1080p Video on Elocity A7 - A7 General

I've seen various people having issues with 1080p video on the A7. I've been doing some work to figure out what works and what doesn't. I used Nero Recode, but you should get the same results with Handbrake or StaxRip.
1080p (1920x800) - Silky Smooth
+mp4 container
+H264 - Main Profile, 3 B-Frame Refs, 4mpbs
--No CABAC, Weighted Prediction
+AAC LC 192kpbs 2 Channel
--Does not support 5.1 down mixing!
I managed to get it below 4GB (Iron Man 2.35AR - 2:02) and it still looks decent. I think 2 hours is pretty much the limit. I think on a true 16x9 movie (1.85AR) you would have issues.
Using Microsoft Expressions:
1080p (1920x800) - Blocky
+wmv container
+VC1 - Advanced Profile 4mbps
+WMA Pro 5.1 384 kmps
Played fine, just blocky. The device does support 5.1 down mix (only 2 channel is outputed via HDMI)

Related

Handbrake Settings Test

I have been running a few tests on Handbrake transcodes for my G2, and I wanted to share my results for anyone who doesn't wish to invest in 9 hours of transcoding/CPU time, just to get sub-par results.
My test file was Dexter S05E01 in the form of a 720p mkv. I tried 4 different settings, and here are the results:
1.) 1280x720 mp4 at constant RF 20. The picture is very sharp, but the playback stutters. Audio is fine, but the phone can't keep up with the video (when played in the stock player, doubleTwist, Vplayer, and QQplayer).
2.) 1280x720 mp4 at constant 2550 kbps. The picture is also very sharp, but the video playback still stutters, even when played in each of the alternate players listed above.
3.) 800x448 mp4 at constant RF 20. The picture is still sharp, yet it STILL stutters. The phone just isn't keeping up with the video. This one confuses me, since it's less than the phone's screen resolution.
4.) Handbrake iPhone/iPod Touch settings at 480x320, with constant RF 20. This is the only one that plays without stutter, but it is noticeably less sharp than the previous three tests. Played on my 3rd gen iPod Touch, this encoding looks fantastic. However, my goal was to maintain the HD feel of the source, and this was not achieved.
I will continue to experiment with different file-types and report back here if I succeed at finding a crisp, yet playable transcode for the G2.
Are you playing the videos using the built in media player? If there's lots of stutter I would try rockplayer. Don't download rock player from the market, its the universal version and is very slow and stuttery. Go to the website for rockplayer and download the version specifically for the cortex A8. I can play 1080p downloaded youtube videos with that.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.
^^^^^This^^^^^
I use Rockplayer for all my movies without having to transcode ever!
Am I missing something? I went to the rockplayer website but only see versions for arm7 and arm6.
It's ARMv7.
I downloaded it, but I'm still getting stutter, even on the 800x448 file. h.264 is the right codec, right?
Perhaps it's because I haven't rooted my G2. Maybe 800MHz isn't fast enough to decode 720p. Are you running CM at 1.4GHz, to get your 1080p videos playing with no stutter?
Also, to be more clear, it's not a huge stutter - only very subtle. However, it's enough to really bother me, because the video is never really smooth.
I'm running CM7 at 245 - 979 mhz ondemand with the UV kernel. Have you tried playing a 720p youtube video downloaded with something like tubemate?
I did notice when I played a converted version of inception once that it stuttered, yet youtube 720p videos didn't stutter at all.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.
I guess you're right. There is a small stutter... but its much less then when I was trying to use handbrake and convert full movies...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.
Yeah, I tried a 720p youtube video in RockPlayer, and there was still enough stutter to bother me. I guess I'll just stick with my iPod Touch for watching videos on the go.
I used a guide for HandBrake with G2-optimized settings based on the iPod Legacy preset and the mVideoPlayer app. I also have the G2-Fast kernel and overclocked to 1516 with SetCPU. It works fine enough, but the files it generates are only marginally smaller than the source. What is the homepage of RockPlayer? The first result on Google is broken.
The first Google result works for me.
http://rockplayer.freecoder.org/index_en.html
Hopefully the next iteration of Android (Honeycomb) will be able to use it's gpu acceleration features on videos?
ARMv7neon, ARMv7vfp, or ARMv7vfpv3d16? They're all ARM7, whats the difference?
Personally I wasn't able to get Rockplayer to work on my G2 for some reason. I tried both versions of the ARM6 and the ARM7 version as well so I'm unable to view any videos at the higher quality. But here are my settings that I use.
