Episode 28 - End Aspect Ratio Hell, PS3: 3D Blu-ray Ready, Ultra Widescreen 21:9 HDTVs, OLED HDTV Update, IMAX DMR Explained! [Discussion]

[marilee]

Where did 16:9 come from, anyway? Mac Mini: Not The Best Settop Box. Where do IMAX Features Come From? Ultra-Widescreen: Will Your Next HDTV Be 21:9? More CES: OLED displays, Projectors and More, Getting 3D HD on your PS3, the Blu-ray releases for January 19th, 2010.

Watch or download this episode now!

[quagga]

I suppose I should start out by saying that I watched this episode on a Mini, chuckling at how quickly it was dismissed while overlooking it's major advantage. And then you talk about building a HTPC which has the same advantage of the Mini. It's a Computer!!

I've had an Apple TV, a custom modified HTPC (based on a Neuros Link), and now the Mini. The Mini with Plex is actually the most featureful. I realize you're in the Boxee camp, but Plex actually works pretty slick. I can stream Netflix, I can watch DRM'ed Apple stuff (Plex launches FrontRow), watch DVDs, have Hulu, Youtube, and all of the webtv goodness right there (including Revision3 although I subscribe in iTunes so it doesn't matter).

Oh, and it's also my server. It keeps a backup of all of my media synced via a nice apple script from the MBP. All important docs are synced over Dropbox instantly. If my MBP goes down, I have the Mini as my Plan B.

I use a Monoprice Mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapter out of the back into a HDMI cable. Yes it needs a separate audio cable so I have a mini-toslink to Toslink into my receiver.

As for the remote, if you don't already have a harmony, I'd say that should be your first purchase. Yes, $100 for a remote seems crazy until you have one of the precious and will never live without one again.

The downside to the mini of course as mentioned, is the price. If all you want is a set top box, then something boxee-box or popcorny hourish should be fine. But there are advantages to the mini and if you need or want those and have the money, I think its a fine set-top box.

[oli_oops]

For $199 you get a nettop with HDMI that can do 1080p via it's Nvidia Ion chipset VDPAU feature under Linux. VDPAU capable apps include Boxee, XBMC, MythTV and others. Just add a remote or wireless mini keyboard.

[shamoun]

I just watched the episode earlier tonight and I noticed that you guys didn't mention the fact that the Mac Mini not only costs 600 dollars for an entry level model, but that Mac's have no built in hardware decoding for 1080p content so even with a powerful CPU it might choke when rendering certain scenes. I am not sure whether the Mac Mini accomodates upgrades, so you may be able to rectify that with a Broadcom Crystal HD for 70 bucks, but I think money would be much better spent in building a PC. You could do XBMC in Linux with VDPAU support, or you could do XBMC in windows with the Broadcom card for a substantially lower cost and have the ability to do blu ray playback through a seperate application. Or if you have an nvidia or ATI card that supports it you could even set up XBMC to utilize an external player like MPC-HC with DXvA. Windows Media Center could also be configured to work with CoreAVC (a commercial codec solution) which has support for nvidia CUDA and decodes H264 and VC-1 if i'm not mistaken. I tend to favor the broadcom idea because it will integrate well with XBMC for a nifty set top experience and it does H264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 up to 1080p.

[quagga]

Quicktime does accelerate h.264 decoding with Snow Leopard: http://www.apple.com/macosx/specs.html That was one of the features in the sales pitch for the upgrade. You'd have to have a nvidia 9400m however (which the Mini does have). Even if it was not accelerated, it has a C2D onboard so you'd have to get quite the file to not be able to decode that. I've never had an issue with any of the 1080p content I have. I do not believe the Quicktime implementation accelerates VC-1 (someone correct me if I'm wrong). However that leads to:

I think a better point to pick is the absence of a bluray drive and software for that. My Mini sits on top of my el cheapo bluray player and I would have liked to have bluray in the Mac. Perhaps one day with an upgrade if Apple ever cares to support it. However I'm personally not that happy with bluray overall so it would have to be a cheap upgrade.

