Bomi Media Player

While I like VLC, as well as the various other media players available for Linux, I really hate the screen tearing that comes with watching videos on my computer. I used to use the SVP (SmoothVideoProject) with MediaPlayerClassic HC under Windows to boost video to 60fps. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get this to work under WINE on Linux. I tried to install it in my VirtualBox XP/7 machines, but to no avail (I am curious if the upcoming release of VirtualBox 5.0 will fare better).  Doing a bit of looking I first found mpv, a cli media player, and then Bomi, which has a rather nice GUI.

Bomi supports GPU hardware accelerated video decoding which, if you have a supported card and are running the appropriate drivers, results in a nice smooth display. By default Bomi calculates what refresh rate your display is running and boosts the video to that fps rate. My Samsung TV was correctly identified as running at 60Hz, and that is what the fps are set at. Watching a various types of media, I am really quite impressed with how smooth playback is, with no detectable tearing, even during fast action scenes.

I am still testing it out with various media, but as of right now, I feel I’ve found a new media player to replace VLC.

Bomi Media Player Homepage

 

Pi 2 – Benchmarks

I ran a few benchmarks via hardinfo the other week and took pictures (with the flash off). I now have my Pi2 on a 3-way HDMI switcher (bought years ago for monitor) along with one of my backup computers, so it’s easier to mess with the Pi2 from time to time. I’d rather not have to physically switch HDMI plugs as my TV, nice as it is, only has two HDMI inputs.

First we have some info about the Pi2 as reported by the program.

Sysinfo 1

Info about the Pi2

Sysinfo 2

Info about the Pi2

Onto the actual tests.

Raytrace test

The Pi2 running the Raytrace test.

N-Queens test

The Pi2 running the N-Queens test.

Fibonacci test

The Pi2 running the Fibonacci test.

FFT test

The Pi2 running the FFT test.

Cryptohash test

The Pi2 running the Cryptohash test.

Blowfish test

The Pi2 running the Blowfish test.