[mythtv-users] questions on using Mac Mini as remote frontend...

[Justin Kim]

Scale video as necessary seems to be the culrpit for my Mini as far 
as stuttering goes.  Turning it off is only a so-so fix as I have to 
turn it back on whenever I want to watch SD programming.

The video slow down-speed up is a separate issue.  I haven't found a 
workaround for that.

I'm running Myth in OSX (10.4.x).

Haven't tried DVD playback through Myth.  I use Front Row for 
non-recording video file and DVD playback.

I'm thinking of selling my Mini to my landlords and buying a faster 
Mini.    I'm hoping that will solve the playback problem.

Justin

At 2:37 PM -0500 11/21/07, Steven Adeff wrote:
>On Nov 21, 2007 2:00 PM, Justin Kim <justinlkim at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  At 9:30 AM -0500 11/20/07, Steven Adeff wrote:
>>  >I'm thinking of getting a Mac Mini for the bedroom as primarily a
>>  >remote mythfrontend for watching TV/DVD and playing music.
>>  >
>>  >reading through the list and the wiki it seems like all the major
>>  >parts of mythfrontend work with the OSX compile of mythtv including
>>  >SPDIF output for AC3 on the newer Intel Mini's. I'll be using wireless
>>  >for now, but will run a cat5e line to the bedroom so i can play back
>>  >my recorded HD content.
>>  >
>>  >But I do have some questions...
>>  >
>>  >1080p stutter? i'm confused on this issue, it seems to be only with
>>  >the older, slower, Mini's or that it's just that people were trying to
>>  >playback 1080i content over wireless? where does this stand right now?
>>  >
>>  >DVD playback? There seems to be a patch to use the internal framework
>>  >but that looks to have been abandoned. What is the option for playing
>>  >DVD's back in mythfrontend on OS X then?
>>  >
>>  >x264/h264 playback? I assume the cpu is more than capable of playing
>>  >this back? I've got some conversions of tv shows to x264 and am hoping
>>  >to be able to play them back.
>>  >
>>  >MythMusic? does it work or do people just use iTunes?
>>  >
>>  >any other current gotchas? I'll be running SVN since thats what I have
>>  >on my backend and main frontend.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >Thanks!
>>  >
>>  >
>>  My 1.66 Core Duo Mini is almost fast enough to play back 1080i.  I
>>  see pretty consistent stuttering and the processor pegs.  If I turn
>>  off "Scale Video as Necessary" in he TV playback settings, I can play
>>  back 1080 content just fine.
>>
>>  All playback is over a standard wired connection
>>
>>  One thing I do see on both my mini and my 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo Macbook
>>  Pro is occasional slowdown of video.  This is especially noticeable
>>  when there are slow pans, every few seconds I see the video slow down
>>  for a moment, then catch back up.   In most situations, it isn't
>>  noticeable, but when it is, it's glaringly obvious.
>>
>>  There isn't anything wrong with the video files.  They play back just
>>  fine in VLC.
>>
>>  Justin
>
>Scale video as necessary? so the video slow down on pans is just when
>playing back in mythfrontend? are you running myth in OSX or in linux
>on the Mac?
>
>
>and thanks for all the info on the remote! That was one thing I didn't
>think about.
>
>anyone who is running in OSX that can answer about DVD playback? it's
>not essential as I have a DVD player in the stereo system in the
>bedroom right now, but it could save me money by allowing me to just
>get a monitor instead of an HDTV.
>
>Thanks!
>--
>Steve
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