Powerbook powerful enough for H.264

[snackcakeofd00m]

Well today i was listening to the "This Week In Tech" Podcasts and Leo Laporte mentioned that he downloaded a HD H.264 movie trailer off of Apple's Website and he said that his Powerbook could hardly handle the trailer. I was looking into getting a Powerbook and I need to know from you guys if vids in HD H.264 video format will play on a Powerbook without killing the system or not playing at all?

[miloblithe]

A brand new 1.5Ghz 12" Powebook cannot run a 720 vertical pixel H264 video without skipping. As for a 1.67Ghz with a Mobility 9700, I'd imagine it'll be a closer, but still skip.

My 1.0Ghz eMac, on the other hand, wasn't even close. Some skips were like two second long. The powerbook at least would only skip for fractions of a second.

[Sun Baked]

People keep posting this...I'm still in shock from the amzing quality of this.

Also remember the req. are pretty high for this type of qualty. Here are the req from Apple's Quicktime Site (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/player/specs.html)

QuickTime 7 System Requirements for Mac OS X

* 400 MHz Power PC G3 or faster Macintosh computer
* At least 128MB of RAM
* Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later

Recommended Hardware Configurations for H.264 High Definition (HD) Playback

To play high definition video, a large amount of data must be processed by your computer. A powerful system will deliver the best playback experience.
For 1280x720 (720p) video at 24-30 frames per second:

* 1.8 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer
* At least 256 MB of RAM
* 64 MB or greater video card

For 1920x1080 (1080p) video at 24-30 frames per second:

* Dual 2.0 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer
* At least 512 MB of RAM
* 128 MB or greater video card

[ColoJohnBoy]

The G5 must make a huge difference. I have a pimped out 15" PowerBook and even then it skips. Kind of disappointing :( It looks great nonetheless.

[snackcakeofd00m]

o well i think it is still worth it to buy a powerbook.
it is not the worst thing in the world if i can not run the vids perfectly. Just for the hell of it i will check the performance out at my local mac store by playying Hd video and see how it looks.

[Sun Baked]

It might not be a processing power issue, it could very well be a bandwidth issue.

The G4 does not go much faster than 1GB/s sustained -- no telling how much this codec is passing back and forth.

[evilpenguin21]

No apple laptop has any chance of playing those videos, I tried it on a top of the line TiBook. You need some serious processing power to decode video of that high quality. I'll be surprised what PC's can play it when the windows version comes out. I'm hoping my P4 3 ghz can handle it, but you never know.

[wheezy]

Much to my sadness, but along with my understanding, my 1Ghz 12" with 1.25 GB RAM couldn't handle a full HD clip, it skipped quite a bit. the Video Capture option in H.264 in QT Pro worked like a champ, taking a hands down better quality clip than MPEG 4...but, the HD stuff is just too much, which is understandable...my PB wasn't built for HD. Just makes me want to get a G5 tower all the more!

[Demon Hunter]

No apple laptop has any chance of playing those videos, I tried it on a top of the line TiBook. You need some serious processing power to decode video of that high quality. I'll be surprised what PC's can play it when the windows version comes out. I'm hoping my P4 3 ghz can handle it, but you never know.

No offense but unless you mean AlBook it would be laughable to try HD video on a TiBook.

I'm curious to see how mine performs now...

[evilbert420]

It's not so much that the Powerbook can't handle HD. It's that the Powerbook can't handle this particular codec. The H.264 codec is pretty amazing in that it can create high-quality HD with small file size. However, to properly encode/decode it takes a whopper of a CPU.

Think about it.. you can get HD video over normal cable, streaming on demand to your cable box. Certainly your HD cable box isn't a $2000+ piece of equipment.

Other HD codecs give you much better performance, but at the cost of rather large file sizes.

[blackpeter]

It's not so much that the Powerbook can't handle HD. It's that the Powerbook can't handle this particular codec. The H.264 codec is pretty amazing in that it can create high-quality HD with small file size. However, to properly encode/decode it takes a whopper of a CPU.

