High Definition Media Player Vs Blu Ray Player

branners69

I picked up a Tvix 5100sh and am wondering how playback of 1080p files compares to 1080p playback on a dedicated blu ray player?

I have been watching some 1080p trailers and have been seriously impressed by the video and audio quality. So how much better is a dedicated blu ray player?

MediaTank

It depends on the encoding. If the 1080P media is a VC1 encode for example then there is no difference as it's the same as BluRay.

branners69

MediaTank wrote: »

It depends on the encoding. If the 1080P media is a VC1 encode for example then there is no difference as it's the same as BluRay.

What about the more popular x264 codec how does that compare?

MediaTank

It depends on the options (and profile) used to encode to H.264 of which there are many e.g. bit rate, reference frames, b-frames, CABAC, the list goes on. What I can say is that a High Level 4.1 encode in H.264 looks stunning on my system. HL 4.1 are the BluRay specs and HL 3.1 are the DVD specs.

MediaTank

I should add that AVC and H.264 are part of the same standards effort. The x264 library is usually used to encode BluRay or other hidef medai to H.264, and x264 and H.264 are often used interchangeably.

branners69

MediaTank wrote: »

...and x264 and H.264 are often used interchangeably.

Thanks for the information Mediatank, especially the above. I had looked into the differences as the TVix says it handles H.264 but never mentioned x264. I had wondered why, but now I know!