Database Users

Sorry..but I find the Athena lacking...

? Video Playback format: H.263, MPEG4, & WMV
? 5~8 fps @ VGA decoding for H.263 & MPEG4
? Min. 30 fps @ QVGA decoding for H.263 & MPEG4
? Combined Bit Rate: 64Kbps (playback)
? Video scaling up to full VGA display
This info was taken directly from the Service manual Mike Channon so kindly provided us with. Thanks again.
However, if this info is anything to go buy, we are in serious trouble. Can anyone see something between the lines that I'm missing here?
Apparently WMP supports the Imageon Hardware, right? But at what fps for VGA encoded vids? 5 ~ 8 fps?
Are they nuts!! Or am I?? No wonder the Athena can't handle VGA vids. thus re-emphasizing the absolute need for the hardware decoder (Imageon), to help or even better, take over the processing/decoding of the vids.
This is not good news!
Combined bit rate of 64 kbps!! OK that does it, they are nuts! Should have trusted my instincts from the beginning. If a device can only record with a limited bitrate and resolution for video, that's indicative of its decoding abilities too.
Like I said QVGA resolution of 320x240 or even slightly higher @ 480x320 will return satisfactory results, but anything above that will strain the Athena's resources.
And yes, whilst using TCPMP or even WMP10 are able to cope with more than what the service manual states, it doesn't look like it's supposed to.
Lastly, I think encoding AMR Audio and MPEG4 H.263 (ASP - NOT H.264 AVC) might yield better performance in higher resolution videos, as this is supposedly supported by the Imageon hardware decoder.
I'm seriously NOT impressed. Its about time that HTC the world leaders in PPC manufacturing started thinking about making devices with a dedicated 3D/Video accelerator to completely alleviate the strain of the main CPU when it comes to 3D Graphics rendering (whether for TomTom or Games) or Video playback.
The soon to be released HTC Kaiser is a step in the right direction with its Qualcomm 7200 dual-processor (one for phone and one exclusively for applications), but it's still not good enough.
The o2 Flame had the right idea with its Nvidia 3D Mobile CPU and 520 MHz CPU, but apparently it doesn't work as well as expected.
The Dell x51v still outperforms the Athena by an embarrassingly large margin for video playback and their 2700 3D processor still outperforms every other PDA ever made!! If only they had a Phone application to boot, I'd have one of them.
I get it now, the Athena and these new devices coming out every five minutes are very good, but being an all-in-one solution was never the goal of the manufacturers now was it?
It's always been about the money and always will be.
I'd love to get a group of developers, programers and hardware gurus together (with specialist knowledge) and improve on the Athena, because I think it is the best base model PPC to take things to another level, but even if I had the cash....the likes of HTC would bury us in a second and release something that would blow our efforts so far out of the water before we could manufacture the prototype.LoL
At least it would kick start these greedy companies to start giving us end users what is already available, but combine it into one device...as opposed to giving us snippets of new technology one device after another.
Just my 2 cents worth.

I still think that the biggest disappointment is that ATI won't tell "us" how to use the hardware decoder...
The figures in the service manual could just be a result of HTC not testing the video support fully...
And after all: Its main purpose is not to be a device for playing video. That's just a bonus...

the joke is that although the athena can be made to play decent xvids after lots of tweaking , my 2 year old PSP blows it away for reliabilty
(lip synch comes to mind) and the picture quality matches and often betters it esp at the higher PMP and AVC resolutions.
I Think THE only true Way forward is the UMPC route I.e. Shift type device. Sadly it appears the idiots have dropped VOICE and GPRS from this machine

spacecat said:
the joke is that although the athena can be made to play decent xvids after lots of tweaking , my 2 year old PSP blows it away for reliabilty
(lip synch comes to mind) and the picture quality matches and often betters it esp at the higher PMP and AVC resolutions.
I Think THE only true Way forward is the UMPC route I.e. Shift type device. Sadly it appears the idiots have dropped VOICE and GPRS from this machine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with you totally on this spacecat. The PSP's 16million pixel screen is the nuts and it's hard to find any pixelation in movie playback even at QVGA encoded vids.
@ wgary. I hear you, but its not only business users they should aim these devices at. Internet and e-mail is now so commonplace as well as mobile phone technology, that they should be aiming at a wider audience.
It wouldn't surprise me if Sony made more sales with the PSP than HTC with their last 5 devices! Why? because Sony tries to give people what they want, whilst WM devices give us what we need. Just wish these tech giants would learn from each other and bring us true 'Ultimate' devices based on all these meta-technologies.
Blow the retail cost to the consumer. People will always buy what they want and there will always be those who can afford it and those that can't just at the minute. I'm happy enough to fall into the latter category as long as the tech develops into this area.