Think about it.. you can get HD video over normal cable, streaming on demand to your cable box. Certainly your HD cable box isn't a $2000+ piece of equipment.

Other HD codecs give you much better performance, but at the cost of rather large file sizes.

Exactly. Took the words right out of my mouth. Somehow, this fact hasn't worn any of the luster off of my 2.5 month old 1.67 AlBook. But, then again, I frequently use my buddy's 1Ghz 17" and it won't even ripple Dashboard widgets.

[Demon Hunter]

I just watched the Kingdom of Heaven trailer in full, actual-size, HD glory. It ran fine by my standards, quite beautifully in fact. Only a few scenes seemed to skip frames, and you'd really have to be looking for it. This was with no other apps open, a fresh restart and highest performance on.

For the top setup I wouldn't expect much less, but HD seems totally doable on the current PBs.

This looks like an amazing movie, btw...

[groovebuster]

Now we know why a HD PowerBook didn't see the light so far... the G4 just can't handle the decoding part well enough.

So no HD PowerBook before a major architecture change for the PowerBooks... the rumors about it were just wishful thinking so far.

groovebuster

[snackcakeofd00m]

so if i get the 12 inch powerbook 1.5 G4 i will get only some skipped frames if i play the vids with no other apps open. If this is the case i dont mind. i do not mind losing a couple frames for the portability powerbook

[freddy11]

I would give them a try no matter what system you have, the 720p versions played without skipping on my 1ghz 17" imac. The 1080i ones were not even close to playing. Remember the specs say for best performance you need a G5.

[840quadra]

Now we know why a HD PowerBook didn't see the light so far... the G4 just can't handle the decoding part well enough.

So no HD PowerBook before a major architecture change for the PowerBooks... the rumors about it were just wishful thinking so far.

groovebuster

Like others have said. the Powerbook can handle HD, just not THAT codec verry well. It has to do with the compression, and the type of processing required to decode the data stream.

[Sun Baked]

Here is a table of some people replies on their ability to handle the trailersOriginally posted by Eug Wanker (http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/8300945231/m/526004803731/p/1):
720p

