Quality of BBC iPlayer - Touch HD General

I think that everyone in this forum will agree that the quality of bbc iplayer on the HTC Touch HD is somewhat crap. absolutely rubbish quality. with a massive screen you get rubbish quality. that's not right man. So come on xda-developers do something about it and some how make the quality better or tell us how to make it better.
Help us xda-developers
Much appreciated

The HD is only displaying the feed that's provided by the BBC. If you want to rant then rant at the BBC and demand that they increase the quality. Nobody here will be able to do anything.
Edit: ...except perhaps fake something in the connection details so that the iPlayer displays a feed appropriate to a different machine. But that's a fudge, not a solution.

It's tricky too - but it must be possible (I assume that the HD should be fast enough to decode the iPhone feed). The BBC appear keep adding and removing things to break current downloaders.
See here for some details, if anyone is interested in writing an application to access the iPhone feed.

Hmm, just for reference, I downloaded an iPhone stream and Coreplayer benchmarked under 90% for it
Still, it looked much nicer than the video that we currently get.
Video: H.264, 480x472, 25fps
Audio: AAC, 48KHz, 2 channel

@arghness
you should try to view the stream via HTC Album/Win Media Player
I learned today that CorePlayer can't use the Touch HD's hardware-acceleration so far!

HTC Album can play the local file (if I rename it from .mov to .mp4) but I can't get it to play an HTTP stream though - when I pass an HTTP URL on the command line, it just shows the album. It looks like it doesn't support that.
WMPlayer makes the HTTP connection but it doesn't appear to support the format ("The file is either corrupted or the Player does not support the format you are trying to play").

Do we know if the HTC streaming app can accelerate?

Related

BBCi Player

Hi peeps,
I've been wondering why the lack of posts [i know there has been an older iplayer thread] for the 'now working' BBCi Player on the Xperia?
Anyway, the BBCi Player now works in Opera flawlessly over Wifi with default browser settings.
Try it.
this has already been discussed in detail
that must make you very angry, my apologese
It doesn't work on my Opera, which is the default installation. Streaming Media is still launched instead of the video playing in the browser.
at45 said:
It doesn't work on my Opera, which is the default installation. Streaming Media is still launched instead of the video playing in the browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, the quality is really ****, it opens streaming media and the video is very low res in a tiny box in the middle of the screen. Any ideas?
jkr284 said:
...it opens streaming media and the video is very low res in a tiny box in the middle of the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine doesn't even do that. Streaming Media fails to connect to anything.
Mine opens up streaming media which works over O2's gprs (which breaks their T&Cs and blows the unlimited (200mb ) download limit, but won't connect over wifi.
All I get is "server or data time out; tap play to reconnect".
I've using jack's ROM, has anyone got any other experience using other ROMs?
ITV Player
Has anyone tried the ITV player yet, its like copy of BBCiplayer, but the clips you download not stream and some you have to pay for.
I only got this working today, I'd managed to uninstall the default Opera and the Beta is not supported by iplayer.
The video isn't great, but it works and is watchable. As it's not officially supported yet, I'm hoping the quality will improve soon.
I suprised at the lack of interest too though!
The X1 is semi-supported. They announced it in the blogs, but not on the actual site.
The quality of the files is pretty poor, but then I've had my phone buffer up a few times when watching a few shows, so thats only going to get worse when they up the quality.
@Mark, I'm sure the ITV version uses Silverlight, WM11 and DRM (unless you are on about a special mobile version) which didn't work last time I tried, but then there is nothing on ITV that I would want to watch.
compared my x1 against the iphone using iplayer, watched top gear on both and the iphone blew my x1 out if the weeds! why? is the file the same on both as the quality on the iphone very very good and very smooth.
The files are completly different between the iPhone/iTouch and the X1/N96
iPhone: H.264 483 x 272 400 kbps
X1: H.264 320 x 176 128 kbps
Unfortunatly the iPhone version only works (streamed) on the iPhone, due to a small bug which the beeb spotted and exploited.
What was this bug?
Have a read of this: http://beebhack.wikia.com/wiki/IPhone_H.264_version
bbciplayer is not even worth watching at that quality on the x1, i think its time for me to swap my x1 for an iphone, iphone seems to get much better software support.
Been wasting another day testing the iPlayer stuff.
Ideally I would love to get the iPhone version streamed into CorePlayer, but I'm still no closer.
However some test results:
X1 streamed version - plays in HTC Streamed Media - 320 x 176 128 kbps, very poor quality. Fine for spoken word programmes, any action is a big no no.
Portable Download - plays in Windows Media Player - 320 x 176 475 kbps, quality is better, but res is still small. Also requires a DRM license to be downloaded to the phone. File itself can only be downloaded from the PC as the iPlayer site keeps redirecting me to the mobile version.
MP4 iPlayer Downloader - plays in CorePlayer - 483 x 272 400 kbps, quality is the best available. At present this must be downloaded on the PC first. Have tried getting the Ruby files to run on the mobile but with no luck. Should be possible for someone to port this into a WM app to download the file straight to the phone, however even on my PC a 10 mins Doctor Who Confidential took 2.5 minutes, so expect times of at least 10 minutes for a normal 30 min show if straight to mobile.
Can anyone get 5 live as one of the radio stations on Xperia?
I get all the other stations but not the one I want - 5 live.
Please help..
There is a chance it won't work whilst the Football is on due to licensing issues, although they normally play a message instead of stopping the stream from working.
artesea said:
There is a chance it won't work whilst the Football is on due to licensing issues, although they normally play a message instead of stopping the stream from working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only is it worked on my Diamond only a week ago. I just brought the xperia and it doesn't work on it.
Thanks for replying!
Just loaded the iPlayer page, both Five Live and Five Live Extra are missing due to the football. I have the streams bookmarked in CorePlayer and they announce that they can't broadcast the current show.
Will be the same on all phones and even your PC.