mackaby007 said:
Agree with you totally on this spacecat. The PSP's 16million pixel screen is the nuts and it's hard to find any pixelation in movie playback even at QVGA encoded vids.
@ wgary. I hear you, but its not only business users they should aim these devices at. Internet and e-mail is now so commonplace as well as mobile phone technology, that they should be aiming at a wider audience.
It wouldn't surprise me if Sony made more sales with the PSP than HTC with their last 5 devices! Why? because Sony tries to give people what they want, whilst WM devices give us what we need. Just wish these tech giants would learn from each other and bring us true 'Ultimate' devices based on all these meta-technologies.
Blow the retail cost to the consumer. People will always buy what they want and there will always be those who can afford it and those that can't just at the minute. I'm happy enough to fall into the latter category as long as the tech develops into this area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wanted a cheaper PS3...sony never gave me that

Mackaby007,
I find it difficult to comprehend your disappointment.
You're getting too technical into this. Just enjoy watching the excellent movie quality of this device instead of counting the fps, would you? This is not a home theatre system for goodness sake. Also, the service manual may be just talking about the minimum critieria, rather than the actual performance, which could differ from unit to unit, just like some unit is able to overclock better than the others but officially set at a lower rate.
Look at the video that you posted. It is absolutely amazing. It is still not good enough, I think you're being too picky. Look at the 90% full, not 10% empty in this glass!

eaglesteve said:
Mackaby007,
I find it difficult to comprehend your disappointment.
You're getting too technical into this. Just enjoy watching the excellent movie quality of this device instead of counting the fps, would you? This is not a home theatre system for goodness sake. Also, the service manual may be just talking about the minimum critieria, rather than the actual performance, which could differ from unit to unit, just like some unit is able to overclock better than the others but officially set at a lower rate.
Look at the video that you posted. It is absolutely amazing. It is still not good enough, I think you're being too picky. Look at the 90% full, not 10% empty in this glass!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for around £650 for what is basically a phone with extras expectations are justifiably HIGH!
you would think the machine could at least run movies at its OWN full resolution wouldnt you? I love my Athena in many ways but it still has some unjustifable issues, especially as it has a ATI chip that should be able to run movies decently an without lip synch errors
It shouldnt be such HARD work

I still blame ATI for most of our video problems.
However, I am now (after mackaboy helped me out) more satisfied with my Athena as a video device than I am with my Archos AV420 (which is a dedicated video-playing device). The screen on the Athena is bigger, and it supports more formats.

For me, size and shape of the screen and the fact that it is part of a all encompassing device, is far far more important than whether of not it drop a frame. In most cases, the source of my download is already very far from perfect, so it makes no sense to think about frame drop. I could not tell if there is any frame drop in most cases, as they look so perfect to me already. Being too concerned with that would only kill your enjoyment If I am after real good quality video and sound, I would'nt be watching it on this device. I'll be using my home theatre system and treat my senses with real subwolfer, AC-3 sound effect, and real high definition pictures. This is not to say that I accept any quality movies on the device. I'm saying that it is more than adequate already.

eaglesteve said:
For me, size and shape of the screen and the fact that it is part of a all encompassing device, is far far more important than whether of not it drop a frame. In most cases, the source of my download is already very far from perfect, so it makes no sense to think about frame drop. I could not tell if there is any frame drop in most cases, as they look so perfect to me already. Being too concerned with that would only kill your enjoyment If I am after real good quality video and sound, I would'nt be watching it on this device. I'll be using my home theatre system and treat my senses with real subwolfer, AC-3 sound effect, and real high definition pictures. This is not to say that I accept any quality movies on the device. I'm saying that it is more than adequate already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as I said my psp can blow it away for quality and reliabilty and it costs
only 100 pounds and is over 2 years old. its not good enough

