Just an FYI,

According to the folks over at iPhone-Scene, Elgato, makers of Mac based TV tuners and the EyeTV PVR software, has announced the turbo.264 USB H.264 hardware encoder. When plugged into a Mac, this device will allow any application that uses QuickTime to export H.264 video two to four times faster than before. Of course, H.264 is the video codec favored by Apple for the iPod, the Apple TV, the forthcoming iPhone, as well as Sony's PSP and other video playing devices.

Apparently, Elgato "hopes to release the stick at the end of April 2007 for 99 Euros" (~$132). Unfortunately, there is no mention of this product yet on Elgato's main site, but a few more detail are available at iphone-scene (http://iphone-scene.com/iphone-forums/iphone-software-forum/2007/apr/02/h-264-hardware-encoder-mac-encode-movies-ipod-apple-)

˜exceprt taken from TUAW.

So it will only take 10 days with an 8 processor machine? :D

Yeah, "two to four times faster" doesn't mean anything: faster than what? If it performs inverse telecine, has some other fine controls, I guess this could make the Apple TV look a little more attractive. $300 Apple TV + $100+ encoder is too close to a Mac Mini to really get me interested. I'll be glad to hear Elgato's pitch, all the same.

I'd rather see this technology included in their tuners than sold seperately. I'd also like to see the price stated in something other than Euros to give some indication that it will be released in NA. As pointed out, until this thing is benchmarked and proven to offer "substantial" speed improvements at all resolutions, it's not all that enticing.

If these [link (http://www.adstech.com/products/RDX-160/intro/RDX-160_intro.asp?pid=RDX-160) ] are the same products, then this thing isn't worth $132.

H.264 output formats accelerated via Video To-Go hardware conversion:
iPod High – 640 x 480, 1,536 kpbs, 30 frames per second, AAC audio 48 KHz, 64 kbps
iPod High – 320 x 240, 768Kbps, 30 frames per second, AAC audio 48 KHz, 64 kbps
iPod Medium – 320 x 240, 512 kbps, 30 frames per second, AAC audio 48 KHz, 64 kbps
iPod Low – 320 x 240, 320 kbps, 15 frames per seconds, AAC audio 48 KHz, 64 kbps

Sony PSP High - 320 x 240, 768 kbps, 30 frames per seconds, AAC audio 24 KHz, 64 kbps
Sony PSP Medium - 320 x 240, 512 kbps, 30 frames per seconds, AAC audio 24 KHz, 64 kbps
Sony PSP Low - 320 x 240, 320 kbps, 150 frames per seconds, AAC audio 24 KHz, 64 kbps

What, you don't want to spend twice as much for the Mac version? Aw come on. Well you could always boot in Windows and do batch encodes.

I'd be happy to see an encoding and decoding device packaged together--something that could play back H.264 and high definition MPEG-2. That'd sure give new life to my G4 Mini.

Geez guys, why all the haters? :) Sounds cool to me.

If it goes 2-4 for times faster - then it depends on your CPU. It is just taking some of the load off render times. If it currently takes you 4 hours to render a HD show h.264 - this device should shave that to 1-2 hours. (if it truly works as advertised)

As Andrew67 pointed out - I think it is very similar to that product - except for the mac and created by Elgato. I believe they would give the user more control than just simple presets for h.264 video output. (If not, big mistake, and a deal breaker for me)

Granted - I think they will start to include things like this into the newer hardware tuners and such. But I think $100 for something that truly speeds up h.264 renders is worth it to those who do a lot of video rendering.

Granted - I think they will start to include things like this into the newer hardware tuners and such. But I think $100 for something that truly speeds up h.264 renders is worth it to those who do a lot of video rendering.

If this works seamlessly with my EyeTV 500s and exporting to 720p for AppleTV, I'll get one in a heartbeat. Anything to improve the export time for my poor little intel mini!

Kevin

Read a review of the ADS Tech device which said that yes, you can set other specs for encoding, but that performance was impacted greatly. Slower, that is. This may be the very same device, rebadged as Elgato's. Time will tell.

If this works seamlessly with my EyeTV 500s and exporting to 720p for AppleTV, I'll get one in a heartbeat. Anything to improve the export time for my poor little intel mini!

