Running and Passing.

I recently did some investigating into h.264 decoding options for a aged Toshiba laptop that I have been using as my media center. The system in question is running Windows XP and sports an Intel mobile Celeron 2.2 Ghz processor (400mhz fsb + 256kb cache), 1GB Ram, Intel i852GM chipset, 82852/82855 GM/GME graphics adapter, and 4200 rpm hard drive. Hardly specs one would associate with any a modern media center.

The video card does not support hardware decoding of HD content, so I am forced to rely solely on processor power. However, I only outputting video to the laptops 15″ screen. My media center pc only needs to be able to handle my music collection, stream online media, and play a variety of offline video including, fairly low bitrate 720p h.264.

VLC is my media player of choice, but I was running into some problems playing 720p video. For h.264 playback, VLC utilizes the open source FFmpeg codec and does not support third party/system codecs. This is a blessing and a curse. VLC is well known for playing practically any media one can throw at it, but that comes at the price of not always offering the most efficient decoding options. This is not a problem in most cases, but I needed something highly efficient if my Celeron was going to have a chance at playing HD content.

In it’s default state VLC was unable to render watchable video. Processor usage was pegged at 100% and high bitrate scenes were suffering from constant frame drops. However, by utilizing the following tweaks, I was able to attain very watchable, good quality playback.

* Open the preferences
* Tick advanced in the lower right corner
* Go to “Input/Codec”
* Go to “other codecs” subcategory
* Go to “FFmpeg”
* Change “Low Resolution Decoding” to 1 or 2
* Tick “Allow Speed Tricks”
* Change “skip the loop filter for H.264 decoding” to all. <– aka Deblocking
* Restart VLC

Depending on system specs, one may not have to implement all of the tweaks. A good course of action would be to  enable one at a time, then try combinations until a efficient decoding process emerges.

Another alternative is to use a different decoder. The CoreAVC codec and Divx 7 are two third party h.264 decoders said to offer superior performance compared to FFmpeg. However, both codecs are proprietary software. Divx 7 is available as a free decoder download, while CoreAVC is available for $10.

To enable these decoders,  an different media player must be. My reliable fallback is the the aptly named Media Player Classic (MPC). In this case, I used Media Player Classic – Home Cinema. MPC is lightweight, open source, and most importantly, supports external filters/decoders.

After installing a 3rd party decoder, navigate to it’s start menu folder and you will be able to configure playback options, interlace methods, and deblocking preferences. Use the following steps to add decoding codecs to MPC.

* Click “View” -> “Options” -> “External Filters”
* Select “Add Filter” from the right menu and select your decoder
* You can then choose to ‘prefer’ or ‘block’  usage so as to ensure you are running the decoder of choice.

Between CoreAVC and Divx 7, CoreAVC was the clear winner. It succeded in blowing away both Divx 7 and FFmpeg.  Processor usage with CoreAVC was 20%+/- lower AND I was able to leave deblocking turned on, something I was unable to do while running either of the other decoders.

VLC, MPC, and the decoders are fully supported by all recent flavors of Windows (XP, Vista, or 7). Decoding speeds will vary according to cpu type, chipset, and ram and decoding codecs should be tested to ensure optimal performance. For example, at the time of this post (01/24/2010), the VLC FFmpeg codec does not support multi-core processing. Also, while real world testing does hold the trump card, GraphStudio provides an excellent base for benchmarking decoders.

Since I have both VLC and MPC installed on the system, I will continue to run both programs as needed. I still like VLC a bit more, but MPCs ability to utilize the CoreAVC decoder and thus provide slightly higher quality playback makes it a must for my lowly mobile Celeron. H.264 Bitrates higher than 3600-3800 kb/s still choke the system, but I am no longer limited to non HD content. Even on more high end systems, these tweaks and decoders can aid in playback and provide some options as to performance preferences.

Great resources for digital video conversation include : forum.videolan.org – forum.doom9.org – forum.videohelp.com

* Update *

11/01/2009 : I found a OpenCulture.org post from this past week that compiles a nice listing of Intelligent Video: The Top Cultural & Educational Video Sites

I have not subscribed to a cable television service, or for that matter owned a TV, for over 2 years.  As I am still quite enthralled with the broadcast news, entertainment, and the general educational possibilities that video can provide, I have compiled the following list of online video resources that I find most useful.

Fora.tv : The World is Thinking – Highly Recommended – Primarily an education resource, Fora features critical debate, lectures, and interviews from the world’s top universities, think tanks, and conferences. Topics range from the economy to technology to environment and nutrition.  They aim to “help intelligent, engaged audiences get smart” and I can attest to the quality of their unmediated offerings.

TED Ideas Worth Spreading – TED  started as an annual multidisciplinary conference featuring 18 minute lectures from the world foremost thinkers and doers. Similar in scope to Fora, TED covers science, politics, global issues, development, and more. However while Fora aims for insight critical discussion, TED functions primarily to disseminate contemporary ideas and innovations.

Myp2p.eu – Highly Recommended – Myp2p is an excellent resource for watching live sporting events. If someone is streaming sports video myp2p attempts to collate and organize those streams into coherent weekly schedule.  I primarily use this to watch Major League Soccer matches, Cleveland sports teams (Here we go….) and other major events. Many of the streams are available through justin.tv, ustream.tv, Veetle, or 3rd party programs. I have found TVU and Sopcast to be my primary streaming applications.

Channelsurfing.com – Channelsurfing offers basic streams for entertainment based television broadcasts. Featuring major sporting events and the nightly offerings from the (former?) big three networks, channelsurfing is a simple no frills outlet for live broadcasts.

Hulu – Hulu provides a broad range of content but is plagued by commercials and it’s connections to high-profile media players. It primarily features purely entertainment based video, however they do feature a decent selection of documentary features, journalism, and science+healthy related content.

I am interested in any other resources that offer similar programming to Fora and myp2p. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Let us begin with a piece of work from the days of toil & triumph as a photography student at Ohio State University. This piece was for my Real and Recorded Time class. The idea behind the project was to create an intervention. The instructor was Cara Tomko.