Picture: I keep these at DVD quality, so my width is always at 720 and I have the box checked in "Keep Aspect Ratio"
Video Filters: I have all of these to off.
Video: Video Codec is at H.264 and Framerate(FPS) is set to "Same as source". Quality I have set at 60.78%RF:20
Audio: Source=Automatic Audio Codec=AAC9(faac) Mixdown=Automatic Samplerate=Auto Bitrate=160 DRC=0
I don't touch the "Advanced" box
I also have the "Container" box set at MP4 with the Web optimized and iPod5G support boxes checked.
Lastly I change the .mv4 to .mp4 at the end of the file.
These are pretty much the same settings at the iPhone & iPod Touch presets with just a few differences.
I've never had a problem viewing any movies with these settings and the quality, I feel, is excellent. I've converted hundreds of movies using these settings ever since I've had my G1. The only difference is the Video Width. The G1 I had set to 480. Hope this helps.
One other thing to add. These were all either direct DVD or Blu-ray rips so I've never seen any real loss in quality.
Thanks, darkjuan. I'll give those settings a spin and see if I have more luck with them than I did my original settings.

High profile 720p answers.

I'm a new Xoom owner and am for the most part pleased with the device.
My only sore spot is with the inability to play high profile or even main profile h.264 720p videos. Hell it can't even play high or main profile 480p videos without a certain amount of stuttering.
All over the Xoom forums we're hearing everything from "it's impossible because of Tegra 2 limitations" to "it just needs a new codec/video player", and many people saying that the Notion Ink Adam had the same issue, but that it was solved with a firmware update.
What I'm looking for is a straight answer, from someone who both owns a Notion Ink Adam and who knows enough about h.264 to know what high profile means.
Did the Notion Ink Adam receive a FW update that allowed it to play high profile 720p video.
I saw a video of the notion ink adam playing very choppy 720p (the bird scene from Planet Earth) but that video was poorly encoded and an unrealistic benchmark for any mobile device. (9 reference frames? Come on!)
No its laggy at the moment, tried every mkv player out there and everyone had its own issues.. from not starting to locking, to not able to play the file to finally I had one play but it was laggy and overall not enjoyable.
I think software decoding optimized for the tegra is probably the quickest solution for now. I don't think anyone saw android moving onto tablets this quickly or people trying to playing a 2-3 gb files this quickly
Btw I would love to see a PC video player like PowetDVD make a real video player for android
no6969el said:
No its laggy at the moment, tried every mkv player out there and everyone had its own issues.. from not starting to locking, to not able to play the file to finally I had one play but it was laggy and overall not enjoyable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM / NI version were you using?
joshua.lyon said:
Which ROM / NI version were you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Utopia beta 1. I didnt do as much testing on stock roms....i saw that video vs the xoom and he was able to do it but i didnt catch what player he was using....he just set it to software decoding mode as mentioned above...
I did get one my files to play with sound but it still was laggy. High def robot chicken episode.
Just tested with the latest build NIA920040311 and the stock VideoPlayer
It plays the following H.264 720p very choppy and no sound:
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 47mn
Bit rate : 3 913 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 528 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate : 24.000 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.241
Stream size : 2.93 GiB (88%)
Language : English
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 47mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 344 MiB (10%)
i played a 720p mpeg4 file from my usb 500gb hard drive and it played fine using stock video player
Can anyone read mkv files here? :-$
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
div3r5ity said:
i played a 720p mpeg4 file from my usb 500gb hard drive and it played fine using stock video player
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you check with MediaInfo and post details of the media format?
If you change the extension of the file from .mkv to .avi you can see the video, but as said above the decoder to mkv is not properly optimized.
No rename is required, the stock video player read .mkv but I am not sure if it use software or hardware mode to play it. It's like slow motion and without sound for a 720p h.264 L3.1 High Profile 4000Kbps video.
Dr.Preston said:
I'm a new Xoom owner and am for the most part pleased with the device.
My only sore spot is with the inability to play high profile or even main profile h.264 720p videos. Hell it can't even play high or main profile 480p videos without a certain amount of stuttering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure about the Xoom... a buddy of mine on a video forum (Creative Cow) has a Xoom, and found it was ok with base profile 720/30p at 3Mb/s or less, but started choking much beyond that. I've only had my Adam since Friday, but grabbed a bit of handy video to test it out myself. From a plain old USB stick, the Adam did a 720/[email protected]/s file perfectly, both MP4/AVC and WMV9. I tried another file I had around, 720/[email protected]/s, but it only played at 30fps... thus, slow motion.
