[Q] Video Playback Problem - Epic 4G General

So I just got the new Epic from Sprint, and I just put on some videos. All of them work, EXCEPT FOR ONE.
I had recently created a video using Adobe Premiere in CS5. It output to MP4 with AVC/AAC (LC) codecs. It plays fine on my computer, my Samsung TV, and even my Samsung Blu-ray player (they all have USB ports for digital media), but no luck with the phone. The phone says displays "unsupported file type," and promptly returns to the gallery.
I have looked at the posted file and codec support, and so I converted copies of the original file to:
MP4: H.264, AAC
MKV: H.264, AAC
DIVX: AVI, MP3
But they all yield the same disappointing result: "unsupported file type." What else could I possibly try to make this play?
P.S. The supported file and codec list that I found is located here (apparently, I don't yet have enough posts for the site to let me link to the rest of the internet):
*ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view_us.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=0&AT_ID=316039&PROD_SUB_ID=0&PROD_ID=559&EMAIL_ID=*

Go to the market and download RockPlayer

Technically, the player was successful in opening the video, since it has a choice of "software decoding" and "hardware decoding" mode. "Software decoding" mode made the video lag the audio big time (>1 sec into playback before lag started). Selecting "Hardware decoding" mode for the file returns the error "This file cannot be played with System Player." After some digging on the company's website, it says that the "software decoding" mode can play just about anything, and while the System Player integrated into Android itself can only play a limited list of files, the System Player can use hardware acceleration.
So the question of the day becomes, is there a media player app that doesn't rely on the System Player for hardware acceleration?

Rockplayer is it...
What is the resolution of your video? 1080p? 720p? (1080p wont work from what I hear..even though Hummingbird does support it :/)
Also, is your audio 5.1? try removing the audio from your file and see if the video works.

Yeah, the video was coded into 1080p. The software decoding mode will play it, but it lags a lot. If Hummingbird CAN handle the hardware decode, then my issue is with the Android System Player's ability to use the hardware, right? If so, is it that Android doesn't like 1080p period, or is it a matter of using a separate program that CAN use the hardware effectively?
The audio plays without a hitch. It's coded for just simple stereo.

Dante of the Inferno said:
Yeah, the video was coded into 1080p. The software decoding mode will play it, but it lags a lot. If Hummingbird CAN handle the hardware decode, then my issue is with the Android System Player's ability to use the hardware, right? If so, is it that Android doesn't like 1080p period, or is it a matter of using a separate program that CAN use the hardware effectively?
The audio plays without a hitch. It's coded for just simple stereo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the 1080p is your issue..software decode is always a lot slower..while the Hummingbird does support 1080p, either Samsung did not include the drivers to make it happen or it is an Android limitation I am not sure...but its 100% in the Hummingbird specification..so its not impossible... just someone has to figure out how lol
For now your best bet is to re-encode it to 720p and you will be fine.

Related

Can the Vibrant play .mkv files?