Poor CorePlayer (MyPlayer streaming) Performance

I have a T-Mobile TP2 and have installed MyPlayer (pocket TV streaming program). I am able to use the MyPlayer aspect of the program in which it provides all of the feeds/streams to the TV broadcasts, but when MyPlayer redirects me to CorePlayer for the stream it is always choppy.
I have CorePlayer version 1.3.5 and had attempted to fix this by reducing/ increasing the video/audio buffer, using DirectDraw instead of QTV mode, and many other options. Has anyone had luck in having CorePlayer use the streams from MyPlayer? It has hundreds of channels but are pretty much useless when it is this choppy. I notice also when I disable sound completely the stuttering goes away, but that is pretty useless as well
Have you tried using the onboard streaming media player instead?
Good idea, I thought that Coreplayer was required for this, and it is for some of the channels, but not for the majority of them. I used Windows media player instead an it no longer stutters, but picture quality wise it does not quite look as good.
Another question here, does anyone know where the HTC brander player is located in the file directory? The same one used for the HTC Album. I hear that it works really well, but I cant find it. Thanks again!

is it normal for iplayer to be blurry???

I just got me a hd2, and really want BBC iplayer to be better... I have changed the opera config so I allows it to play, but most programs are blurry and low qaulity. I have played the same tv program(top gear) through YouTube and the quality is great.. is this the same for everyone??? is it low quality due to iplayer thinking its the HD not HD2 and sending lower grade files??? I also saw in properties its 300x175, is it just a case of waiting for the BBC to upgrade it for the hd2??? any info or help would be great thanks.
bumpty... is there nobody who watches iplayer????
its been 12 hours since you posted the topic does it really need a bump already?
have you tried the myplayer application instead?
mine is blurry as well. would be great if someone can point out what settings are needed to make it download media with higher resolutions
I have tried myplayer and it's also 300x175, not exactly great, especially compared to what it looks like on the Iphone.
Anyone got this working with higher resolution on the HD2?
It's fairly blurry, yes. The standard iPlayer resolution for mobile devices is something like 320x176. The HD2 almost certainly isn't powerful enough to play back iPlayer material intended to be played on desktop PCs. You may find that downloading the "mobile" wmv file using a desktop PC gives slightly better quality - the resolution is the same, but the bit-rate is probably higher. The best option is probably to use the myplayer application - it offers .mov downloads on some (not all) programmes which are 480x270 resolution, and with a much higher bit-rate. That should look as good as the iPhone does, at least. Note that download quality and streaming quality are very different using myplayer.
Richy99 said:
its been 12 hours since you posted the topic does it really need a bump already?
have you tried the myplayer application instead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.
was there a need for you to reply, especially as u don't know anything about it..?
any way, thx to the peeps for the info.. looks like we will have to wait for BBC to upgrade for hd2 just strange that YouTube qaulity is so much better!
beyondthought said:
any way, thx to the peeps for the info.. looks like we will have to wait for BBC to upgrade for hd2 just strange that YouTube qaulity is so much better!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll have a long wait. Phones like the Touch Pro2 and Touch Diamond2 still aren't officially supported despite having been out since last April. If you expect to get better playback quality out of iPlayer on any mobile device than you can get using myplayer's download facility (which gives much better quality than streaming) then you'll have an even longer wait.
It's probably partly a rights management thing. YouTube tends to play rather fast and loose with copyright violations: stuff gets put up there and then, if someone feels that it violates their copyright, they ask YouTube to take it down. iPlayer, on the other hand, has to be much more careful: anything you download and play is supposed to expire and become unplayable within 7 days, and anything you download and don't play expires within 30 days. Enforcing this sets some limits on the video formats that iPlayer can use.
You also have to consider the iPhone's smaller resolution and physical screen size will make iPlayer content look sharper even if the HD2 was running exactly the same video, especially if you're running it in full screen on the HTC. It's one of the few drawbacks of the HD2's 480x800 display.
its better quality over wifi
I found a way to play iplayer videos on the HD2 with the same quality like being found on the Iphone (actually looks better because of the big screen), it's an off-line solution though and requires a PC.
Go here and download the application:
http://po-ru.com/projects/iplayer-downloader/
Run the application (no install needed) and open the iplayer site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
Search for the desired show and paste the link to the programme ID field of the application.
Click Download and browse to the folder you want the file to be saved to, hit Save and the video will be saved as a .mov file with H.264 video and mp3 audio(no DRM).
