My system:
-Dual MP2800
-1GB RAM
-700GB sata raid0 7200rpm
-x850xt pe

i can play T2EE's .wmv-HD file (1080p@6.7mpbs) fine no problem. why can't i playback h.264 1080p as good as i playback wmv? is wmv more efficient than h.264? h.264 720p is barely OK. is it the quicktime container that's the problem? lack of hw acceleration? i heard the next gen ati r520 will support it. 7800 supports it now.

how is your playback? this is an example of it:
http://pdl.warnerbros.com/wbmovies/vforvendetta/V_trailer_1920_reflect_HD.zip

this is important because in the future we'll be editing more and more in HD 720p or 1080p. if the computer can't play it back effectively, standalone players will have major problems.

QuickTime 1080p videos play fine for me, though the QuickTime player has to drop the frame rate from 24fps to around 12fps. The flickering, while noticeable, is certainly not "barely OK" as on your PC. The 720p trailers stay at 24fps.

The Windows Media 1080p videos definitely played smoother, for the most part; I didn't notice the flickering on two out of three Windows Media 1080p trailers that I had seen on the 1080p QuickTime trailers. That said, I can't check the encoded and playing frames per second in Windows Media player like one can in the QuickTime player.

The one 1080p Windows Media trailer (IMAX Speed) that exhibited noticeable flicker had some flickering in the 720p version as well, so it is probably safe to say that the flicker likely came from the source material.

My computer:

Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz Hyperthreading
2GB RAM
160GB SATA 7200 RPM
Asus nVidia GeForce FX5700 256MB

like i said windows media 1080p files are no problem if they're within a tolerable bitrate.

h.264 codec videos in quicktime player is impossible. did you try the link i provided above? you can d/l V for Vendetta trailer in h.264 and see how yours play. i can't even play it at an acceptable frame rate. it craps out totally, even with MPC. i have a hard time grasping any computers playing that content back, but it looks nice on my front screen projector connected to the PC =).

A few weeks ago Apple had a web page suggesting that H.264 at 1080p resolution wouldn't play reliably on any current PC configuration, but has since changed the details on that page at the following URL:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/recommendations.html

Compare this to the recommended playback requirements for Windows Media and it appears that the latter is better optimized for HD display on PCs:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/ChoosingPC.aspx

that's what i wanted to find out. how does it REALLY play on people's computers? i don't care who has a faster computer, everyone i ask keep saying it plays fine... but i doubt they ever really tried quicktime container 1080p.

h.264 codec videos in quicktime player is impossible. did you try the link i provided above? you can d/l V for Vendetta trailer in h.264 and see how yours play.
Yes, I downloaded and played the V for Vendetta H.264 1080p trailer. It played okay on my system, with a reduced frame rate. I also tried the Serenity 1080p H.264 trailer, with similar results. QuickTime H.264 720p videos play perfectly on my system, which is in line with Apple’s QuickTime playback guidelines Kevin linked to above

Playing HD H.264 1080p/720p videos on Windows PCs is not "impossible." It just requires the right configuration. For some reason your setup just can't handle HD H.264 QuickTime files well.

It appears from your computer specs that you have AMD processors. Perhaps QuickTime 7 is optimized for Intel processors? I note that the Apple QuickTime playback guidelines only mention Intel processors.

that's what i wanted to find out. how does it REALLY play on people's computers? i don't care who has a faster computer, everyone i ask keep saying it plays fine... but i doubt they ever really tried quicktime container 1080p.
I told you how they really play on my computer. I have tried both the QuickTime HD H.264 1080p and 720p videos. While your system can't handle them that doesn't mean other peoples systems can't. Again, perhaps it has something to do with Apple optimizing the Windows QuickTime 7 player for Intel processors.

perhaps, perhaps... though, AMD has most of Intel's multimedia extensions anyway. and the differences can't be that far away.

Okay, I did some quick tests on another system with these specs.

AMD Athlon XP 2.8 Ghz
1 GB of RAM
160 GB 7200 RPM SATA hard drive
ATI Radeon 64MB DDR VE (7000 series) graphics card

For QuickTime HD H.264 trailers, 1080p is virtually unwatchable. 720p isn't very good, either (they kind of look like a hi-res version of choppy, freezing dial-up internet videos).

