View Full Version : XBMC for Windows, is it the right choice for me?
Hello,
I'm using XBMC on my XBOX since 5 years now.
The only reason to change to a HTPC is the fact, that I now own a Full-HD-TV and want to watch HD-Video (mkv, HD-DVD and BR-DVD).
Additionaly a DVB-S2-card for HD-TV is installed.
I have a MoBo with AMD 780G (ATI HD 3200).
Here are my questions:
Can I watch/record TV with a plugin to a appication like DVBViewer or with XBMC directly?
Is XBMC capable of HD-DVD and BR-DVD or able to use PowerDVD for this?
I want to watch DIVX/XVID/mkv/DVD-ISO via LAN. Is that possible?
Thanks a lot.
Kind regards
XBMC4me
Can I watch/record TV with a plugin to a appication like DVBViewer or with XBMC directly?
This has been asked many times... There is no support for tv tuner cards in XBMC. There is a dev branch for a pvr but not sure how far along are they..
Is XBMC capable of HD-DVD and BR-DVD or able to use PowerDVD for this?
XBMC can't decode Blu-Ray or HD-DVD because ffmpeg can't decrypt those in software. There was a thread recently about someone able to play BD disks by using AnyDVD which removes the encryption realtime...
I want to watch DIVX/XVID/mkv/DVD-ISO via LAN. Is that possible?
Yes. That's actually one of XBMC's core features. It handles all the formats you listed...
All those answers were either in the wiki or the forum. You could have easily looked them up..
natethomas
2009-04-27, 23:34
Ironically, the only question you didn't ask was the most important one. Specifically, "Is my rig fast enough for HD content?"
That cannot yet be answered, as you haven't told us what kind of CPU you are using, and XBMC for Windows is CPU dependent for video decoding. I probably couldn't answer anyway, as I'm an intel guy, but others probably could.
If you have the space, you can remux Blu-Rays into ts or mkv files that you can play directly from xbmc. I'm not aware of any way to play Blu-Rays directly from xbmc. Even then you'll need an extremely fast CPU to actually decode high bitrate 1080p H264. You didn't specify speed, but just about anything you'd find running on an AMD 780G isn't going to cut it.
Thanks a lot for your replies guys.
I was hoping that it would be possible to switch to an application for DVB-S2 like DVBViewer from XBMC and back again.
Integrating PowerDVD would make XBMC able to switch when viewing HD-DVD or BR-DVD.
Unfortunately the GPU of the HD 3200 can't be used within XBMC while other applications like VLC or MPC have no problem with HD-mkv on my AMD Athlon X2 4850e.
Kind regards
XBMC4me
I play 1080p stuff via XBMC with a Athlon 4400 with no dropped frames. Should be fine.
I play 1080p stuff via XBMC with a Athlon 4400 with no dropped frames. Should be fine.
The only difference is that a BD transport stream is a much higher bit rate than what you get with the majority of mkv/avi 1080p content floating around. You need a beefy processor to be able to handle that.
XBMC4me - you should check out the External Player support in XBMC if you want to use PowerDVD or another player for GPU-assited decoding:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43511&highlight=external+player
You didn't specify speed, but just about anything you'd find running on an AMD 780G isn't going to cut it.
Don't know what you mean. Most 780G boards, if not all, can accept a Phenom II with a BIOS upgrade. My PII X3 720 never exceeds even 52% of cpu usage while playing Casino Royale Blu-Ray files (max bitrate over 45Mbps). Avg CPU usage is about 45%.