Re: Video Coding Puzzle

Jim Leonard <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.comp.video.xine.codec.devel
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Mike Melanson wrote:

> We are hoping to form a clearer expression of some of the decoding
> algorithms before releasing the source code. What follows is a description
> of a peculiar function that almost seems to have some DCT-like properties.

Maybe it's a block slant transform?  (Similar to DCT but much faster math)

> 	The technology targets a Pentium 120 MHz CPU as a nominal
> platform. Is it possible for this platform to decode DCT-type data in
> real-time if the resolution is low enough? These games liked to use
> resolutions around 320x165.

Considering that I ran the video of WC4 perfectly on a Pentium 120, I'd say yes 
:-)  I still have my P120 if you need me to do testing on exactly that platform.

As for the general case answer to your question, I remember decoding MPEG-1 VCD 
files on my P120 without skipping frames as long as I didn't decode audio.  If 
I tried to decode video+audio, the player dropped B frames to keep up.  This 
was in windows with a player that directly supported decoding YUV data to a 
video overlay (I had a good card at the time) so I consider my recollection a 
"true" account of what a P120 can do with MPEG-1 (ie. there was no YUV->RGB 
conversion or unnecessary data copying to slow things down).  I also seem to 
remember that anything higher than VCD (352x240/288) was impractical to play.

On a side note:  Unless my memory is playing tricks on me, I recall playing WC3 
on an AMD 386/40MHz and the video played fine too, occaisionally stuttering 
because my CDROM drive at the time was only 1X (150K/s) while the datarate of 
the WC3 video required up to 180K/s at points.  If it wasn't my 386/40 then 
maybe it was my 486/66 that I upgraded to a year later... but in both cases WC3 
didn't require a Pentium to decode the video.
-- 
Jim Leonard ([email protected])
World's largest electronic gaming project:    http://www.MobyGames.com/
A delicious slice of the demoscene:        http://www.MindCandyDVD.com/
Various oldskool PC rants and ramblings:       http://www.oldskool.org/



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