3D Point Clouds vs # of Input Images

In the random fun stuff category, earlier this year (Spring semester) I wrote a Data Analysis Report for a statistics class. The data set was the number of points in the 3D point cloud generated by the Photo Tourism algorithm compared to the number of input images. The results I got turned out a LOT better than I expected. If you're interested, feel free to take a look. Please note that this report was oriented towards an Engineering Statistics Class, and as such there is a fair amount of p-values and MiniTab graphs and output, etc. Stuff on Bozeman's new OTA HD outlook coming soon...

Good Things Are Brewing

After an extended hiatus, I have returned. Temporarily at least.

While I've been away at my summer internship there have been rumors that the HD situtation in Bozeman has dramatically improved. I will be returning in a couple weeks to the Bozeman area, where I will be sure to report back on the new status of OTA HD in Bozeman. Also, we should have our first useful portable HD Radio in the form of the new Zune HD which will be arriving a bit later this fall. It is on my 'possible purchase' list. First up is a Core i5 to replace my current aging C2D E6600.

Anyways, I'll see you in a week or two, same location.

PureVideo HD (VP2) Really Helps

So recently, thanks to the generosity of a friend, I was able to swap my 8800 GTS (640MB) for his spare 9800 GTX (512MB). While there is a noticeable increase in gaming performance, where I REALLY noticed a difference was in HD-DVD and H.264 decoding. My brother recently purchased a Canon Vixia HD camcorder, which records 17Mb/s H.264 AVCHD encoded video. The video is beautiful, but on my Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4GHz) & nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS combination I was unable to play it at anything near native frame rate. The CPU would sit at 100% CPU and would render a couple frames every couple seconds. Not nearly watchable.

Using the same CPU along with the 9800 GTX, however, it's an entirely different picture (as long as you use a PureVideo HD enabled player). Using Media Player Classic Homecinema (which is DXVA enabled), the video runs smooth as butter on my system, with only a couple percent CPU usage.

It is a similar story with HD-DVD, though quite not so startling. With my 8800 GTS, when playing h.264 encoded discs it would be relatively smooth, but not completely, and every fifteen minutes while playing VC1 encoded discs it would stutter for a moment. No longer. The 9800 GTX does enough of the processing that my CPU now sits around 20% usage, and the video plays stutter free and completely smooth for the h.264 encoded discs.

So, in summary, VP2 really improved HD playback over VP1 (which was in my 8800 GTS 640MB). Make sure that whatever video player you use supports PureVideo HD or DXVA to get the most benefit.Also, try out MPC Homecinema if you want to do some HD video watching with a VP2 equipped system.

Additional Reading: HD Video Decode Quality and Performance Summer '07