Dr.Preston said:
All over the Xoom forums we're hearing everything from "it's impossible because of Tegra 2 limitations" to "it just needs a new codec/video player", and many people saying that the Notion Ink Adam had the same issue, but that it was solved with a firmware update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No question the Xoom seems to have some issues, and some of that could be the incompleteness of Honeycomb fine-tuning. Given that the problems I had heard previously were seen with fairly low bitrate 720p, I would at least check the speed on your Xoom's memory (internal?). Shouldn't be an issue... SD Tools benchmarked the Adam's internal "SD Drive" at 160MB/s-200MB/s reads (10MB/s writes). Android 2.2 is still unsophisticated about devices at the GUI level -- cannot yet point the same benchmark at external flash or USB. Probably not an issue, but worth eliminating as one.
Dr.Preston said:
What I'm looking for is a straight answer, from someone who both owns a Notion Ink Adam and who knows enough about h.264 to know what high profile means.
Did the Notion Ink Adam receive a FW update that allowed it to play high profile 720p video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I made a bunch of AVC files. All come from an original AVCHD track, 1080/24p, 24Mb/s, shot on a Panasonic HMC40 camcorder. All rendering using the Sony Vegas 10 and the Sony AVC CODEC.
I rendered 720p and 1080p files, put them on a USB stick, and played them on my Adam. None of the 1080p stuff played perfectly on the Adam.... 1080/24p baseline at at 4Mb/s was just a bit off. All of the 720/24p videos did just dandy at 4Mb/s, even the High profile. Going to higher bitrates, I have some 720/24p baseline holding together at 6Mb/s, some lagging behind the audio -- sure looks like the player (NI player, Android default, and the ES File Explorer video player work identically -- they're all accessing the same OS components) doesn't drop frames when it can't keep up. So the audio walks away from the video. It gets worse at higher bitrates... presumably, more frames are not staying in sync.
So it looks jittery... just a little off from being "real". I'll wager most people would be completely happy with 6Mb/s, or even the 4Mb/s 1080p baseline, if the player did a proper job of staying in sync... you don't notice the occasional dropped frame, but at least if you're a musician, you'll be bothered by audio being off even a few milliseconds. Didn't help that my subject was my friend Pat playing guitar... pretty obvious when mouth and fingers don't match the sound... and when the sound ends, but video keeps going (the files are, of course, in sync on the PC). I started with a USB stick, but got the same results on the "external" SD Card, which on my system is a 32GB Class 10 card, plenty fast enough for this.
So I think a properly encoded 720/24-30p video at 4Mb/s or so is the sweet spot for today's Adam, and in theory other Tegra2 systems. You might manage a bit higher bitrate, but not too much. If they fix the player with a proper frame drop trick play function, higher bitrate video would probably look just dandy, even if it's dropping the occasional frame to stay in sync.
I wonder if Tegra2 processor is fast enough to decode 720p high profile in software. It's a two core 1Ghz processor - I remember that my Duron 1000 was almost certainly not able to decode h264 but Athlon 1400Mhz (one core) was close if I remember correctly. ARMs are probably much slower than Athlons but in decoding videos the difference shouldn't count as much (because it's probably straight forward computing without many conditional instructions)...

[Q] best video format for Atrix

Looking to convert some vids over to load on Atrix. What is the max width, height, framerate and bit rate that the Atrix will play. Looking for best pic and sound, not necessarily concerned with size?
1 more thing, what is the best App to use to convert ?
Thanks from a newbie Atrix owner!
Blind_Guardian said:
Listed below is the H.264 profiles supported
Baseline Profile up to 1080P, 20Mbps
Main Profile :
Progressive, CAVLC, no WP up to 1080P, 20Mbps
Progressive, CABAC, no WP up to 720P, 4-6Mbps
Progressive, CABAC, WP up to 480P, 2Mbps
Progressive, CAVLC, WP up to 480P, 2Mbps
Interlaced, CABAC,no WP up to D1, 3 mbps
High Profile
Progressive, CABAC, no WP up to 720P, 2 Mbps
Progressive, CAVLC, no WP up to 720P, 2 Mbps
Progressive, CABAC, WP up to 480P, 2Mbps
Progressive, CAVLC, WP up to 480P, 2Mbps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This list is accurate. MKV containers are not supported. They do have to be an MP4.
As far as a program that can transcode your stuff.... handbrake is good... I use Megui on my windows based desktop because avisynth is very flexible
(Megui link for all interested: http://sourceforge.net/projects/megui/ )
Also, i have a video sitting on my phone that is some weird res... like 1904x976... as long as its resized mod16 you should be fine...