The problem is we shouldn't need to do this. It's a complete waste of time to transcode out of 1080i DD51 to 1080p or lower 720p and ??? Audio. I'm not about to degrade what I've recorded to get it to play on something. It takes far less horsepower to play than to transcode. If EyeTV uses this to record/transcode to equivalent 1080p and 5.1 AAC in realtime, there's a market for that less than ideal soultion. But... this isn't going to do that either.

If these [link (http://www.adstech.com/products/RDX-160/intro/RDX-160_intro.asp?pid=RDX-160) ] are the same products, then this thing isn't worth $132.


While I don't know for sure.... I'd feel confidant putting my money on the fact that they are.... Elgato seems to find unique hardware that they can write drivers for and then designs (in most cases) some 'cooler than PeeCee' packaging. Is it worth the 75% markup over what the PC unit sells for? Simple answer is... If people pay it then yes (to some) it is.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel...

Elgato has employees (support staff, programmers, designers and such) they have to pay for.
Elgato provides us with usability that if it weren't for them might not ever be made available to us (mac users).

So with that in mind I really can't begrudge them making a profit...

But, a 75% markup? That doesn't sit too well with the 'frugal side' of my brain and now that I have an Intel Mac the idea that I could simply boot into windows and get the same job done for quite a bit less cash is a hard thing for me to resist.

This is the price we pay for such a small market (and mind) share.

If we had a larger population of Mac OS X users with a certain percentage of them being developers/code-hackers then (perhaps) open-source software solutions (aka drivers) for 'pc based' hardware such as this would be more prevalent. Lets face it... gone are the days when hardware won't work in a Mac due to hardware limitations... We all have USB and for 'pro' / 'powermac' owners we all have some form of PCI slot (just like the rest of the free world) - hardware these days 'simply connect'. The disconnect comes on the software/driver side of the coin.

Mac users have a few ways to go:

1 - Do without
2 - Pay commercial programmers an up-charge for writing drivers (elgato)
3 - Learn cocoa and OS X driver programming and roll your own support.
4 - Support and encourage open-source development projects and try to get that community interested in writing drivers.

1 and 2 are easy 3 and 4 while much more difficult are (in the long run) a much better (but more expensive in the short term) way to go.

When was the last time you contributed $10 to an open-source project (heck even 5 bucks would be a help for most of them) or how about offered to BUY a 'PC Only' product for a developer so he/she/they could write code for it?

Ever hear of 'starving artists' well they have counterparts in the programming world... You'd be amazed at how many of them are working on RELICS (aka: really old Macs) and are near-broke (or just 'kids' in school) BUT at the same time have a programming brain that is richer then you could ever imagine.

Well I'm getting down off my soapbox now but hopefully a few people read this and act. I for one would LOVE to see a sticky in this forum of 'interesting open-source projects' where fellow Mac HT buffs can go to show their support. I know they exist and have already donated to a few (and perhaps some of you have as well)....

Maybe it's time we bring these people/projects into the light the stronger we show our support the more programmers that will (likely) come out into the light!

Dave

While I don't know for sure.... I'd feel confidant putting my money on the fact that they are.... Elgato seems to find unique hardware that they can write drivers for and then designs (in most cases) some 'cooler than PeeCee' packaging. Is it worth the 75% markup over what the PC unit sells for? Simple answer is... If people pay it then yes (to some) it is.

Maybe it's time we bring these people/projects into the light the stronger we show our support the more programmers that will (likely) come out into the light!

Dave

I think you may have misunderstood my post. It's not that paying $132 for an h.264 encoder is outrageous, it's that this particular encoder with it's limitations doesn't have much value at that price. I don't know the price of the Windows equivalent product and it has no bearing on my opinion. $132 for a product that is not going to significantly improve my experience in exporting HDTV content recorded by an Elgato eyeTV for playback on an Apple TV @ 720p.... well, what's the point? This product may be great for the low end user who wishes to export content for their ipod. Is a low end user going to spend a dime on a h.264 encoder? Doubtful. It's the higher end user who understands the benefit of hardware assistance. Someone with an Apple TV and an HDTV tuner. And this product appears to offer little benefit for that user.

