Guide for HTPC

SiD the Turtle said:
Hi photoshop, can you expand on that and also what do you use instead?
Click to expand...

The easiest way to understand what im saying is to watch a movie in something like KMPlayer or Media Player classic and then watch it back using MP's own built in player. You'll notice the image in MP is saturated and the colours are not true. Blacks appear dull and grey. This is the case for me and a few others.

Try playing a 1080p file at 24hz with AC3 sending the audio to an AV amp. Then you'll know what i mean. It just cant cope.

Dedicated players like media player classic or kmplayer are a lot better as they have been developed over many years and carry out their functions with no flaw. MP is still in development.

I use Windows Media Player Classic - Home Cinema Edition. It is essentially a modified and updated version of windows media player classic 6.4. I use it PURELY as the front end. By that i mean it is only displaying the picture. The unpacking of files is handled by Haali Media Splitter. HD files are decoded by CoreAVC. Avi/DivX/XviD is decoded by ffdshow. AC3/DTS Audio is sent straight to my AV amp untouched by AC3filter via HDMI. Mp3/Mpeg Audio is sent straight to my AV amp untouched by ffdshow via HDMI.

The player is controlled by my Harmony 1000 remote as i have mapped the keys (a "how to" is posted earlier).
 
Leodido said:
I have some issues with media portal and codecs :(

First, geez the 42PX80 is a BEAST, huge TV :p but very nice also!

Ok here are my present issues, that I hope you can help with guys, don't let a wee newb alone in his misery!

Some really bizarre thing happening is while using the monochrome skin, I can't get moving picture to work at all, all I get is that screen with all the fields replaced by the string refereing to the plugin, ie movingpicture.title etc.. but when I'm using blue3 skin, it works perfectly and I get everything to work correctly.

TV Series works nicely but when I finish watching a movie, it launches a second time, apprently using the internal media player. This is rather odd because I specified in the options that I wanted to use KMPlayer exclusively.

Also photoshop, you are not using the latest version of the monochrome skin are you? Because my TV Serie view does not look like yours at all.

What do you do with shows that are not present on thetvdb and therefore that you can't add to the database? For example I have some NHL matches I'd like to add to it but I can't get do it because of course it is not a real serie per se.
Click to expand...

What you are experiencing are the little naggs of MediaPortal. It really is in beta stage even though they have released a stable version.

I dont use moving Pictures so i cant comment on that problem.

As for it loading twice - im puzzled! Check MP configuration.

Im still using MediaPortal RC2 and Monochrome 2.1. I havent updated my MediaPortal for like 6 months and dont intend to either. It works so i see no need to upgrade and mess around with it. Your MP looks differnet because you are using the latest version.
 
easyrider said:
To use the X-Fi Crystalizer and X-Fi CMSS-3D technology
Click to expand...

In that case, things will get ugly. You will need to have 2 connections from the htpc to the amp (HDMI and another for mp3 depending on the X-FI's outputs).

You'll have to switch between inputs on the amp and you'll have to change your sound setting on the htpc each time aswell.

You'll soon get sick of it :)
 
marscay said:
you should avoid sweeping statements because the MediaPortal internal player is NOT crap @ all, providing your box is setup correctly.

i've never had this problem myself and i'm sure it's probably down to your videocard and/or codecs used which is changing the PC/TV black levels (0-255/16-235)to the wrong point on playback, the built in player in MediaPortal gives me the correct picture in terms of black levels and color ie.. the same as KMPlayer/MPC etc do.

i'd be gutted if the internal player was crap because the whole thing just isn't seamless enough using external players, and believe me i've tried them all ;)
Click to expand...

I know Oxy and a few others which have had the same problem so its not just my setup. Im Using an External player- WMPC-HC and its far better than the built in one.
And there are variousthreads over at AVF which make note of it so im not the only one.
 
broona said:
More problems, lol!

Trying to play a .mkv file in MPC, and it stutters like mad!

Using the following codecs -

CCCP with Windows Media Player Classic Home Cinema
CoreAVC
ffdshow
reclock

I've probably got it set up wrong somewhere, but haven't got a clue where! :confused:
Click to expand...

Whilst playing the file, have a look at the CPU usage and the temps.
 
broona said:
Thanks, will have a look in the morning. CPU usage might be high, but I can't imagine temperatures will be since I stuck this on! :D

It starts stuttering immediately too, so I assume it's CPU usage rather than temperatures, does that imply that the wrong codecs are being used?
Click to expand...

It could be a number of things to be honest.

In MPC, have you turned off the internal codecs so that it only uses the default system codecs (which are the ones you have installed)?

Best way to check is to play a file, right click in the WMP window and go to filters. It will list all the codecs that are being used to play the file.

IS ffdshow handling all your audio aswell? I ask as you have not listed AC3filter.....
 
broona said:
Found the problem!

The AVSForums guide sets up a script for Avisynth to improve the quality of DVD playback through ffdshow, and this is being applied to HD content too, so the CPU can't cope.

I've tried turning off all filters bar ffdshow audio and CoreAVC in MPC, but when I check the filters in use, ffdshow video still shows up?

I can manually enable/disable it every time I change formats, but that'll be a right pain, any way to set my filters up so it uses the appropriate ones for the format being played?
Click to expand...

ffdshow is still showing up because you have got the ffdshow "raw" feature enabled. My understanding is that this is used so that ffdshow processes can still be applied, such as user specific features etc.

I personally dont use it. Its the last one on the ffdshow codecs list.
 
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