Mac Mini good enough to transcode for PS3 Media Server?

[kman79]

I've been using my PS3 to view movies from my ReadyNAS and it works flawlessly.

Problem is, most of my video is in MKV format, and having to re-encode to MP4 is quite time consuming. PS3 Media Server can transcode on the fly and stream to the PS3, and I'm just wondering if the Mac Mini is capable enough to do this smoothly? Anyone have first hand experiences with this? I'd hate to spend the money on a mini and end up underwhelmed. Any help on this is greatly appreciated

 

[track09]

I've been using my PS3 to view movies from my ReadyNAS and it works flawlessly.

Problem is, most of my video is in MKV format, and having to re-encode to MP4 is quite time consuming. PS3 Media Server can transcode on the fly and stream to the PS3, and I'm just wondering if the Mac Mini is capable enough to do this smoothly? Anyone have first hand experiences with this? I'd hate to spend the money on a mini and end up underwhelmed. Any help on this is greatly appreciated

Get it with at least 2GB of RAM, and I'd imagine you'd be able to at least transcode 480p. 720 may be possible. Anything over that, I doubt. I say get the RAM, not because the transcode needs it, but if you have any other tasks running at the time, you will most likely need the 2G. (Plus one gig is passe, future transcoding apps may need more memory)

 

[iLog.Genius]

I've been using my PS3 to view movies from my ReadyNAS and it works flawlessly.

Problem is, most of my video is in MKV format, and having to re-encode to MP4 is quite time consuming. PS3 Media Server can transcode on the fly and stream to the PS3, and I'm just wondering if the Mac Mini is capable enough to do this smoothly? Anyone have first hand experiences with this? I'd hate to spend the money on a mini and end up underwhelmed. Any help on this is greatly appreciated

Should be. I used an old Pentium 4 w/HT 2.4GHz and 1.5GB RAM to transcode .mkv formats and it worked with no problems. There were small problems but I blame it more on the network/router than the computer.

 

[Hellhammer]

Actually, I heard that PS3 is getting .mkv file support in 3.00 update, because so many people are needing it.

 

[zmttoxics]

They should be just fine. Encoding is all cpu work, my 2.0GHz G5 handled it just fine and the new minis out perform it.

Edit: wish I could type first thing in the morning. "outer", lawl.

 

[kman79]

I appreciate the replies, it makes my buying decision a little bit easier.

Actually, I heard that PS3 is getting .mkv file support in 3.00 update, because so many people are needing it.

That would be a very welcome addition, I sure hope Sony considers it, and in the end, implements it.

 

[geoffreak]

Apple's current lineup of Minis can handle 1080p without any problem whatsoever, so I'd imagine you should be able to stream at that resolution as well.

 

[track09]

Apple's current lineup of Minis can handle 1080p without any problem whatsoever, so I'd imagine you should be able to stream at that resolution as well.

Playback is one thing, you're just decoding it and sending it to the GPU. (In SL, the 9400s with be supporting hardware h264 decoding). To transcode from one 1080p format to another is a whole different story, not only are you decoding, but now you're re encoding. If you plan on keeping 1080p HQ, I'm not totally sure the Mini can do this, but I could be wrong.

 

[Ptyger]

I realize this thread is almost 2 months old, but I can't help commenting. I use PS3 media server as well, and encode my videos in MKV format. I've found, though, that if you rewrap the MKV files into an M2TS wrapper, the PS3 will play them just fine, without any on-the-fly transcoding. YMMV, but it's worked for me.

 

[Bartman01]

I realize this thread is almost 2 months old, but I can't help commenting. I use PS3 media server as well, and encode my videos in MKV format. I've found, though, that if you rewrap the MKV files into an M2TS wrapper, the PS3 will play them just fine, without any on-the-fly transcoding. YMMV, but it's worked for me.

Ditto this with a twist. Use mkv2vob to repackage the MKV file in a MPG wrapper that plays natively on the PS3, no re-encode required most of the teim.