Elgato just announced the price of $99.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/04/06/elgatos-turbo-264-gets-date-and-price/

Elgato just announced the price of $99.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/04/06/elgatos-turbo-264-gets-date-and-price/

"The bad news is that while the device can help you encode your HD clips to H.264, the maximum output resolution is limited to 800x600."

Again, I have to ask what is the point of this product?

That sux if true.

"The bad news is that while the device can help you encode your HD clips to H.264, the maximum output resolution is limited to 800x600."

Again, I have to ask what is the point of this product?

I thought that at first too. Keep in mind that a DVD is 720 x 480 (or 304 or whatever depending on the aspect ratio), so it would still be useful for assisting the conversion of DVD quality material to h.264. It's certainly disappointing that it can't do anything with an HD stream, but it might still be useful if most of what you have is DVD type stuff.

Now if the Handbrake folks can figure out how to access this thing...

"The bad news is that while the device can help you encode your HD clips to H.264, the maximum output resolution is limited to 800x600."

Again, I have to ask what is the point of this product?

I agree. It seems to me that that would be a demographic shot in the foot. Anyone who wants to have what amounts to a highly specialized H.264 co-processor is probably gonna be something of a videophile and said videophile is not gonna like sub par resolution like that. And to top if off most higher end users are probably gonna have a quad core, or octo core - total jealousy on this one :D , machines that I doubt will be slower than this product. I am not seeing who this product is aimed at.

-Jerry C.

That sux if true.

It's true, at atleast according to Elgato's Director of Product line management.

It will be good for encoding DVD's and any content for iPods and other portable devices.

I emailed him and asked if it would help with HD playback, no response yet.

I Have a G4 Mini, so it will help out in my PSP and Itunes Encodes.

While I don't know for sure.... I'd feel confidant putting my money on the fact that they are.... Elgato seems to find unique hardware that they can write drivers for and then designs (in most cases) some 'cooler than PeeCee' packaging.

I'm not sure this is so. Of the current devices, the Hybrid is a Hauppauge device.
The 250 is a Terratec.

http://elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvmain_compatible

Unique?

Is it worth the 75% markup over what the PC unit sells for? Simple answer is... If people pay it then yes (to some) it is.


I agree. If people pay it, they must either feel it's worth it, or suffer buyer's remorse.

I don't know about you, but I hate buyer's remorse. I'm also frugal like you, so the device better have something pretty good to offer.

Mac users have a few ways to go:

1 - Do without
2 - Pay commercial programmers an up-charge for writing drivers (elgato)
3 - Learn cocoa and OS X driver programming and roll your own support.
4 - Support and encourage open-source development projects and try to get that community interested in writing drivers.

1 and 2 are easy 3 and 4 while much more difficult are (in the long run) a much better (but more expensive in the short term) way to go.


4 is hard for a few reasons.

It is hard to write drivers for TV chipsets without datasheets and SDK information from the chipset mfr.

TV chipsets are, shall we say, 'quirky'. Without that documentation, it's difficult to get drivers that will work with the options, quality, and reliability that Mac users expect.

Chipset mfrs give out the necessary information under NDA and even sometimes require payment for the SDK (that's right, they get money for the chip used in the product, and money for the SDK.)

If it's an FPGA container style chip, then they often license the firmware that needs to be loaded on the chip to make it work in a way incompatible with open source or free software licenses.

Not that these problems can't be resolved, but they do present a difficulty.

When was the last time you contributed $10 to an open-source project (heck even 5 bucks would be a help for most of them) or how about offered to BUY a 'PC Only' product for a developer so he/she/they could write code for it?

Ever hear of 'starving artists' well they have counterparts in the programming world... You'd be amazed at how many of them are working on RELICS (aka: really old Macs) and are near-broke (or just 'kids' in school) BUT at the same time have a programming brain that is richer then you could ever imagine.


I gave a G3 iBook to a windows developer two days ago. It will be enough to get him started on ObjC and xCode, and when he needs more power for graphics and compiling, he'll have seen the promise of what he can do.

Maybe it's time we bring these people/projects into the light the stronger we show our support the more programmers that will (likely) come out into the light!

