Questions about Media Browser 3...

[barnabas1969]

I have a question about MB3. How much load does it put on your CPU when it needs to transcode a video on-the-fly? If you can provide your CPU make/model and the % of CPU is used for transcoding, that would be helpful. Thank you.

[holidayboy]

^ there are options for transcode quality vs CPU load so folks will probably need to state what settings / devices they're streaming to

[barnabas1969]

Thanks for the info, holidayboy. I would be most interested in using the MB Classic add-in for Media Center, so I'd want the movies to look pretty good on the TV's. I don't think I'd use it much for tablets and phones.

Another question (should we start a new thread?) - What media formats does it support, and does it have support for soft subtitles? I didn't see this info on the MB3 website. Just in case you don't already know, "soft" subtitles are subtitles that can be turned on or off by the viewer. They are not burned into the video.

EDIT: One more Q: Does MB Classic work on extenders OK? I don't see that info on their site either.

[holidayboy]

MB3 on MC machines and extenders (I use it on my extenders) will use folder shares just like the videos and movies sections of 7/8MC so no transcoding will occur AFAIK.

MBClassic has the same features as MB2 basically - sub support is codec dependant so installing the correct codecs and something like mediacontrol would give you sub support with remote selection abilities.

Def time for a new topic

[barnabas1969]

I looked at Media Browser back in 2011. Not sure if it was version 1 or 2 back then, but I think it was 2. It didn't suit my needs at the time (to be honest, I thought it sucked). I looked at MediaControl back then too, but I can't remember the details about it. Seems as though MediaControl only allowed soft sub support on the PC... not on extenders. I can do soft subs on the PC (not on extenders) with a variety of solutions, including the Shark codec pack (and others, including FFDSHOW). But, for a solution to have ANY value to me, it needs to work on ALL of my TV's.

So... here's the deal... I have less than 20 movies in ISO format. Most of the ISO's are 3D movies that I will ONLY watch on the main TV, which is connected to the PC's video adapter. Fewer than 10 of my movies are in MKV. I'm happy to download SRT files (or whatever format) for subtitles. The thing that has been holding me back from ripping like a fiend has been twofold: First, it needs to work on an extender. Second, it needs to have soft subtitles. Well... OK... there's a third constraint: it can't look like crap.

If MB3 can support decent looking video on an extender WITH soft subtitles (that aren't a pain in the butt to implement), then I'll donate a hundred bucks to the cause! Heck... even if it can do that on a Roku... I'd donate a hundred bucks. I'm planning to buy a Roku 3 for all of my bedrooms anyway... so if the MB3 Roku channel can play movies in good quality with soft subs... I'm in!

To qualify that... I'm slowly replacing my non-Xbox extenders with Xbox360's. I'm halfway there. Once that's done, I'll buy a few more Roku 3's. But... I have the hardware to test now. If it works, I'll donate NOW!

[barnabas1969]

Oh, and if this should be in a new thread... you're a moderator. Please feel free to split this into a new thread beginning at post #8.

[holidayboy]

Done

[duncane]

@barnabas1969 Hi, I posted over at the MB forums asking some people to look at your questions. I use MB all the time but I don't have a Roku and direct play via the Media Browser Classic within WMC as nearly all my stuff is Vob rips. You can see the first response here,

http://mediabrowser3.com/community/inde ... entry73065

Cheers