Yet according to Apple's Web site, this system meets all the specs for perfect 720p playback - except the processor isn't an Intel chip.

As for Windows Media HD, 1080p isn't very good, but 720p plays perfectly.

hopefully the next generation video cards support h.264 REALLY REALLY well. i would hate to think one needs to upgrade their computer JUST TO play HD-DVD/BluRay.

hopefully the next generation video cards support h.264 REALLY REALLY well.
I hope so. As it stands now, one needs quite a beefy system to play HD, especially H.264 1080p.

By the way, just a thought. Do you have the final release of the QuickTime 7 player? It went through two or three preview releases, and I imagine performance would have been improved by the final release.

yesh, i bought it. quicktime 7.0.2. i was thinking it was gonna help me play it back better than MPC (media player classic). boy was i wrong =(. wasted $30. quicktime player doesn't access windows hardware acceleration does it?

quicktime player doesn't access windows hardware acceleration does it?
QuickTime is set up to use DirectDraw acceleration by default (in the player under Edit>Preferences>QuickTime Settings>Advanced, in the Video category).

does this mean that when h.264 is prevalent in next gen video cards in hardware, quicktime will play 1080p fine even on low-end machines? i'm reminded of when DVD-ROM first came out and one could play DVD movies on the PC. slower computers (pre 400Mhz) couldn't catchup... but with the addition of MPEG2 hardware acceleration, it could.

does this mean that when h.264 is prevalent in next gen video cards in hardware, quicktime will play 1080p fine even on low-end machines? i'm reminded of when DVD-ROM first came out and one could play DVD movies on the PC. slower computers (pre 400Mhz) couldn't catchup... but with the addition of MPEG2 hardware acceleration, it could.

Interesting thought, but if you have to choose between paying $200+ to put a new graphics card in an old computer or investing the same amount in a new processor, the end result is you'll have to spend some money to play HD video.

i don't mind... i just want h.264. 1080p to be played smoothly on my machine!!!! =).

update: i figured out how!!! =). same machie, haven't upgraded anything since i posted.

i installed:
-coreavc 0.0.0.4
-coreaac binaries
-haali media splitter

using media player classic and renaming ALL .mov file extensions to .hdmov or other ones of your choice, you can playback 1080p very smoothly!!! FYI =).

I downloaded and tried the V for Vendetta trailer 2 and I was amazed but it played at full speed, not stuttering or anything, it stayed right around 24fps.

My stats are:

AMD Athlon X2 3800+
1GB RAM
ATI X200 Integrated graphics
SATA 250GB HD

I have a GeForce 6800GS coming this week with HD connectors, so I'm gonna give it another try later on my HDTV and see how it looks.

Only curious thing is that the vertical size is only 816, does that mean its shunk down some (thus making it easier to play?) or what since that's not really 1080...

1920x1080 is 16:9 aspect ratio or roughly 1.78:1.

v4v is 2.4 or 2.35 (think lawrence of arabia or star wars/epic movies). thus, it'll contain less pixels than 1080. =).

FYI: HD H.264 is supported by the Blu-ray Video format and the PS3.

And yes, I haven't forgotten HD-DVD.

update: i figured out how!!! =). same machie, haven't upgraded anything since i posted.

...using media player classic and renaming ALL .mov file extensions to .hdmov or other ones of your choice, you can playback 1080p very smoothly!!! FYI =).
Glad to see you finally got it working!

While I have only begun to experiment with MP4, I can tell you there is a WIDE latitude in software MP2 players. The "On Air" decoder used with the USB HD tuner (now defunct) is far smoother, while allowing the processor to run much cooler than most. All have different charictistics under marginal conditiions.

I expect software decoders to differ widely, no matter what the format. Try as many as you can!

Hardware decoders easily will beat software - so no problem there.

hi dave,

coreavc is currently the best playback codec for the h.264 on the PC. FYI =).

If you have an 6000 or 7000 series nVidia, you already have hardware decoding, with select software: http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo.html

for some of those older cards a fee is required to playback h.264 content. and it doesn't accelerate quicktime player itself AFAIK, only .mp4 or other extensions that support hardware decoding via purevideo specifically.