[GTALUG] Recommendation for a media center front end?

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

> From: Michael Galea via talk <talk at gtalug.org>

> I did consider the PI when both v3 and v4 came out.  The V3 was a no go from
> the start, and with V4 I noticed stuttering and tearing.  I wonder why your
> experience seems to be better than mine.

RPi 4 should be fine: it has a hardware HEVC decoder.  It handles up
to 4k @ 60 Hz.  Of course your software might not be using it.  You
might need to enable it at boot.  See this link for enabling the
hardware.  It's up to Myth code to use it.
<https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=323303>

(Note: I've never done this.  I just google.)

> One thing Ive noticed, and have to fix, is that HEVC encoded content seems to
> be burdening my existing CPU, often to the point where it overheats and shuts
> down.

I think
"Existing CPU" = some x86 PC
plus an old Nvidia card.

Am I correct?

Intel has "Quick Sync Video".  That seems to be hardware assist for
some CoDecs.  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video>
Newer processors have more CoDecs.
I imagine that it is well exploited for playback.
HEVC decoding was part of Quick Sync for some time.

I am even less familiar with AMD's equivalent.  According to
Wikipedia, the names to look for are Unified Video Decoder and later
Video Core Next.