update: i figured out how!!! =). same machie, haven't upgraded anything since i posted.

i installed:
-coreavc 0.0.0.4
-coreaac binaries
-haali media splitter

using media player classic and renaming ALL .mov file extensions to .hdmov or other ones of your choice, you can playback 1080p very smoothly!!! FYI =).

I downloaded and tried the V for Vendetta trailer 2 and I was amazed but it played at full speed, not stuttering or anything, it stayed right around 24fps.

My stats are:

AMD Athlon X2 3800+
1GB RAM
ATI X200 Integrated graphics
SATA 250GB HD

I have a GeForce 6800GS coming this week with HD connectors, so I'm gonna give it another try later on my HDTV and see how it looks.

Only curious thing is that the vertical size is only 816, does that mean its shunk down some (thus making it easier to play?) or what since that's not really 1080...

1920x1080 is 16:9 aspect ratio or roughly 1.78:1.

v4v is 2.4 or 2.35 (think lawrence of arabia or star wars/epic movies). thus, it'll contain less pixels than 1080. =).

FYI: HD H.264 is supported by the Blu-ray Video format and the PS3.

And yes, I haven't forgotten HD-DVD.

Glad to see you finally got it working!

While I have only begun to experiment with MP4, I can tell you there is a WIDE latitude in software MP2 players. The "On Air" decoder used with the USB HD tuner (now defunct) is far smoother, while allowing the processor to run much cooler than most. All have different charictistics under marginal conditiions.

I expect software decoders to differ widely, no matter what the format. Try as many as you can!

Hardware decoders easily will beat software - so no problem there.

hi dave,

coreavc is currently the best playback codec for the h.264 on the PC. FYI =).

If you have an 6000 or 7000 series nVidia, you already have hardware decoding, with select software: http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo.html

for some of those older cards a fee is required to playback h.264 content. and it doesn't accelerate quicktime player itself AFAIK, only .mp4 or other extensions that support hardware decoding via purevideo specifically.