MBAFF interlace support

[DJ]

VLC supports MBAFF interlacing. It's PAFF interlacing it doesn't support yet. The question regarding MPlayer was because it also uses ffmpeg to decode h.264.

Support for this (in 720i or 1080i) is still dependent on the speed (power) of your machine as there is not much help from your video card and dual core processors or 64 bit processors. However if your machine is marginal and is skipping frames you might try shutting off the loop filter in preferences.

Preferences -> Input / Codecs -> Other codecs -> FFmpeg, "Skip the loop filter for x264 processing" from the pull down select "All" then press Save and close the player.

[1DWA1]

Thanks, that has helped with playback - but alas... still dropping frames... so it must be my machine - though i've heard core avc has been successful on smooth playback under bootcamp/XP on lower spec machines...

1.66GHz Intel core duo / 2GB 667Mhz SDRAM


Thanks for your help

[DJ]

I use CoreAVC under Windows. There is not allot of difference here once the loop filters have been shut off. Recent discussions on the doom9 forum indicate users that are finding other alternatives that work as well, while CoreAVC continues to try tightening their strangle hold through copy protection for this program. A few users are angry as they can not get updates or do a reinstall if they format their disk. If they manage to hold their customers long term is highly questionable at this juncture considering the update issue and that others are catching up in speed of decode. Seems at the moment quite a few sheep are leaving the fold.

[skadood1]

The above settings change in VLC worked!! I can play nearly all 1080p content that I have downloaded Yay! Thanks sooo much! I have been looking for a solution for about 1 year now... wow so easy. I still cant play a high bit rate BBC HD documentary on China, but that is only one. I can play madagascar 1080p mkv, back to future 1080i TS, shrek 1080p mkv (skipped once), heroes 1080p mkv (FINALLY).

I have a 2.0Ghz Intel Core duo with self-upgraded ram to 1GB. I have always been able to play all 720p, but VLC would crash when skipping around in the timeline of videos or fastforwarding. When I upgraded RAM, this diminished. Also, I found from testing that the mac mini hard drive sometimes cannot keep up with the data rates of HD movies. SO, now I server data off of a linux server via samba shares through a gigabit ethernet line, switch, and NICs on both. Now, I can stream/copy content across the network at up to 36MB/s! The highest I have seen it go while watching a movie was around 20MB/s, but usually at <1MB/s. If you go this gigabit route, make sure to get 1000MB capable server NIC, 1000MB capable router or switch or switch behind router(best), and 1000MB rated ethernet lines.

See my setup details at: http://nickyeates.com/personal/blog/mac ... tpc_review

There are a million options in VLC ffmpeg, all with mouse-over explanations. I am sure that you could enhance the speed by sacrificing quality even more so than just the above settings. Also, I think that upscale or downscale may cause a slight bit of CPU on mac minis cause they have --please stay polite-- graphix chip; maybe try messing with different resolutions if you are pressed for that last bit of CPU power.

Also, I think you can overclock mac minis, and I know for sure that you can upgrade mac mini CPUs to 2.4 Ghz. There are tutorials out there to do that.