OK guys let's not get into an argument, we are all just expressing our opinions and in some cases, venting as I didn't get what was advertised on the box and I paid heavily to have this unit. Thanks spacecat, you summed it up perfectly.
Moskus, your right too. It is down to the ATI chip, but the Hermes got fixed through the AKU 3.5 ROM etc with some tweaks, I think we'll get there in the end.
@eaglesteve. Whilst I respect your right to express your views and sometimes agree with them too, I simply disagree with you on this. Spacecat really hit the nail on the head in his post about cost of device vs incapability to play vis at its own resolution.
Let's not get it twisted either, just because these devices were aimed at mostly business people on the move etc.....the software certainly isn't.
Personally, my Athena is my personal all-in-one Mobile-communication/GPS entertainment System. That is why I bought it, because the specs and HTC's own write up advertised it as such. As it's not performing to expectation (only in this video department), I am disappointed eaglesteve. It is a main part of why I bought it and relates to what I do for a living. Not being picky mate.
Anyway, no offense taken. Just want to clarify why I'm always on about video playback. I'm hoping to hear back from Betaboy about what is really needed from ATI/AMD so maybe us paying customers can put a petition together or use whatever resources we have as a community to put pressure on either HTC or ATI/AMD to give us the needed info so Corecodec or another developer can solve this once and for all.
As Moskus always says, it is down to the Imageon Chip.
Peace my friends.

I don't really understand what all the fuss is about re video playback on the Athena. I have a very large collection of divx and xvid movies and TV series, mostly downloaded from torrents. I simply download them, copy to the microdrive, and watch them (using tcpmp) with no problems. The picture is crystal clear, no stuttering, and I have no problems with the audio lagging.
I can't tell you about framerates or benchmarks as I've never needed to tweak TCPMP, it always looks fine.
So there is at least one satisfied customer re videos on the Athena - me!

Each to their I guess, but I'm plodding on.
Pantaloonie said:
I don't really understand what all the fuss is about re video playback on the Athena. I have a very large collection of divx and xvid movies and TV series, mostly downloaded from torrents. I simply download them, copy to the microdrive, and watch them (using tcpmp) with no problems. The picture is crystal clear, no stuttering, and I have no problems with the audio lagging.
I can't tell you about framerates or benchmarks as I've never needed to tweak TCPMP, it always looks fine.
So there is at least one satisfied customer re videos on the Athena - me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Happy for you Some of us are perfectionists though, and I've seen 640x480 VGA encoded vids from High def sources and believe me its as good to look at as High Def on a top end PC screen. The detail you see changes your viewing pleasure...it's like the difference between DVD's and Ultra High def in a mobile screen.
All those who have not experienced this quality wouldn't really appreciate what I'm talking about.
Nothing in life is perfect, but striving for perfection and falling short of it is still better than accepting what we already have.
Isn't that how progress works? It certainly does for me and I've never been displeased with my results after I've giving it my best.
If you're happy with what you have, then really, that is great and you are a lucky man/woman, but I always like to push the boat out that little bit more.
Can't remember who just posted to this effect about prefering the Athena to their dedicated Archos, but that is very pleasing to hear and quite encouraging.
P.S. I had perfect HQ vids on a 200 MHz Omap based WM5 QVGA device with no issues at all! Why is it so unreasonable for me to want the same from a 624 MHz CPU with a Video accelerator on a VGA screen? hmmm?

mackaby007,
You are like an ungrateful mad scientist Just kidding, but I am with you on this and I do understand what you are saying. Let me try to keep it short and sweet.
You also made an excellent point that a lot people might have missed. We can't all be experts and our development cycles are different. Some of us set higher expectations and achieve greater goals which is the reason why there are not too many Bill Gates in the world.
Nonetheless, I would like to see better picture too because this device was more expensive than my PS3 which I enjoy watching BD-DVD movies on a 70'' 1080P TV.

yep i agree my universal was far superior for playing vids and the keyboard was better but ths device is amazing and untill the htc x9500 is released im happy in general. seams strange to take a step back instead of forward for improvements but its all down to money and marketing the upcoming shift and x9500 are basicly the same device under the hood just a different exterior shell but they disable the voice on the shift and enable it on the x9500 just so they can sell the same device twice but repackaged.

