HDMI out-of-the-box in Ubuntu 9.10, Windows Vista, Windows 7

I've tried to play HD videos on my HDTV connected to my laptop over HDMI recently. I don't have any 1080p (1920×1080) videos yet, but even 720p MPEG-4 AVC .MKV videos appeared didn't play smoothly on my Core2duo laptop. Although my laptop is not powerfull enough to play these HD videos, they played slightly better in Ubuntu 9.10 then in Windows Vista and Windows 7. All tests were done in VLC player that supports Ubuntu as well as Windows. As always Windows Media Player has an even worse performance.

After connecting my laptop to my HDTV over HDMI, I tried to play my HD videos in the Windows Media Player for Windows Vista Home Premium. My TV was detected automatically and I was able to play the HD video right away. By default my desktop was cloned on my TV, but it was pretty easy to extend my desktop to my TV in the screen properties. The only problem was that the sound wasn't transferred over HDMI.

Then I booted Windows 7 Professional. Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 was transferring not only video, but also audio over HDMI. I was also able to choose between cloning and extending my desktop in the screen properties.

After that I booted Ubuntu 9.10. I didn't have any problem playing the video, but audio wasn't transferred over HDMI out-of-the-box. Although it is pretty easy to go to the Sound Preferences and change the Output to use HDMI, I wonder why this is not done automatically.


Bottom line: Playing HD videos over HDMI is pretty easy in both Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows 7. It requires little or no manipulations at all. However there is something that I really miss. I don't want to clone my desktop or to extend it. All I really need is a third option that allows to play video on TV from the overlay.