Dave

There's an article I saved from informationweek a few months ago. It sets forth the criteria for a strong open source project:

1) thriving community.
2) transparency, decisions made in the open
3) key developers are employed full time to work on the project
4) does something that commercial software does not - disruptive
5) civility - forums are policed so that discussions remain civil and focused on the project
6) a clear license
7) a benevolent dictator leading the project - a maintainer who lets only the right code in.
8) documentation - so that others can implement the thing.
9) a company providing support (relying on volunteers is not enough)

Clearly not all of these are required, but companies are hesitant to back open source if the community doesn't appear to be thriving, have a clear license, so on.

Of the HTPC projects for Mac ( centerstage, itheater, kindling, etc.) which matches up? What gauge do we use for 'thriving' ? Of those projects, what do they do that commercial software (or in this case, 'existing solutions' to include aTV) do not?

ElGato is shipping the Turbo.264 (http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvturbo&PHPSESSID=f965bf3dd813b8af15ee086c77f0b822) hardware encoder. This is a small USB device that can encode video with the .264 codec at 5-10 times the rate of a Core Duo based Mac.

I haven't gotten one, but it seems like an interesting idea. My main concern is the marketing material makes no mention of re-encoding HDTV broadcast MPEG-2 streams at full resolution, which is probably what I'd want to use it for, not having an AppleTV or video iPod. Is it possible that it can't handle higher resolutions?

This is a small USB device that can encode video with the .264 codec at 5-10 times the rate of a Core Duo based Mac.

5-10 times the rate of a Core Duo based Mac IF the resolution is small enough and the bitrate is reduced. This thing is good for creating portable media (iPod) but not for home theater use.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=828718&highlight=elgato

I'm really anxious to read a review from someone who really knows what they're doing when it comes to transcoding dvd material 852x480 without changing the output resolution.

From what I've read (somewhere)... The elgato will not output anything higher than 800x600. If that is the case that would truly suck since many of us (or me at the very least) just want to migrate my DVD collection to high quality (2500 - 3000kbs) h.264 encodings and not want to touch the resolution at all.

If I'm wrong about the 800x600 cap then please let me know!

Dave

5-10 times the rate of a Core Duo based Mac IF the resolution is small enough and the bitrate is reduced. This thing is good for creating portable media (iPod) but not for home theater use.

Is that based on hands on experience or just informed supposition. I'm not looking for an argument since I too am leaning in that general direction (these droids are not the droid you're looking for) but so long as nobody has tried it yet I can still hold out a glimmer of hope that this could provide something of a speed boost in theater-quality mode. :lol:

D

I'm disappointed with the lack of HD support also. As someone who records TV using EyeTV on a G4 mini, I'd seriously consider this if it did 720p or 1080i, or even just the maxed out Apple TV resolutions. But as it is, I'll wait for a Revision B product.

Is that based on hands on experience or just informed supposition. I'm not looking for an argument since I too am leaning in that general direction (these droids are not the droid you're looking for) but so long as nobody has tried it yet I can still hold out a glimmer of hope that this could provide something of a speed boost in theater-quality mode. :lol:

D

That's from reading reviews of the windows version of the product and the specs as specified by Elgato.

Turbo.264 can be used to convert a variety of file formats, including HD resolution recordings. However, the Turbo.264 hardware has a resolution limit of 800 x 600.

Hmmm, maybe Elgato has placed a hard limit on the resolution. The windows version of the product would do higher resolutions but with a fairly hefty performance penalty.

Andrew,

What PC usb h.264 solutions where you look at that would do native (std-def-dvd) transcoding (keeping the resolution/aspect ratio)?

The only one I know of is: The ADS Instant Video To Go

http://www.everythingusb.com/ads_instant_video_to-go_12252.html

And from that review it doesn't offer support for native dvd resolutions...

Dave

I ordered one for converting my son's DVD collection into iTunes at the highest AppleTV quality. FedEx brought it today.

I have been experimenting with it on my MacBook 1.83 Core Duo and iMac (same processors). It immediately updates to the new version of the software. So far . . . lots of difficulty with my VOB files. First, it doesn't work with Handbrake, so I have to drag and drop individual VOB files into the processor (or open them in QT Pro and export, I guess). Either way they have to be stitched together.

Much more importantly, I haven't even gotten it to do a full encode of a single VOB file (usually about 40 mins each). It stalls about 1/3 in. Tried different computers and different VOB files.