I downloaded some Family Guy Episodes that are like 25MB each are .mkv files. I put them on my SD Card, and they play for a few seconds, and than a message pops up saying this video cannot be played. However, the video actually starts and I can see and hear everything. So is there a way for this message to not pop up? Thanks.
BigWorldJust said:
I downloaded some Family Guy Episodes that are like 25MB each are .mkv files. I put them on my SD Card, and they play for a few seconds, and than a message pops up saying this video cannot be played. However, the video actually starts and I can see and hear everything. So is there a way for this message to not pop up? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The built in video player usually handles .mkv containers just fine. Having said that, .mkv is merely an advanced CONTAINER format that allows for the easy assembly of video, multiple audio streams, subtitle streams, chapters, so on and so forth.
The contents of those streams can be almost anything. And this is where your problem lies.
In the windows universe with advanced players like KMPlayer, GomPlayer, VLC, MPC, and advanced codec packs like Combined Community Codec Pack, it is easy to create a situation where your Windows PC will play pretty much everything you throw at it.
For us, though the native video player is probably the best one ever released on the Android platform, it is not perfect. I would imagine that those MKV containered episodes are using a codec for video or audio that the player is stumbling over, or one of those streams is using a bitrate or encoding method that the player hasn't accounted for.
So far in my experiences the built in player DEFINITELY does not like mkv's where the video format is AVC1 encoded using Nero Digital's version of the AVC1 encoder. Also, I've encountered audio issues with AAC audio. This isn't a problem with the AAC audio though, rather it's bad MKV stream header information where whatever tool was used to mux the MKV failed to put in proper bitrate info.
Bottom line, and I'm speaking from the experience of having over 3 terabytes of media on my media NAS server here at home, MKV containers do not necessarily have any "standards" to them, in the sense that being an MKV doesn't really tell you what the video and audio are within. This is just due to the nature of the MKV container format, but it is a problem slowly disappearing as more people use more standard encoding bitrates and codecs within these containers.
As a suggestion, visit the market and download ROCKPLAYER ARM7 version. When I've encountered video files the native player won't play, Rockplayer usually does (with the notable exception of anything using Nero Digital AVC1). Rockplayer is derived from the FFMPEG codebase, so it's a tad more forgiving in what it will play.
It's either another player, downloading a different set of those episodes, or re encoding those episodes...
Thanks RockPlayer Arm7 worked .
The rock player has been able to play videos (tv episodes) that I was not able to play with the default player. I don't know much about codecs, but it's worth a try.
My phone played some 1.4gb TV show episodes that are x264 video and dd5.1 audio 1280x720 (High definition) inside an MKV file just fine.
Maybe your phone was just having a fit because you were trying to watch episodes of family guy?
Lol, might've been. RockPlayer works though, so it's all good .
Anyone know if the full paid version of Rockplayer allows multiple audio and sub streams?
I need that BADLY.

