Go to maintenance click install if you have atv flash...if not use nito tv then click install plex.
I have started using xbmc instead of plex now after google searches worked out how to use it, seems better than Plex.
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Plex & xbmc discussion
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Go to maintenance click install if you have atv flash...if not use nito tv then click install plex.
I have started using xbmc instead of plex now after google searches worked out how to use it, seems better than Plex.
Ah, gotcha. I do believe that XBMC can handle your setup. On the forums there are many individuals such as yourself who use it. My system has five inputs for HDMI and one output to my 50" Pioneer Elite, so my Pioneer Elite VSX-33 handles all video and audio and can handle 3D should I ever decide on a 3D panel.
Keep in mind though that the ATV2 can handle full 1080P and sound, but Apple iOS limits the output for some reason. XBMC and other JB third party systems make use of the hardware.
Hope this helps and thanks for your help, I'm learning a great deal about audio systems and I thought I knew enough already lol. Thanks again for taking the time. 🙂
No. An atv2 even running xbmc can not actually output true 1080p (that said it also cannot with any other known mod).
Afaik the only atv of any generation or mod that can actually output true 1080p is an atv 1 running xbmc linux with a chd chip.
The added Broadcom Crystal Decoder processor in the Apple TV 1 isn't even true 1080P. It isn't entirely true that XBMC cannot force 1080P out of the aTV 2. The ATV 2 inputs 1080P fine, using developed codecs through XBMC has allowed it to output 1080P (although again, not full 1080P but darn good).
Heck, I'll post a video 🙂
Um, no. it outputs 720p and then its upscaled. If you think xbmc on the atv2 can output 1080p you might want to tell davilla at xbmc. He would be very interested I am sure in your findings. 😉
"Inputs 1080P" ... I suspect you mean can decode 1080P ? Yes, it can to some extent. Display is still 720p.
As to the chd ... yes, it is. Dunno what part of "true 1080P" you are referring to. Note that even with a chd the atv 1 via xbmc osx downscales to 720P due to memory limitations in the osx implementation. Only the atv 1 running xbmc linux can actually decode, render and display 1080p as far as any atv implementation currently known.
From http://www.logicsupply.com/products/bcm970015 :
"H.264/AVC HP @ L4.2 1080p60, 40 Mb/sec." is about as 1080p as any source your likely to get or want to play on an atv.
Not trying to be argumentative but to be clear on fact.
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Hmmm, I'll check this out. Inputs/Accepts/Decodes/whatever, all equate to the same meaning, simply semantics. I have a first gen Apple TV running 10.4.9 with CHD and yes it's good quality but doesn't compare to my Sony Blu-Ray.
For the record 54 Mbps is standard fare for Blu-Ray, 40 is not bad but not 1080P:
From the official Blu-Ray.com FAQ
From XBMC's site:
From XBMC forum:
The downscaling to 720P is being worked on with nightly builds but third party developers have worked out decoding 1080P, and while the 256MB RAM is a hurdle, I haven't had many (if at all) hiccups on mkv's w/ high Mbps.
When I stated inputs I mean accepts/decodes a 1080P signal then 720P (which I do not understand as the box itself is sufficient enough to output 1080P aside from the RAM issue). My Pioneer system handles a lot of the processing as all my components run through it via HDMI, passing video through one HDMI cable to my 50" Pioneer Elite. I noticed a significant difference in playback with my B&W 7.1 system and picture quality, better than CHD.
My statement regarding "not true" 1080P was regarding interlaced versus non-interlaced (slightly similar to the old DVD systems Samsung produced that would "upscale" SD DVD to 720P by doubling pixels, not true 1080P quality).
Now of course 54 Mbps is extremely high bandwidth for most systems at the moment, and mkv files will be rather large. However attached storage via ethernet makes a HUGE difference in quality versus streaming via WiFi. Semantics, pure and simple. As for XBMC, there are a lot of developers out there producing various codecs that the engineers are not aware of and are available through various Cydia repo's, and depending on your setup it's all a matter of factors and variables. The fact is, the aTV 2 can process 1080P, fact.
And of course you're not argumentative, I appreciate your info, and I'm still learning a lot so thanks 🙂
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Diode
macrumors 68020
You realize you can customize the interface of the XBMC with skins right - lots of great ones to choose from.
Gah, yes but decode and display output are totally different beasts. Trust me please as per this post I checked with davilla (who wrote the ios port of xbmc) to make sure I wasn't talking out of my you know what. Yes, via xbmc the atv2 can *decode* a subset of 1080p. But it gets sent out of the hdmi as 720p. There is simply no way of escaping that fact as we speak.
.. and yes, while the blu ray spec calls for up to 54 mbps as you probably well know in practice that is almost never used to its max.
