1080p on t42 ATI 64 mb 9600

[irus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T25t0aXBSJU

how did he do it?

is it possible to run 1080p smoothly on t42?

[goofyGAguy]

Define "smoothly". LOL. My T42 with the 1.8 Dothan and ATi 9600 will play 720p video quite well, but 1080p is a bit much.

[hiram]

The 1080p video was being run in a window so the "volume" of data being displayed was not overtaxing the video processor.

So it is really a test of the CPU. It depends a lot on the compression (codec) used in the video. If it was uncompressed (raw) then possibly even a Banias could keep up, but maybe the hard drive couldn't. If it was using a high profile AVC setting then even the fastest Dothan would struggle. I have a complex 720p video, AVC High@L4.1 that even a T2600 cannot keep up with.

The video could be using XviD. The other thing to bear in mind is the video being played is an animation which is the simplest type to compress and decompress.

There are no hard and fast rules about what system can play what type of video. There are too many variables.

[dr_st]

Since the Radeon 9600 is clueless as to MPEG4 decoding, all the effort falls on the CPU anyways.

Like hiram said, not all 1080p content is created equal. Depending on the bitrate, on the codec, on the compression used - it may range from "smooth as a baby's bottom" to "stutters like porky pig".

I've found that when using CoreAVC (an efficient, multithreaded decoder), my P4 3.0GHz HT desktop can play most average MKVs (typically some type of H.264) smoothly, although with very high CPU utilization, and with nothing taxing running in the background. High bitrate videos bring it to its knees. The T42 will probably be somewhat worse in this department.

[irus]

Thanks for the inputs guys, it is just funny to see pretty cheap hardware run 1080p these days. Except for 1-2 or two features it doesn't make sense upgrading even after 5-6 years of t42!