iBook G3 + Tiger = very slow h.264?

[zakatov]

I don't really remember how it was before I upgraded to Tiger, but now i'm trying to watch the latest Apple event video and even though the "quality" is 100%, I'm getting 2-6 fps and Quicktime player is using basically 100% of CPU time. Playing other types of videos (not h.264) is fine.

Specs: iBook G3 800; 384MB Ram; latest versions of tiger and QT.

So does anyone know if this is normal or not?
Also, where can I DL some of those keynotes (the h.264 ones) so that I don't have it stream and decode at the same time?

 

[Lacero]

H.264 requires G5.

 

[zakatov]

H.264 requires G5.

I'm pretty sure that's for HD only. It can't be for ALL h.264, can it be?

edit: yea, h.264 scales from cell phones to HD, so G5 is not reqired

 

[26139]

Not exactly...

h.264 doesn't necessarily REQUIRE a G5, but unless the video is scaled properly, it will run like **** with a processor and video card that is not up to snuff.
I believe it takes a G5 to ENCODE h.264 though.

 

[aquajet]

My PowerBook 1.33 Ghz G4 can play back lower-quality h.264 no problem, anything higher and it starts to choke. I couldn't imagine that h.264 could ever work on a G3.

 

[zakatov]

So I basically cannot even watch Apple event webcasts anymore on this thing? That's progress.

 

[crazzyeddie]

So I basically cannot even watch Apple event webcasts anymore on this thing? That's progress.

Thats what you get for saving a buck and buying a G3 when the G4's and maybe even G5's were out.

 

[Lacero]

G3s were discontinued in 1999. It's almost 2006. That's like 7 years. OMG. I sure hope we progressed since then.

 

[therevolution]

G3s were discontinued in 1999. It's almost 2006. That's like 7 years. OMG. I sure hope we progressed since then.

I guess that depends on your definition of "discontinued." G3 iBooks were sold by Apple until October 2003.

 

[zakatov]

Thats what you get for saving a buck and buying a G3 when the G4's and maybe even G5's were out.

I bought this iBook long before there was even a hint of G4 iBooks. It has served me we well, I'm just surprised that streaming video would require more CPU power than iBook can handle. Oh well, thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Mord]

check activity monitor and see if any other process is running, i can play h.264 fine on my ibook, i played the serenity trailers fine and my isight works fine with h.264 (well viewing other peoples isights)

stop bashing the g3, it's a capable cpu.

 

[zakatov]

check activity monitor and see if any other process is running, i can play h.264 fine on my ibook, i played the serenity trailers fine and my isight works fine with h.264 (well viewing other peoples isights)

stop bashing the g3, it's a capable cpu.

No, no other process, like I said, Quicktime is basically hogging 100% of CPU. I can watch other videos and other keynotes (streaming, non-h.264) just fine.

 

[kgarner]

h.264 doesn't necessarily REQUIRE a G5, but unless the video is scaled properly, it will run like **** with a processor and video card that is not up to snuff.
I believe it takes a G5 to ENCODE h.264 though.

No G5 is required to encode H.264 as I have done it on both a 500MHz G4 and my 1.42 GHz mini. It just takes a long time.

 

[reberto]

G3s were discontinued in 1999. It's almost 2006. That's like 7 years. OMG. I sure hope we progressed since then.

You need to get your facts right before you make a ass of yourself again. The G3 TOWER was canceled in 1999, Apple still used the G3 until '03.

 

[Sdashiki]

h.264 like any VIDEO codec takes TIME to ENCODE.

The computer is doing at least 24 fps and has to look at each frame (sometimes 2-3x over the encoding process) and even with a 5min clip, thats alot of frames. A little G3 can do anything a G5 can do, within reason, it will just take an astronomically long time.

Ive seen alot of people complain that encoding video takes a long time. Well SURPRISE SURPRISE it is always going to be like that. Look at HD, a G5 can barely do anything with it, compared to how it handles DV etc.