There is a thread debating this from a couple days ago. My suggestion is get megui, use the x264 main profile for video and get nero aac for audio. Have fun~~
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I'm on win 7, I use this GPU accelerated video encoder called Badaboom2 from Elemental Technologies. The 2.0 version will offer additional profiles, i simply drag the movies you currently have: mkv, avi, divx, wmv. or if you have a DVD movie you want to convert. After drag and drop, select the output:
Output: Motorola Xoom
Profile: Baseline
Level: Auto
Highest Quality @ 3500kbit
Resolution: 1280x720
Aspect Ratio: Fill to Aspect
Now, this is assuming that you are going to convert/transcode HD videos as source for HD playback on the Atrix or via dock. Atrix will support MP4 with H.264 baseline profile. The Atrix processor is similar to Moto Xoom so start with Xoom's profile and adjust that accordingly. But a update is on the way for Atrix to support high and in addition to native mkv. I suggest you download a trail of Badaboom2 and try it out, you can convert up to 30 full length videos as a trail, by then the Atrix update should land, you won't need to convert any mkv files after that. Simply uninstall Badaboom =)
Thanks for the advice. Will try!
What playback software do you use? Is there an icon for the built-in player/what's it's name? So far I've only invoked it through files.
Is there anything that takes advantage of dual-cores and Tegra?
I've tried QQview, but it doesn't seem to be able to scan my MicroSD card because it sees the internal as SDcard and doesn't seem able to go 'up' a level from there...?
My main interest is being able to play torrent downloaded files *without* conversion. So far a 720p xVid seemed fine but a bit h.264 did not.
I use ImTOO video converter. there is no atrix setting yet
i have trield many different H.264 and most do not work. H.263 works but it wont auto resize, meaning playback through the phone is scaled to about 50% size despite perfect resolution.
Then i tried the xvid option, 2000kB/s stream, this particular movie was 1280x544 and it went full screen and played very well on the atrix hd dock and webtop.
One issue, i trield to copy a 4 gig file to my phone and it said file is too large despite the 32gig capaicty of this microSD!
twistedneck said:
I use ImTOO video converter. there is no atrix setting yet
i have trield many different H.264 and most do not work. H.263 works but it wont auto resize, meaning playback through the phone is scaled to about 50% size despite perfect resolution.
Then i tried the xvid option, 2000kB/s stream, this particular movie was 1280x544 and it went full screen and played very well on the atrix hd dock and webtop.
One issue, i trield to copy a 4 gig file to my phone and it said file is too large despite the 32gig capaicty of this microSD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate sd card is formatted in fat32. 4gb is the file size limit.
MotoAtrixFan said:
I'm on win 7, I use this GPU accelerated video encoder called Badaboom2 from Elemental Technologies. The 2.0 version will offer additional profiles, i simply drag the movies you currently have: mkv, avi, divx, wmv. or if you have a DVD movie you want to convert. After drag and drop, select the output:
Output: Motorola Xoom
Profile: Baseline
Level: Auto
Highest Quality @ 3500kbit
Resolution: 1280x720
Aspect Ratio: Fill to Aspect
Now, this is assuming that you are going to convert/transcode HD videos as source for HD playback on the Atrix or via dock. Atrix will support MP4 with H.264 baseline profile. The Atrix processor is similar to Moto Xoom so start with Xoom's profile and adjust that accordingly. But a update is on the way for Atrix to support high and in addition to native mkv. I suggest you download a trail of Badaboom2 and try it out, you can convert up to 30 full length videos as a trail, by then the Atrix update should land, you won't need to convert any mkv files after that. Simply uninstall Badaboom =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I liked Badaboom! Got me thinking about Sopranos
Avatar is somewhere around 8,3GB in MKV 720p. After this it will be around 4GB in 720p. Thats nice!
resize on atrix
If your videos are not taking advantage of all the pixles on the screen use mvideoplayer from the market. Under the settings you can make it play videos fill or strech for the screen and it still looks great for me.

[Q] Xoom HD playback capability

There are a lot of MP4 video clips that I cannot get to play on Xoom smoothly but they play back really well on my HTC Desire.
On Xoom the video is laggy while the audio is audible. This happened to both 720p and 480p videos. I used both the default player and Moboplayer to ensure I am using the hardware acceleration.
Strangely on my Xoom the Moboplayer can soft-decode 480p MP4 with ffmpeg and playback without any problem. 720 is smoother but the decoding was too slow which resulted in A-V async.
Again, all those clips play really well on my HTC Desire. Tegra 2 should be able to handle them.