User CPU bus speed GPU RAM OS FPS

Apple G5 970FX 1.8 600/900 MHz 64 MB 256 MB 10.3/10.4 24-30

stevenkan (Ser) G3 400 100 MHz just one frame
stevenkan (Ghetto) G3 400 100 MHz 4-6
Chris FOM G3 500 weeps bitter tears
kennedye (FF) G3 900 100 MHz Mob 7500 32 MB 0.1
otoPICO G3 900 100 MHz Mob 7500 32 MB slideshow
Ouroborus G4 400 100 MHz Audio OK
Eug (BB) G4 7455 1.0 133 MHz Mob 9000 64 MB 768 MB 10.4 12+
Eug (Ser) G4 7455 1.0 133 MHz Mob 9000 64 MB 768 MB 10.4 12
Outrager (Ser) G4 7447 1.0 133 MHz Go5200 32 MB 768 MB ~14
vegac G4 7447/A 1.0 133 MHz Go5200 32 MB "adequately"
jeanlain (BB) G4 7447/A 1.2 133 MHz Mob 9200 32 MB 768 MB 10.3.9 12
iljitsch G4 7447/A 1.25 167 MHz Mob 9600 64 MB slight stutter
ijohan G4 7447/A 1.25 167 MHz Radeon 9200 32 MB 256 MB OK
nuetz (Ser) G4 7447/A 1.33 768 MB 17
myrr_allinc (FF) G4 7447/A 1.33 133 MHz Go5200 32 MB slight stutter
bombcar (BB) G4 7447/A 1.33 Rad 0x4e50 64 MB 1.5 GB 10.3.9 20-24
BKoylass (KoH) G4 7447/A 1.5 167 MHz choppy
BKoylass (KoH) G4 7447/A 1.5 167 MHz choppy
SCrossman G4 7447/A 1.5 167 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB struggles
Eug (tobyMac) G4 7447/A 1.7 100 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB 1 GB 10.4 not very good
Eug (Aimee) G4 7447/A 1.7 100 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB 1 GB 10.4 not very good
Eug (BB) G4 7447/A 1.7 100 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB 1 GB 10.4 12+
Eug (Ser) G4 7447/A 1.7 100 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB 1 GB 10.4 12+
Eug (FF) G4 7447/A 1.7 100 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB 1 GB 10.4 13-16
Eug (Wildlife) G4 7447/A 1.7 100 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB 1 GB 10.4 15-19 <- actually 540p
Dave_K (Ser) dual G4 450 100 MHz 1 GB 12
ammwt dual G4 7455 800 133 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB 12-15
SCrossman dual G4 7455 867 133 MHz struggles
JH dual G4 7455 1.0 133 MHz 9000 Pro 10.4 24
Anonymous dual G4 7455 1.42 167 MHz 9000 Pro 64 MB 2 GB 10.4 24
Grr (BB) G5 970FX 1.6 533 MHz GeForce4 MX 32 MB 1 GB 24
LtKernelPanic G5 970FX 1.6 533 MHz 5200U 64 MB smooth
Saad G5 970FX 1.6 800 MHz 9600 Pro 64 MB PC2700 24
Capt. Obvious (BB) G5 970FX 1.6 800 MHz 9800 Pro SE 24
ruddy G5 970FX 1.8 600 MHz 5200U 64 MB 1 GB 10.3.9 24
new2mac G5 970FX 1.8 600 MHz 5200U 64 MB 768 MB 10.3.9 24
Pubert G5 970FX 1.8 600 MHz 5200U 64 MB 2 GB 24
Selecter (Aimee) dual G5 970FX 1.8 5200U 64 MB (Q2DE) 1.5 GB 30 (even when moving window)
feelgood* dual G5 970FX 2.0 1 GHz NV40 24 (CPU reduced setting)


1080p

User CPU bus speed GPU RAM OS FPS

Apple dual G5 970FX 2.0 1 GHz 128 MB 512 MB 10.3/10.4 24-30

halse G4 7455 933 133 MHz 15-18 <- I don't believe it
Eug (BB) G4 7455 1.0 133 MHz Mob 9000 64 MB 768 MB 10.4 ~2
Outrager (BB) G4 7455 1.0 133 MHz Go5200 32 MB 768 MB 0-4
ijohan G4 7447/A 1.25 167 MHz Radeon 9200 32 MB 256 MB unwatchable
Eug (BB) G4 7447/A 1.7 100 MHz GeForce2 MX 32 MB 1 GB 10.4 ~1
JH (BB) dual G4 7455 1.0 133 MHz 9000 Pro 10.4 12
Saad (BB) G5 970FX 1.6 800 MHz 9600 Pro 64 MB PC2700 15
Capt. Obvious (BB) G5 970FX 1.6 800 MHz 9800 Pro SE 15
Pubert G5 970FX 1.8 600 MHz 5200U 64 MB 2 GB 8-10 (automatic setting?)
ruddy G5 970FX 1.8 600 MHz 5200U 64 MB 1 GB 10.3.9 12-24
Stan Turnteen (BB) dual G5 970FX 1.8 9600 XT 128 MB 10.4 24
amjohnst (BB) dual G5 970FX 1.8 900 MHz 1.5 GB 10.3.9 24
Eug's Friend (BB) dual G5 970FX 2.0 1 GHz 9600 Pro 64 MB 10.4 24
feelgood* dual G5 970FX 2.0 1 GHz NV40 24/30 (68% CPU, reduced setting)
Andy Burwell (BB) dual G5 970FX 2.5 1.25 GHz 9800XT 24

[dvdiva]

Looks like the limit really is the CPU more than any thing else. Guess the only computer I have that can handle it is my Xeon pc. Feel bad for those with brand new pimped out powerbooks though.