High Definition Movies on MBP (April 2010)

[skywolf2108]

Hello forum ^^,

I need to ask a few questions about my mbp 13'' (2.66Ghz 4GB DDR3 RAM and GF 320M), if anyone here knows the answer please reply, your help is greatly appreciated, thanks again.

1) Is it theoretically correct the 13'' can't display 1080p hd movies because there aren't enough pixels available?

2) Are 720p movies more suited for the 13''?

3) I'm currently using XBMC and AVS Video Converter, does XBMC perform better on certain video format? I still don't know which video format should i play HD movies on my mac

4) Can the current mbp 15'' play full HD movies (1080p)?

My current convert output setting: HD Video 720p H.264/AVC.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[DoFoT9]

Good set of questions

Xmbc or plex are probably the best options for playing back 1080p content. If you are using handbrake then you could even get away with just QuickTime, as the bit rates aren't very demanding (QuickTime also has decoding of h264 built in).

You are correct in saying that 1920x1080 pixels cannot fit on the 1280x720 that the MacBook would have, however I like to plan for the future and use 1080p haha, just incase you get an extra monitor or something. It can still play the pixels, it just isn't a 1:1 representation.

Any current Mac will reliably be able to playback compressed 1080p content.

 

[skywolf2108]

Yeah, I totally agree with your view on preparing for the future haha All my stored hd movies are either 1080i or 1080p, i'm just worried if i use xbmc to play them, the mbp will have to work harder to downscale it to 720p (viewable on 13'').

What i'm going to do is to keep copies of 1080ps on my external hard drives and have 720ps copies on my 13'' mbp. Does that sound right to you haha?

 

[DoFoT9]

Yeah, I totally agree with your view on preparing for the future haha All my stored hd movies are either 1080i or 1080p, i'm just worried if i use xbmc to play them, the mbp will have to work harder to downscale it to 720p (viewable on 13'').

What i'm going to do is to keep copies of 1080ps on my external hard drives and have 720ps copies on my 13'' mbp. Does that sound right to you haha?

Roughly what bit rate are the movies? Aree they normal rips or rare they compressed a lot? If the latter, I don't think that you should be worried at all about CPU cycles.

 

[skywolf2108]

11GB Compressed 1080p AVATAR. It should run okay no?

 

[DoFoT9]

11GB Compressed 1080p AVATAR. It should run okay no?

Ok that's not TOO bad. Roughly 50% from original iirc. Even QuickTime will have no problems playing that back as I said using xmbc or plex it will be a wonderful experience. For space sake it's probably a better idea to use 720p versionsnfor a 'better' experience in playback as well. Provided that you can put up with the converting of all videos that is lol

 

[skywolf2108]

Haha, thanks for the input mate, you seem like a really funny+nice guy.

Well, I'm simultaneously downloading movies + converting the finished downloads, though I might just leave the mbp alone. I learnt a lot today.

Good' Day!

 

[DoFoT9]

Haha, thanks for the input mate, you seem like a really funny+nice guy.

Well, I'm simultaneously downloading movies + converting the finished downloads, though I might just leave the mbp alone. I learnt a lot today.

Good' Day!

Haha cheers man! Always love when my help is appreciated feel free to add me on any chat protocol just below my drumming avatar if ur bored one day

Take it easy and good luck!