QuicktimeHD on a Powerbook = HORRIBLE!!!

[qtip919]

OK

Ive got a 1.5ghz Powerbook with 1.5gb of RAM. When I play quicktime movie trailers in HD, the performance is terrible!

Whats the deal!?

I mean, I just watched the same trailer on a toshiba tabletPC with basically the same video card and had perfect playback quality

Is this something everyone is experiencing?

 

[katie ta achoo]

OK

Ive got a 1.5ghz Powerbook with 1.5gb of RAM. When I play quicktime movie trailers in HD, the performance is terrible!

Whats the deal!?

I mean, I just watched the same trailer on a toshiba tabletPC with basically the same video card and had perfect playback quality

Is this something everyone is experiencing?

I just watched the trailer for "The Fog" and it looked amazing. 1.5 GHz PB with 1 gig of RAm and it was great...

Were you running a lot of apps at the time? Anything else that could've slowed down your PB?

 

[qtip919]

nothing is on other than quicktime...not sure what *could* have been slowing me down...I am really hoping my performance isnt something caused by bad hardware

 

[grapes911]

nothing is on other than quicktime...not sure what *could* have been slowing me down...I am really hoping my performance isnt something caused by bad hardware

Restart the computer and try again. Make sure you don't have anything loading at login.

 

[edge540]

Ive seen many HD trailers on my 15" 1.5ghz powerbook, even when watching them on my 20" ACD they play perfectly fine. There is an option in quicktime to preload the movie into ram before playing it. Have you tried that option?

 

[dubbz]

I mean, I just watched the same trailer on a toshiba tabletPC with basically the same video card and had perfect playback quality

The CPU is far more important than the GPU when it comes to video playback, so it shouldn't really matter that much.

What kind of CPU does that Tablet PC have anyway?


The trailers play like crap on my 1.33GHz 12". It just barely manage to play some XivD encoded HD movies in MPlayer. I'd figure a 1.5GHz should be able to play it though..

 

[andiwm2003]

i watch the fog, size large on a pb 15", 1,5ghz,1.25gb ram, 4200 hd. everthing clear and smooth here. can't complain.

edit size: i meant 720p.

 

[mduser63]

I've only watched 720p (no 1080i stuff) on my PowerBook, but other than the screen not really being big enough, they play just fine in QT 7. My PowerBook is a 12" 1.33 GHz Rev C with 768 MB RAM.

 

[radiantm3]

The CPU is far more important than the GPU when it comes to video playback, so it shouldn't really matter that much.

What kind of CPU does that Tablet PC have anyway?


The trailers play like crap on my 1.33GHz 12". It just barely manage to play some XivD encoded HD movies in MPlayer. I'd figure a 1.5GHz should be able to play it though..

GPU plays a larger role than you think. My G5 played the 1080p movies at like 10FPS when I had my 5200ultra (32meg). Now I have the 6800GT (256meg) and it runs at full frames, full screen on a 30" display. All the other hardware is exactly the same.

 

[risc]

...Ive got a 1.5ghz Powerbook with 1.5gb of RAM. When I play quicktime movie trailers in HD, the performance is terrible...

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/recommendations.html - so what part of you need a G5 to play HD content don't you understand?

 

[Nermal]

The trailers play like crap on my 1.33GHz 12".

Interesting. They (720p) were almost OK on my 1.25 GHz G4, and I would've thought a 1.5 would be able to handle them. My 2 GHz G5, on the other hand...

 

[dubbz]

GPU plays a larger role than you think. My G5 played the 1080p movies at like 10FPS when I had my 5200ultra (32meg). Now I have the 6800GT (256meg) and it runs at full frames, full screen on a 30" display. All the other hardware is exactly the same.

That's interesting. The reason is probably because of the increased Video RAM. Checking a bit more carefully, I noticed that Microsoft recommends a graphics card with a minimum of 128MB Video RAM for 1080p playback of their WMV HD format. Don't know about Apple though.

Interesting. They (720p) were almost OK on my 1.25 GHz G4, and I would've thought a 1.5 would be able to handle them. My 2 GHz G5, on the other hand...

By 'crap' I mean 'not optimally'. I'm get really annoyed, really fast, by movies that don't play at full fps. I don't remember if they were 1080p or 720p though. Hmm.. will have to check.

 

[FireArse]

GPU memory

That's interesting. The reason is probably because of the increased Video RAM. Checking a bit more carefully, I noticed that Microsoft recommends a graphics card with a minimum of 128MB Video RAM for 1080p playback of their WMV HD format. Don't know about Apple though.

I have a Dual 2GHz with Tiger for HD 1080p playback. I also use the ATi 9600 - but can't remember the memory on that card - is it 64MB? Does anyone know for sure?
(dont hold me to this) but i think that Core Image uses the GPU for some help with decoding the H.264. Other advanced codecs are using the GPU's for the same reason.

Im working on an Advanced Open Source Codec developed by the BBC - Dirac (and hope to get it optimized for the G5 and get support from the installed GPU by using Core Image)

Have a look!

 

[dubbz]

I have a Dual 2GHz with Tiger for HD 1080p playback. I also use the ATi 9600 - but can't remember the memory on that card - is it 64MB? Does anyone know for sure?

Likely 128MB. Don't think Apple has sold any 64MB versions, only 128MB and 256MB.

(dont hold me to this) but i think that Core Image uses the GPU for some help with decoding the H.264. Other advanced codecs are using the GPU's for the same reason.

You might be right. Come to think of it, there's some options for this even in Windows. Meh, I'm tired. I think I'll just keep quiet on this subject for now

Im working on an Advanced Open Source Codec developed by the BBC - Dirac (and hope to get it optimized for the G5 and get support from the installed GPU by using Core Image)

Looks cool. I can dig anything that's as OSS compatible as this I'll have to check of one of those samples.

Is this the same thing that was mentioned on Slashdot some time ago?

 

[screensaver400]

On my stock Rev. D 12" PowerBook, I get around 12fps on 780p normally, and around 15fps if I preload to RAM. Watchable, but I'll stich with my SD.

 

[qtip919]

yikes, never knew I needed a G5 to view HD content on 720 and above...

funny how my windows based laptops (all below 1.5ghz) all run 720 and 1080 without the slightest hitch.

To add insult to injury, they all have inferior video cards...

welp, I really hope things get better with the new OSx86 machines