khat17
01-23-2008, 09:09 AM
Most gamers have one of two chipsets in their machines - nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) or ATI (http://ati.amd.com/).* Outside of the conflicts are the new technologies that keep coming out, and one of the nicer ones is H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264).* For those who don't know what H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) is, it's a video standard - not going to say it's new, since it's been out a while now - which both BluRay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BluRay) and HD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hd-dvd) have to follow.* In other words, whether you use a BluRay-DVD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BluRay) or an HD-DVD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hd-dvd), the video is encoded using the H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) standard.* Now, let's show you the difference between H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) and your usual video encoding on PC.
H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) is the standard, and different people have different implimentation sof the standard - so Apple has a variant, MainConcept has a variant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC_Products_and_Implementations), and the free variant is called X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264).* X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264) quickly became my personal favorite codec for encoding video, but I noticed that it didn't do very well at low resolutions, except for Anime.* The colors used in Anime and animations in general are easier for H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) codecs to handle, and at higher bitrates, H.264's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) internal processes don't really care what kind of video you throw at it - you're going to get better quality than any other encoder out there (DivX (http://www.divx.com/)/Xvid (http://www.xvid.org/)).
For an example, I'll provide the download links to two files.* The first is a rip from a BluRay-DVD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BluRay) for an anime called AIR.* It's a preview/teaser file.* The second link is for a high quality DivX (http://www.divx.com/) version of the same file.* If you're going to be doing any level of testing, I'd advise to download both.
File 1 - X264 (H.264 Variant) Encoded File (http://www.sendspace.com/file/gg6k69)
File 2 - DivvX High Quality Encode Of Above File (http://www.sendspace.com/file/dki1jx)
Now note that the DivX (http://www.divx.com/) file is a HQ re-encode of the original X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264) file.* The settings have been customized for what I consider to be the best possible performance in order to do this encode.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/DivX%20Settings/Clipboard01.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/DivX%20Settings/Clipboard02.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/DivX%20Settings/Clipboard03.jpg
DivX's (http://www.divx.com/) original "Insane Quality" or whatever else it's listed as for1080p (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p) (one of the standard resolutions for BR/HD video, and the current maximum) does not give as good quality as the settings shown here.* A lot of the settings used are either turned down, or turned off.* For example, here I used 8074k as the encoding KB, while the application would have used 6000k by default for 1080p (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p).
Now encoding is one thing, as you need to follow the standard as it is set out, but decoding is another.* If you use any codec pack or filter pack (http://www.cccp-project.net/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ) on your PC and attempt to play back the original X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264) file, dependent on your PC's performance, you will experience a constant 50%-70% CPU usage, or (on less capable systems) constant 100% CPU usage.* Of the decoders available, the best one is the COREAVC (http://www.coreavc.com/) decoder.
Now, if you have an nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) graphics card with PureVideo2 / PureVideo HD (http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html) technology, you're halfway to not having your PC give you high CPU usage when playing back a high definition 1080p (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p) video file.* The only thing you need next, is a player which is capable of accessing your graphics card's built in decoder.* As for the ATI (http://ati.amd.com/) cards with HD playback capabilities, I'd suspect that the technology works in somewhat of the same light.* If I'm wrong, or you can provide information on how it works, please post it.*
So far, CyberLink PowerDVD (http://www.cyberlink.com/) has been identified as the single best solution for accessing your hardware's built in decoder, and taking the strain off your processor.* The only problem I've seen with this software so far, is that it takes up so much of your pocket resources - almost USD$100 for the package.* The other cheaper packages don't have the technology to allow you useage of the card's built in decoder.
To give you a show of what I mean, for those who've tried playing back the X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264) encoded file and got high CPU usage - if you used Xvid (http://www.xvid.org/) and had an nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) card with PureVideo HD (http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html), your CPU usage would be normal as if it's idle (mine was around 2%-4%).* This is because the software is using the hardware decoder, and not relying on your CPU or other software to decode the video.
The summary would be - for a software solution for High Definition content is COREAVC (http://www.coreavc.com/).* The hardware solution is either an nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) card with PureVideo HD (http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html) (which I've tested) or an ATI (http://ati.amd.com/) card with HD capabilities (not tested by me).* The only available software solution for the use of the hardware is CyberLink PowerDVD (http://www.cyberlink.com/), but it's pricey.* InterVideo WinDVD (http://apps.corel.com/lp/ivi/index.html) claims to do the same thing that CyberLink PowerDVD (http://www.cyberlink.com/) does, but I've not been able to successfully get it to work......and playback showed me that it was using the software decoders on your PC, unless I didn't change a setting somewhere in the application.* And trust me, I looked.