I am curious as to what these "codecs that the engineers are not aware of and are available through various Cydia repo's" are that allow xbmc to get the atv 2 to output 1080P ? Its *not* semantics. It is simply misinformation.
The memory bandwidth cap prohibits the atv2 from outputting 1080p. Sorry to push the point, but in terms of fact ... its fiction until proven otherwise.
As per my conversation today with davilla on irc:
Would I be correct in guessing that your atv 1 with chd xbmc is running osx ? If so then there you go, as I said previously and is well known. Xbmc on atv 1 osx downscales its output to 720p.
Um, the "p" in 1080p means progressive, otherwise it is 1080i which means interlaced. I am confused by your terminology ?
Again, not trying to be a pain, but when stating facts they should be just that, facts. Otherwise it is misleading to the OP. If I have stated things inaccurately it should be pointed out as such with evidence as such.
The atv2 is a remarkable device especially given its low price tag, I do not dispute that. I have one. But quite simply it can not compare to a xbmc chd linux xbmc modded atv 1 in terms of playback capability. No how no way.
Out of the box its decoding capabilites are beyond the atv 1 to be sure (most notably allowing 720p30 whereas its older sibling only allows 720p24).
That said max display output is the same (720p). Until proven otherwise. 🙂
Edit: All of the above said, my apologies to the OP for derailing the original intent of the thread.
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OmegaRed1723
macrumors 6502
Yeah, thanks for helping to clarify; I didn't think the 
TV could output 1920 x 1080 under any circumstances. As aside note on the TV1, I have a Crystal HD card in mine running Crystalbuntu, and it will definitely play 1080p at very high bitrates (50+Mbps). I have uncompressed copies of Inception and The Dark Knight that look so sweet on our 56" Sammy DLP.
TV could output 1920 x 1080 under any circumstances. As aside note on the TV1, I have a Crystal HD card in mine running Crystalbuntu, and it will definitely play 1080p at very high bitrates (50+Mbps). I have uncompressed copies of Inception and The Dark Knight that look so sweet on our 56" Sammy DLP.Anyone notice that plex uses a lot of memory on your pc/mac
Also when i open my queue in firefox it uses even more memory, the browser crawls
My laptop has 3gb of ram
Also when i open my queue in firefox it uses even more memory, the browser crawls
My laptop has 3gb of ram
eTip
macrumors 6502
Yep & that's what makes it unusable for me. If I want to use that computer for almost anything else - then I have to kill it & try to remember to restart it. I really don't understand why it uses so many resources - particularly when it's serving up native iTunes content that shouldn't need converted. It seems to me that Plex almost needs a relatively beefy dedicated box to run on. That just doesn't make financial sense to me (or perhaps I should say FOR me). Its not even a matter of being concerned about have that computer running and connected all the time - it's always up and running iTunes anyhow.
🙂 Yes I know i and p are different, 1080P (24 or 60) has roughly double the pixies of 720P (roughly 2-million), that was my point (of course the larger the flat panel the more important the pixel quality). DVD's past such as Samsung made players that "upscaled" (or whatever the f you call it, seriously with the semantics?) SD DVD to 720P/1080i, it related to our conversation which went well off into a tangent about me being wrong, avoiding my points and stating facts that weren't even in the conversation as to make it seem I'm off my mark. Honestly, it's rare I feel this way but your tone is incredibly condescending and lecturing, and honestly you have valid points but you also are wrong in many points, and yet you seem very sure of yourself.
Seriously, this is exhausting. No matter what I write it's derailing the topic and it gets no where (and you've misread much of what I wrote). It's been real but I've got better things, like, watching HD content on my ATV 2. Thanks! 🙂
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The Plex Server doesn't use a whole lot of memory but it uses a lot of CPU if it has to transcode your media. For various reasons most files have to be transcoded at the moment, but they're working on that and with any luck more kinds of files will be able to be direct streamed in the future.
I didn't read it like that... you did say that you were still learning about this stuff and there's nobody better to learn from than Dynaflash.
Anyway the whole thing seems to have come from a statement that could have been read to mean that XBMC on the ATV2 could output 1080p at 1080p. Let's all agree that it can't, everything on the ATV2 will be scaled to 720p max for the foreseeable future, and we'll concentrate on all the great things Plex and XBMC can do.
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that it's probably the fault of the A4 chip.
🙂 Sucks that Pioneer shut down their panel division and sold it out to Panasonic. Plasma's are still the best for cinema viewing, deep blacks and Pioneer panels were top notch. My friends in the industry all have Pioneer systems. Pioneer wasn't making enough of a profit (even my $8k system had little margin), so they decided to focus on their AVR's, Blu-Ray and computer accessory divisions.
