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Rumour-busting: The Mac Mini as an HTPC
- Thread starter dh2005
- Start date
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Does this mean the new Mac Mini solves dh2005's problem?
THIS WAS POSTED ON AVSFORUM.COM, NOT MY REVIEW:
Smile Got the new Mini... love it.
I bought the server version yesterday. +$300 for 2x memory and about 3x the storage, with faster platters to boot, was a no brainer for me. The server OS features are interesting, but uncertain if I'll take advantage of them anytime soon.
I've got the Mini linked to an Onkyo 608 via HDMI.
First thing I did was install XBMC and played a couple BD MT2S pulls over my Rukus WiFi from a MacPro upstairs (best WiFi there is, btw). The Onkyo detected DTS and DD right away, and it sounds wonderful, so I think we're pretty good as far as bitstream over HDMI goes.
My only gripe is that EyeTV doesn't yet recognize the HDMI for the audio stream, so it reverts to using the system sound board. Thus, all TV audio is stereo until Elgato releases an update for this understandable limitation.
Nonetheless, BD rips and iTunes movies with 5.1 all look and sound wonderful. It's a great machine to boot, so far.
I'll add that the machine is practically silent. Add this to the fact that it's absolutely beautiful, it's worthy of sitting on top of the cabinet instead of hidden inside. =)
I'll try to answer any questions you guys may have.
theArgiope is online now Reply With Quote
THIS WAS POSTED ON AVSFORUM.COM, NOT MY REVIEW:
Smile Got the new Mini... love it.
I bought the server version yesterday. +$300 for 2x memory and about 3x the storage, with faster platters to boot, was a no brainer for me. The server OS features are interesting, but uncertain if I'll take advantage of them anytime soon.
I've got the Mini linked to an Onkyo 608 via HDMI.
First thing I did was install XBMC and played a couple BD MT2S pulls over my Rukus WiFi from a MacPro upstairs (best WiFi there is, btw). The Onkyo detected DTS and DD right away, and it sounds wonderful, so I think we're pretty good as far as bitstream over HDMI goes.
My only gripe is that EyeTV doesn't yet recognize the HDMI for the audio stream, so it reverts to using the system sound board. Thus, all TV audio is stereo until Elgato releases an update for this understandable limitation.
Nonetheless, BD rips and iTunes movies with 5.1 all look and sound wonderful. It's a great machine to boot, so far.
I'll add that the machine is practically silent. Add this to the fact that it's absolutely beautiful, it's worthy of sitting on top of the cabinet instead of hidden inside. =)
I'll try to answer any questions you guys may have.
theArgiope is online now Reply With Quote
you didnt tell me that in the other thread
i was gonna start bringing up other stuffthe truth of the matter is, that the Mac Mini CAN play back uncompressed 1080p no problems. as you already know my 2006 CoreDuo MBP can play them back fine, i have proved this to you - therefore your Mini will have no problems at all.
if you hadnt tried playing the files locally, do it.
seems to me as though something is dreadfully wrong - do you think the HDMI socket could be the culprit? had you tried with a DVI HD monitor of sorts?
oh, and also - did you try with Windows to playback the files on the Mac Mini via bootcamp?
Oh, please let's not open that conversation again...!
Ultimately, my conclusion is that my standard of 'running 1080p video' differs from other people's. I've tried all the suggestions, and they haven't worked to my satisfaction.
Bottom line; the 2009 Mini can't serve my needs. It serves the needs of other people just fine, but not mine.
Ultimately, my conclusion is that my standard of 'running 1080p video' differs from other people's. I've tried all the suggestions, and they haven't worked to my satisfaction.
Bottom line; the 2009 Mini can't serve my needs. It serves the needs of other people just fine, but not mine.
lets do. i want to get to the bottom of it. you need to actually show us what is happening though. open up Plex, play back a movie and press the I button for information on dropped frames etc. pause it then show the screen shot. maybe that will indicate something.
i suggested a few things to try. could possibly be worth a shot.
Well, at this moment I running Windows 7 through Boot Camp. And I'm in the middle of a massive file-transfer, so I won't be switching to OS X until this evening at the earliest.
It's not that I don't appreciate your efforts and ideas, mate. It's simply that I spent a week giving and taking fire on this thread, and nothing got resolved. All that happened, ultimately, was that a handful of people got pissed-off.
So much as a single dropped frame, and it's just not good enough for me. Like I said; if it's not as good as the disc, you might as well use the disc. Other people don't mind so much - and/or steal movies through torrent sites, which is something I don't agree with.
