Hi, I have a Media Center PC which records my TV shows, and Windows Media Player 10 automatically converts and copies them to the Pocket PC, running WMP10 also. Lovely.
Only thing is, I have this lovely big VGA screen on the HTC Universal, and the videos take up about one-quarter of it :-S
I have changed the 'Quality' settings in WMP10 but they make no difference to the dimensions of the image.
Any ideas welcomed! Surely MS aren't silly enough to limit the picture size to the older PPC screens only?
Download TCPMP, a freeware player and go full screen. Much better IMO than media player for movies, and will also play divx/xvid encoded movies
Download TCPMP, a freeware player and go full screen. Much better IMO than media player for movies, and will also play divx/xvid encoded movies
I second (or third!) that. TCPMP is the dog's danglies when it comes to PPC videos.
I've just about given up on video playback on the Exec :evil:
I've tried all sorts and nothing gives anywhere near smooth playback in full screen.
I read somewhere on here it was to do with the way video is handled...something about it being done by the CPU and not in dedicated video hardware.
If that is the case, it's serious flaw for the Exec and mine will be going back
I've never had any problems playing videos using TCPMP on my jasjar, once it was set to Intel XScale video and I tweaked some buffer settings, i'm only dropping 3 frames from 7000.
Flubster
But I want to use Windows Media Player! It comes as standard, I don't want to install extra software that takes up space, and I like the fact that it uses the same playlists and ratings as my desktop PC, and many other reasons.
Anyone work out how to get 320x240 videos to fill the screen instead of play in a little box in the middle of full-screen?
The issue of 320 x 240 videos not being stretched is listed as a known problem on the clubimate website, so I guess for now it's not fixable?
The fact that is is listed means that they're working on it for future ROM upgrades though, so it looks like you'll have to wait for a bit.
In the meantime, TCPMP will have to do.
(I'd prefer to use WMP too, but until I find a way to add an Xvid codec and an .ogg codec to WMP10, I'm going to stick with TCPMP, rather than re-encode my entire video & music catalogue)
I downloaded a movie (avi for PPC) for testing purpose and was unable to see the video in Windows Media Player. I hear sound but no video. Would this player work?
I have tried to pull the threads of the various discussions on these forums of device speed and TCPMP into one place (my brain, to be specific), but I'm still not getting the performance out of TCPMP that I really want and, frankly, expect (given that I can get better performance on my 2 year-old Tapwave Zodiac). Here are the basic details:
o) Running an O2 with WM 5.0, version 5.1.195
o) ROM version 1.30.107 WWE
o) TCPMP 0.71, "Smartphone" version, all plugins installed
o) Settings: Video at 100% (converted to 640x480 resolution); smooth zoom 50%; dithering enabled; Intel XScale enabled;
o) All applications save WM 5.0 native apps installed on a 2GB SanDisk SD card
o) All test video files installed on card as well
o) All programs closed by hand prior to running TCPMP
o) Tried files converted by DivX Converter, Lathe, Dr. DivX, and PocketDivX Encoder
o) tried both in portrait and landscape mode, with and without going to "full screen" mode
(I wanted to run Pocket Hack Master to try to tune the device prior to running TCPMP, but it causes my Exec to hang; that's covered in a separate post.)
The output is, well, okay--the image is sharp--but all panning and motion is somewhat jerky. In my experience, this generally indicates that the processor can't keep up with the demand, and one should encode using a lower video and audio bit rate until you find the optimum settings. However, I have tried (in Dr. DivX and DivX Converter) bit rates from 1000kbps down to 500kpbs, and still am seeing jerkiness.
So my questions are: has anyone else seen this behavior? And does anyone have an suggestions for improving TCPMP performance? Install the VGA hack, perhaps? Upgrade to a newer ROM version? Hope that it gets better when I perform system tuning with Pocket Hack Master (should I ever get it to work)? Overclock my device using PHM? Encode at a significantly lower bitrate? Use a different tool for encoding? I am open to suggestions.
Note: I can encode ripped DVDs (using DVDShrink) at 800-1000 kpbs video, 128 kbps audio, and have them viewable on my Tapwave Zodiac using the Palm version of TCPMP with no jerkiness or jitter.