To be able to play it on the HD2 simple rename the file extension from .mov to mp4, save it to your HD2 microSD card and enjoy the DRM free video in its 480x272 glory with either the HTC Video player or WMP.
Keep in mind you need to be in the UK to access the streams or at least use a server in the UK (like UKiVPN or something similar).
razorblader said:
I found a way to play iplayer videos on the HD2 with the same quality like being found on the Iphone (actually looks better because of the big screen), it's an off-line solution though and requires a PC.
Go here and download the application:
http://po-ru.com/projects/iplayer-downloader/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's doing exactly the same thing as myplayer, I think - although I've never tried renaming the .mov downloads from myplayer to give them a .mp4 file extension. I'll have to give that a try.
Probably but with this solution you can download pretty much every video, not just the ones offered for download by the myplayer application.
In addition, myplayer doesn't display streamed content in 480x270, at least it doesn't for me.
Shasarak said:
renaming the .mov downloads from myplayer to give them a .mp4 file extension. I'll have to give that a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a bit of a crude hack but it works. One could extract the streams from the .mov file with e.g. Yamb and remux them as .mp4 to do it properly.
razorblader said:
I have tried myplayer and it's also 300x175, not exactly great, especially compared to what it looks like on the Iphone.
Anyone got this working with higher resolution on the HD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi - going slightly OT here but.. - could you explain how you managed to get the iPayer feeds to work via myPlayer and Coreplayer on the HD2? I just can't get it to work - latest version everything (ROM 1.48, myPlayer 6th Dec, CorePlayer v1.3.6).
In fact I can't get Coreplayer to view any RSTS feeds??
(thanks)
SimonW500 said:
Hi - going slightly OT here but.. - could you explain how you managed to get the iPayer feeds to work via myPlayer and Coreplayer on the HD2? I just can't get it to work - latest version everything (ROM 1.48, myPlayer 6th Dec, CorePlayer v1.3.6).
In fact I can't get Coreplayer to view any RSTS feeds??
(thanks)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's strange, I am using Coreplayer with mostly standard settings, Video is set to GDI with smooth zoom always on, works without a hitch.
Do you get an error message, does CP start at all? Have you checked if the path to CP has been set properly in the Myplayer application?
If you haven't try streaming via the myplayer server and see if that makes a difference.
razorblader said:
That's strange, I am using Coreplayer with mostly standard settings, Video is set to GDI with smooth zoom always on, works without a hitch.
Do you get an error message, does CP start at all? Have you checked if the path to CP has been set properly in the Myplayer application?
If you haven't try streaming via the myplayer server and see if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Through some trial & error this evening (ie. some time to kill on a train!) I solved the problem: you need to go into CorePlayer > Menu > Tools > Settings > Select Page > Network (obvious so far!) > then UNTICK "Prefer UDP streaming" = bingo.. BBC iPlayer links now work (as do RTSP streams in general)!
Now - this takes us back to the original question which I'm suspecting will be harder if not impossible to solve, at least in the short term - the poor quality of the blocky feed!
Glad to hear you got it to work. The 'prefer UDP streaming' selected doesn't really cause any trouble in my case, so go figure.
I read that Myplayer selects the lower quality stream available as it was intended to be used with older/less powerful phones in the first place.
The Wifi setting doesn't really make a difference in quality in my case.
Would be great, if the higher quality stream could be selected from within the application.
razorblader said:
Probably but with this solution you can download pretty much every video, not just the ones offered for download by the myplayer application.
In addition, myplayer doesn't display streamed content in 480x270, at least it doesn't for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't stream 480x270 content using iplayer-downloader either. The 480x270 stuff is for downloads only, regardless of method.
As for "pretty much every video" if you read the small-print for iplayer-downloader you'll see this:
It won’t download every programme that’s on the iPlayer website, because they’re not always available. Sometimes, this is by design (as in the case of expensive US series like Heroes); sometimes it’s due to omission or transient problems. In addition, it can’t currently download the embedded videos that are not part of the main iPlayer offering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm fairly sure it's doing exactly the same thing - impersonating an iPhone.
The two complement each other - myplayer lets you get hold of the download directly onto your phone over wifi (or, in principle, over 3G, although you'd use up your data allowance pretty fast that way!) while iplayer-downloader lets you download over your domestic ADSL connection and copy to the phone - both are potentially useful.
Oh and the renaming trick does work for stuff downloaded using myplayer as well. Thanks for that tip: playback in HTCAlbum is hugely much better than in TCPMP and noticeably better than in Coreplayer.