Anyone knows anything?
Please search the forum before asking questions. This has been asnswered.
The problem you're having is to do with the clips using high profile encoding.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=968640&highlight=video
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=968308&highlight=video
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=972812&highlight=video
There's lots more. All I can say is, learn to love Handbrake and be prepared to have your computer running all night every night if you ever want to watch HD movies on this thing.
I dont agree; I have transcoded 2 blue rays, hellboy and start trek 2009 in about an hour each, using my imac and handbreak
Oh, and download Vitalplayer from the market for the best hd video playback..
wase4711 said:
I dont agree; I have transcoded 2 blue rays, hellboy and start trek 2009 in about an hour each, using my imac and handbreak
Oh, and download Vitalplayer from the market for the best hd video playback..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, well, I don't agree.
I converted 2 720p mkv 90 minute movies and a 40 minute 720p mkv TV show last night and it took 6 hours. This was done on an Intel Core 2 duo P750 2.26GHz
Not everyone has the same hardware. I suppose I could run out and buy an i5 or i7 for the sole purpose of encoding video for the XOOM.
Maybe Motorola can partner with a PC company. How about 20% off a new laptop when you buy a XOOM that way you will be able to take advantage of its HD video capability in 2 hours instead of six.
Digital Man said:
Yeah, well, I don't agree.
I converted 2 720p mkv 90 minute movies and a 40 minute 720p mkv TV show last night and it took 6 hours. This was done on an Intel Core 2 duo P750 2.26GHz
Not everyone has the same hardware. I suppose I could run out and buy an i5 or i7 for the sole purpose of encoding video for the XOOM.
Maybe Motorola can partner with a PC company. How about 20% off a new laptop when you buy a XOOM that way you will be able to take advantage of its HD video capability in 2 hours instead of six.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It all depends on your settings, and keep in mind that the imac is going to have similar hardware to your machine. The recommendation is to set max width to 1280, set B Frames to 0, turn off CABAC, 8x8 Transform, and Weighted P frames. If you do that, you'll find fairly consistent encoding times even with older hardware. Also, keep in mind that encoding is entirely processor bound and will do better the more cores you can throw at it.
mcnutty said:
It all depends on your settings, and keep in mind that the imac is going to have similar hardware to your machine. The recommendation is to set max width to 1280, set B Frames to 0, turn off CABAC, 8x8 Transform, and Weighted P frames. If you do that, you'll find fairly consistent encoding times even with older hardware. Also, keep in mind that encoding is entirely processor bound and will do better the more cores you can throw at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been there done that. There are no shortcuts. Good quality takes time or more cores. Or harness the GPU ie CUDA but that causes horrendous macroblocking in bright scenes.
No matter how you sugar coat it, re-encoding video is a time consuming pain in the ass for most people.
I also seem to remember there are multiple versions of the imac, with variable hardware specs, from dual core up to quad core 3.6GHz - so your claim of similar hardware seems unlikely.
..........
e.mote said:
>I converted 2 720p mkv 90 minute movies and a 40 minute 720p mkv TV show last night and it took 6 hours.
Suggest using 800 max width for substantially faster encode speed and smaller size. Quality diff is negligible on a 10".
If using 2-pass, switch to 1-pass for both faster encode time AND better quality.
Unfortunately, HB doesn't provide x264's speed presets. You can gain additional speed (at cost of some nominal size increase) with the faster presets. Hmm, I should update my HB script to allow "downloadables" as input.
>The recommendation is to set max width to 1280, set B Frames to 0, turn off CABAC, 8x8 Transform, and Weighted P frames. If you do that, you'll find fairly consistent encoding times even with older hardware.
Encoding to baseline profile (what the above basically means) gains speed by disabling more advanced "compression" features. The trade-off is significant size increase, about +30% vs high profile.
Using a lower res allows more efficient settings. At 800 width, you can use main profile. Speed diff between main & baseline is insignificant. Speed gain for the lower res is substantial.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate that your trying to help, but those are the settings that I have been using already: 1280, set B Frames to 0, turn off CABAC, turn off 8x8 Transform, and turn off Weighted P frames....
and it is still taking well over 3 hours to re-encode a 1:30 movie.
I understand that lowering the resolution will decrease the encoding time, but I consider that a last resort compromise. In fact I would consider that basically a failure of the XOOM.
I have considered buying an i5 or i7, but I feel stupid buying a new laptop for the sole purpose of encoding for the XOOM, when I could just pick up my Galaxy Tab and just play these videos immediately. No encoding. Just copy them over and play.
