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adcx64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
1,270
124
Philadelphia
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Hey guys,
I have no problems playing 1080p video on my G4, on the contrary to what a lot of people say. I download a .h264 AAC 1080p MP4 file from YouTube and it plays both in vlc an QuickTime with Perian!
 

ThunderSnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2010
310
1
Link to the file so we can all play! The last one that I tried on my MDD (for the purpose of tinkering with VLC settings) dropped about 8 or 9 frames per second. It was watchable, I guess, for a short YT video, but not tolerable for an actual movie.
 

ThunderSnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2010
310
1
Heres the file in my Dropbox!

http://db.tt/zT4ZXkfA


(Ps. that 9800 is doing great ThunderSnake!)

I tried the file and was able to play it with QT/Perian at about 16 to 20 fps (out of 29 fps). VLC choked on it for some reason.

Are you saying that you're able to play this without any dropped frames? Maybe I want that video card back! :)
 

Jethryn Freyman

macrumors 68020
Aug 9, 2007
2,329
2
Australia
OK, it's 3.5Mbit/second, and my dual 1.8GHz G5 can't play it (in VLC) without freezing a lot..... the only piece of hardware that you have that is superior to mine is the graphics card. My CPUs are nearly maxed out.
 

Nova77

Guest
May 12, 2011
337
1
Thanks for posting an actual file. I will test it later on today (I'm on my laptop right now). However from what I've read, what you are saying sounds impossible. CorePlayer chokes on youtube HD 1080p (unless you turn off avc filter), and VLC just can't handle it without dropping frames. To me, it sounds like its fine for you when the video is watcheable.... and it sure is. I remember playing HD 1080p youtube on my MDD back when I had a stock 9000 pro... It worked, it was OK. But frames dropped every now and then. Now its almost OK for my taste, as my computer is able to play it 95 to 105% of original speed.

For me... to handle HD 1080p means at least being able to play it at 120% of its original speed (preferably 150%) to make sure it NEVER drops a frame. Maybe I have high standards?
 

ThunderSnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2010
310
1
Weird.... maybe its the 9800? Maybe someone else with the card can verify?

I just tried it on my R9800 machine with about the same results as before (with a FireGL X3). It's watchable for a short clip, but it's not what I would want if watching an actual movie.
 

adcx64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
1,270
124
Philadelphia
Im really curious as to why this works for me and no one else.. does window size make a difference?
 

Nova77

Guest
May 12, 2011
337
1
I just tried it on my R9800 machine with about the same results as before (with a FireGL X3). It's watchable for a short clip, but it's not what I would want if watching an actual movie.

Just tried it on my MDD (specs above in my signature). Same results as usual from youtube 1080p content. Almost lag-free with CorePlayer, but still not enough for my taste. Oddly enough VLC can't play it very well and quicktime with perian shows better results. If you are seeing what I see (with quicktime), I guess you don't have very high expectations for HD video on your computer.

There is a reason why I didn't buy an 9800 .... It wasn't the best AGP card -- the 7800 GS is the second best one (first being the 7800 GT 512 MB). Ask any1 arround and you will hear similar input.

Add to that I have 170 more mhz on each CPU, both of the same type as yours (7455B), cooled proprely (mod).

I would be really curious to see some numbers to back what you are saying (frames per second played, or some kind of bench), because to me it sounds like you don't care about a little lag.

----------

Im really curious as to why this works for me and no one else.. does window size make a difference?

Do you play it in full screen? Because I do....
Whats your screen resolution? I think screen res and windows size matters
 
Last edited:

adcx64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
1,270
124
Philadelphia
Just tried it on my MDD (specs above in my signature). Same results as usual from youtube 1080p content. Almost lag-free with CorePlayer, but still not enough for my taste. Oddly enough VLC can't play it very well and quicktime with perian shows better results. If you are seeing what I see (with quicktime), I guess you don't have very high expectations for HD video on your computer.

There is a reason why I didn't buy an 9800 .... It wasn't the best AGP card -- the 7800 GS is the second best one (first being the 7800 GT 512 MB). Ask any1 arround and you will hear similar input.

Add to that I have 170 more mhz on each CPU, both of the same type as yours (7455B), cooled proprely (mod).