So for all you gamers who saw the pretty HDCP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP) and PureVideo HD (http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html) (nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) Cards) capabilities on the bright and shiny new cards you purchased, you'll now know what those features were put there for.
PeAcE.
H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) is the standard, and different people have different implimentation sof the standard - so Apple has a variant, MainConcept has a variant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC_Products_and_Implementations), and the free variant is called X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264).* X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264) quickly became my personal favorite codec for encoding video, but I noticed that it didn't do very well at low resolutions, except for Anime.* The colors used in Anime and animations in general are easier for H.264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) codecs to handle, and at higher bitrates, H.264's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264) internal processes don't really care what kind of video you throw at it - you're going to get better quality than any other encoder out there (DivX (http://www.divx.com/)/Xvid (http://www.xvid.org/)).
For an example, I'll provide the download links to two files.* The first is a rip from a BluRay-DVD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BluRay) for an anime called AIR.* It's a preview/teaser file.* The second link is for a high quality DivX (http://www.divx.com/) version of the same file.* If you're going to be doing any level of testing, I'd advise to download both.
File 1 - X264 (H.264 Variant) Encoded File (http://www.sendspace.com/file/gg6k69)
File 2 - DivvX High Quality Encode Of Above File (http://www.sendspace.com/file/dki1jx)
Now note that the DivX (http://www.divx.com/) file is a HQ re-encode of the original X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264) file.* The settings have been customized for what I consider to be the best possible performance in order to do this encode.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/DivX%20Settings/Clipboard01.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/DivX%20Settings/Clipboard02.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/DivX%20Settings/Clipboard03.jpg
DivX's (http://www.divx.com/) original "Insane Quality" or whatever else it's listed as for1080p (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p) (one of the standard resolutions for BR/HD video, and the current maximum) does not give as good quality as the settings shown here.* A lot of the settings used are either turned down, or turned off.* For example, here I used 8074k as the encoding KB, while the application would have used 6000k by default for 1080p (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p).
Now encoding is one thing, as you need to follow the standard as it is set out, but decoding is another.* If you use any codec pack or filter pack (http://www.cccp-project.net/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ) on your PC and attempt to play back the original X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264) file, dependent on your PC's performance, you will experience a constant 50%-70% CPU usage, or (on less capable systems) constant 100% CPU usage.* Of the decoders available, the best one is the COREAVC (http://www.coreavc.com/) decoder.
Now, if you have an nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) graphics card with PureVideo2 / PureVideo HD (http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html) technology, you're halfway to not having your PC give you high CPU usage when playing back a high definition 1080p (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p) video file.* The only thing you need next, is a player which is capable of accessing your graphics card's built in decoder.* As for the ATI (http://ati.amd.com/) cards with HD playback capabilities, I'd suspect that the technology works in somewhat of the same light.* If I'm wrong, or you can provide information on how it works, please post it.*
So far, CyberLink PowerDVD (http://www.cyberlink.com/) has been identified as the single best solution for accessing your hardware's built in decoder, and taking the strain off your processor.* The only problem I've seen with this software so far, is that it takes up so much of your pocket resources - almost USD$100 for the package.* The other cheaper packages don't have the technology to allow you useage of the card's built in decoder.
To give you a show of what I mean, for those who've tried playing back the X264 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X264) encoded file and got high CPU usage - if you used Xvid (http://www.xvid.org/) and had an nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) card with PureVideo HD (http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html), your CPU usage would be normal as if it's idle (mine was around 2%-4%).* This is because the software is using the hardware decoder, and not relying on your CPU or other software to decode the video.
The summary would be - for a software solution for High Definition content is COREAVC (http://www.coreavc.com/).* The hardware solution is either an nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) card with PureVideo HD (http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html) (which I've tested) or an ATI (http://ati.amd.com/) card with HD capabilities (not tested by me).* The only available software solution for the use of the hardware is CyberLink PowerDVD (http://www.cyberlink.com/), but it's pricey.* InterVideo WinDVD (http://apps.corel.com/lp/ivi/index.html) claims to do the same thing that CyberLink PowerDVD (http://www.cyberlink.com/) does, but I've not been able to successfully get it to work......and playback showed me that it was using the software decoders on your PC, unless I didn't change a setting somewhere in the application.* And trust me, I looked.
So for all you gamers who saw the pretty HDCP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP) and PureVideo HD (http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html) (nVidia (http://www.nvidia.com) Cards) capabilities on the bright and shiny new cards you purchased, you'll now know what those features were put there for.
PeAcE.