spzero said:
yep i agree my universal was far superior for playing vids and the keyboard was better but ths device is amazing and untill the htc x9500 is released im happy in general. seams strange to take a step back instead of forward for improvements but its all down to money and marketing the upcoming shift and x9500 are basicly the same device under the hood just a different exterior shell but they disable the voice on the shift and enable it on the x9500 just so they can sell the same device twice but repackaged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting....never heard of the x9500.

lpsi2000 said:
mackaby007,
You are like an ungrateful mad scientist Just kidding, but I am with you on this and I do understand what you are saying. Let me try to keep it short and sweet.
You also made an excellent point that a lot people might have missed. We can't all be experts and our development cycles are different. Some of us set higher expectations and achieve greater goals which is the reason why there are not too many Bill Gates in the world.
Nonetheless, I would like to see better picture too because this device was more expensive than my PS3 which I enjoy watching BD-DVD movies on a 70'' 1080P TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said and it was short and to the point.

basically it comes down to bang for buck.
A £650 machine that is outclassed by a 2 year old machine at £100 does not offer bang for buck in terms of Video playback.
I really enjoy my Ameo esp the big screen for HSDPA surfing, streaming my live TV and videos from my home PC via Orb, reading books via pdf,music, etc etc
but you would think if it has a 640x480 screen and they promote this fact bigstyle then it should be able to display video at this resolution
I would be very interested in a shift type device as long as it also has Phone functionality, .............................
hmmm will it suppport 800x600 resolution video ..oh dear

spzero said:
yep i agree my universal was far superior for playing vids and the keyboard was better but ths device is amazing and untill the htc x9500 is released im happy in general. seams strange to take a step back instead of forward for improvements but its all down to money and marketing the upcoming shift and x9500 are basicly the same device under the hood just a different exterior shell but they disable the voice on the shift and enable it on the x9500 just so they can sell the same device twice but repackaged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi spzero,
So you mean that shift and shangrila are slightly different machine? There are conflicting news on this it seems. Some says they are the same, some say they are different. Do you have a link to your source of info please?
Thanks and cheers.

How do we delete duplicate post (by mistake)?

X1 vs HTC Touch Pro

I wanted to write this up as i am sure some people dont know which one to get yet.
So, first i wanted to get a HTC Touch Pro but after getting into all the X1 stuff its a clear winner for me. Heres why
PRO X1
- 3 inch screen with same resolution as HTC Touch HD
- Much better camera
- 30fps video recording (international version, US version has slower 24fps recording)
- better video playback
- standard headphone jack
- outstanding build quality
- better looking (matter of taste of course)
- no gps lag (this is not confirmed yet, just read it somewhere)
- X1 has a 1500mAh battery (TP only 1340mAh), but this might not mean much with the larger screen
- X1a/i are tri-band UMTS, TP is only dual-band
CON X1
- the panel interface sucks, Touch Flo 3D is much nicer (in my opionion)
Solution: Touch Flo 3D from the Touch HD has been modified to run on the X1 and it does a near perfect job (issues will be fixed soon i am sure)! Thats even better than Touch Flo 3d on the HTC TP because of the higher res
- no G-Sensor
Solution: none acutally cause its not build in. So you cant use some of the nice g-sensor based apps and games, but thats not a major drawback to me.
- No Youtube application like the HTC TP has and playing flash videos in opera isnt very fluent
Solution: Port the HTC Touch HDs Youtube App...i think thats a matter of days only
- the keyboard of the TP is better, still the X1 keyboard is pretty good, no major drawback
- no TV Out, well yeah, that would really be nice to have but no deal breaker either
Basically the X1 can do everything the HTC TP can (except G-Senor Apps and TV-Out) and then some. Since they are priced quite equally, the X1 is the clear winner to me.
If you need the G-Sensor and TV-Out, you should get the HTC TP.
This isnt meant to be a flame thread or whatever, i absolutly LOVE the HTC TP too, just wanted to compare it for other people that might not have gotten into all the details yet.
I also just realized there already is a TP vs X1 thread in here, well nerver mind

Having used both, thats the list I came up with. I do have an inexplicable love of teeter which nearly swung it but reason won out in the end and the Xperia is just that little bit better. I like the keypad on the Xperia because I have big fingers which would sometimes activate the wrong key on the touch pro whereas on the Xperia there is a little space around each key.
Panels is not great and has a few glitches but the SPB panel makes up for it in my mind (just setting it up now). I'll give the HTC Touchflow2/3D a try later. I have a feeling that someone will work out either a way of enhancing it, to iron out the glitches or a way of replacing it.

