[vdr] Re: Playing DVD ?

[Jörg Knitter <joerg.knitter@gmx.de>]

> Werner Fink wrote:
>
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2003 at 09:50:23AM +0200, Jörg Knitter wrote:
> > cause the plugin/VDR to crash
> > - 24 Bit/96 kHz PCM is not being played (e.g. Queen - Greatest video
> hits)
> 
> Explain me how the hardware of the DVB card can put out 24Bit@96kHz PCM
> on its S/P-DIF.  The DVB card supports 16Bit@48kHz or less.  The analog
> part is very pure, therefore I use S/P-DIF only (yes this makes a BIG
> difference on my A/V-Amplifier which also supports 24Bit@96kHz) ... but
> for 24Bit@96kHz you need the appropiate hardware (e.g. a sound card which
> supports this and have a slave mode S/P-DIF connector for synchronize it
> with the DVB card).

What about downsamplling? That´s what my DVD player also does. Additionally,
there is also no sound on the analog out of the DVBs, so this disc can not
be played with sound.

> Then you've to modify the DVD plugin to put the 16Bit@48kHz PCM to
> the DVB card and the 24Bit@96kHz to the sound card ... you may use the
> bitstreamout plugin and remove the 96kHz check at the PCM check add the
> appropiate initializations at the S/P-DIF part I've dropped and then
> you can hope the ALSA supports 24Bit@96kHz on your 250Euro sound card ;^)

The SBAudigy is currently at around 100 Euro. But I don´t know about the
linux driver quality...

> Nevertheless, IMHO this combination can not replace a good DVD player
> without heavily reworking the DVD plugins and parts of the ALSA
> libs and kernel interface for some sound cards (if you get the specs
> >from the hardware vendors).  And AFAIK the DVD plugin is currently not
> maintained.

What I don´t like is the fact that you now don´t only need to buy a new PC
every 2-3 years, but also new hifi equipment. That´s also the reason why I see
the extensible PC in the living room as a multimedia center. All people talk
about this new digital receivers with HD recorders, but I don´t like them as
you 1. don´t know if you can rip the stream off the HD, 2. don´t have
features like MHP as this is in development 3. Premiere does not work, etc.. And
all those disadvantages are caused by hard- and software limitations. That´s
why I like VDR as it is an open system. The other guys argument that they never
archive their videos and that they don´t need MHP...
Second example: DivX playback. There is still no DVD player out that plays
all DivX formats without errors. And that´s again why I like the PC solution
and VDR.
The only not-really-working thing on VDR is the DVD playback - and that´s
really a pity as some hardware players still have limitations with certain DVD
media and formats like miniDVD.

But to be really honest: If DVD, DivX etc. playback over DVBs was possible
on windows (e.g. a working DirectShow output filter), I probably would switch,
as the technical infrastructure is available and working. I could use
libraries from WinDVD or PowerDVD and get near-error-free DVD Playback, I could
play any video format on the DVBs I like (compared to MPlayer). The only
difference would be the user interface, but with Girder you could build a similar
environment like on VDR. But as this is not possible and VDR works well, I will
have to live with the DVD plugin disadvantages - or buy a stand-alone just
for DVD playback as nearly everything else works with VDR.
Now you can start flaming ;-)

Jörg



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