I am quite sure those videos are not high profile. Their bitrates were around 2M, way below 20M.
And, as I said, I can even do soft-decode to play the 480ps which does not play well with hard-decoding.
480ps, man. 480ps. Stunning.
e.mote said:
Last edited by e.mote; Today at 10:19 PM. Reason: reply removed, as recipient can't read
Click to expand...
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Your sarcasm needs work. It lacks creativity. And removing the original post is just immature.
Digital Man said:
Your sarcasm needs work. It lacks creativity. And removing the original post is just immature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really care about the encoding stage, I have an i7-950 which encodes a blu-ray in handbreak in well under an hour.
What I'd like to know, is are the codecs really this lacking, and will we see a solution?
I, like the OP have a HTC Desire and I could be devastated to find the XOOM can't handle the videos my Desire can.
Does it natively support mkv? I like to watch TV episodes in mkv like the 86MB Big Bang Theory episodes.
All my non-TV stuff I rip myself so I'm not concerned. Other than the DRM wmv I buy. Which play back fine on my galaxy tab.
alias_neo said:
I don't really care about the encoding stage, I have an i7-950 which encodes a blu-ray in handbreak in well under an hour.
What I'd like to know, is are the codecs really this lacking, and will we see a solution?
I, like the OP have a HTC Desire and I could be devastated to find the XOOM can't handle the videos my Desire can.
Does it natively support mkv? I like to watch TV episodes in mkv like the 86MB Big Bang Theory episodes.
All my non-TV stuff I rip myself so I'm not concerned. Other than the DRM wmv I buy. Which play back fine on my galaxy tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most TV shows that are 720p mkv, and are privately enoded, and downloaded, average about 1.2 GB and will and not play. Support for MKV as a container isn't a problem, its the profile of the h264 video in the container that is the problem.
If the Video that you like to watch is only 86MB, that doesn't sound like high profile 720p. So it might play, only way to know is to try or download mediaInfo and check its properties.
Good to hear that the i7 that you have can do a blu-ray in an hour. That sounds like what I should do eventually. Wonder if an i5 will do as well. I've heard that the i7, though it has 4 physical cores, is seen as 8 due to multithreading, wheras the i5 is limited to 4.
I watched two re-encoded episodes of fringe last night, and the Video on the XOOM is really amazing. It actually is almost worth the wait.
Digital Man said:
Most TV shows that are 720p mkv, and are privately enoded, and downloaded, average about 1.2 GB and will and not play. Support for MKV as a container isn't a problem, its the profile of the h264 video in the container that is the problem.
If the Video that you like to watch is only 86MB, that doesn't sound like high profile 720p. So it might play, only way to know is to try or download mediaInfo and check its properties.
Good to hear that the i7 that you have can do a blu-ray in an hour. That sounds like what I should do eventually. Wonder if an i5 will do as well. I've heard that the i7, though it has 4 physical cores, is seen as 8 due to multithreading, wheras the i5 is limited to 4.
I watched two re-encoded episodes of fringe last night, and the Video on the XOOM is really amazing. It actually is almost worth the wait.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct, it's an 8 threaded processor, running on an Asus ROG III Gene.
As for the videos I'm watching:
Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : [email protected]
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : Yes
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 4 frames
Format_Settings_GOP : M=4, N=48
CodecID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration/String : 20mn 24s
BitRate/String : 465 Kbps
Width/String : 624 pixels
Height/String : 352 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 16:9
FrameRate/String : 23.976 fps
Standard : NTSC
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.088
StreamSize/String : 67.8 MiB (77%)
They're not 720, but they're nice enough on my Galaxy Tab. They are High Profile @ L4.0 though which I'v heard a lot of bad-mouthing about on the forum lately. I'm no expert on media codecs and frankly couldn't care as long as theyre watchable. I'd love to know I could rip my Blu-Rays at 720p and watch them on the XOOM comfortably though.
What you are posting is interesting. Its high profile, but low bit rate. Some of the early claims for the Tegra 2, which is used in the XOOM, said it actually could play high profile but only at a low bit rate, but I haven't heard it confirmed. I suspect this video will not play, but later on I will try encoding a video in a simliar manner to yours and see what happens.
Digital Man said:
What you are posting is interesting. Its high profile, but low bit rate. Some of the early claims for the Tegra 2, which is used in the XOOM, said it actually could play high profile but only at a low bit rate, but I haven't heard it confirmed. I suspect this video will not play, but later on I will try encoding a video in a simliar manner to yours and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, if you like I can dropbox the file I have and PM you the link for testing. These files playback flawlessly using the Galaxy Tab with every single player software I have tried, whether hardware or software decoding. FOr them not to play on the XOOM would be a killer.