[Q] MKV Playback

Removing a bunch of preloaded bloatware, I also tossed the My Files app and have been searching for a way to get MKV play back to work. I'm noticing RockPlayer has a way to force System Player, which I would assume is the phones default video player.
I've loaded 3 videos onto my phone, all of which have subtitles. One is a 480p with subtitles, plays fine perfect frame rate, etc. however there are no displayed subtitles. Rockplayer does have subtitles enabled.
Second video is a 720p with subtitles. Video plays fine and smooth, no subtitles displaying.
Third video is also 720p with subtitles and those are working. However, the MKV uses codecs for variable frame rate, which make the video lag terribly in certain parts. Playing this file directly through RockPlayer causes a ton of artifacting and lag about four times more than I am experiencing with the stock player.
Does anyone know how to fix these subtitle problems, or know if there is an additional or better way to load the videos than using RockPlayer?
Edit: And on that note, is there a way/app that will allow choosing specific audio track for a video, or will it always be stuck on the default for the file?
Couple things. The default media player on the epic has ZERO options. You can not configure it as far as I know. However, it plays 720p\1080p MKV files flawlessly. I usually navigate to my video files with a file explorer and open them with the default video player. If subtitles don't work out of the box, then you're pretty much screwed. I'm willing to bet the movie player on the other SGS phones have more options.
Rock player is a piece of doodoo. While it can play MKV files, it chokes on anything remotely high definition. Video playback is all kinds of terrible. Doesn't seem to be able to make use of the Epic's graphics processing.
Until Sammy gives us a video player with more options, I think you're out of luck with subtitles
Just a suggestion but hardcode the subs to the video file.
i too been looking for a video player that can play mkv with the subtitles
darknatas said:
i too been looking for a video player that can play mkv with the subtitles
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try rock player, but it's really choppy with high quality movies. I think it supports subtitles. You can try it. It's free on the market.
hydralisk said:
However, it plays 720p\1080p MKV files flawlessly. I usually navigate to my video files with a file explorer and open them with the default video player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some reason, I can't get any of my 1080p mkvs to work. Do they need to be encoded in any particular way?
my problem is that the stock video player wont play any mp4 or mkv vids with more than 2 channels of audio. almost everything i have is 6 channel and wont play on the stock player. as stated above, i find rock player also to be boo boo at hi def playback. i can use headphones and get 5.1 audio, but not through the device speakers. any help?
"5.1" is simulated using a filter, but that method requires headphones to work, so that it can control exactly what each ear hears.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Hey..if you guys haven't noticed mvideoplayer added MKV internal subtitle support for SGS phones..and from what I hear it uses the default hardware acceleration rather then software like rockplayer
austin thats another video player for you to try lol..if not I suggest taking it to the i9000 forum as for now all the development has been there and they had the phones longer.
gTen said:
Hey..if you guys haven't noticed mvideoplayer added MKV internal subtitle support for SGS phones..and from what I hear it uses the default hardware acceleration rather then software like rockplayer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh thank you for pointing this out! I just tested a few 720p MKV files and they played great! Not only that, but it was made by the same person who crated act1 video player. It remembers the position of every video you start and stop. I love it
I was hardcoding subs until I foudn mvideoplayer a couple of days ago. works fine on 80% of external subtitle formats, even allows positioning and font control. it is great.
no more hardcoding subs or worrying about demuxing and increasing audio gain for me!
Cool, thanks for the recommendation. RockPlayer couldn't do HD, so I was looking for another player that was actually hardware accelerated.
And it's free to boot!
I love you guys. This is exactly what I needed.
works perfect with my 720p anime videos with subtitles. had been looking forever and finally this program did the trick. thanks guys
I loaded up an MKV TV show with 720p h.264 and 6 channel AC-3 and it worked flawlessly. I tried playing a 1080p mp4 file with 6 channel AC-3 and couldn't open it. I'm going to try a 1080p mp4 with 6 channel AAC.
If that doesn't work then I'll be pretty disappointed but not by much. I know the S5PC110 supports 1080p recording and playback. It's likely Samsung lowered the DSP clock to save power.
arashed31 said:
I loaded up an MKV TV show with 720p h.264 and 6 channel AC-3 and it worked flawlessly. I tried playing a 1080p mp4 file with 6 channel AC-3 and couldn't open it. I'm going to try a 1080p mp4 with 6 channel AAC.
If that doesn't work then I'll be pretty disappointed but not by much. I know the S5PC110 supports 1080p recording and playback. It's likely Samsung lowered the DSP clock to save power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only point in trying to put on a 1080p movie is if that is the format you already have. If you're ripping your own movies, you should probably rip them to the resolution of the phone. Anything higher than 480p is overkill. 1080p is double the resolution of the phone. Have you tried a 1080p MKV?
For some reason when i try to copy over a 1080p movie that is 6GB, it says the file is too large for the destination device's file system... even though I have about 11GB free.
hydralisk said:
The only point in trying to put on a 1080p movie is if that is the format you already have. If you're ripping your own movies, you should probably rip them to the resolution of the phone. Anything higher than 480p is overkill. 1080p is double the resolution of the phone. Have you tried a 1080p MKV?
For some reason when i try to copy over a 1080p movie that is 6GB, it says the file is too large for the destination device's file system... even though I have about 11GB free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats normal..you have to break it up into either 2gb pieces or 4gb pieces (don't remember off the top of my head)...and it will work...this is actually where Kies I hear is good for..it automatically breaks up the video file for you if you use it. (unfortunately due to TW3 being missing we can't use Kies)
The limit is 4GB and this is due to the FAT32 file system. If android could read exFAT or NTFS there wouldn't be that limitation.
hydralisk said:
The only point in trying to put on a 1080p movie is if that is the format you already have. If you're ripping your own movies, you should probably rip them to the resolution of the phone. Anything higher than 480p is overkill. 1080p is double the resolution of the phone. Have you tried a 1080p MKV?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only 1080p MKVs I have are over 4GB. Even if the phone could play 1080p MKVs, it can't play the DTS audio in the movies I have.
I usually get m2ts contained movies with AC-3 audio that stream perfectly to my Xbox 360 and also work locally on PS3s.

