[phez]

Sorry guys, bit of a noob here but thought I would ask this question as I am sure others will be thinking the same.

I got an AppleTV specially for XBMC with 1080p playback. I after setting it all up with the broadcom chip and the latest nighly build and driver. I found out that XBMC cannot do 1080p playback via HDMI on the AppleTV.

That was the main reason for investinging in ATV + Broadcomm, otherwise its back to the PS3 with decode.

Can anyone confirm that is a limitiation of XBMC and it will be fixed 'one day'.

Cheers,
Peter

[Olethros]

Sorry guys, bit of a noob here but thought I would ask this question as I am sure others will be thinking the same.

I got an AppleTV specially for XBMC with 1080p playback. I after setting it all up with the broadcom chip and the latest nighly build and driver. I found out that XBMC cannot do 1080p playback via HDMI on the AppleTV.

That was the main reason for investinging in ATV + Broadcomm, otherwise its back to the PS3 with decode.

Can anyone confirm that is a limitiation of XBMC and it will be fixed 'one day'

Look at this post/thread http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=480954&postcount=4 basically, the Apple TV CAN display at 1080p resolution but the way frontrow enables this mode is unknown/undocumented.

So yes it could be fixed... but more information is required.

To be clear this is Apple's fault and it is not a limitation of XBMC.

[akg4y]

... and as of yet the CrystalHD card implementation still stutters on both 720p and 1080p playback. New MacMinis can handle 1080p without the CrystalHD card, even the older ones do a pretty good job (mine is 3-4 years old and drops a few frames here or there on high bitrate files).

[Olethros]

... and as of yet the CrystalHD card implementation still stutters on both 720p and 1080p playback. New MacMinis can handle 1080p without the CrystalHD card, even the older ones do a pretty good job (mine is 3-4 years old and drops a few frames here or there on high bitrate files).

I have had solid success with the changes made in the last few days related to CrystalHD. This is still in active development and it is unrealistic to expect it to be flawless at this point.

Not so many outstanding issues left on this thread http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=69384

Those who own crystal hd cards can keep on testing nightly builds and reporting feedback to help get this list down to zero faster.

[phez]

... and as of yet the CrystalHD card implementation still stutters on both 720p and 1080p playback. New MacMinis can handle 1080p without the CrystalHD card, even the older ones do a pretty good job (mine is 3-4 years old and drops a few frames here or there on high bitrate files).

Thanks for that info. Sounds like a minimac is the way to go. I'll probably off load the ATV since it is not really any use since i cant get movies to play in 1080i.

Out of curisoity, you wouldnt have looked at the blu-ray kit for the MiniMac? It would be the complete media center if that is the case all in a nice format.

[xaos01]

Good luck getting the mac mini to output audio and video via hdmi

[phez]

Good luck getting the mac mini to output audio and video via hdmi

Doh! Forgot about that.

After a bit more research I think i will go with a Linux install of XBMC on the Apple TV. Just got work out how now.

[davilla]

http://www.monoprice.com/products/produc...cification

[xaos01]

http://www.monoprice.com/products/produc...cification

Sweet! And hush my mouth. Last I investigated it, the audio was dodgy on these devices. Well time for me to jump ship to a mini. That was my final hurdle. Thanks Davilla. Im off to lay my hard earned money down on a Mini and this gizmo!

[phez]

Im off to lay my hard earned money down on a Mini and this gizmo!

Would like to know how it goes! Now you made me think twice, again!

[davilla]

Glad I could confuse everyone

[pmcd]

Sweet! And hush my mouth. Last I investigated it, the audio was dodgy on these devices. Well time for me to jump ship to a mini. That was my final hurdle. Thanks Davilla. Im off to lay my hard earned money down on a Mini and this gizmo!

I am using that mini displayport+usb to hdmi cable on a Mac Mini (09). Works fine. This is essentially the same cable as the Kanex one, but less expensive at Monoprice . It is 2 channel sound which does me just fine.

http://kanexlive.com/products/item.aspx?id=3323

I am not that picky when it comes to audio but if you are you might want to look at the other Kanex cable which supports more than 2 channel sound. It supports 5.1 sound. It is $10 more. I don't think Monoprice sells that one.

http://kanexlive.com/products/item.aspx?id=3495

Still prefer the Apple TV, but I don't know why

philip

[xaos01]

It is 2 channel sound which does me just fine.

Gotta be able to output digital audio to my receiver. Dolby Digital, DTS.

Features:
True HDMI 1.3 chipset enables highest quality resolution support up to 1080p deep color
Supports Mini DisplayPort 1.1a input, USB 2.0 input
Supports HDMI video resolution up to 1080p
Supports HDMI 225mhz/2.25Gbps per channel (6.75Gbps all channel) bandwidth
Supports HDMI 12 bit per channel (36 bit all channel) deep color
Supports uncompressed 2 channel audio such as LPCM
Powered from Mini DisplayPort and USB Port
USB supports the audio analog signal
Length: 1.0m
ROHS, CE, FCC
*Switching from i to p mode may create interference on some Apple notebook models. Please switch back from 480p to 1080p if signal interference occurs to resume normal 1080p resoultion.*

*Sound Output setting on Macs must be changed to "USB Sound Device/USB Type" to have the adapter operating correctly.

That says it supports "USB supports the audio analog signal" and "Supports uncompressed 2 channel audio such as LPCM". I don't see the part about 5.1.

They both still seem janky to me. Back to the drawing board.

[pmcd]

Gotta be able to output digital audio to my receiver. Dolby Digital, DTS.

That says it supports "USB supports the audio analog signal" and "Supports uncompressed 2 channel audio such as LPCM". I don't see the part about 5.1.

They both still seem janky to me. Back to the drawing board.

Hmm... the link

http://www.kanexlive.com/products/item.aspx?id=3495

yields, for me,

# Supports uncompressed 5.1 channel audio such as LPCM
# Supports compressed 5.1 channel audio such as DTS Digital, Dolby Digital


Isn't that what you are looking for? Like I said, higher end audio has never been a priority for me so I am not that familiar with the slight differences. I am still living in the stereo world. But, I did e-mail them and asked for the difference between the two cables. One did not support digital audio and this one did.

philip

edit: Ah I see, there is a cable that you plug into the optical port on the Mac Mini to get what you want. So that+ the displayport cable+ usb gives you the one hdmi cable and carries all the audio you want into one hdmi cable. Moreover it's one "cable" with 3 ends on one side and one of the other. Mine only uses the usb and displayport and so I get analog sound.