Not sure about the cameras, they're both 3.2MP with LED flash. I think the quality is going to vary most depending on the lighting conditions.
Some other thoughts:
- X1 has a 1500mAh battery (TP only 1340mAh), but this might not mean much with the larger screen
- X1i has a faster Qualcomm 7200A cpu
- X1a/i are tri-band UMTS, TP is only dual-band
The other thing is that I really do love the 5-row keyboard on my TP right now, but the more I think about it the more I feel the X1's 4-row is an acceptable sacrifice, especially as I'm not actually going to spend too much time typing on either device.

thanks, added your stuff...
Does the X1i really have a faster CPU than the X1a ? i thought CPU specs where the same for the X1 and the TP
glad, to live in europe

Remember TP has a activ stylus, not important but a nice feature. Especially when you release the stylus during a call it opens the note app. This is nice feature during work. (My opinion).
There is no difference in CPU speed.

I apologize, it's not the CPU speed that is different, just some of the code restriction (US patent issues) that is responsible for slower video recording. Specifically:
X1i has the Qualcomm 7200A for 30fps recording
X1a has the Qualcomm 7201A for 24fps recording
TP has the Qualcomm 7201A (but different recording limitations altogether)

Can someone post a video comparison of coreplayer on HD2 another WindowsMobile phone?

Hello, I know that there are hundreds of you who have coreplayer, an HD2, and another Windows Mobile phone.
Can some of you post videos of coreplaying on action on both the HD2 and another phone?
I would prefer a simultaneous comparison on the same footage being played roughly at the same time (volume can be muted).
I would prefer a comparison between a 4 inch screen to a 3 inch screen.
Please please please post a video! It would be awesome and I need it to make a certain life changing decision!!!!!

What's the point? Coreplayer works better on the hd2 than on any other (except maybe that couple of phones for which it has hardware acceleration) thanks to the 1ghz cpu. Not much more to say...

kilrah said:
What's the point? Coreplayer works better on the hd2 than on any other (except maybe that couple of phones for which it has hardware acceleration) thanks to the 1ghz cpu. Not much more to say...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to see clearness and screen size, and to see if the size is actually worth it. Just saying that it is clear and big does no justice. Video representation is the best method to show you how big an object in a film really is.
People on the Xperia X1 board used to say that the screen was very big, and many enjoyed the video experience but there was no actual comparison to prove to naive people like me that 3 inches is utterly useless.

I agree with kilrah... works better than it did on my nokia e71 and my htc touch pro2
video comparison is moot, its the same program with the same features, on a faster phone with a bigger screen

What do you like and hate about your E71?
And I still want to see a video comparison, nonetheless.

poetryrocksalot said:
People on the Xperia X1 board used to say that the screen was very big, and many enjoyed the video experience but there was no actual comparison to prove to naive people like me that 3 inches is utterly useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tell me why the 3 inch screen is useless?? I have crystal clear images and video on my x1... is a great little phone for vid... however the hd2 is much better in terms of size... same clarity and quality, just bigger...

So you hope to see a difference in playing a video on 2 phones with different screen sizes on a video of both? Good luck.
I could film my 37 inch tv and send you the video, it wouldn't look different to you than if I did it with my 2.8 inch phone.
Go in a store that has phones on display, and compare yourself in real life. It's the only way to get an accurate idea.