The timing / counters are way messed up (it rips through the first third in 2 minutes on the bar and then stalls). Then the time to completion just keeps going up and up and up. And the fps falls to 1 or 2. I don't think that is accurate. I'm just not sure what it is doing underneath the interface.

Others please let me know if you are experimenting with it and how it is going.

I tried to set the settings down to Apple iPod. Didn't help.

I haven't tried anything but VOB Files yet.

So far much slower than Roxio Crunch or Handbrake.

I ordered one for converting my son's DVD collection into iTunes at the highest AppleTV quality. FedEx brought it today.

I have been experimenting with it on my MacBook 1.83 Core Duo and iMac (same processors). It immediately updates to the new version of the software. So far . . . lots of difficulty with my VOB files. First, it doesn't work with Handbrake, so I have to drag and drop individual VOB files into the processor (or open them in QT Pro and export, I guess). Either way they have to be stitched together.

Much more importantly, I haven't even gotten it to do a full encode of a single VOB file (usually about 40 mins each). It stalls about 1/3 in. Tried different computers and different VOB files.

The timing / counters are way messed up (it rips through the first third in 2 minutes on the bar and then stalls). Then the time to completion just keeps going up and up and up. And the fps falls to 1 or 2. I don't think that is accurate. I'm just not sure what it is doing underneath the interface.

Others please let me know if you are experimenting with it and how it is going.

I tried to set the settings down to Apple iPod. Didn't help.

I haven't tried anything but VOB Files yet.

So far much slower than Roxio Crunch or Handbrake -- obviously, I guess, since it doesn't work.

I ordered one for converting my son's DVD collection into iTunes at the highest AppleTV quality. FedEx brought it today.

I have been experimenting with it on my MacBook 1.83 Core Duo and iMac (same processors). It immediately updates to the new version of the software. So far . . . lots of difficulty with my VOB files. First, it doesn't work with Handbrake, so I have to drag and drop individual VOB files into the processor (or open them in QT Pro and export, I guess). Either way they have to be stitched together.

Have you tried ripping the main features with Mac The Ripper (MTR) and then converting with the software? Or maybe using VisualHub or something else to export the VOB's to MPEG-2 program/elementary streams.

Encoders are nice, software is support is even better. This may be another crack in the armor for this product.

OK ... so it is a bit finicky about VOB files and structures. I had backed up my son's DVDs (lots of animated and Pixar flicks) using BootCamp, actually using Slysoft AnyDVD and CloneDVD to strip out just the program files into evenly sized VOB files. Long story short -- the Elgato software does better for some reason if I start over as suggested. Using MTR or CloneDVD to grab the whole DVD works better.

So, as a comparison, first one working, I grabbed an AppleTV quality preset using Handbrake and AppleTV using the turbo.264. On both of my Macs (both Core Duo 1.83) with 2 GB Ram I see about a 33% speed increase using the turbo.264 on this highest quality setting.

To be more specific, on a one hour children's DVD (hold your breath, I know, but let us speculate it may be Bob the Builder) I can do a full encode AppleTV at 30 fps average using the turbo.264. That drops to 20 fps using Handbrake by itself.

The timing bar works correctly - shows progress and even stop motion version of what it is converting.

Seems to work perfectly as an export option form QuickTime, too. Adds several new menu items with (turbo.264) in the name.

More as I play with it more.

It also seems to automatically be dealing with the VOB files. Although I only added VOB_1 it has moved onto VOB_2.

turbo.264 holding steady at 30 fps. Handbrake has dropped to an average of 17. So the timing spread is increasing a little.

I ran the same file with Visual Hub, AppleTV, go nuts quality. Time to convert is about 70 minutes through Visual Hub. Total time with turbo.264 was 50 minutes. Not sure if "go nuts" is higher than the "AppleTV" setting on turbo.264 making the comparison fair / or not so fair.

Ok, no surprise in retrospect, but one can have NO USB hard drives hooked up to the iMac or MacBook at the time the USB turbo.264 is working. Even when I was not accessing files over the USB bus (in other words the drives are just sitting there on the USB bus ready but not working) it cuts the encoding time with the turbo.264 by 2/3 slower. So, with any USB hard drive hooked up to my iMac, I was getting 10 fps encoding, terrible. I pulled all USB drives off the system, and voila, just like the MacBook, it jumped the encoding time to 30 fps (this time on Tarzan animated DVD at full AppleTV quality).

