Discussion Forums > Technology
Video playback on a netbook
vuzedome:
Might get one of these to replace my bigger and over sized HTPC.
Audio isn't really my biggest concern, ffdshow can do everything if you know how to configure it, and I got my PS3 to do blu-ray instead.
namaiki:
--- Quote from: vuzedome on May 13, 2010, 01:34:53 AM ---both the Geforce 9400 and HD 3200 do not have the grunt to process 1080p bitrates!!
--- End quote ---
Just trying to be accurate. The graphics cards do not use shaders to decode video, which is why the lower end video cards should not have problems with higher resolution video. From what I have heard, they basically have a separate video decoding circuit on the card.
Also, CoreAVC's CUDA is different to DXVA. CoreAVC's 'CUDA video acceleration' uses the same above video decoder, but then keeps the video in memory unlike DXVA, and that is why you can have CoreAVC's video output go through video filters and DirectVobSub, which you cannot do with DXVA.
Lastly, beware of which video card you pick in your netbook. For instance, the Geforce 9400M has VP3, which means it cannot accelerate H.264/AVC videos of certain widths. For instance, it cannot accelerate a video that is 1024x576, though it can accelerate a 1280x720 video. Radeon cards seem to have a limitation about which level (level as in, H.264 Level 5.1 is a level) of H.264 they can decode - though this might have been fixed in the latest drivers
And again, note that you have to use a media player that supports DXVA in order to utilise DXVA.
For instance, Media Player Classic Homecinema (MPC Decoder, Microsoft DTV-DVD video decoder), Windows Media Player (on Windows 7, but generally only if you don't need subtitles) and soon XBMC.
And again, if you are using the GPU to decode video, the CPU still has to decode audio, unless you are sending that to a receiver as stated before. If the CPU is decoding the video, the GPU is only displaying the video. As fohfoh has previously said, even an 'intel 950 which is an older graphics card' can do that. Though if you are using a video renderer that uses shaders to rescale the video, then you might have problems on slower video cards for that.
sapsa:
Topix and replays like this make me think "OMG MY NEW BIBLE" ..
Please continue :) ;D
lapa321:
--- Quote from: namaiki on May 13, 2010, 05:27:19 PM ---Just trying to be accurate. The graphics cards do not use shaders to decode video, which is why the lower end video cards should not have problems with higher resolution video. From what I have heard, they basically have a separate video decoding circuit on the card.
--- End quote ---
Cool! That means the 3D benchmarks are irrelevant. So i guess now i just have to see if there are reviews that did some sort of video benchmark. The U230 has better CPU and memory bandwidth, so it might actually have the edge here?
--- Quote ---Also, CoreAVC's CUDA is different to DXVA. CoreAVC's 'CUDA video acceleration' uses the same above video decoder, but then keeps the video in memory unlike DXVA, and that is why you can have CoreAVC's video output go through video filters and DirectVobSub, which you cannot do with DXVA.
--- End quote ---
Aw crap, i did another round of googling and read that subtitles take a lot of power. I can choose between those two right? Or does the hardware have to support them?
--- Quote ---Lastly, beware of which video card you pick in your netbook. For instance, the Geforce 9400M has VP3, which means it cannot accelerate H.264/AVC videos of certain widths. For instance, it cannot accelerate a video that is 1024x576, though it can accelerate a 1280x720 video. Radeon cards seem to have a limitation about which level (level as in, H.264 Level 5.1 is a level) of H.264 they can decode - though this might have been fixed in the latest drivers
--- End quote ---
Bakabt has every video size out there, so it might actually get affected by the size limitation. I'm not sure what a h.264 level is tho, does it affect the anime here?
--- Quote ---And again, note that you have to use a media player that supports DXVA in order to utilise DXVA.
For instance, Media Player Classic Homecinema (MPC Decoder, Microsoft DTV-DVD video decoder), Windows Media Player (on Windows 7, but generally only if you don't need subtitles) and soon XBMC.
--- End quote ---
Windows 7 Media Player may not be an issue. It actually plays videos better than MPC on the netbook. And the decoder icon also appears on the taskbar like it does on MPC so you can still select the subtitles.
namaiki:
Cool! That means the 3D benchmarks are irrelevant. So i guess now i just have to see if there are reviews that did some sort of video benchmark. The U230 has better CPU and memory bandwidth, so it might actually have the edge here?
.....
I think the U230's L335 CPU should be able to play at least 720p videos on it's own. It has the same clock speed as my Intel L7500 which can just play 1080p, but hopefully the AMD CPU isn't weak with multimedia or anything like that.
Aw crap, i did another round of googling and read that subtitles take a lot of power. I can choose between those two right? Or does the hardware have to support them?
.....
Most notebook GPU chipsets will support DXVA. For netbook chipsets, you should check for support in hardware and software that can use it, just to be safe. CoreAVC's video acceleration will only run on more recent nVidia GPUs (I think on Geforce 8xxx and higher).
If you want subtitles with DXVA, you need to use Media Player Classic Homecinema's internal subtitle renderer or ffdshow DXVA video decoder's subtitle renderer, the former having better looking subtitles IMO.
Bakabt has every video size out there, so it might actually get affected by the size limitation. I'm not sure what a h.264 level is tho, does it affect the anime here?
.....
According to nVidia, VP3 apparently won't accelerate H.264 videos with widths of 769-784, 849-864, 929-944, 1009-1024, 1793-1808, 1873-1888, 1953-1968, 2033-2048 pixels. For a few examples of H.264 level, Eclipse's Maid-sama is High@L5.0, UTW and SS's Angel Beats is High@L4.1. You can find the encoding profile using Media Info (sometimes lies though).
Windows 7 Media Player may not be an issue. It actually plays videos better than MPC on the netbook. And the decoder icon also appears on the taskbar like it does on MPC so you can still select the subtitles.
.....
If you're using DirectVobSub/VSFilter then you're not utilising DXVA, but I guess it doesn't matter if it's still playing without issues.
For DXVA + subtitles, you need to be using the ffdshow DXVA video decoder which has it's own subtitle renderer or CoreAVC or MPC-HC's internal subtitle renderer.
@sapsa: I don't get it.
@lapa321: too lazy to quote and re-quote.. :P
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