kilrah said:
So you hope to see a difference in playing a video on 2 phones with different screen sizes on a video of both? Good luck.
I could film my 37 inch tv and send you the video, it wouldn't look different to you than if I did it with my 2.8 inch phone.
Go in a store that has phones on display, and compare yourself in real life. It's the only way to get an accurate idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They don't have HD2 on display in America. Look at where I am from.
I got to compare my brother's HTC Touch Pro2 to my Xperia X1 and learned that even 3.5 inch screen is not good enough for me to watch a movie on the plane. And guess what, damn it, before I get to compare the damn devices, I was 100% certain that the 3.5 inch display would be enough for me.
Nope.
Even my brother said that the screen size for video playback was awesome. Nope, not for me. But I do enjoy watching movies on my laptop, I just want to know what the minimal size for me is.
So.......I wish I could have the damn HD2 so that I can compare to the Touch Pro2 and Xperia...but no, it's not in America....yet...and besides that, damn it, once the HD2 hit T-mobile stores, there probably won't be any video to compare to other phones, and if there is, the videos are different.
I am looking for details in film, because when I watch a movie on the go, I still enjoy the little details in the background. The little easter eggs, and stuff that you are meant to see but not on the first screening. A big but minimalistic screen is vital for such details.
If I see a basketball of the same color and shade on the basketball court because it is from the same film, I can compare that in-motion footage on two different screens. I can see if a 4.1 inch is perfect for such details, because I already have experience with 3.5 inch screens with actual video playback. And with the implication that I have experienced testing 3.5 inch screen, you should know that if I see two same objects, I can roughly imagine myself seeing the actual visual representation in real life. I am not just talking about comparing a windows icon to an apple shortcut icon. Nope, if I compare a windows icon, I must compare it to the same windows icon.
If I compare films I must compare the same films at roughly the same moment.
This is a true comparison of visuals.
And your TV argument is pointless; the contrast in size is way too apparent. And guess what, I can test that on my own.
I can no longer just listen to what people have to say about the devices, for example--my brother or the person who said that 3 inch screens are awesome. A truly unbiased review does not praise an object, but it does compare it to relevant ones.
The HD2 screen is so big that the video experience is awesome, because this fits in the reviewer's criteria. If the review simply states that the HD2 screen is bigger than the Xperia or Touch Pro2, there is no preference in the criteria. But if one gives a careful visual comparison, he can let the beholder make the decision (not the reviewer himself).
I feel like some of you are implying that I am stupid, but I wish you could understand my reasons.

poetryrocksalot said:
I wish you could understand my reasons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I wish you would understand why even if someone shot a video of 2 devices next to each other it wouldn't do any justice to how it actually looks like.
poetryrocksalot said:
I am looking for details in film, because when I watch a movie on the go, I still enjoy the little details in the background. The little easter eggs, and stuff that you are meant to see but not on the first screening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A compressed youtube video of the 2 will just show some half blurry screens on which you can't see anything of the little details that interest you, even if they were actually there. All you'll be able to see is that the HD2's screen is bigger, but you already know that.
Apparently we can say all we can, you seem to not have the same expectations than most of us if you were disappointed following the advice you were given with the X1. So even if we say that properly encoded video looks extremely crisp on the HD2 you'll have to see for yourself on the real thing. So wait until it hits the store, take your current phone with a short clip, go there, grab an HD2 on display, send the clip to the HD2 via bluetooth, with a coreplayer cab if needed, and do your test... that's what I did with my usual programs, spent 2 hours at the store doing what I usually do on my phone on the HD2 before buying it
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=582122
The "modded video" in the first post is a good example of good quality video for the hd2, best played with the built-in player.

Poor Video Quality?

So I have defiantly noticed poor video quality I've tried a 720p video h.264 lord of the rings encode quality looks decent but gets so pixilatee all the time no matter what video player I use, also tried normal 480p no lag or pixilation, but quality looks sorta poor. And the grid touch is very noticiable.
Am I the only one? Or are there others seeing this... I love this tablet so much over other android and for the price its awesome. But no ips display messes with me lol.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

I have noticed the quality isn't as good as say my Iphone 3GS, Macbook Pro ( non ips screen).Apparantly it uses an AUO panel which aren't too bad; they're used in some Samsung panels but aren't as good as the one sony/samsung make.
Maybe someone with some technical knowledge here could answer it better.I am just agreeing with you. The a500 is a 6bit panel, bit disappointed in that, I was expecting 8bit.

The screen is the only disappointment I have
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

I have to agree with the screen issues. Video looks completely washed out. I tested streaming through my wife's iPad and my Acer. Needless to say, for $450, it's not worth it.
I've done the whole "the screen is not so bad" thing with the gTablet but that was a much cheaper investment. This thing is $50 from the Samsung 10.1, the Toshiba Regaza 10.1 inch, and an iPad 2.
I abhor the Apple iOS but I'm hoping they open things up a bit in June. I think I'll take this Acer back next week and just wait until then all these new June tablets are released. I don't think Acer can release an update to improve the quality of the screen ala Toshiba's Resolution + tech in their tablet.
Word of advice...take micro and SD cards with video on them to the store with you so you can test these things out. Maybe a flash drive too. I spent hours looking at videos and researching to make sure this tablet would be a nice purchase. Even after owning the tablet a full day, I was happy...until I played some video with it. I'm not talking high def content. I tried watching wrestling and some soccer videos on there but the quality saddens me. Why not stick a better screen on and charge me more?