Encoding quality: subjective evaluation. I compared a Handbrake encoded version and the turbo.264 version. So far, I'm sorry to say that there are more artifacts and a bit of judder in my turbo.264 version. I'm still working on it.

I ordered one for converting my son's DVD collection into iTunes at the highest AppleTV quality. FedEx brought it today.

I have been experimenting with it on my MacBook 1.83 Core Duo and iMac (same processors). It immediately updates to the new version of the software. So far . . . lots of difficulty with my VOB files. First, it doesn't work with Handbrake, so I have to drag and drop individual VOB files into the processor (or open them in QT Pro and export, I guess). Either way they have to be stitched together.

Much more importantly, I haven't even gotten it to do a full encode of a single VOB file (usually about 40 mins each). It stalls about 1/3 in. Tried different computers and different VOB files.

The timing / counters are way messed up (it rips through the first third in 2 minutes on the bar and then stalls). Then the time to completion just keeps going up and up and up. And the fps falls to 1 or 2. I don't think that is accurate. I'm just not sure what it is doing underneath the interface.

Others please let me know if you are experimenting with it and how it is going.

I tried to set the settings down to Apple iPod. Didn't help.

I haven't tried anything but VOB Files yet.

So far much slower than Roxio Crunch or Handbrake -- obviously, I guess, since it doesn't work.


You should only have a Single Vob file for the entire movie, you should'nt have seperate vobs

Ok, no surprise in retrospect, but one can have NO USB hard drives hooked up to the iMac or MacBook at the time the USB turbo.264 is working. Even when I was not accessing files over the USB bus (in other words the drives are just sitting there on the USB bus ready but not working) it cuts the encoding time with the turbo.264 by 2/3 slower. So, with any USB hard drive hooked up to my iMac, I was getting 10 fps encoding, terrible. I pulled all USB drives off the system, and voila, just like the MacBook, it jumped the encoding time to 30 fps (this time on Tarzan animated DVD at full AppleTV quality).

Can the usb Drives be unmounted and turned off without seeing the slow down?

I'll be interested to compare this to my PPC 1.42ghz Mini.

None of my DVDs have a single VOB file. In the native structure, they are always divided. When I use SlySoft's AnyDVD to backup, it always chunks the VOBS. For example, I am processing Stuart Little 2 right now. It has:

VTS_01_0.VOB
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB

The first two are 1 GB and the last one is 355 MB. I have never seen a single VOB DVD either before or after processing.

When you say should, you mean I should somehow force backup copies to be one VOB file?

Andrew

Can the usb Drives be unmounted and turned off without seeing the slow down?

I'll be interested to compare this to my PPC 1.42ghz Mini.

Yes. I just disconnected the entire USB hub that the external USB 2 hard drives are connected to. Is that what you mean? I think it would be the same if I unmounted each one and turned them off.

The general consensus over at the VisualHub forums is that this encoder is faster than Quicktime but is on par with the speed of VisualHub. Visual quality is consistent between both products. Unless you have an older mac or simply want to unload some of the processing from the cpu, then there isn't a substantial benefit in purchasing this thing. Software encoders such as Handbrake and VisualHub are also more configurable than the turbo.264 which is stuck using presets.

Mostly true from my current limited testing, but I would say on my imac core duo 1.83 with 2GB Ram that the turbo.264 beats VisualHub by 30% on the same file at the highest settings on each every time I run it.

30% isn't much -- not 5x -- but it shouldn't be scoffed at either. I would NOT say the speed is the same. And I don't think I qualify as having an "older" mac (maybe just not the latest greatest).

None of my DVDs have a single VOB file. In the native structure, they are always divided. When I use SlySoft's AnyDVD to backup, it always chunks the VOBS. For example, I am processing Stuart Little 2 right now. It has:

VTS_01_0.VOB
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB

The first two are 1 GB and the last one is 355 MB. I have never seen a single VOB DVD either before or after processing.

When you say should, you mean I should somehow force backup copies to be one VOB file?