Got your file. Sorry, it plays but with no sound. I tried RockPlayer and Moboplayer and the System Player and all play the same - silent.
The Video is actually pretty good. Smooth and very acceptable. So I guess it can technically play high profile, very low bitrate files - just not with sound. Have to Play around some more and see if I can learn anything else that might get this to play correctly or figure out what the problem is.
Edit: Actually, this is a Divx encoded file, not h264, so that is why it plays. So I am a little surprised about the lack of audio. And its only mp3 audio!!! This is really amazing. I can't believe the XOOM isn't playing this correctly. Has to be a way.
Update: Ok, success! It does play correctly in Rockplayer in software decoding mode. With sound. So it looks like you will have no problem.
Digital Man said:
Got your file. Sorry, it plays but with no sound. I tried RockPlayer and Moboplayer and the System Player and all play the same - silent.
The Video is actually pretty good. Smooth and very acceptable. So I guess it can technically play high profile, very low bitrate files - just not with sound. Have to Play around some more and see if I can learn anything else that might get this to play correctly or figure out what the problem is.
Edit: Actually, this is a Divx encoded file, not h264, so that is why it plays. So I am a little surprised about the lack of audio. And its only mp3 audio!!! This is really amazing. I can't believe the XOOM isn't playing this correctly. Has to be a way.
Update: Ok, success! It does play correctly in Rockplayer in software decoding mode. With sound. So it looks like you will have no problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, if somewhat concerning that it won't play this in the standard players or with hard-decoding even though it uses mp3 audio.
How about VPlayer Advanced? I find this plays most of my videos nicely on the Tab.
Probably just lack of Divx support in hardware. Thats not a big deal, even a single core CPU of lower power can easily decode low res, low bitrate Divx. I don't consider that a flaw at all. Software decoding video like this with the XOOM's dual core A9's is trivial. Results are fine. Just need an app like RockPlayer that does it. XVID files will probably not work in hardware either.
From Motorolas website:
PLAYABLE FORMATS
AAC, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, ACC+ Enhanced, OGG, MIDI, AMR NB, AAC+
Digital Man said:
Probably just lack of Divx support in hardware. Thats not a big deal, even a single core CPU of lower power can easily decode low res, low bitrate Divx. I don't consider that a flaw at all. Software decoding video like this with the XOOM's dual core A9's is trivial. Results are fine. Just need an app like RockPlayer that does it. XVID files will probably not work in hardware either.
From Motorolas website:
PLAYABLE FORMATS
AAC, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, ACC+ Enhanced, OGG, MIDI, AMR NB, AAC+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh that's pretty fair I guess. How do you think it would manage if converted to MP4? I can do it on my 950 when I get home and send you it if you like? I'd not mind converting the whole lot if it played in the stock player.

Poor Video Playback

So, bought the Gtab on Friday, got a 32gb unlocked (Sweet). So, here is the problem that appears to be happening to almost everyone.
My video playback is Horrible, I've tried multiple codex's, and different Resolutions.
The videos so far i've tried.
3,343 Kbps 1280x720 at 29.970 fps, AVC ([email protected]) (CABAC / 4 Ref Frames) .MP4 Container, Very Choppy.
1,390 Kbps 640x272 23.976 fps MPEG-4 Visual (Xvid) Advanced [email protected]) (BVOP2) .avi Container Very Choppy
5,000 Kbps 1280x720 29.970 fps, VC-1 (WMV3) ([email protected]) .wmv Container Plays Flawlessly
Everything but the .wmv will play flawlessly on my Vibrant. Actually .wmv's are the only thing that i have found that won't play on my Vibrant.
I will test more configurations, but so far i'm not pleased with the video playback on the galaxy tablet.
I've tried other video players off the market, Moboplayer, mVideoplayer, haven't tried RockPlayer yet, but i had it on my vibrant and I felt the playback was not as good. Maybe i'll try it on Honeycomb.
So, I guess list your experiences so far, and suggestions. I will update as I go and find things.
Reserved... (Pending List of known formats)
Working Audio Codex's (So far):
AAC Low Complexity 2 Channel, Best
MP3 2 Channel
WMA 2 Channel
None Working Audio Codec:
AC-3 (Any Channel)
Working Video Codex:
AVC/H.264 Base Profile for 720p/1080p 3 Ref Frames, 0 B Frames
MPEG-4 Visual (Xvid) (Unknown limitations)
VC-1 (Unknown limitations)
Vplayer works great for me
Unfortunately, the fact that Samsung kept their hands out of Honeycomb has a downside. As far as I know, the Tab supports no more video types than stock Honeycomb. Which results in almost no good support at all. I've come to deal with it and you can, too.