As to the CrystalHD, I don't believe there are OS X drivers for that product. I also don't know if you'd be able to get one of those in the Mini; if you did I figure you'd have to swap out the wifi card for it and I don't even know if then it would work. You'd probably have to install Windows or Linux on the box to get it to work (assuming the efi even enabled the card). Of course if you're going that route, I'm not sure why you'd get the mini at all.

[shamoun]

hmm, sorry i didn't know that quicktime had hardware acceleration.Not much of a mac user. The reason i brought up the acceleration issue is because I actually have a core 2 duo 2.4 ghz and i have quite a few h264 titles that can strain the cpu. I have an XBMC system and a NAS so i usually compress my blu rays down to DXVA compliant MKVS, ~12 gigs and occasionally they can stutter in software playback mode under certain conditions. I prefer hardware acceleration whenever possible just because i know there's a good buffer of unused cpu cycles so I won't be midway through a movie and experience any weirdness. The reason I recommended against the mac is really a combination of that fact and the price, i feel like it would really suck to spend that much money on a device to function like a set top box and find that it doesn't perform as you'd like it to. As far as upgradability of the Mac mini i have no idea, but I do believe there is support for the Broadcom product on the mac because one of the major issues XBMC developers were having is that they had 2 completely different hardware acceleration implementations for Windows and Linux and their goal is always to keep development as platform independent as possible. They had a news posting on their site where they mentioned that the card would support all three platforms and if I'm not mistaken they might even have had a screenshot of "The Dark Knight" 1080p VC-1 playing on an AppleTV or a Mac mini. you can go to the XBMC site to check it out for yourself if you're curious.

[drdauger]

Following up on Mike's email asking about using a Mac mini with an HDTV: Like described earlier I use a Mini Displayport + USB to HDMI adapter with my Mac mini to drive my 1080p HD system.

The missing link to access Blu-Ray content on Mac is MakeMKV: http://makemkv.com/

MakeMKV will decrypt the Blu-Ray data and save the content _without recompression_ to a (very) large disk, which I later access from the Mac mini. Playback on my HD system is gorgeous, exactly like playing the Blu-Ray disk, including 6.1 surround sound and subtitles. I can attest that my 2.26 GHz Mac mini, using Boxee, Plex, or VLC, has more than enough CPU power to play back Blu-Ray-quality HD content, like Star Trek, Wall-E, the Matrix trilogy, etc. It's my personal, Mac-driven, HD movie jukebox.

[davmoo]

Enjoyed this episode. While answering the questions about set top boxes Robert hit on something I had wondered...was there any advantage (other than the ugly physical appearance of the PC) to a set top box when I already have a PC hooked up to my TV. Sounds like I'll be sticking with my PC.

[rawstock]

I've been using a Mac Mini on my HDTV for a few years now ... one point missed on the set-top discussion: over-the-air HD. EyeTV gives me an HD PVR for broadcast and works great (on a gen 1 CoreDuo no less). The analog input is useful for converting home video and any old analog stuff i want handy or want to cut up. Here (in Portland) we've got decent OTA choices -- HD recordings of Austin City Limits are STUNNING.

Another point I think favors an HTPC is the variety of input choices (keyboards) -- though I am digging the new Boxee box remote. I originally had a gyration KB/MS set and found it to be a nightmare. I found an odd-brand (Visenta) wireless KB/touchpad combo pad on eBay and it's been a dream come true (even through it's RF and AAA powered -- I've seen Bluetooth versions on eBay since).

Cheers to HDNation ... looks great on my Mac Mini @ 720p!

[quagga]

Originally Posted by drdauger

Following up on Mike's email asking about using a Mac mini with an HDTV: Like described earlier I use a Mini Displayport + USB to HDMI adapter with my Mac mini to drive my 1080p HD system.

Did you find an internal slot loading BD-ROM for the Mini or are you using an external drive? I already have a stand alone BD player I'd like to replace so I'd prefer to swap a BD into the Mini vs yet another external.