What program is used to play Transformer movies?

What program is used to play the Transformer movies? It does not have much options like CorePlayer but it did a good job of playing the Transformer movies.
Also, if I want to use it to play other movies that I encode using this same player, where do I put these new movies. Do I put it in the folder called "Transformers" in the SD card? But then how do the Transformer movies have their own icon? Still trying to figure this out.
It's the HTC video player, which is basically a reskinned Windows Media Player.
The Transformers icon is there because the TMoUS HD2 ships with a launcher app (which is basically just a list of two links, tapping on them opens the file).
The launcher app is not customizable, though it should be pretty trivial to build something similar.
Which would be a better player? The default one on the HD2 or CorePlayer (the latest version). I know that CorePlayer is not free but I just like to know which one performs better. CorePlayer can play .mkv files so that is a good advantage.
The HTC player (WMP) works well for some file types. I have CorePlayer installed for any odd media types, but the UI is pretty poor. Also give TCPMP a shot (it's the evolution of the open-source predecessor of CorePlayer, and now it has a new touch-friendly UI too).
Though to be honest I've personally sort of given up on high-quality video playback on the HD2-- the performance is just so inconsistent. Even the Transformers movies it comes with (which I've since transferred to my Class 6 16GB MicroSD) don't always play smoothly and sometimes stutter or slow down when I'm demoing them, so the only safe settings are lower quality, at which point it becomes useless because I don't have time to transcode videos (that's partially the point of having such a powerful processor, but it seems WM can drag down even a 1 GHz Snapdragon).
amb9800 said:
The HTC player (WMP) works well for some file types. I have CorePlayer installed for any odd media types, but the UI is pretty poor. Also give TCPMP a shot (it's the evolution of the open-source predecessor of CorePlayer, and now it has a new touch-friendly UI too).
Though to be honest I've personally sort of given up on high-quality video playback on the HD2-- the performance is just so inconsistent. Even the Transformers movies it comes with (which I've since transferred to my Class 6 16GB MicroSD) don't always play smoothly and often stutter or slow down when I'm demoing them, so the only safe settings are lower quality, at which point it becomes useless because I don't have time to transcode videos (that's partially the point of having such a powerful processor, but it seems WM can drag down even a 1 GHz Snapdragon).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmmmm.... i dont know but transformers plays very smoothe on my hd2 and also i recommend latest TCPMP with custom setup.i also convert dvds to mp4 in my pc then sync it to my hd2 and it plays on windows mobile player and and TCPMP,but doesnt play well on my coreplayer though.
GHOST99K said:
hmmmmm.... i dont know but transformers plays very smoothe on my hd2 and also i recommend latest TCPMP with custom setup.i also convert dvds to mp4 in my pc then sync it to my hd2 and it plays on windows mobile player and and TCPMP,but doesnt play well on my coreplayer though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They generally work fine if I soft-reset and make sure Wifi, etc. are off and nothing else is running, but otherwise in normal operation, where I might have email open and 3G + Wifi enabled in the background, I often get less than perfect playback. Usually still watchable, but hardly impressive (and definitely not something I'd show to iPhone 3GS-toting friends, who instantly notice the frame drops and such).
amb9800 said:
It's the HTC video player, which is basically a reskinned Windows Media Player.