Although I see what you do when I look at mine... the pictures I look at are almost as good as my Epic SuperAMOLED phone and I thought my phone was great... so, if the pictures are great/really good and the video not so much... I think tweaking will be done to deliver better quality... this thing was rushed out and so was honeycomb... I'll give it time because I know it can only get better... besides if all you're doing is video then maybe you just need a dvd player or an archos 70 250gig I heard those screens are nice... good luck.

I wish it was that easy. I blog on my tablet which is why I was leaning towards the Asus. I game on there and that's a mixed bag on here. I do like the cameras and the flash on here.
I'd just like a tablet to do everything well. Perhaps they can fix the video quality. I'm just wondering if we'll ever get that. I've heard from 3 people on this forum that Acer's customer support sucks. They've tried to charge them each time they've called.
Hopefully we'll get some answers soon. I'm trying to hold onto it until after Google's I/O conference next week which could shed some light on any problems Honeycomb may be causing.

Just glad I kept my receipt had for about 1 week and few days but will wait and see, hopefully they will shed some light.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

The main reason I bought a tablet in the first place was because I'm a producer and I wanted something I could easily tote around as a digital portfolio for pitches -MacBook Pro isn't quite as sexy in a meeting now that the tabs are on the market. The iPad has been extremely popular with commercial agencies, but I wanted something with an HDMI output w/o having to purchase an adapter (an additional $39) and a full size USB port w/o having to purchase a camera "kit" (an additional $29) -yep, I'm cheap like that.
Anyway, imagine how upset I was when I tried to play an mp4 on the A500 and got an error message stating that the video could not be played on "this device".
Here's what I found (search via google -can't post links yet):
"3 Surprising Things About Video On Android Tablets"
And from the Android Developer's site:
"Android Supported Media Formats"
What worked for me:
• Download the latest version of 'Handbrake'
• Go to 'Preferences'>'General' and under 'Output files:' uncheck 'Use iPod /iTunes friendly (.m4v) file extension for MP4'. Close the preferences window.
• Output Settings: Normal (Default) this is the 'Baseline Profile'
• Format: MP4 file this is the container
• Video Codec: H.264 (x264)
• Under 'Quality:', 'Constant quality:' should be selected with an RF Value of 19-20 for SD and 21-22 for HD
• Go to the 'Advanced' tab and under 'Encoding'/'Maximum B-Frames:' select '0' from the dropdown menu
• Leave all other settings as they are (incl. Audio; AAC is fine) for your first attempt
Feel free to play around with the settings as you will, but don't expect a whole lot of freedom.
Hope that helps!

goalweiser said:
I wish it was that easy. I blog on my tablet which is why I was leaning towards the Asus. I game on there and that's a mixed bag on here. I do like the cameras and the flash on here.
I'd just like a tablet to do everything well. Perhaps they can fix the video quality. I'm just wondering if we'll ever get that. I've heard from 3 people on this forum that Acer's customer support sucks. They've tried to charge them each time they've called.
Hopefully we'll get some answers soon. I'm trying to hold onto it until after Google's I/O conference next week which could shed some light on any problems Honeycomb may be causing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say just take it back now. If things improve you can always buy it again as it's actually in stock.

Here's what I wrote on the whirlpool forums
So anyway, I've been testing out the screen, comparing it with my macbook pro(non ips screen) with the exact same video.I found that my macbook featured better blacks and less pixelation.One thing I noticed is the blacks on the iconia were too bright.So I checked in settings and I had the brightness on auto.
I turned it all the way down ( turned off auto brightness in settings) and tried the videos again, playing both in sync and let me say there was a huge difference now.Blacks appeared much better, and all that pixelation ( which was highlighted more with the brightness on higher) was gone! It is on par with my macbook!
The image is still fairly bright as well, it doesn't look all dark now that the brightness is turned down which is great!.
Give it a ago.

