compete" with osxbmc. (apple TV and front row could lose some market share to these ;-)
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#15
To have smooth 1080p H264 support, I'd gladly pay $100. If you have a TV capable of 1080p and a Mac mini, you can afford $8. It's nothing!
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CoreAVC binary DLL codec under XBMC's DVDPlayer?0