[mythtv-users] Time to move to an HDMI stick for FEs?

[Thomas Mashos]

On Mon, Dec 15, 2014 at 1:35 PM, Nick Rout <nick.rout at gmail.com> wrote:
> Has anyone received this stick yet? I ordered on 20 October, was told
> it would be shipped at the end of that month. I have since then been
> put off a number of times with the last promise being a firm one that
> it would ship on 15 December via DHL.
>
> On 15 December (yesterday) I get a message that it is stil not
> available or shipped: "I am sorry it is still delayed now. And the
> producing department still not lead the mass production now. So so so
> sorry."
>
> I am not even sure what that means. I cannot fathom whether
> manufacturing has even started.
>
> These crooks have 375 orders, some for more than one unit. At US$110 a
> pop, that is a significant wad of cash they have in exchange for ...
> nothing!
>
> To cap it off the current price has gone UP to US$118.
>
> In case it is not clear, I ordered from the page in the OP in this
> thread, ie http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Sell-Mini-PC-with-both-Android-Windows-8-system/2044898752.html
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 12, 2014 at 5:13 PM, Nick Rout <nick.rout at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 9:01 PM, Xander <lexvictory at yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>>> On Sunday, 9 November 2014, 13:49, Joseph Fry <joe at thefrys.com> wrote:
>>>>>> > So I came across this article at Neowin.net regarding a Windows 8 HDMI stick: http://www.neowin.net/news/intel-bay-trail-based-usb-stick-capable-of-running-windows-81-goes-on-sale
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > In addition to the Windows stick, it mentions that both Microsoft and Mozilla are coming out with ChromeCast-style sticks of their own. I started to wonder... Is it time to throw away the dream of the $99 FE and look to devices like these instead? They would be low power, easy to setup and maintain (well, to plug into the tv), and cheaper than an entire computer.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The standard response to such queries - which are very common these days - is :
>>>>>> While some of these may be able to play some of the media type, they generally have a number of downsides. The biggest of these is that to work, someone has to write the frontend to run on that platform.
>>>>>> After that, there are often restrictions on decoding (closed libraries, limited stream type support).
>>>>>> And then there are often significant restrictions - eg small memory sizes.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So yes, for some of them it is probably possible to port the frontend. But it's going to take someone with the skills, knowledge, time, and most importantly desire to do it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not using the Myth Frontend means not getting the Myth user experience.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Your standard response doesn't really work here - the device is an
>>>>>Intel IA processor (ok, it's in the Atom family but will run the x86 code
>>>>>without modification) and has Intel HD graphics (VAAPI)
>>>>>
>>>>>Here is a link to the datasheet for the processor
>>>>>https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/atom/atom-z36xxx-z37xxx-datasheet-vol-1.html
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>The data sheet for this processor states:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>- Full HW acceleration for decode of H.264, MPEG2, MVC, VC-1, VP8, MJPEG
>>>>- Full HW acceleration for encode of H.264, MPEG2, MVC
>>>>The decode I knew about.  The encode is interesting for transcoding and streaming MPEG2 content.  Does ffmpeg have any support for this?
>>>>
>>>>No... the only open source transcoder I have found for VAAPI that I am aware of is gstreamer.... but it's broken at the moment.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Assuming the Windows version is the standard x86 variety could you not just use the windows version of Myth FE? I imagine the HW decoding stuff would hook into DXVA, which is compiled into the MythWindows builds I do.
>>>
>>>
>>> Sorry if formatting of message is munted; using webmail.
>>> ______
>>
>> I have been hassling the vendor to ship, and he has now put shipping
>> off to the 25th. However to appease my grumpiness he is DHLing instead
>> of china-snail-mail-post.
>>
>>
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I have not received mine yet, but I did get notification on Nov 18th
that mine shipped.

-- 
Thanks,

Thomas Mashos