HTC Videos vs RockPlayer

I just noticed for the first time that HTC Video supports AVI files. I have been using RockPlayer in Software mode with success, but it kills battery like crazy.
RockPlayer is smoother, but I wonder how HTC's battery use compares.
I will of course find out for myself, but I wonder what other people have experienced
SRS enhancement is a plus
how about vplayer
That will also be software based, so probably the same. The native player should be hardware mode, but is pretty choppy with standard "scene" video files. I'll do a test run this week to see how the battery usage compares
well the native player is hardware accelerated or at least it is for .mp4 with x254 video i havnt tried avi but i would assume that it would also be hardware accelerated or at least the renderer would be. alternative players are usless cause they dont support hardware on the adreno 205 yet
Hardware accelerated yes, but software players are still smoother!
just used "power tutor" to compare power used during one Simpson episode using two players.
According to "power tutor" the Internal video player used about half the power that RockPlayer did (with HW acc enabled)
Yes, I know this is not the perfect comparison.
The total power used should be measured, in case one offloads much more to the hardware than the other one.
An perfect comparison should be:
-boot
-radio off
-start measuring total power consumption
-play video for xx minutes
-stop measuring power consumption.
Guys, how do you manage to play xvid with built in video player?
When I put a video on my SD card, it appears in stock player but with no screenshot, only some weird small icon. Selecting the video does nothing at all.
Eddie1506 said:
Guys, how do you manage to play xvid with built in video player?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who plays Xvid ? - the simpsons episodes are H264 with MPEG4 AAC audio -both preview & playback work fine.
what we need - is players like VLC, core-player or tcpmp for Android. - VLC - being open-source & up-to-date - would be absolutely best.
I think Vplayer.beta is the best so far however it doesn't allow me to change audio channels but it was a lot smoother than rock player when playing a dual audio track; also seems to eat battery life. otherwise rock player is great.
AlCapone said:
Who plays Xvid ? - the simpsons episodes are H264 with MPEG4 AAC audio -both preview & playback work fine.
what we need - is players like VLC, core-player or tcpmp for Android. - VLC - being open-source & up-to-date - would be absolutely best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, my bad

Vega / Mobii and MKV

Hi
any news about mkv (h.264) videos whith this tablet?
Hardware is the problem? or android is the problem?
regards
AFAIK, the Vega can't play MKV as this is a limitation of Android (as opposed to the tablet). perhaps in 2.3 / 3.0 we'll see MKV support introduced.
thanks
I can to play mkv with h.264 files, but it's too slow, 4-6 fps only with any players (vital player, meridian, etc)...
saludos
Did you try rockplayer? Have good experiences with it, but haven't tried mkv yet...
You can always use a program like Handbrake to convert it to mp4/h264, which works fine for me.
Remember that MKV is just a container if the base AOSP build of Android suddenly gained the ability to parse Matroska containers it would not magically give you the ability to play High-profile 1080p H.264 video streams, or DTS/AC3 audio that may be contained in the MKV.
Rockplayer and all the ffmpeg-alikes are able to parse the containers but _none_ of them will be able to use the native hardware acceleration and as such will be useless for HD content.
SilentMobius said:
Rockplayer and all the ffmpeg-alikes are able to parse the containers but _none_ of them will be able to use the native hardware acceleration and as such will be useless for HD content.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the problem
I use vital player, the best for mobii/vega, because I can view all videos with AC3 without problem (divx or wmv with AC3). MKV with vital player are slow too...
The best codec for mobii/vega 720p? mp4/h264? wmvhd? I have a lot of mkv/h.264/mkv...
regards
Funny thing is my first tablet the ZT-180 was able to play mkv 720p high profile with DTS beautifully! It stuttered a bit on 1080p, watchable though. This is on a low budget machine, on the vega it should fly! This was in real player for android by the way. Explain that
demonknight9 said:
Funny thing is my first tablet the ZT-180 was able to play mkv 720p high profile with DTS beautifully! It stuttered a bit on 1080p, watchable though. This is on a low budget machine, on the vega it should fly! This was in real player for android by the way. Explain that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is the big question WHY??!!!
demonknight9 said:
Funny thing is my first tablet the ZT-180 was able to play mkv 720p high profile with DTS beautifully! It stuttered a bit on 1080p, watchable though. This is on a low budget machine, on the vega it should fly! This was in real player for android by the way. Explain that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this. MKV was perfect on the ZT-180's 2.1 rom. Proof that this is not a limitation of android.
hi,
i have installed rockplayer and mVideoPlayer. it seems that they install some codecs because now i can play 720p and partly 1080p MKV videos on my mobii tegra (vega rom + modaco) via the video player that comes with the rom.
greez
ndroid2k11 said:
hi,
i have installed rockplayer and mVideoPlayer. it seems that they install some codecs because now i can play 720p and partly 1080p MKV videos on my mobii tegra (vega rom + modaco) via the video player that comes with the rom.
greez
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really? witch rom are you using? addons? I can play 720p MKV, bur slowly, at 5-10fps
regards
I can play the mkv files but just no sound.. running vega rom with modaco.
dopeh said:
I can play the mkv files but just no sound.. running vega rom with modaco.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can use vitalplayer, the best for me.
demonknight9 said:
Funny thing is my first tablet the ZT-180 was able to play mkv 720p high profile with DTS beautifully! It stuttered a bit on 1080p, watchable though. This is on a low budget machine, on the vega it should fly! This was in real player for android by the way. Explain that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because that tablet its _so_ dodgy that the OEM built in MKV/DTV/AC3 decoding into android (like Samsung/etc) and released it without paying for the licences (for DTS and AC3).
If dolby et al notices then the retailers will get a lawsuit.
Though it does mean that there is Android source floating around China that includes MKV parsing. Latest Gingerbread update add WebM so lest see if that comes with a full matroska parser.
pildo said:
really? witch rom are you using? addons? I can play 720p MKV, bur slowly, at 5-10fps
regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Advent Vega 1.09 ROM + MoDaCo r8
when i play the movies with rockplayer or mVideoPlayer it's slow, too. But with the original player it works fine. Don't know why
Hi all
Apologies for the thread revival. There's no need to use any third party apps to play MKV files, you can play MKVs using the built in media player. I use Astro file manager and do the following: navigate to file, long-press on the file itself, select "Open As", select "Video", then choose the default media player. It might be easier to have the app recognise it as standard, but this method works. I've tried quite a few 1080p x264 vids and the only thing the Vega struggles with is the audio codecs - it supports AAC, but AFAIK it doesn't support AC3.
EDIT: I should probably mention that I use the default 1.09 ROM, modded with MCR R8.
The reason that third party apps probably get a low FPS is that they do not use the Tegra2 hardware accelerated decoding - the built in player does however.
The core Android system actually supports the MKV container format - it's listed on the spec page; I guess implementation is obviously different for each device. As someone pointed out though, the important thing is the codec in use for each video/audio stream; MKV is just a container format.
Is there a program which can link file extensions with app s?
I believe that mVideoPlayer literally just makes the mkv format available/viewable/whateverable in the stock player, so if you install it, you should just be able to play mkvs in the stock player (mVideoPlayer does not have any codecs, so it will only be able to play the codecs that your device can already play)
most devices can play H264 mkv, hell my phone can even play them with one player or another, the issue here is decoding, the vega simply cannot decode h264 high profile video hence the slow framerates as the player has to switch to software.
Suggesting this is possible by switching to the stock player is just nonesense, those that claim to have good frame rates are NOT playing h264 high profile, the hardware cant do it, period, end of thread.
Note: most "ripped" MKV films / tv files (1 gig usually for TV rips 6 gig + for films) that can be downloaded in 720p and 1080p will be encoded in high profile, you simply wont ever be able to play these with decent frame rates without re-ecoding into a codec tegra can handle like H264 main profile - unless the open source VLC team manage to create their own CPU optimisations when VLC finally come out, even then it wont be buttery smooth.
give it up people, you are going to have to re-encode or not bother using it as media tablet.

