ATV2 and XBMC bufferring

roygbiv Wrote:From the current issues sticky:

"Hardware decoding is for h264 only. As a result, 720p XviD, WMV and other HD encodings stutter. Standard definition should work fine."

ah that'll explain it then I missed that...thanks for pointing it out.

roygbiv Wrote:From the current issues sticky:

"Hardware decoding is for h264 only. As a result, 720p XviD, WMV and other HD encodings stutter. Standard definition should work fine."

Does this mean the ATV2 will always be limited to h264 and XBMC will never work with 720 xdivs / wmvs without the stutter ?

Or can the devs code round this hardware limitation ?

eff_cee Wrote:Does this mean the ATV2 will always be limited to h264 and XBMC will never work with 720 xdivs / wmvs without the stutter ?

Or can the devs code round this hardware limitation ?

While that's something the devs can answer better then I, it's my understanding that one of the main reasons XBMC came to fruition is the discovery of Apple's VideoToolBox API that handles decoding of h.264 at the hardware level. All other decoding is handled in software and the A4 just isn't that fast.

I don't know how difficult or possible it is for other codecs to be decoded at a hardware level on the A4 chip.

I am having issues with H.264 encoded files at 720p. This is on a wired gigabit connection. These same files play fine using the iTunes streaming method, wdtv live, PS3, and PC running XBMC. I know I have way too many ways to stream, girlfriend wonders what the Apple TV is for?

I am not familiar with ssh, unfortunately I never took the time to learn how to do it. Can anyone confirm that the nightly builds are working any better than the official release of 2/6/2011?

Edited for clarification:
XBMC currently (2/14/11 build) cannot play 720p h.264 or xvid files (over 8 GB) on wired gigabit (or wireless g). Also, any 5.1 audio will make a very loud popping noise before starting the stream.

At this stage, the XBMC on the ATV2 is a std def only program (AS FAR AS HIGH DEF MOVIES MOVIES ARE CONCERNED). I'd recommend returning the ATV2 until the devs can optimize the program. It's still very early in the ATV2 development.

elcaballo Wrote:XBMC currently (2/14/11 build) cannot play 720p h.264 or xvid files (over ~ 2-4 GB) on wired gigabit (or wireless g). Also, any 5.1 audio will make a very loud popping noise before starting the stream.

At this stage, the XBMC on the ATV2 is a std def only program. I'd recommend returning the ATV2 until the devs can optimize the program. It's still very early in the ATV2 development.

I'm running the latest 2/8 build from the Unofficial Builds thread and I can stream 720p h.264 videos over my 802.11g wifi connection (over Samba) with no problem. Additionally, I can stream 1080p h.264 video over a gigabit wired connection.

...not sure what the problem with your box is, but I wanted to post some feedback that it definitely can work.

elcaballo Wrote:At this stage, the XBMC on the ATV2 is a std def only program.

I watched 2 720p h264 movies and a 720p h264 TV show last night. All played flawlessly.

AppleTV2 running 4.2.1 tethered JB, xbmc 2/8 build, streaming movies from QNAP NAS SMB shares via Billion N+ at 2.4GHz.

I was so excited to get this going, a $100 xbmc box would have been perfect. I just learned how to ssh into the atv2 using Putty, which was much easier than cygwin. I installed the latest build 02/14/2011 and every movie I have stutters. All of my files are between 2-4 GB. I only have H.264 encoded video with AAC 5.1 sound residing on my NAS; I just can't go back to SD on a 100" screen.

Dan Gleibitz Wrote:I watched 2 720p h264 movies and a 720p h264 TV show last night. All played flawlessly.

AppleTV2 running 4.2.1 tethered JB, xbmc 2/8 build, streaming movies from QNAP NAS SMB shares via Billion N+ at 2.4GHz.

Should I be using SMB shares instead of upnp? is there an advantage? If so, this could be my problem.

I edited my post for clarification.

I use a widely available 8+ GB 720p DTS rip of Dark Knight as a reference file for XMBC. It makes it to about 2:30 before buffering. After about 4 minutes, XBMC crashes back to the Apple TV menu.

A 1080p 8+ GB NON-DTS rip of Ponyo will buffer every 30 seconds.

This is on a wired gigabit connection and both files are h.264.

Sorry, guys, I'm sure it will get there at some point. But right now it's just not viable for high-bitrate (8+ GB) movie files, which a lot of people have and which work fine with programs like PS3 Media Server, even over wireless G.