It seems Samsung and Panasonic have taken hold for consumer quality panels. I still can't watch a movie on an LED panel, the colors are way too bright and the blacks are grey. Leave LED LCD's for computer systems, in my opinion (just in case I get reamed lol). 😉
I'm guessing the same thing, that and the 256 MB memory limitation. Not getting into the HD debate again lol. I'd love to see the Apple TV 3 handle 1080P. I wonder if it's possible to mod the RAM in the aTV 2, or is it soldered in?
Hi all. I'm the community manager for XBMC, and, based on a cursory glance, it certainly appears that dynaflash is absolutely correct. The ATV2 can handle native 1080p decoding, though it has a tendency to choke on 1920x1080 and prefers the more narrow movies at that highest resolution. (i.e. the "killa" sample will not play nice with the ATV2.)
The ATV2 also only outputs at 720p and absolutely no one knows how to make it output at a resolution higher than that. I haven't done much reading about that issue lately, but my personal best guess is that there's a hardware limiter somewhere that can't be dealt with using software. I could be wrong about that though.
Because XBMC on ATV2 performs native decoding, it should outperform Plex in terms of video picture quality. Likewise, it should outperform on a cost basis, since you won't need a second computer running once you've performed the jailbreak. Meanwhile, Plex will likely outperform XBMC with 1920x1080 movies and tv, since the A4 chip is only so powerful, while Plex can do it's transcoding using a secondary CPU.
As far as looks and addons (and things of that nature), I'll leave that all up to you. I've never personally used Plex, so I have no knowledge of their skins or addons (or apps, or whatever they call them). I do know that XBMC has some really talented skinners and addon writers who are constantly pushing the envelope. I highly recommend googling "xbmc" and "paper street soap company." Incredible stuff. But who knows, maybe Plex also has a really active and talented skinning group.
The ATV2 also only outputs at 720p and absolutely no one knows how to make it output at a resolution higher than that. I haven't done much reading about that issue lately, but my personal best guess is that there's a hardware limiter somewhere that can't be dealt with using software. I could be wrong about that though.
Because XBMC on ATV2 performs native decoding, it should outperform Plex in terms of video picture quality. Likewise, it should outperform on a cost basis, since you won't need a second computer running once you've performed the jailbreak. Meanwhile, Plex will likely outperform XBMC with 1920x1080 movies and tv, since the A4 chip is only so powerful, while Plex can do it's transcoding using a secondary CPU.
As far as looks and addons (and things of that nature), I'll leave that all up to you. I've never personally used Plex, so I have no knowledge of their skins or addons (or apps, or whatever they call them). I do know that XBMC has some really talented skinners and addon writers who are constantly pushing the envelope. I highly recommend googling "xbmc" and "paper street soap company." Incredible stuff. But who knows, maybe Plex also has a really active and talented skinning group.
Shoesy
macrumors 6502a
True words Nate - but the real benefit of using Plex at the moment IMO is that it doesn't come out of the native menu system and doesnt get skinned (yet!).
There is no waiting for Plex to load, no fiddling about with extra bits of ui- it just extends the functionality you've already got. Don't get me wrong - I do love the work XBMC has done, and I do understand that Plex wouldnt exist without it, but for all the graphical bells and whistles it just doesn't feel right to me on atv2. Maybe the new breed of skins (xTV3, NOX) will win me over, but at the moment I'm loving the simplicity of Plex.
Davilla is still my hero though 😉
There is no waiting for Plex to load, no fiddling about with extra bits of ui- it just extends the functionality you've already got. Don't get me wrong - I do love the work XBMC has done, and I do understand that Plex wouldnt exist without it, but for all the graphical bells and whistles it just doesn't feel right to me on atv2. Maybe the new breed of skins (xTV3, NOX) will win me over, but at the moment I'm loving the simplicity of Plex.
Davilla is still my hero though 😉
Is there a skin for xbmc that looks like plex
I like that plex looks like is part of the apple tv interface
I like that plex looks like is part of the apple tv interface
Hey man, first thanks for your work. I've donated quite a bit to your efforts.
Question: if you rip and encode a Blu-Ray to full quality, the AppleTV 2 should "accept" the mkv 1080P and decode to 720P. If this is true, I don't have to worry about "future proofing" encodes *meaning I don't have to encode the movie to 720P, and eventually [hopefully] there will be a device that can decode the full 2 million 1080P resolution*? As I have played full 1080P movies via ethernet to an attached HDD, then it should be playing it back at 720P, meaning I was wrong regarding the output [and will be speaking with the guy who claimed otherwise]. So yes, I do have massive egg on my face (sorry!) 😱😱😱😱😱
Thanks again for everything!
Forgive me if I'm wrong (again lol), but you still need a "server" running on another system (like iTunes sharing)? Can you use a local attached drive to store your media on a HDD connected via ethernet to the aTV 2 using SMB as you can with XBMC? Thanks man! 🙂
and thanks everyone for your help! Happy Easter!