Divx playback support through hardware decoding on devices without native support.

As the title says, it is to discuss whether can we add divx playback support through hardware decoding on devices without native support.
The video playback by hardware decoding will be much better than the video playback of the same file by software decoding. Check it on RockPlayer. Our ZTE BLADE can handle pretty decent MP4 files (within WVGA resolution) whereas it cannot handle decent AVI/divx files. These files other than those supported by system player are played with software decoding which is not that good as the same specs files played with hardware decoding. That's where this question arises. Is is possible to support many file types and codecs (AVI, flv, mkv) for system player.
And I think some devices are having same hardware configuration but differences in divx playback support by system player. I think ZTE blade and LG optimus p500 have all the hardware identical except for the screen resolution. And LG optimus has native divx playback support whereas zte blade doesn't. (Correct me if I'm wrong). So i believe it is a software related thing.
And for 1GHz devices without divx support it might not make a big difference because they have a good processor which can play decent files even with software decoding. But for devices like ZTE blade, it matters because it cannot play most of the decent file types available in the internet.
What do you people say ??? Is it possible.
Give MX Video a Try
I download TV shows and movies in various formats all the time (just about all the popular formats).
The free MX Video Player plays them all on the ZTE Blade wonderfully. Even lets me stretch, crop, and full screen any video. And it remembers where I left off which is great because I can resume playback anytime right where I left off.
Just thought to mention as it solved all my video issues.
I also use MX video player on my blade, handles divx avi files with no problems.

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