1080p h.264: New 2.4 GHz C2D MacBook

[thepseudophone]

I have a question for people more familiar with h.264 decoding... do you believe that the new 2.4 GHz C2D MacBook will be able to decode 1080p h.264 video (in .mkv or .mp4) on an external monitor (1680 x 1050)?

I appreciate your thoughts and thank you in advance.

[richard.mac]

the MacBook's 2.4 GHz (even 2.0 GHz) CPU will play 1080p H.264 mpeg4 fine but it wont play at full res, it will be scaled down in fullscreen view on its internal display or a 1680 x 1050 external display. you will have to connect a 1080p or higher external display.

[thepseudophone]

the MacBook's 2.4 GHz (even 2.0 GHz) CPU will play 1080p H.264 mpeg4 fine but it wont play at full res, it will be scaled down in fullscreen view on its internal display or a 1680 x 1050 external display. you will have to connect a 1080p or higher external display.

Thanks!

So generally, is h.264 decoding more dependent on the CPU or GPU?

I was concerned that the new GPU might not be powerful enough to decode 1080p h.264.

I should also add, would it play well on a 1080p HDTV as well?

[richard.mac]

decoding and encoding video is mainly processor dependent but probably uses some graphics too. the new MacBook has had some processor spec bumps and has 5x better graphics than the old MacBook which could play 1080p video on its internal display fine and even on a 1080p display/HDTV as well.

[Eidorian]

Video playback is still heavily CPU bound since Apple hasn't provided hardware decoding support.

[thepseudophone]

Thank you both.