It's not that I don't appreciate your efforts and ideas, mate. It's simply that I spent a week giving and taking fire on this thread, and nothing got resolved. All that happened, ultimately, was that a handful of people got pissed-off.
So much as a single dropped frame, and it's just not good enough for me. Like I said; if it's not as good as the disc, you might as well use the disc. Other people don't mind so much - and/or steal movies through torrent sites, which is something I don't agree with.
thats fair enough, had you tried playback with windows? maybe its only an OSX issue and not the computer itself.
well im not like them
i joined this forum to help. and i DO think that there is a simple explanation for the issue, and further testing could help to reveal that problem. maybe i should visit a computer store to run my own tests a single frame? i doubt you can actually see that, but who am i to judge. networked files will always cause some sort of dropped frames, especially when starting up or when the application isnt written correctly (which Plex/VLC dont appear to be). it might be that your Popcorn software has a buffer built into it (i have never used it nor even heard of it). playing back locally would help to find that out, which i guess you had tried.
anyway, if you arent keen on trying anything more i wont bother you. just trying to help
Oh, mate. You're not a "bother", at all. It's just that I don't think much more can be resolved.
The Popcorn Hour C-200 is a hardware media streamer, based around a Sigma 8643 media GPU; it's the kinda chip that's more commonly found in retail Blu-ray players. Which is why the playback is (theoretically...!) identical to disc playback - the only difference between a Blu-ray player and a C-200 is that the data going into the GPU is coming from a hard drive, rather than an optical disc.
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/accessories/0,39100116,49303755,00.htm
The Popcorn Hour C-200 is a hardware media streamer, based around a Sigma 8643 media GPU; it's the kinda chip that's more commonly found in retail Blu-ray players. Which is why the playback is (theoretically...!) identical to disc playback - the only difference between a Blu-ray player and a C-200 is that the data going into the GPU is coming from a hard drive, rather than an optical disc.
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/accessories/0,39100116,49303755,00.htm
cool
thats good to know at least ahh so its a hardware decoder rather then using software to do it. interesting. i see it gets some very good reviews. for the moment i will stick to transcoding from my iMac to my PS3 - i sure can notice the loss in quality and i am very fussy about my visual experience, but there isnt much i can do as i cant afford some sort of HTPC/Mac Mini etc.
if i come across anything to help you out, ill let u know
Much appreciated, mate. All that I ask, arising from this thread, is that the more senior membership of this forum takes the time to ascertain exactly what standard of media experience a poster is looking for when they ask for Mac Mini HTPC advice.
If the person wants to run standard definition rips and HD transcodes, it can do it comfortably.
If the person wants to run full-on, 50/60Mbps Blu-ray dumps, not necessarily so... let's see what the new Mini can do.
If the person wants to run standard definition rips and HD transcodes, it can do it comfortably.
If the person wants to run full-on, 50/60Mbps Blu-ray dumps, not necessarily so... let's see what the new Mini can do.
i most certainly will take everything on board and attempt to educate as much as i can. from what you are saying, is playback on the 2009 Mini going to be a bad experience? will it be jittery and pathetic? or will it be smooth playback with a small percentage of frames dropped such that "non-fussy" (no offence) users will still have a perfectly watchable experience?
It varied from rip to rip. I remember watching The Hurt Locker (1080p .MKV, with HD audio), and the playback was absolutely crap for the first ten seconds (presumably it was still buffering...?), then it became 'watchable'. The odd couple of frames would go missing, but it could be watched. Not the kinda standard that I, myself, am happy with - but it wasn't bad enough to make me leave the room if I was watching it at a friend's house...!
Then there was The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was just *garbage* before the hardware acceleration binaries for Plex were implemented - once they were implemented, it was similar to, though not quite as good as, The Hurt Locker.
Both of these movies use the H.264 video codec. I suppose I'd need to find a rip with VC-1 and MPEG2 HD streams to test how other codecs go down...
... but regardless, when you compare and contrast with my C-200, there's no contest; they play exactly like Blu-ray discs.
Then there was The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was just *garbage* before the hardware acceleration binaries for Plex were implemented - once they were implemented, it was similar to, though not quite as good as, The Hurt Locker.
Both of these movies use the H.264 video codec. I suppose I'd need to find a rip with VC-1 and MPEG2 HD streams to test how other codecs go down...
