Feel free to test this BETA release before it goes live on our automatic update servers. You’ll note some of the issues reported specifically in 128 (24hz flaw for example) have not been addressed yet–we’re still looking into a number of those reports.

TotalMedia Theatre 2.1.x.129 Release Notes

NEW/IMPROVED FEATURES:
01) Support Vista SP2 Beta
02) Support Kaspersky 2009
03) Support AHCI mode for HD-DVD playback
04) Disable network connect when using HD-DVD from hard disk

GENERAL BUGFIXES:
01) Fixed green line at bottom of video with ATI VGA card
02) Update power management
03) Fixed secondary monitor aspect ratio issue
04) Fixed HD-DVD from command line (My Movies, etc)

DISC COMPATABILITY FIXES:
01) The Dark Knight black screen issue on NV8200 fixed
The file can be downloaded from here. Insert all disclaimers about BETA software here. If you aren’t sure what that means and the risks of downloading BETA software then don’t download it.

Download:
http://www.arcsoft.com/downloads/digitaltheatre/arcsoft/totalmediatheatre_2.1.6.105_2.1.6.129_update_e.exe

Arcsoft Forum Thread
http://www.arcsoft.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1642

I found out that you can play your movies that are encoded in Media center using MPC Decoder

it realy works, Vista Media Center and Windows Media player 11 uses Enhanced Video Decoder (EVR) and it supports DXVA2, now with this you can hardware decode VC-1 and H.264

you want proof?
notice the ehshell.exe cpu usage and low cpu usage
http://img.techpowerup.org/090110/Capture012.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/090110/Capture011591.jpg

Setup:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000 @ 2ghz/1.25v
AMD 780G Chipset with AMD Radeon HD 3200
OCZ PC6400 2GB Dual Channel
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB

Here is how

1.  Must be Level 4.1 DXVA Complaint
x264 Encoding Options for Hardware Compatibility & DXVA
2. Video has to be in a Matroska (.mkv) Container
Download Haali Media Splitter (allows playback of mkv files)
to mux your h264 ts files and bd m2ts you can use gdsmux located in “C:\Program Files\Haali\MatroskaSplitter”
3. You have to install MPC-HC Video Decoder Filter
Download MPCVideoDec.zip from sf.net under Standalone Filters
3. Get Radlight Filter Manager from here and register the MPCVideoDec.ax
4. Now find MPC – Video Decoder in Directshow filters in Radlight Filter Manager, select it and clcik Property Page, go to Codecs and mark everything
5. Besure to have Set Merit Value of MPC – Video Decoder to MERIT_PREFERRED + 255
6. and play this mkv file

well its not hard to build a buget htpc, that will play blu-ray, 720p x264, 1080p x264

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850E 45W 

RAM: OCZ Gold GX XTC 2GB DDR2 PC6400 KIT

MB: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H MicroATX

Case: Antec Fusion MicroATX

List of cards that should be able to decode H.264/VC-1/MPEG-2 in hardware

Software:
Media Player Classic Home Cinema
Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum
CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra
Corel WinDVD 9 BD

ATI

ATI Avivo HD technology is designed for high-end, high definition video playback in home theater systems. Free your CPU to power other applications with new UVD (Unified Video Decoder) hardware processing of HD video formats.

Unified Video Decoder (UVD)
UVD frees up your CPU for other tasks so you get The Ultimate Visual Experience™ for even the most processing-intensive content, including full decode of VC-1 and H.264

Unified Video Decoder 2 (UVD2)
UVD 2.0, Also, take full advantage of Blu-ray functionality with dual-stream, picture in picture (PIP) capabilities, including full decode of VC-1, H.264 and MPEG-2.

Discrete Cards
ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series** (UVD2, LPCM upto 7.1, DTS/DD)
ATI Radeon HD 3000 Series* (UVD, LPCM 2.0, 5.1 DTS/DD)
ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series (UVD, LPCM 2.0, 5.1 DTS/DD)

Chipsets
AMD 785G (HD 4200, UVD2, LPCM upto 7.1, 5.1 DTS/DD)
AMD 790GX  (HD 3300, UVD, LPCM upto 2.0, 5.1 DTS/DD)
AMD 780G   (HD 3200,UVD, LPCM upto 2.0, 5.1 DTS/DD)
**Unknown support for DTS-HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus (specs says it supports)

Audio via DVI-D also works
785, HD 4000 Series support Hardware Picture in Picture

NVIDIA

PureVideo HD

NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series and above incorporate a revolutionary new video processing architecture, making them them capable of offloading Blu-ray video decoding (H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2) from the CPU. This added processing power gives PureVideo HD technology the ability to support more features as they are added to Blu-ray movies, including “picture-in-picture”, interactive games and menus, and higher bit-rate / higher video quality.