The Transformers icon is there because the TMoUS HD2 ships with a launcher app (which is basically just a list of two links, tapping on them opens the file).
The launcher app is not customizable, though it should be pretty trivial to build something similar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HTC Streaming Media Player is not a skinned WMP. Its specifically developed by HTC to take advantage of the hardware acceleration for MP4 files with the Snapdragon processor. The video performance is far superior to Coreplayer or WMP.
You can convert your video files to take advantage of this hardware acceleration by using Touch HD Encoder (search
i recently synced mp4 movies to the "transformers file" and it plays as the same high quality as the transformers does.
GHOST99K said:
i recently synced mp4 movies to the "transformers file" and it plays as the same high quality as the transformers does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pretty clear (to me, at least) that the native Video Player is the best player between the 3.
Video Player plays very limited file types, which is a minus. re-encoding video files to MP4 takes long time, and file size goes up, if you want to keep the same 'high-quality' video.
CorePlayer does a great job playing various file types, so it's easier to view movies, that's for sure.
being a video editor by trade, i have no problem re-encoding video prior to transferring media to my phone as i have the hardware and software to do so painlessly. starting from a high quality/high resolution video file and encoding down to an mp4 correctly yields in smaller filesize while retaining amazing quality. i've recently encoded a full 1080p 25min video (which started at 4gb) down to an HTC Video Player friendly video that was a hair over 300mb...with nearly no difference in quality. it plays perfectly in the native player...no problems whatsoever. i've considered doing a write up for the boards and may do so if i have time, but if you have any questions, fire away.
Transformers movies path
Hi, can someone write the exact path of the Transformers path in the SD card, so the application luncher can find them.
Thanks in advance
CorePlayer
fnuna said:
Hi, can someone write the exact path of the Transformers path in the SD card, so the application luncher can find them.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just make a folder named 'Transformers' on your memory card, install the files to it and it will find it.
Transformers looks wonderful, but converting is such a chore with getting all the settings right and such. Of course, I would want the exact conversion process that was used on Transformers. Coreplayer is the best for me. No converting, just play and the quality is very high. Plus, best music player and streams Youtube videos. It's the only app I've paid nearly $30.00 for and would do it again. I must have it.
ce_rob said:
being a video editor by trade, i have no problem re-encoding video prior to transferring media to my phone as i have the hardware and software to do so painlessly. starting from a high quality/high resolution video file and encoding down to an mp4 correctly yields in smaller filesize while retaining amazing quality. i've recently encoded a full 1080p 25min video (which started at 4gb) down to an HTC Video Player friendly video that was a hair over 300mb...with nearly no difference in quality. it plays perfectly in the native player...no problems whatsoever. i've considered doing a write up for the boards and may do so if i have time, but if you have any questions, fire away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I would love to see a write up, the prob Im having is I have been trying different programs & settings for burning my dvd's to my phone and none have looked as good as the Transformers movies. Any insight would be appreciated

