[MAC] VDADecoder performance over HDMI on new Mac Mini?

**davilla** · 2010-07-10 17:08

Just spent a few hours under 10.6.4 on a Al MacBook (nvidia 9400). Zero problems playing h.264 content with VDADecoder. Of course, I'm not playing those Handbreak converted files either. I also note that I never hit the branch for decoding kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA and the video color space coming back from VDADecoder is always kCVPixelFormatType_422YpCbCr8.

Need two things a) is everyone with this particular problem running the new MacMini ? , b) a 100MB sample of video content with this problem, use dd to slice off the first 100MBs, play it to verify that it does show the issue.

D-tyme · 2010-07-10 21:17

Success!

This was a VC-1 that I converted to h.264. The only tweak that I made in my settings was that I matched the b-frames with the reference frames; where before I was always using bframes=6. I've changed ref and bframes to =4 and came out with a playable, VDA decode-able .mkv.

Odd thing is MediaInfo still wants to report the file as using only 3 reference frames:

Code:

*** MediaInfo Mac // Plain text file report

2010-07-10 14:09:22 -0500

Information for File: The Crazies.mkv

General / Container Stream # 1

    Total Video Streams for this File -> 1

    Total Audio Streams for this File -> 1

    Video Codecs Used -> AVC

    Audio Codecs Used -> AC3

    File Format -> Matroska

    Play Time -> 1h 40mn

    Total File Size -> 4.11 GiB

    Total Stream BitRate -> 5 847 Kbps

    Encoded with -> HandBrake svn3424

Video Stream # 1

    Codec (Human Name) -> AVC

    Codec (FourCC) -> V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC

    Codec Profile -> High@L4.1

    Frame Width -> 1 920 pixels

    Frame Height -> 800 pixels

    Frame Rate -> 23.976 fps

    Total Frames -> 144930

    Display Aspect Ratio -> 2.40:1

    Scan Type -> Progressive

    Colorimetry -> 4:2:0

    Codec Settings (Summary) -> CABAC / 3 Ref Frames

    QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 0.138

    Codec Settings (CABAC) -> Yes

    Video Stream Length -> 1h 40mn 44s 795ms

    Video Stream BitRate -> 5 090 Kbps

    Bit Depth -> 8 bits

    Video Stream Size -> 3.58 GiB (87%)

    Video Encoder -> x264 - core 100 r1659 57b2e56

    Video Encoder (Settings) -> cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=4 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=0 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=19.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Audio Stream # 1

    Codec -> AC-3

    Codec (FourCC) -> A_AC3

    Audio Stream Length -> 1h 40mn 44s 788ms

    Audio Stream BitRate -> 640 Kbps

    Audio Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR

    Number of Audio Channels -> 6

    Audio Channel's Positions -> Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE

    Sampling Rate -> 48.0 KHz

    Audio Stream Size -> 461 MiB (11%)

D-tyme · 2010-07-10 21:22

davilla Wrote:Need two things a) is everyone with this particular problem running the new MacMini ? , b) a 100MB sample of video content with this problem, use dd to slice off the first 100MBs, play it to verify that it does show the issue.

A) Yes
B) I never used dd, let me see what I can do

**davilla** · 2010-07-10 21:27

interesting thread about b-frames and reference frames.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=136258

D-tyme · 2010-07-10 22:04

davilla Wrote:interesting thread about b-frames and reference frames.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=136258

Good find. So since I use b-pyramid with my 1080p encodes, I will start using the following:

bframes=3 & ref=3.

But...I'm not 100% sure why some h.264 sources won't play fine.

D-tyme · 2010-07-10 22:51

Have your sample file...where you want it?

RckStr · 2010-07-11 00:16

I hope this isn't a common problem for all new minis cos I just bought two of them Undecided

D-tyme · 2010-07-11 02:27

davilla,

File on its way...

OK, now for the weird thing:

I notice that sometime the file's fps will balance out every now-and-again and it will play fine (after ~10sec or so). So its a little inconsistant.

**davilla** · 2010-07-11 16:57

D-tyme Wrote:davilla,

File on its way...

OK, now for the weird thing:

I notice that sometime the file's fps will balance out every now-and-again and it will play fine (after ~10sec or so). So its a little inconsistant.

That sample plays perfect on 2.4GHz Al MacBook runnnig 10.6.4 with VDADecoder. This is 2.0 analog out. I don't have a digital receiver. Time to minimize your XBMC settings. Turn off "adjust display refresh", "Sync playback to display", go to analog out, 2.0 channels.

D-tyme · 2010-07-11 17:50

davilla Wrote:That sample plays perfect on 2.4GHz Al MacBook runnnig 10.6.4 with VDADecoder. This is 2.0 analog out. I don't have a digital receiver. Time to minimize your XBMC settings. Turn off "adjust display refresh", "Sync playback to display", go to analog out, 2.0 channels.

it plays fine on the MacMini "sometimes." If you press "O" as soon as it starts, you should see that the fps titers back and forth and then balances out. I have found that it is inconsistent. When watching the VC-1 converted file last night, I even noticed that it will play fine for a while and then you will start to notice the fps drop sharply, and then finds it way back to normal after a few secs.

EDIT: also, I don't have "adjust display refresh" & "Sync playback to display" turned on.

D-tyme Senior Member Posts: 261 Joined: Jan 2010 Reputation: 0	2010-07-10 21:22 Post: #33 davilla Wrote:Need two things a) is everyone with this particular problem running the new MacMini ? , b) a 100MB sample of video content with this problem, use dd to slice off the first 100MBs, play it to verify that it does show the issue. A) Yes B) I never used dd, let me see what I can do
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davilla Team-XBMC Developer Posts: 10,399 Joined: Feb 2008 Reputation: 58	2010-07-10 21:27 Post: #34 interesting thread about b-frames and reference frames. http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=136258 MediaInfo : http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/ Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
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D-tyme Senior Member Posts: 261 Joined: Jan 2010 Reputation: 0	2010-07-10 22:04 Post: #35 davilla Wrote:interesting thread about b-frames and reference frames. http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=136258 Good find. So since I use b-pyramid with my 1080p encodes, I will start using the following: bframes=3 & ref=3. But...I'm not 100% sure why some h.264 sources won't play fine. (This post was last modified: 2010-07-11 00:42 by D-tyme.)
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D-tyme Senior Member Posts: 261 Joined: Jan 2010 Reputation: 0	2010-07-10 22:51 Post: #36 Have your sample file...where you want it?
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RckStr Senior Member Posts: 172 Joined: Dec 2009 Reputation: 0	2010-07-11 00:16 Post: #37 I hope this isn't a common problem for all new minis cos I just bought two of them
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D-tyme Senior Member Posts: 261 Joined: Jan 2010 Reputation: 0	2010-07-11 02:27 Post: #38 davilla, File on its way... OK, now for the weird thing: I notice that sometime the file's fps will balance out every now-and-again and it will play fine (after ~10sec or so). So its a little inconsistant.
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