... but regardless, when you compare and contrast with my C-200, there's no contest; they play exactly like Blu-ray discs.
this first one does indeed sound like a network buffering issue, but i cant/wont make any more assumptions as i have absolutely no idea of your setup. ill note that it IS watchable for the normal user once the stuttering resided.
very very odd....
hmm. QTx can use hardware acceleration for h264 video - did you ever try it? with the Perian add on it can open up .mkv files no problems. i wonder how that would go.
oh yes i daresay it would, everything is in the hardware instead of being reliant on the application to play it all back - then there are the limited hardware used in the C-200 meaning that they can get performance down to a T.
hey dh2005 is your mini using a land line ethernet connection or is it wireless as i have streamed stuff both was to my mini and the wireless was crap and that even goes for my ps3 both worked fine for streaming as long as it was a wired connection to my router and check to see if there are any updates to your router as sometimes that can be an issue as i have noticed with mine that before and update the router killed bandwith if you dont have those devices needing more set to use more
ok ruled that out i know 2.0 usb is 480 mb per second so that should not be an issue either have you tried other usb ports besides the one that drive was hooked into
Have you tried XBMC?
http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/osx/ for the latest and greatest builds. It seems to play back better than anything else, Plex, VLC, etc.
Give it a try... it plays back anything I throw at it without a problem, and I'm a CG artist so I would notice dropped frames, etc. Granted, I'm running off a MacPro in the home theater...
crash
http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/osx/ for the latest and greatest builds. It seems to play back better than anything else, Plex, VLC, etc.
Give it a try... it plays back anything I throw at it without a problem, and I'm a CG artist so I would notice dropped frames, etc. Granted, I'm running off a MacPro in the home theater...
crash
I know I'm late to this party but my late 2009 2.53GHz Mini plays back any 1080p content I throw at it in Plex BUT I need to set the display refresh rate to match the content or it will judder, drop frames and look like garbage. I don't know if anyones mentioned that?
For example, for BR rips, make sure your refresh rate in OSX display preferences is set to 24Hz since the content is at 24fps. Hopefully your TV can then upconvert to 120Hz or more. If your display refresh is set for 60Hz Plex doesn't seem to adequately do a pull-down to convert it smoothly.
If you are watching content that originated on TV you need to switch back the display refresh to 60Hz or you will get audio that's seriously out of sync with the video. This is one shortcoming of Plex that the devs are aware of but haven't yet fixed despite the fact that XBMC apparently does the refresh rate adjustment on the fly based on the content.
For example, for BR rips, make sure your refresh rate in OSX display preferences is set to 24Hz since the content is at 24fps. Hopefully your TV can then upconvert to 120Hz or more. If your display refresh is set for 60Hz Plex doesn't seem to adequately do a pull-down to convert it smoothly.
If you are watching content that originated on TV you need to switch back the display refresh to 60Hz or you will get audio that's seriously out of sync with the video. This is one shortcoming of Plex that the devs are aware of but haven't yet fixed despite the fact that XBMC apparently does the refresh rate adjustment on the fly based on the content.
Thanks for the ideas, everyone. All very interesting.
I've just finalised the sale of my 2009 Mini. It cost me £600 (less the academic discount...) four months ago, and I've sold it for £475. I wanted £500 for it, but hey, compromise is necessary sometimes.
Now, what to do...? Do I strike now on the new Mini, or wait a few of months to see if they tweak the specs again? After all, I'm not back at university until late September, and Apple have improved the Mini three times in fifteen months...
... hmm.
I've just finalised the sale of my 2009 Mini. It cost me £600 (less the academic discount...) four months ago, and I've sold it for £475. I wanted £500 for it, but hey, compromise is necessary sometimes.
Now, what to do...? Do I strike now on the new Mini, or wait a few of months to see if they tweak the specs again? After all, I'm not back at university until late September, and Apple have improved the Mini three times in fifteen months...
... hmm.
I'm selling my 2009 as well and going for the entry level 2010. I like the HDMI and better GPU.
I'm predicting an A4 based iOS AppleTV in the fall however if that appeals to you more.
I'm predicting an A4 based iOS AppleTV in the fall however if that appeals to you more.
Thanks for the insight, dude. I need a computer also, so it'll be the Mini that I go for.
Personally, until Apple take the handcuffs off the ATV, it's a piece of s**t in my eyes. Capable of so much, but profoundly handicapped. Rubbish.
Rather annoying that it took so long... but hey. Now that it's happened, I'm pleased.