HD Video Playback: H.264 Blu-ray on the PC
by Derek Wilson on December 11, 2006 9:50 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
We've been hearing for quite some time now that Blu-ray and HDDVD movies could prove to be too much for today's desktop microprocessors; today we finally have the proof. X-Men: The Last Stand encoded using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile at 1080p requires more processing power to decode than affordable dual core CPUs can handle. We are at a point where GPU decode acceleration is essentially required with all but the highest end processors in order to achieve an acceptable level of quality while watching HD content on the PC.
NVIDIA hardware performs better under our current set of drivers and the beta build of PowerDVD we are using, but exactly how well GeForce 7 Series hardware handles the decode process is more dependant on the type of card being used than ATI. In general, higher performance NVIDIA cards do better at decoding our H.264 Blu-ray content. The 7950 GX2 doesn't perform on par with the rest of the high end NVIDIA cards as SLI doesn't help with video decode. With the exception of the X1600 Pro, each of the ATI cards we tested affected performance almost exactly the same.
While there isn't much more to say about performance right now, we do need to consider that we are working with an early release of our player software, and ATI and NVIDIA are always improving their driver support for video decode acceleration. While we can't count on seeing improved performance in the future on current hardware, it is always nice to know that the possibility exists. We will continue to track performance with future player and driver updates.
But no matter what we see in the future, NVIDIA has done an excellent job with the 8800 series. G80 based cards will definitely lead the way in HD video decode performance, making it possible to stick with a cheaper CPU and still get a good experience. Of course, nothing about playing HD content on the PC is cheap right now, especially if we are talking about using an 8800 in conjunction with our Blu-ray drive.
For those who don't have the money to build a computer around Blu-ray or HDDVD, a standalone player is the other option. We tested our Samsung player with X-Men: The Last Stand to see if it could handle the demands of an H.264 movie (as any good CE player should). We were happy to see that the Samsung box didn't seem to have any problems playing our movie.
As for recommendations, based on our testing, we would not suggest anything less than an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 for use in a system designed to play HD content. The E6400 may work well enough, but not even the 8800 GTX can guarantee zero dropped frames on the E6300. ATI owners will want to lean more towards an E6700 processor, but can get away with the E6600 in a pinch. But keep in mind that X-Men: The Last Stand is only one of the first H.264 movies to come out. We may see content that is more difficult to decode in the future, and faster processors are definitely a good place to pad your performance to ensure a quality HD experience on the PC.
We've been hearing for quite some time now that Blu-ray and HDDVD movies could prove to be too much for today's desktop microprocessors; today we finally have the proof. X-Men: The Last Stand encoded using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile at 1080p requires more processing power to decode than affordable dual core CPUs can handle. We are at a point where GPU decode acceleration is essentially required with all but the highest end processors in order to achieve an acceptable level of quality while watching HD content on the PC.
NVIDIA hardware performs better under our current set of drivers and the beta build of PowerDVD we are using, but exactly how well GeForce 7 Series hardware handles the decode process is more dependant on the type of card being used than ATI. In general, higher performance NVIDIA cards do better at decoding our H.264 Blu-ray content. The 7950 GX2 doesn't perform on par with the rest of the high end NVIDIA cards as SLI doesn't help with video decode. With the exception of the X1600 Pro, each of the ATI cards we tested affected performance almost exactly the same.
While there isn't much more to say about performance right now, we do need to consider that we are working with an early release of our player software, and ATI and NVIDIA are always improving their driver support for video decode acceleration. While we can't count on seeing improved performance in the future on current hardware, it is always nice to know that the possibility exists. We will continue to track performance with future player and driver updates.
But no matter what we see in the future, NVIDIA has done an excellent job with the 8800 series. G80 based cards will definitely lead the way in HD video decode performance, making it possible to stick with a cheaper CPU and still get a good experience. Of course, nothing about playing HD content on the PC is cheap right now, especially if we are talking about using an 8800 in conjunction with our Blu-ray drive.