I would be really curious to see some numbers to back what you are saying (frames per second played, or some kind of bench), because to me it sounds like you don't care about a little lag.

----------



Do you play it in full screen? Because I do....
Whats your screen resolution? I think screen res and windows size matters


Full screen on 1600*900

how do i get vlc to tell me the framerate and QT?
 

ThunderSnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2010
310
1
Oddly enough VLC can't play it very well and quicktime with perian shows better results.

Yeah, same here. Surprised me too.

There is a reason why I didn't buy an 9800 .... It wasn't the best AGP card -- the 7800 GS is the second best one (first being the 7800 GT 512 MB).

Is there that much of a difference for 2D apps, you think? I don't see much of a difference (if any) between my FireGL and R9800 in terms of 2D video frame rates--Even though the FireGL is clearly superior in 3D apps. I don't have much experience with nVidia cards, though.

Oh well. 720p is plenty for me for now. Even if I could play it, I don't think I'd be willing to push my MDD that hard just to watch a movie.

----------

how do i get vlc to tell me the framerate and QT?

QT: Window>Show Movie Inspector (while playing)

VLC: Window>Media Information>Statistics (while playing)
 

Nova77

Guest
May 12, 2011
337
1
Yeah, same here. Surprised me too.



Is there that much of a difference for 2D apps, you think? I don't see much of a difference (if any) between my FireGL and R9800 in terms of 2D video frame rates--Even though the FireGL is clearly superior in 3D apps. I don't have much experience with nVidia cards, though.

Oh well. 720p is plenty for me for now. Even if I could play it, I don't think I'd be willing to push my MDD that hard just to watch a movie.

----------



QT: Window>Show Movie Inspector (while playing)

VLC: Window>Media Information>Statistics (while playing)


Check out the openmark bench result thread. My results -->http://a3.l3-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/114/23cc9f7612aa429fa7ace9085b07b36e/l.jpg

A guy with a dual 1.25 MDD plus an ATI 9800 -->http://www.petrocksoftware.com/images/random/openmark.png

Btw, video and game benchs (check out Doom 3 mac benches for example) all favor the 7800 GS. It has more memory, it is newer and uses better technology. In fact, its one of the last AGP cards ever made.

----------

Full screen on 1600*900

how do i get vlc to tell me the framerate and QT?

1280x1024 here. It is harder to draw more horizontal lines or what?
 

adcx64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
1,270
124
Philadelphia
26 fps in QT
19 in VLC (it played better first time i tried xD)

And 1600*900 is all my monitor can support Nova...
 

Nova77

Guest
May 12, 2011
337
1
26 fps in QT
19 in VLC (it played better first time i tried xD)

And 1600*900 is all my monitor can support Nova...

8-15 fps in Quicktime (20+ for text at the beginning....)
???? in VLC (can't get it working at all lol...)
probably 27-29 with CorePlayer (don't know how to show info but as I said earlier bench shows more than 100% average playback speed)

1280x1024, OS 10.5.8, Nvidia 7800 GS


Little comment: What the ****??? Maybe has to do with Nvidia drivers being not quicktime friendly?
 

adcx64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
1,270
124
Philadelphia
8-15 fps in Quicktime (20+ for text at the beginning....)
???? in VLC (can't get it working at all lol...)
probably 27-29 with CorePlayer (don't know how to show info but as I said earlier bench shows more than 100% average playback speed)

1280x1024, OS 10.5.8, Nvidia 7800 GS


Little comment: What the ****??? Maybe has to do with Nvidia drivers being not quicktime friendly?

I would say that maybe its because im using a SATA drive, but your using an SSD. This is really odd!

Also ThunderSnake, is this is a flashed PC card or a Mac edition?
 

ThunderSnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2010
310
1
Also ThunderSnake, is this is a flashed PC card or a Mac edition?

It's flashed. I flashed it myself, cleaned the GPU, applied some fresh thermal compound, and installed a new fan. Also, FYI, I removed R2 & R4 because I don't like messing with tape. I'm not good at it and I tend to forget about it until a piece of tape comes off in an AGP slot and screws things up for hours until I remember that tape might be involved. I'm done with tape. Period. Tape is for fascists. Hitler used tape. Anyway, I mention this because you'll need to bridge R2 & R4 if you ever want to run it in a G5 (I saw you mention recently that you were thinking about getting a G5).

