HTPC software?

SOSAGES2 · 23 Oct 2008 at 16:51

xbmc is pretty good i just wish MS would release it for the 360

photoshop · 23 Oct 2008 at 23:55

MediaPortal is my front end. It is by far the best customizeable front end out there for Windows. Use it with "monochrome" skin and it looks awesome!

Software i use is:

Windows Media Player Classic - to the player
CoreAVC 1.7 Professional - For watching HD content
ffdshow - For watching Divx/XviD/Avi
AC3Filter - Handles my sound

I have the Antec Fusion Case and have configured the CbyrDisplay plugin to get MediaPortal info displayed on my LCD which looks great. I've also got a MS MCE Remote controller configured to start and control MediaPortal - saves me grabbing the keyboard and mouse out

The possibilities really are endless.

You can see my complete HTPC build thread over at AvForums here: http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/782874-my-htpc-journey-thus-far.html

pc-modd · 24 Oct 2008 at 10:25

photoshop said:
MediaPortal is my front end. It is by far the best customizeable front end out there for Windows. Use it with "monochrome" skin and it looks awesome!

Software i use is:

Windows Media Player Classic - to the player
CoreAVC 1.7 Professional - For watching HD content
ffdshow - For watching Divx/XviD/Avi
AC3Filter - Handles my sound

I have the Antec Fusion Case and have configured the CbyrDisplay plugin to get MediaPortal info displayed on my LCD which looks great. I've also got a MS MCE Remote controller configured to start and control MediaPortal - saves me grabbing the keyboard and mouse out

The possibilities really are endless.

You can see my complete HTPC build thread over at AvForums here: http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/782874-my-htpc-journey-thus-far.html

Cheers mate, your thread on AV Forums looks like it will be of some help.

Vertigo · 26 Oct 2008 at 11:19

Interested that so many are using CoreAVC for HD content when I've found ffdshow does just as good a job of decoding it and uses less processor power too, or am I missing something?

Would like to use the "supposed" abilities of my Radeon 3650 to help the decode process but haven't a clue what codecs to use or how to get them to use the graphics card's hardware assistance.

marscay · 26 Oct 2008 at 21:20

yeh there's no real need to use CoreAVC anymore, although i use the powerdvd codecs for HD as they work extremely nicely under MediaPortal and seem to minimise judder more than any other codec i've used.

photoshop · 27 Oct 2008 at 00:16

I use it because thats what everyone over at AVForums is using and thats the codec they rate. Its the only HD codec that i've used for my HTPC and ive never had any problems with it.

bam0 · 27 Oct 2008 at 07:52

photoshop said:
I use it because thats what everyone over at AVForums is using and thats the codec they rate. Its the only HD codec that i've used for my HTPC and ive never had any problems with it.

Best reason not to use CoreAVC is that it has no GPU acceleration yet, that and I got the Cyberlink one free with my satellite card.

photoshop · 27 Oct 2008 at 12:21

bam0 said:
Best reason not to use CoreAVC is that it has no GPU acceleration yet, that and I got the Cyberlink one free with my satellite card.

If you have a fast enough processor then GPU acceleration isnt required. Its only the recent ATi cards that have GPU acceleration BUT if your using a HTPC for file based playback (.mkv files etc) then GPU acceleration is useless and void as these files are encoded in such a way that GPU's can not provide acceleration. Acceleration is only provided for disc based HD playback (thats if you have a HD drive)

My E2140 @ 2.6Ghz copes with Full HD nicely and temps stay under 48*C during playback

wolvers · 27 Oct 2008 at 12:51

photoshop said:
Its only the recent ATi cards that have GPU acceleration BUT if your using a HTPC for file based playback (.mkv files etc) then GPU acceleration is useless and void as these files are encoded in such a way that GPU's can not provide acceleration. Acceleration is only provided for disc based HD playback (thats if you have a HD drive)

Really? That's a bit pants.

bam0 · 27 Oct 2008 at 13:37

photoshop said:
If you have a fast enough processor then GPU acceleration isnt required.

If you want a small silent machine you might not want to put a high powered processor in.

photoshop said:
Its only the recent ATi cards that have GPU acceleration

Not true, nvidia cards have had H264 acceleration for a long time.

photoshop said:
BUT if your using a HTPC for file based playback (.mkv files etc) then GPU acceleration is useless and void as these files are encoded in such a way that GPU's can not provide acceleration.

True, but...

photoshop said:
Acceleration is only provided for disc based HD playback (thats if you have a HD drive)

...this is false if you have a satellite card and are watching HD channels like BBC HD, or ITV HD.

My E2140 @ 2.6Ghz copes with Full HD nicely and temps stay under 48*C during playback

That's great, I'm using an old single core 3700+ and I too can watch Full HD fine.

Seft · 27 Oct 2008 at 22:24

photoshop said:
BUT if your using a HTPC for file based playback (.mkv files etc) then GPU acceleration is useless and void as these files are encoded in such a way that GPU's can not provide acceleration.

Not true. Files encoded to the level 4.1 spec should work.

HighlandeR · 28 Oct 2008 at 07:54

Am gonna give media portal another go last time I tried it a few years back it was just crashing/buggy for me and didnt look all that good.

The only one thing ive noticed is with certain Video files ive sometimes had to change the aspect ratios, sometimes there 4.3 ripps or not quite proper 16.9, I noticed even with WMP same issue you cant quite change the aspects so easily too suit your screen, is there a button on the MCE remote that can perhaps do this ?

wolvers · 28 Oct 2008 at 10:19

HighlandeR said:
The only one thing ive noticed is with certain Video files ive sometimes had to change the aspect ratios, sometimes there 4.3 ripps or not quite proper 16.9, I noticed even with WMP same issue you cant quite change the aspects so easily too suit your screen, is there a button on the MCE remote that can perhaps do this ?

Press the 'i' button and select 'zoom' till you get the ratio you want.

photoshop · 28 Oct 2008 at 12:22

Seft said:
Not true. Files encoded to the level 4.1 spec should work.

those files at 4.1 spec are rare

photoshop · 28 Oct 2008 at 12:25

bam0 said:
If you want a small silent machine you might not want to put a high powered processor in. You dont need a high powered CPU, An E2xxx chip will do the job and will OC nicely on default VCore and will run fairly cool

Not true, nvidia cards have had H264 acceleration for a long time. I Didnt know that

...this is false if you have a satellite card and are watching HD channels like BBC HD, or ITV HD. That is correct but i was talking about file based playback

Clown · 28 Oct 2008 at 12:28

Surprised there isn't more love for XBMC here. I just linked my PS3 bluetooth remote control too, and it is awesome. This is for filebased media though - I have a server box full of backups.

Not tried it with DVDs and there isn't an option for TV streaming though.

SiD the Turtle · 28 Oct 2008 at 12:33

Yeah I downloaded XBMC the other day and set it up with the Aeon skin on my Vista based HTPC. It looks stunning!

I have all my TV shows as well as my favourite ripped DVDs all indexed in it and it looks beautiful!

Only problem is that I can't get it to recognise more than the direction buttons on my media centre remote but I'm sure I'll work it out soon enough.

photoshop · 28 Oct 2008 at 12:38

Clown said:
Surprised there isn't more love for XBMC here. I just linked my PS3 bluetooth remote control too, and it is awesome.

linked it to what?

Prophet · 28 Oct 2008 at 12:49

I really need to pull my finger out! I just load the avi/dvd etc through VLC or Media Player and drag it onto my Plasma lol.

Bubo · 28 Oct 2008 at 13:29

Anyone got any recommendations for software for a linux based HTPC?