[Q] A few questions about the Omnia 7

I'm thinking about getting an Omnia 7 and I have a few questions about the device that I was hoping you could help me with:
(1) How is the call quality? I saw a review that made this out to be the biggest gripe with the phone.
(2) How good is the (A)GPS? I recall seeing complaints about it. It is pretty important for me that the GPS is fast and accurate. At least not worse than my current $100 nokia symbian s60v5 handset, which has in fact been very reliable.
(3) How annoying is the amoled screen? I know it looks great in terms of color, contrast and viewing angles, but I've seen some seriously angry threads elsewhere regarding the faux resolution issue with pentile matrix. 653x392 is it?
(4) Also, can you view the screen with polarized sunglasses in both portrait and landscape? I reckon it would go black at some angle, but is it a clever 45 degrees like the Iphone or 90 degrees like for instance the ipad? (youtube.com/watch?v=78GdcXCM9nk&feature=related)?
(5) I've seen a lot of 720p video recording samples and they all seem a bit jerky? From what I understand it is a CPU limitation? I also recall SonyEricsson had a similar problem with the same CPU on one of their handsets and they improved it slightly by tweaking the codec to dynamically lower recording quality? Anything like that happening on WP7 or Omnia 7? Any other fixes?

I'm thinking about getting an Omnia 7 and I have a few questions about the device that I was hoping you could help me with:
I think you should wait a little, to know when new devices will appear. (with Mango update comes new devices)
(1) How is the call quality? I saw a review that made this out to be the biggest gripe with the phone.
Phone call quality : quite good but not excellent, even with all firmware updates.
(2) How good is the (A)GPS? I recall seeing complaints about it. It is pretty important for me that the GPS is fast and accurate. At least not worse than my current $100 nokia symbian s60v5 handset, which has in fact been very reliable.
For me A-GPS is good, fast and accurate
(3) How annoying is the amoled screen? I know it looks great in terms of color, contrast and viewing angles, but I've seen some seriously angry threads elsewhere regarding the faux resolution issue with pentile matrix. 653x392 is it?
Wait for a Super AMOLED PLUS (the "plus" is the big difference : http://www.oled-info.com/super-amoled-plus-resolution-explained
(4) Also, can you view the screen with polarized sunglasses in both portrait and landscape? I reckon it would go black at some angle, but is it a clever 45 degrees like the Iphone or 90 degrees like for instance the ipad? (youtube.com/watch?v=78GdcXCM9nk&feature=related)?
I have polarized glasses : it's black about 45°.
(5) I've seen a lot of 720p video recording samples and they all seem a bit jerky? From what I understand it is a CPU limitation? I also recall SonyEricsson had a similar problem with the same CPU on one of their handsets and they improved it slightly by tweaking the codec to dynamically lower recording quality? Anything like that happening on WP7 or Omnia 7? Any other fixes?
720p is a litte laggy, new devices (with new processor like the MSM8255) will not have any problem

Thanks, I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. And yes, I am waiting for the specs (and prices) of the new phones before I act. But I doubt that any of the new phones, like the Sea Ray, will be anywhere near €200 like the Omnia 7 is now on Ebay. Hence my ambivalence.

Is it still wise to get the Omnia 7? Or just wait for the Mango devices?

(1) In the UK on Three, the call quality is just fine, its better than my friends Blackberry Torch. Apparently there is a new Radio software that should improve it for everyone.
(2) The AGPS is ok I suppose, It works. GPS initially takes a minute or two (the VERY first time its used but afterwards, it gets a lock within 15 seconds) Accuracy is fine.
(3) The AMOLED screen has amazing quality but when looking at the screen VERY closely, the straight lines are very slightly jaggy. All AMOLED screens are arranged in the pentile pattern. The Super AMOLED Plus screens have the pixels arranged in a more traditional manner. However its not much of an issue for me, its probably wise to have a look at a Super AMOLED screen and judge for yourself!
(4) Not sure really, I can view the phone fine with 3D cinema glasses to pretty much most angles as without.
(5) I've shot a 720p video and it seemed fine to me! I doubt its a CPU limitation, its most likely the software which needs tweaking. Again, its probably wise to test one of these devices out to see how it performs. I think only one WP7 device has the MSM Snapdragon (which has an Adreno 205 GPU instead of our Adreno 200. Also its a die shrink which would use slightly less power)