For those who don't have the money to build a computer around Blu-ray or HDDVD, a standalone player is the other option. We tested our Samsung player with X-Men: The Last Stand to see if it could handle the demands of an H.264 movie (as any good CE player should). We were happy to see that the Samsung box didn't seem to have any problems playing our movie.
As for recommendations, based on our testing, we would not suggest anything less than an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 for use in a system designed to play HD content. The E6400 may work well enough, but not even the 8800 GTX can guarantee zero dropped frames on the E6300. ATI owners will want to lean more towards an E6700 processor, but can get away with the E6600 in a pinch. But keep in mind that X-Men: The Last Stand is only one of the first H.264 movies to come out. We may see content that is more difficult to decode in the future, and faster processors are definitely a good place to pad your performance to ensure a quality HD experience on the PC.
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Renoir - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - link
Which is exactly the reason why I've been waiting so long for an article like this!redpriest_ - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - link
Have you guys tried this configuration out? I have 2 Geforce 8800 GTXs in SLI, and using either the 97.02 or 97.44 driver and a 30" Dell monitor with a resolution capability of 2560x1600, I found I cannot play Bluray content at anything higher than a desktop resolution of 1280x800 (exactly half that resolution because of the way the dual-DVI bandwidth is setup). This means I cannot even experience full 1080p!Try anything higher than that and Cyberlink BD complains and says, set your resolution to less than 1980x1080. This sucks. I hope there is a fix on the way.
redpriest_ - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - link
I should add I found this on nvidia's website."The Dell 3007WFP and Hewlett Packard LP3065 30" LCD monitors require a graphics card with a dual-link DVI port to drive the ultra high native resolution of 2560x1600 which these monitors support. With the current family of NVIDIA Geforce 8 & 7 series HDCP capable GPU's, playback of HDCP content is limited to single-link DVI connection only. HDCP is disabled over a dual-link DVI connection. The highest resolution the Dell 30" 3007WFP supports in single-link DVI mode is 1280x800 and therefore this is the highest resolution which HDCP playback is supported in single-link DVI mode on current Geforce 8 &7 series HDCP capable GPU's. On other 3rd party displays with a native resolutions of 1920x1200 and below, the graphics card interfaces with the monitor over a single-link DVI connection. In this case, playback of content protected Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies is possible on HDCP capable Geforce 8& 7 series GPU's."
Someone needs to tip nvidia and other graphics card manufacturers that this is unacceptable. If I shell out $4000 ($2000 monitor, $1400 for 2 8800GTXsli, and $600 blueray drive) IT SHOULD WORK.
DerekWilson - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - link
agreed, but don't blame NVIDIA -- blame the MPAA ... HDCP was designed around single link dvi and hdmi connections and wasn't made to work with dual link in the first place. I wouldn't be suprised if the problem NVIDIA is having has absolutely nothing to do with their hardware's capability.in addition, dell's design is flawed -- they only support resolutions above 12x8 with dual link dvi. it may have taken a little extra hardware, but there is no reason that they should not support up to at least 1920x1080 over a single link.
ssiu - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
I would blame the 30" monitors -- they should at least support 1080p in single-link DVI mode, just like the way 24" monitors do.Renoir - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - link
Wasn't blaming anyone in particular (although I'm always happy to bash the MPAA) just noting how stupid the situation is. Supporting a max of 12x8 over single link is inexcusable as far as I'm concerned.DerekWilson - Thursday, December 14, 2006 - link
then the problem you have is specifically with Dell.Renoir - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - link
That is ridiculous! That's the problem with tech you can't take anything for granted these days. Things that seem obvious and sensible often turn out to be not as they seem. What a joke!poisondeathray - Monday, December 11, 2006 - link
sorry if this has been answered already...is powerDVD multithreaded? is your CPU utilization balanced across both cores? what effect does a quadcore chip have on CPU utilization
thx in advance
Renoir - Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - link
poisondeathray you read my mind! I have exactly the same question.