Orb, WMV, and the Epic

If you're not an Orb user and/or don't care about playing WMV encoded video on your Epic, move on
Getting good quality viewing with Orb on Android, including the Epic, has been a problem. Orb released an app called OrbLive back at the beginning of the year, and it is, well, pretty much unusable. Great UI, management of one's media library, but the video absofuckinglutely sucks. Really bad.
An alternative was to select RTSP streaming encapsulation, and play through the stock video player. Orb removed those options last week.
I've been vigorously searching for a replacement solution. I like Orb as a media server, and when I had an Omnia II it was perfect transcoding to WMV and streaming to my phone across the internet.
I finally found a solution with yxplayer, which I can highly recommend. There's a Cortex A8 Neon optimized version available in the Market.
This is the only player I've been able to find that will play a WMV stream. And it does it flawlessly. I even cranked the bitrate up to 1500kbps from my Orb server over a Wifi connection to my Epic, and it recieved and played an awesome 928x536 video, 48kHz 2channel audio stream sourced from an HD 720p mkv file. This resolution exceeds the screen of the Epic -- yxplayer downscaled properly.
It was amazing. Full resolution, full framerate, awesome audio, not a single pause, dropout, or anything.
Here's the only hitch: Orb encapsulates WMV streams in an asx file, sent via HTTP. Yxplayer doesn't handle ASX files at all, either as an HTTP transfer, or as a local file. So, you have to download and save the ASX file, open it with a text editor, copy the WMV url inside, then paste that into the dialog in yxplayer.
It's cumbersome, but after you've done it a few times it gets very automatic. I use IEditTextEditor, a free app from the Market.
I've emailed the dev and asked if he could at least add ASX local file parsing support, which would make this a ton easier. Also asked if he would add direct HTTP ASX support, in which case it would work with just a click in the browser, like it always has.
Whether he does or not, this is a workable, if a bit annoying, solution. And the results are as good as it gets.
So, if you're an Orb user and are pissed off over their complete betrayal, and lack of any support, with OrbLive, check this out. It will keep you viewing.
Thanks OP.
I have given up Orb on Android to watch MCE TV recordings. The video quality was just awful.
I have tried to find a method to video stream to Android phones for several months. There was no easy method and I ended up spending $$$ on slingbox + slingplayer.
It seems that your solution is a good workaround with some minor leg work.
I still cannot believe that AirVideo has not been ported to Android. Once it is, we will all look back on these days and laugh about the measures we needed to go through.
Nice find though OP.
I couldn't find xyplayer in the android market.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
ddialogue said:
I couldn't find xyplayer in the android market.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, my bad.
yxplayer, not xyplayer.
Updated OP.
BTW, used it last night for hours in the "man cave". Flawless.

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