Andrew

Use DVD Decryptor and in the settings tell it not to split the Vob files

Use DVD Decryptor and in the settings tell it not to split the Vob files
Thanks. I'll give it a try.

It is truly processor independent. I upgraded my iMac from the Core Duo 1.83 to Core 2 Duo 2.16. Running the same tests, I get EXACTLY the same fps on encoding: 30 fps.

Use DVD Decryptor and in the settings tell it not to split the Vob files

I realise that some of you still run Windows, but I'd appreciate it if you either recommend Mac software or the technique without listing the Windows programs to do it.

Having said that, there is indeed a Mac program that can combine VOB files. It is called D-Vision and you can find it here: http://www.objectifmac.com/dvision.php

D-Vision can do many, many things with files, however, it cannot rip DVDs. For that you will need Mac the Ripper or some other ripping program. On the page above for D-Vision, you will find a list of several Mac programs to rip DVDs.

Initial Impressions on my G4 PPC Mini. It definately juices it up and the mini can do other things while encoding now. I get 23FPS a huge jump I was getting between 3-5fps without it. The Software is it's archillles heel, I thin it needs at least a bitrate option. The encodes have varied I did a Bugs bunny Cartoon that was littered with Artifact (Motion related?) A Voyager episode that looked pretty Decent , but Voyager is such a dark show anyhow, and a Perry Mason Episode to test B&W. I'm not sure how it determines bitrate but those PM eps came out about a gig. I know encoding in HB at 2000kbps I get then around 700-850mb, B&W is harder to encode and takes more space than color shows. Still I give to HB , it just looks better. But the Speed is hard to beat. If someone could come out with an app that supports this with optomized Codecs and some Choices.. Still not sure if it's a Keeper, guess I'll try a PSP Encode

PSP Encode, despite saying that it supports 368x208 encodes, which right now are old hat for the PSP (It can Do Native Res Now) the software chose to make an Encode of the Movie Young Guns 320x180. So that is even hampered by the software. The Encode of Voyager I made stutters in spots on the Apple TV, maybe a deinterlacing issue ? The is now way to De-Interlace. Right Now I'm definately leaning toward "It's Going Back" a shame becase it is speedy, but better results can be had from free products, you just have to wait longer.

Here's What I wrote requsting an RMA:

I recevied my Turbo264 Yesterday. It is fast but the Software it ships with makes it virtually unusable. First thing I did was install the Updated Softwaref rom your site. There really are o settings in the software just profiles, you cannot set bitrate, or De-interlacing or anything.

I have encoded a mix of files. Using the Apple TV setting,On many there are tremendous Macroblocking. Even thou it's using a relatively high bitrate, the encodes are blocky and have artifacts. On alot of TV show the encode stutters probably due to the lack of De-Interlacing options. On a Widescreen Movie I encoded using the Apple TV Profile the resultant file was encoded at 720x480 , a resoltion not supported by Apple TV, it would supported 720x416 but the software does'nt support that, and should of encoded it at 640x something.

Using the PSP profile the software is supposed to support 320x240 and 368x208 encodes. However an encode of a Widescreen movie produced a 320x180 encode and there are no options to select a resolution.

While the Hardware for the device is good the software is not, and there are no other options. Using Quiktime Export to AppleTV (Elgato) offers no better results.

I'm pretty dissapointed in the product and wish to request an RMA for a refund.

Mine is just going to sit on the shelf a while waiting for better software and incorporatation into other software. Testing some of the files I made using the Turbo.264 I have skips / stutters deep into files and it sometimes drops the audio. Oh well, nice concept. Here is hoping the software v. 2.0 is much, much better.

Mine is just going to sit on the shelf a while waiting for better software and incorporatation into other software. Testing some of the files I made using the Turbo.264 I have skips / stutters deep into files and it sometimes drops the audio. Oh well, nice concept. Here is hoping the software v. 2.0 is much, much better.

I wrote to Elgato concerning the Stutters (it almost looks like the frame rate drops and then comes back up), they sent me a beta version of the Software update to test and it still does the same.

I wrote to Elgato concerning the Stutters (it almost looks like the frame rate drops and then comes back up), they sent me a beta version of the Software update to test and it still does the same.

Is this still the latest state of play in software? Come on Elgato . . .

Anyone tried it yet? I just downloaded.