Building a living room system with the Mac mini: H.264 support ?

[bladerunner]

I'm trying to build a living room system with the Mac mini and have 3 questions:

? Has anybody discussed a Cocoa-based Media center Alternative (eg. similar functionality as with MythTV on Linux or Windows Media Center editions) ? The best would be an open-source initiative, of course.
Given the large interest in the Mac mini, maybe there is already a project forming ?

? With QuickTime 7 and AVC/H.264 support, it seems odd to me that all external tuners for Macs (eg. current EyeTV devices) support MPEG2. Is there an - upcoming - alternative for Macs to record as AVC/H.264 ?
Links from manufacturers other than Elgato are also welcome.

? Does someone know the specs from the Mac mini DVD drive so that it can made code-free for DVD playback ?

Thanks for any input or other ideas.

Below is what I'm trying to build as a living room device when the Mac mini ships:

__________
* Sound out
Stereo or 5.1 over USB2.0 (Edit: There is also Firewave from Griffin over Firewire now)


* Video
CD / DVD playback, eg. over VLC player or upcoming QuickTime7
? Region-free mod for Mac mini DVD player ?

* Remote Control:
Bluetooth -> Salling Clicker
Keyspan IR Remote Control

* Content (AV from Macs): Airport / Streaming content
Streaming over Airport
UWB (Ultra Wide Band) may become available by end of 2005.

* Content (TV): External Tuner
? EyeTV devices or similar

* GUI (instead of 'normal' OS X )
? GUI: Cocoa application, presents user a sort of kiosk mode in OS X - maybe directly in start-up items - allowing to directly access Pictures / Movies / iTunes.
Fast user switching would allow all family members to see their own content.

* DVD Burner
Internal or later external Dual Layer burner.

* EPG
TitanTV (USA) or tvtv.xx (Europe) Electronic Programming Guides
These apparently work fine with EyeTV devices
_____

 

[skp574]

DVD Region hack

I'd definitely be interested in the possibility of hacking the drive to be region free.

I don't want to clog up your thread and go off-topic, but is there a way to do it?

 

[daveL]

H.264 at D1 resolution and DVD quality and better bit rates than MPEG4 (Divx) requires a *lot* of processing power, like a dedicated DSP and high performance codec. Not cheap or easy.

There is a box that will do Divx-type Mpeg 4 (part 3). Ot's on the Elgato page under third-party products.

 

[bladerunner]

follow-up...

@skp574:

I'm aware of these two pages, but there were no answers yet on Mac mini DVD (combo drive version) regio free patches:

General page:
http://xvi.rpc1.org/
Mac forum:
http://forum.rpc1.org/viewforum.php?f=30

Usual Warning: All the downloads on those pages could damage your drive/void your warranty.

@daveL: Thanks a lot for the info. I will check, maybe my question also wasn't precise enough: If I understood correctly, most of the Elgato devices offload the compression work from the Mac, so wouldn't the Mac only playback/record the "finished" compressed AVC/H.264 stream ?
I hope the prices come down later this year. So the Mac mini would "only" record the compressed stream/be used to playback through QuickTime7 or another capable player.

Another general question: QuickTime 7 (H.264 support) is a Tiger feature. Does anyone know if QuickTime - or the H.264 playback part - will be made available for 10.3 as well ?

I doubt it. I guess Apple wants us all to spend $129 for such goodies

 

[bladerunner]

Mac mini in your car

Also, to go a little OT on my own thread about Mac minis as living room devices, there was an interesting article putting the Mac mini in your car:

http://news.com.com/Putting+the+Mac+Mini+in+your+dashboard/2100-1042_3-5539831.html

Given that most good GPS solutions - at least over here in Europe - cost well over $1000, this could be cool idea.

Maybe also for gaming - children in the backseat - or DVD playback for car passengers.

I can't wait to see Mac mini mods in living rooms and cars

 

[daveL]

@skp574:

I'm aware of these two pages, but there were no answers yet on Mac mini DVD (combo drive version) regio free patches:

General page:
http://xvi.rpc1.org/
Mac forum:
http://forum.rpc1.org/viewforum.php?f=30

Usual Warning: All the downloads on those pages could damage your drive/void your warranty.

@daveL: Thanks a lot for the info. I will check, maybe my question also wasn't precise enough: If I understood correctly, most of the Elgato devices offload the compression work from the Mac, so wouldn't the Mac only playback/record the "finished" compressed AVC/H.264 stream ?
I hope the prices come down later this year. So the Mac mini would "only" record the compressed stream/be used to playback through QuickTime7 or another capable player.

Another general question: QuickTime 7 (H.264 support) is a Tiger feature. Does anyone know if QuickTime - or the H.264 playback part - will be made available for 10.3 as well ?

I doubt it. I guess Apple wants us all to spend $129 for such goodies

The Elgato boxes do offload the encoding, but they current only use mpeg1/2. Actually, I *just* checked their site again, and they have a software update (v1.7) that now includes mpeg4 compression. I don't know if they are doing this on the box or on the Mac. It still isn't H.264, however. Yes, the mini would only be recording a compressed stream and then decode it via QT to play it.

 

[bladerunner]

Mac media center project underway !

@davel, thanks again.

I just became aware of another Macrumors member (mrzippy in Mini mac shipping thread ) starting a project to create a Media Center out of a Mac mini...

http://mrzippy.org.uk/macmediacenter/

Nice, I knew someone must have started this already. I hope it makes great progress, will keep an eye on that URL.