Xbmc FTW!

Rockfella

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Right after buying a TV and getting a table made I wanted a player that worked nicely with a MCE remote. I have finally zeroed down on XBMC as my default HTPC software.

I tried these:

Coral Win DVD:

Pros: Popular? 3D support.

Cons: Not free, Too slow, takes minutes to start playing movies. Didnt work properly in the first run post installation, pc restarted and defragged hdd. Enough for me to dump it. I dont care if it is world famous. It is junk loaded with bloatware for me. Plays most of the file types but not all! Separate mounting software like Virtualclone needs to be installed to play bluray ISOs.

Total Media Theatre:

Pros: Popular, 3D support.

Cons: Again not free, I didnt headbang with it much because I found power DVD better. Separate mounting software like Virtualclone needs to be installed to play bluray ISOs.

PowerDVD:

Pros: Popular, 3D support, Faster /snappier than the above mentioned players. GUI is user friendly (for me, as compared to TMT and Coral)

Cons: Not free, takes 400MBs+ when installed! Doesnt play all file types. Separate mounting software like Virtualclone needs to be installed to play ISOs.

XBMC:

Pros: Free, light (set-up file is only 60mb), snappy, works nicely with a 6 year old MCE remote. Almost no lags (your mileage may vary, I am on AMD dual core nothing juggernaut about my pc) Setting library is super easy. Rarely crashes, plays ISOs without mounting software!! (This was a big surprise!) If I press skip key on my remote it plays the next 30/40GB+ ISO instantly! Picture quality is good if not as good as other players! (Might be just in my head) Plays ALL files that I have tried till now! Nice skins available. Funtional add-ons available, tried one for subs, works great, downloads subs on the fly. Supports HD Audio pass-through (obviously on supported hardware, I am sure other mentioned players support pass-through too.) Highly customizable.

Cons: No Full 3D support yet but it is improving with time. Gotham (latest release) has 3D support but not full fledged (I am a noob when it comes to 3D, yet to explore fully)
Cant think of any other con. Looks beautiful so I tend to browse through media library often and more than required lol.

Please share your feelings/thoughts.
- A happy HTPC user.
:yahoo:
 
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For XBMC native BD playback support may be another Con. I would stop keeping TMT if XBMC starts supporting native BD Playback
 
I have been an avid XBMC fan right from the day I assemble my HTPC, and ever since the respect for this app has just grown with every version ...... 3D BD ISO (FS) is the only thing I can think off right now missing which I am pretty sure will be covered in future version.

The look and feel , YAMJ, and metedata support is just impeccable, drools with quality, no other app or media player comes even close to what XBMC offers...
 
It plays blu ray ISOs. In layman terms what does native BD playback support mean?
For XBMC native BD playback support may be another Con. I would stop keeping TMT if XBMC starts supporting native BD Playback

hehe yeah i can't wait for it, then i will buy 3D GPU :eek:hyeah:
I have been an avid XBMC fan right from the day I assemble my HTPC, and ever since the respect for this app has just grown with every version ...... 3D BD ISO (FS) is the only thing I can think off right now missing which I am pretty sure will be covered in future version.

The look and feel , YAMJ, and metedata support is just impeccable, drools with quality, no other app or media player comes even close to what XBMC offers...
 
Am not sure whether you folks are aware or not,But with the version 13Gotham XBMC now supports 3D Natively !!

You get full 3D support with the new version,Although I've been using it but cannot check 3D as I don't have neither a 3D content or the 3d Capable display !

But guess you guys can check it who are equipped to play 3D !
 
If you have a BD Drive in your HTPC and want to play a BD that you own by inserting it in your drive (BD).

XBMC can play Blu-Ray disks, but you need AnyDVD HD runniong in the background to decrypt and remove region protection. XBMC won't show the full menu as in BDP or paid BD player sowftwares though.

Am not sure whether you folks are aware or not,But with the version 13Gotham XBMC now supports 3D Natively !!