And WOW, yes, 26 fps is GOOD! I'm amazed. We've got to figure out what is different about your setup. I don't think it's the GPU, though. I'll test on my R9800 shortly.
 
Last edited:

adcx64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
1,270
124
Philadelphia
It's flashed. I flashed it myself, cleaned the GPU, applied some fresh thermal compound, and installed a new fan. Also, FYI, I removed R2 & R4 because I don't like messing with tape. I'm not good at it and I tend to forget about it until a piece of tape comes off in an AGP slot and screws things up for hours until I remember that tape might be involved. I'm done with tape. Period. Tape is for fascists. Hitler used tape. Anyway, I mention this because you'll need to bridge R2 & R4 if you ever want to run it in a G5.

And WOW, yes, 26 fps is GOOD! I'm amazed. We've got to figure out what is different about your setup. I don't think it's the GPU, though. I'll test on my R9800 shortly.

Yeah I did notice the resistors were removed. When I got it, three small metal washers holding the hearsing onto the die fell off, but it still holds fine.


Does the PC card have a higher core clock than the Mac one? This could be the explanation!
 

ThunderSnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2010
310
1
Yeah I did notice the resistors were removed. When I got it, three small metal washers holding the hearsing onto the die fell off, but it still holds fine.

Oh, I'm sorry about that. It was fine that way when my friend was using it. I had to use retention parts from another card and the springs were not very tight so I used the washers to approximate the tension that it would normally have. I found that card in the bottom of a box of cables that I got at a thrift store for $4. The heatsink was hanging by a wire.

Does the PC card have a higher core clock than the Mac one? This could be the explanation!

I'm using a flashed card too.
 

adcx64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
1,270
124
Philadelphia
Oh, I'm sorry about that. It was fine that way when my friend was using it. I had to use retention parts from another card and the springs were not very tight so I used the washers to approximate the tension that it would normally have. I found that card in the bottom of a box of cables that I got at a thrift store for $4. The heatsink was hanging by a wire.

Its no problem haha! It still holds on just fine. Its crazy what you find in a thrift store!

Let me know your results on your machine!
 

ThunderSnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2010
310
1
Let me know your results on your machine!

Heh. I think I'm going backwards. I just upgraded Perian (been clicking the "remind me later" button for about 18 months) and disconnected my second display only to lose two frames per second. :confused:

No difference between the R9800 and FireGL, though.
 

Nova77

Guest
May 12, 2011
337
1
I would say that maybe its because im using a SATA drive, but your using an SSD. This is really odd!

Also ThunderSnake, is this is a flashed PC card or a Mac edition?

Duddeee SSD is only my boot drive, I'm using a 2 TB SATA for data... plus SSD is faster than HDD. Btw someone please solve this HD playback mystery!! loll
 

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
May 7, 2004
15,662
5,496
Sod off
Hey guys,
I have no problems playing 1080p video on my G4, on the contrary to what a lot of people say. I download a .h264 AAC 1080p MP4 file from YouTube and it plays both in vlc an QuickTime with Perian!

Not to be a party pooper, but I am baffled as to how you can get smooth 1080p video on any G4. Video decoding on these machines is all about CPU power, and the consensus seems to be that a G4 CPU (even a pair of them) cannot handle 1080p at any reasonable frame rate, with 720p performance being marginal at best, even on the fastest G4s. Even G5s can struggle with HD video playback, particularly 1080p at higher frame rates.

More power to you if you got this working, but I have never heard that is was actually possible, anywhere, and my own experience with G4 towers and HD video has been entirely negative. I hope you forgive me if I remain a skeptic. ;)
 

thorns

macrumors member
Sep 27, 2011
96
0
The showstopper isn't resolution, but video bandwidth. 3,5MBit/sec isn't too much. DVDs have around 4MBit/s, typically. A typical 1080p BluRay Rip has around 20-30MBit/sec. So it's quite misleading to interpret a Youtube "1080p" vid as the typical 1080p case. Moreover, the GPU has nothing to do with decoding video. People seem to get Quartz acceleration mixed up with actual GPU decoding. The concept was first implemented in Windows machines in the ATI HD Series (after the X19xx series).
 
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