The majority of my videos (720p and 1080p mkv) are converted and compressed while maintaining the quality by using this setup:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1102922
Worth it.
tsunami1609 said:
Unfortunately, the fact that Samsung kept their hands out of Honeycomb has a downside. As far as I know, the Tab supports no more video types than stock Honeycomb. Which results in almost no good support at all. I've come to deal with it and you can, too.
The majority of my videos (720p and 1080p mkv) are converted and compressed while maintaining the quality by using this setup:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1102922
Worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found that this morning and tried it, i Converted 3 different files, and tried different settings, and they all run like crap. I guess i will try some other settings on it.
Who thinks Sammy should use Exynos in the tab? Tegra does not seem to be very friendly with respect to playback. I find it tough to believe that Tab looks so sluggish compared to GS2.
Just download a different movie player app. MoboPlayer works great, and it's free.
I downloaded Hall Pass 720 BRRip xvid and it looks amazing and works great...
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium App
DroidHam said:
I downloaded Hall Pass 720 BRRip xvid and it looks amazing and works great...
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And its a .avi
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium App
Whats wrong with just converting everything to hi-def MP4 on your desktop/laptop and dumping on your tablet? I mean the iPad does it with great success and gives the user the impression that it can play every video format??
The tab is a 10" screen, just about any video format 720p and above (hell even some 480p) will look just as good as 1080p on your 40-50" tv screen....or am I missing something???
kponti said:
Whats wrong with just converting everything to hi-def MP4 on your desktop/laptop and dumping on your tablet? I mean the iPad does it with great success and gives the user the impression that it can play every video format??
The tab is a 10" screen, just about any video format 720p and above (hell even some 480p) will look just as good as 1080p on your 40-50" tv screen....or am I missing something???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What program and settings do you use, then?
Ok, I just purchased the 10.1. I use it alot to play back mp4 and m4v videos that have been encoded by Handbrake. What I've noticed on the 10.1 is that while they look excellent, when panning, the video pans with a jerky motion and is not smooth.
Any suggestions? I've looked around the forum but have not found anything definite. I've encoded the video at 720p.
From what i've read and researched, Tegra 2 only supports H.264 with Mainline Profile, Meaning 3 Reference Frames and no B frames, i've encoded several 720p Videos that way at 5Mbps and they play flawlessly.
While researching, i came across someone that came up with a Profile on Handbrake. That is what I've been using to encode my videos and so far, everything works great.
I will continue to do more Research.
Just a fyi, it does support High Profile, but with a max of 4 reference frames and 3 B frames.
Check the very first post here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1060825
It also includes presets for High and Baseline.
buri73 said:
Background
As I understand it, Tegra 2 should playback up to High Profile 720p and Main Profile 1080p. However, with limitation on Honeycomb and/or lack of driver release by Nvidia, current crop of HC tablets do not playback anything above Baseline Profile smoothly. Future updates by Google/Nvidia should fix this issue, but it looks like we may have to reencode High/Main profile media for the time being.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even he says it, Tegra 2 currently doesn't support anything above Baseprofile because of driver limitations
But that thread is a Very good reference on how to encode video using handbrake, for Tegra 2 Devices.
He wrote that before the 3.1 update. He should really take that out.
buri73 said:
Update 5/28: Honeycomb 3.1 upgraded TF101 can playback 720p High Profile natively!
Verified with native player and Mobo(HW playback). Modified steps 3-3.1 to reflect HP settings, added HP preset and sample. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh I see it, right at the top, right now im testing it out, encoding a 720p video using his High Profile.
Metzenw said:
I found that this morning and tried it, i Converted 3 different files, and tried different settings, and they all run like crap. I guess i will try some other settings on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only converted mkv files, but for 720p ones I use 1280 max output width, 20 video quality, live video type, high h.264 profile, and veryfast encode speed. For 1080p I just change the profile from high to baseline. All of my videos (with the exception of Avatar.....Man that's a long movie) are cut by two thirds. I guess I should mention though that I have a Motorola Xoom til I can sell it and get a Tab
If that doesn't work, just contact the OP of that post. He's really good at giving prompt replies.
Thanks for the information guys, I really appreciate it!
I just got my tab today and I am bitterly disappointed in how poor it is in terms of formts supported. Non of my avi or mkv files play (and when I use a 3rd party app they lag like crazy).

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