You get full 3D support with the new version,Although I've been using it but cannot check 3D as I don't have neither a 3D content or the 3d Capable display !

But guess you guys can check it who are equipped to play 3D !

The 3D in Gotham is for SBS, OU 3d formats only. It just changes the UI and subtitles to SBS or OU format. It can also convert SBS/OU to 2D. It does not support hardware based 3d (frame sequential) so you need to select the 3d format in your TV or PJ manually. There is a version of XBMC by another developer which supports HW 3d using nVidia, AMD and Intel drivers. You will need a 3d capable GPU.
 
Am not sure whether you folks are aware or not,But with the version 13Gotham XBMC now supports 3D Natively !!

You get full 3D support with the new version,Although I've been using it but cannot check 3D as I don't have neither a 3D content or the 3d Capable display !

But guess you guys can check it who are equipped to play 3D !

It does not do 3D ISO Frame Sequential yet, only SBS and OU.
 
One great thing about XBMC is multiroom setup. This is very important for me. I love the flexibility of stopping whatever I am watching in my living room setup and continue from where I left in my bedroom setup without the hassle of skipping/seeking :). Not sure if the other players you listed give this kind of flexibility.

You could also try the android xbmc remote. You might just ditch your MCE remote :).
 
One great thing about XBMC is multiroom setup. This is very important for me. I love the flexibility of stopping whatever I am watching in my living room setup and continue from where I left in my bedroom setup without the hassle of skipping/seeking :). Not sure if the other players you listed give this kind of flexibility.

You could also try the android xbmc remote. You might just ditch your MCE remote :).

Curious how do you do this as I believe the XBMC is client specific during an instance. As I get to play from the point where I stopped the last time in the same machine as it records/saves the last point of stoppage. But not sure how this works on a different machine.
 
One great thing about XBMC is multiroom setup. This is very important for me. I love the flexibility of stopping whatever I am watching in my living room setup and continue from where I left in my bedroom setup without the hassle of skipping/seeking :). Not sure if the other players you listed give this kind of flexibility.

You could also try the android xbmc remote. You might just ditch your MCE remote :).

Yes XBMC's this feature is great......Another one is ..... if you are controlling your XBMC from Android official XBMC remote, it automatically pauses the movie when call comes with caller ID being displayed on the screen itself. :)...... the moment you complete the call and disconnect the phone the movie resumes automatically ....:)
 
I have a lenovo n5110 laptop with nvidia gt 525m graphic card and have connected it to my yamaha rx-v673 av receiver input via hdmi and the output is going to my videocon lcd tv. Now I have many dts hd and dts hdma movies on my laptop I play it on vlc media player but vlc media player can only decode dts audio and not dts hd ma . Can someone please help how to decode dts hdma
 
First I need to come see all the setup,
Second u need to get that HDD and take all those blue ray rips frm me...

Also tried calling u quite a no. of times...
 
I like way the player displays file type and audio details of the movies while playing. The default skin has a direct key to download subs on the go. Transparency skin is good, some skins looks like Apple OS. I like the default skin as it is the fastest I feel. Have to find a 3D enabled GPU soon.
 
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Thanks. This will be "THE" next best HTPC GPU soon :

AMD Radeon R5 230 Core Edition - R5-230A-ZLH2

Rebranded 6450 with PCI Express 3.0. I will get the 1GB version once it's available in India.

XBMC can play Blu-Ray disks, but you need AnyDVD HD runniong in the background to decrypt and remove region protection. XBMC won't show the full menu as in BDP or paid BD player sowftwares though.


The 3D in Gotham is for SBS, OU 3d formats only. It just changes the UI and subtitles to SBS or OU format. It can also convert SBS/OU to 2D. It does not support hardware based 3d (frame sequential) so you need to select the 3d format in your TV or PJ manually. There is a version of XBMC by another developer which supports HW 3d using nVidia, AMD and Intel drivers. You will need a 3d capable GPU.
 
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