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1080P video on MBP 2.26

F

FSBW21086

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
82
0
I have been using my macbook pro (2007 2.33ghz 3gb ram) for streaming HD video from my macpro with plex and playing on my samsung 40inch tv. Plex really shines (compared to VLC - boxee) and the MBP can handle the 1080p signal without hiccups.

Sold the MBP for $800 tonight and am getting a new one in a few days... wondering if the 2.26 should be enough or I should opt for the 2.53 version with 4gb ram. I know most of the stuttering problems with .mkv files are software related but still wondering with the drop of ghz. (2.33 - 2.26) Im sure it is just as fast due to newer processors and minimal speed difference but am looking for some first hand experience.

I only use the computer for PLEX media center, tethering camera in studio with lightroom + canon eos utility, and casual web browsing. Anything else I use the macpro for.

Also going from ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 256mb to integrated nvidia 9400M.

Thoughts?
 
All the Macs that I have owned, a Mac Pro 2.8 8 core, an iMac 2.4, a MBP 2.26 have all had problems playing 1080P movies unless I used Plex. Even then, occasionally Plex would have problems.
 
FSBW21086 said:
I have been using my macbook pro (2007 2.33ghz 3gb ram) for streaming HD video from my macpro with plex and playing on my samsung 40inch tv. Plex really shines (compared to VLC - boxee) and the MBP can handle the 1080p signal without hiccups.

Sold the MBP for $800 tonight and am getting a new one in a few days... wondering if the 2.26 should be enough or I should opt for the 2.53 version with 4gb ram. I know most of the stuttering problems with .mkv files are software related but still wondering with the drop of ghz. (2.33 - 2.26) Im sure it is just as fast due to newer processors and minimal speed difference but am looking for some first hand experience.

I only use the computer for PLEX media center, tethering camera in studio with lightroom + canon eos utility, and casual web browsing. Anything else I use the macpro for.

Also going from ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 256mb to integrated nvidia 9400M.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


I got the 2.26 MBP 13", and I got these results:

VLC 1080p: sucks, it all locks up all the time

Plex 1080p: no problems what so ever, no freezes at all

I tested .mkv files (encoded in x264 format).
 
Are these not more a problem of the streaming bandwidth rather than the playing of the file by the Mac? I say this with no issues at all on wired connection with a Syabas NMT using just a sigmatel chip and 100MB ethernet, and having had no issues with a wired connection on a 3 year old HP SFF HTPC all with high bitrate .mkv x264 files. Are you streaming wired or wireless?
 
heliuscc said:
Are these not more a problem of the streaming bandwidth rather than the playing of the file by the Mac? I say this with no issues at all on wired connection with a Syabas NMT using just a sigmatel chip and 100MB ethernet, and having had no issues with a wired connection on a 3 year old HP SFF HTPC all with high bitrate .mkv x264 files. Are you streaming wired or wireless?
Click to expand...

Should work fine, say the actual video data you stream is 11 GB (is a bit high perhaps), and the movie is 90 minutes. Then there will be 11 000 / 90 = 122 MB/min being streamed = around 2 MB/s. And since the wireless will give you a download speed of around 3 MB/s it should work fine :)
 
Davidkoh said:
Should work fine, say the actual video data you stream is 11 GB (is a bit high perhaps), and the movie is 90 minutes. Then there will be 11 000 / 90 = 122 MB/min being streamed = around 2 MB/s. And since the wireless will give you a download speed of around 3 MB/s it should work fine :)
Click to expand...

Nice maths but wireless transmission is rarely that consistent. Try it wired and let me know...
 
heliuscc said:
Nice maths but wireless transmission is rarely that consistent. Try it wired and let me know...
Click to expand...

that consistent? What do you mean? I been pulling 3.2 MB/s constantly for an hour without a problem. Also uploaded 1.9 MB/s constantly for a few hours :)
 
If a current Mac is having difficulties with HD video, then the fault is with software, not hardware. On a well-optimized program like Media Classic (WindoZe), you will have no issues playing even the highest bit-rate 1080p. Blu-Ray is easily doable even on lower-clocking Montevenia CPUs. Your 2.26 should be a decent bit faster than your old 2.33 (Conroe?), and the 9400m is a major step forwards in HD-decoding over the X1600.
 
I agree to Cave Man.

I have couple of blu-ray ripped files. I've used VLC and it takes pretty long time to load (sometimes it doesn't even play at all). I've tried Plex. It works but it takes too long too. I've tried MPlayer Extended and it works like a charm. I really commend to use MPlayer.
 
johata3 said:
I agree to Cave Man.

I have couple of blu-ray ripped files. I've used VLC and it takes pretty long time to load (sometimes it doesn't even play at all). I've tried Plex. It works but it takes too long too. I've tried MPlayer Extended and it works like a charm. I really commend to use MPlayer.
Click to expand...

Strange, I load movies with Plex almost instantaneously... What kinda encoding are you using?
 
hey davidkoh. unfortunately, i have no idea what you mean by "encoding." could you kindly explain it to me?
 
johata3 said:
hey davidkoh. unfortunately, i have no idea what you mean by "encoding." could you kindly explain it to me?
Click to expand...

When you rip a Blue Ray you gotta choose an encoding, usually you use X264 (open source version of h.264), these usually use the .mkv file format.
 
Davidkoh said:
When you rip a Blue Ray you gotta choose an encoding, usually you use X264 (open source version of h.264), these usually use the .mkv file format.
Click to expand...

When you rip the disc you get the video codec of whatever it's in (h.264, VC-1 or MPEG-2) and extracted audio cores of AC3 DD or DTS, both of which are 5.1. The container for MakMKV is always MKV, but Handbrake can reencode into other containers and other video/audio codecs (video is lossy).
 
Cave Man said:
When you rip the disc you get the video codec of whatever it's in (h.264, VC-1 or MPEG-2) and extracted audio cores of AC3 DD or DTS, both of which are 5.1. The container for MakMKV is always MKV, but Handbrake can reencode into other containers and other video/audio codecs (video is lossy).
Click to expand...

And how does that go against what I said?
 
If a netbook can handle 1080p, so can the 13" MBP

I have no idea what's wrong with your laptop, but 1080 is fine on mine (and I'm using a 24" monitor)
 
Cave Man said:
You don't choose anything regarding encoding. You get whatever is encoded by the disc.
Click to expand...

Ofc you can choose the final product. You said it yourself, handbrake can reencode ****. Granted you get whats there in the first step, but the final product is what you want it to be ;)
 
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