Discrete Cards
NVIDIA Geforce GTX Series*  (LPCM 2.0, 5.1 DTS/DD)
NVIDIA Geforce 9000 Series* (LPCM 2.0, 5.1 DTS/DD)
NVIDIA Geforce 8000 Series* (LPCM 2.0, 5.1 DTS/DD)

Chipsets
Geforce 9400/9300 IGP  (7.1 LPCM, 5.1 DTS/DD)
Geforce 8300/8200 IGP  (7.1 LPCM, 5.1 DTS/DD)

*8000 series dont support full decode of VC-1
*Discrete only supports DTS/DD 5.1 via SPDIF (internal cable needed)

Intel

Intel® Clear Video Technology, includes built-in support for smooth high-definition video playback without the need for add-in video cards or decoders. a combination of video processing hardware and software technologies designed to enhance the visual experience.

Chipsets
Intel G45 (LPCM 7.1,  5.1 DTS/DD)
Intel G43 (LPCM 7.1,  5.1 DTS/DD)
Intel G41 (LPCM 7.1,  5.1 DTS/DD)
Intel G35  (LPCM 7.1,  5.1 DTS/DD)

i have ordered some parts, am soon finish with HTPC! wee

Samsung Spinpoint T166 500GB HD501LJ
Microsoft Vista Home Premium 32-bit Norwegian OEM 
Microsost MCE Remote with Receiver (got Keyboard!)
NEC Optiarc AD-7543A

i have tested it now

Setup:
MSI K9AGM2-FIH (BIOS 1.4)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 65W Winsor
OCZ Gold GX XTC 2048MB DDR2 PC6400
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320 GB SATA
Radeon X1250 with 256MB Memory (no Aero enabled!)
Windows Vista Home Premium (no aero enabled*)
Cyberlink CyberDVD 7.3 Ultra (avc performance depends on codec!)

here is my results on HD DVD
MPEG-2 @ ~26.00 Mbps(peak 32) = 31% of CPU
VC-1 @ ~16,00 Mbps (peak 24) = 64-70% of CPU
AVC @ ~16,00 MBps (peak 22) = 82-100% of CPU


AVC Note: no jerky  playback nor skips, its OK to watch, i realy hope ATI will improve the driver and bios of the X1250 chip, so it can decode avc faster, only 10% whould do fine

PS: am getting an slim chopper fan soon so its an work in progress pic

i picked up “OCZ” ram around two hours ago am starting to install vista x86 now, becouse x64’s media center has a HUGE problem becose little x64 codecs works flawlessly, the first system boot was sucsesful, it worked right out of the box, thank god for quality , and i have a suprise (check picture)

am still waiting for the ram i ordered from mpx.no, they have good price so i orderd from them, i have tested my htpc today, it didnt work at first but i had to add an Harddrive and connect it to power supply and now it boots fine, even without CPU/RAM  
here is some more pics.

“For starters, this BIOS update brings DVD/HD hardware decoding in both 720p and 1080p resolutions, making 690G cheapest graphics subsystem that can decode 1080p video”
The Inquirer

 This is great, finaly an cheap way to play HD DVD & Blu-Ray Disc!

August 3th: OCZ PC2-6400 2GB on the way 
August 2th: got X2 5000+, MSI K9AGM2-FIH 
July 21th: changed to Toshiba HD DVD-ROM, X2 5000+ i will be building this htpc this week, so hold on, might be missing HD-DVD as am on a budget ^^

am bulding a high definition htpc, i have came this far

Chassis Specs
(W)430mm x (D)270mm x (H)53mm
200W PowerSupply
MicroATX Motherboard

setup atm is

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 65watt AM2
CPU Fan: Hiper AMD Cooler Low Profile HFC-20820-C1
Motherboard: MSI K9AGM2-FIH  HDMI out, GbLAN,  7.1, S/PDIF
RAM: OCZ Gold GX XTC 2048MB DDR2 PC6400
TV: Sapphire Theatrix Low Profile (ATi Theater™ 550 PRO)
Case: Hiper Media Chassis HMC-1K53A BLACK, mATX, 200W
DVD-RW Slim: Toshiba TS-L802A HD DVD-ROM Slim

(green=i have, red=missing, blue=ontheway)

Pictures:

Hiper Media Chassis Black