Thanks for any help.
Doug
I have a similar problem. I have encoded a few videos at 700 kbps video and 128kbps audio that run fine when my XDA is plugged into the mains or to the computer, but jitter when it's running on battery. I tried it first thing after charging today with the battery at 98%. The video was still jittery. Tried it again plugged into the mains and it's fine!
Here's one of the files I encoded. Spoilers for Season 10 of Stargate SG1 and Season 3 of Stargate Atlantis, if you care.
(Edit: Hmm - the forum wouldn't load the file. I've a rapid share link instead)
http://rapidshare.de/files/34374785/SG1_LemonScene.rar.html
Stargate SG1 Season 10 - "The Pegasus Project", Lemon Scene, 33 seconds. Xvid 700 kbps video, Lame 128 kbps audio, Frame rate 23.976.
I had problems like this but after changing every setting in tcpmp and still having no joy, i downloaded Sompy MovieEncoder its a free program for the pc, it takes your movie files and recodes them to a smaller rate etc, file quality will decrease, but less resoures on the ppc are used when playing the movie file.
its the only solution i could find
if there is any other solution i would love to know
I have the same problems using both pocketdivxencoder and smartmovie, when I use VGA settings. I just encode everything in QVGA resolution now, and it's a bit grainy, but at least no lag.
Still zeroing in on getting this working the way I want (caveat: I am much pickier than most people about sharpness, jitter, pixilation, and the like), but I have managed to get some improvement in playback. Here's what I'm finding so far:
o) Using Pocket Hack Master (which can only be used when my device is plugged in to either the wall charger or the USB sync cable; don't ask me why), I have hard-set the system speed to 520MHz, and have set the speed for TCPMP to "maximum" so that it overclocks when I run it.
o) I converted several test files (I have a set; I'm obsessive) at 500kbps video, 80kbps audio, 40KHz audio frequency.
This gives smooth playback except when there is too much data, i.e. when there's a lot of motion in the image and its a complex image. (Trees with lots of leaves seem to be a good test case.) For example, in the scene in "The Incredibles" where Mr. Incredible is shaking a tree to get a cat out, the image freezes a bit. In the scene in "The 40 Year-old Virgin" where Our Here is biking down a tree-lined street and the camera pans up to the trees, the image freezes a bit. Images like that.
It's unfortunate that I have to ramp the bit rate down so low, although on this screen--as opposed to a QVGA screen--the images are much sharper at lower bit rates. Even so, I still want to see what other people say about, for example, using "true" VGA mode, different versions of TCPMP, and the like. It would be nice to be able to convert in the 700-800kbps range; in my past experience, that gives a good compromise between image sharpness and file size. (I personally don't mind a movie taking up a GB of space; I want that movie to look good, dammit!)
Doug
I had the same problem. It got fixed when in installed XCPUScalar and cranked my Uni to 520 MHz.
Good:
+ No more jerkyness in any of my divx video's. (Don't know the bitrates on them)
Bad:
- 520 MHz is a big drain on the battery.
- Some stability issues when changing CPU speeds.
Edit:
When plugged in the mains, the Uni speeds up to 520 MHz. Thats why it will play fine when plugged in, but not on battery.
Biffert said:
I had the same problem. It got fixed when in installed XCPUScalar and cranked my Uni to 520 MHz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm assuming the XCPUScalar is some kind of system performance tuning application, yes?
Doug
dougom said:
Biffert said:
I had the same problem. It got fixed when in installed XCPUScalar and cranked my Uni to 520 MHz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm assuming the XCPUScalar is some kind of system performance tuning application, yes?
Doug
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes indeed, it allows scaling the Intel XScale CPU in the Uni to a speed of choice, or autoscale based on CPU load.
http://www.immiersoft.com/index.html
It works for me, although I have some stability issues when changing speed to often.
I use O2 Exec with Dopod 900 latest rom with TCPMP V 0.71
it run very well in my device.
I use Pocket Divx encoder. I just set the out put to be VGA PPC resolution.
No fuzzy, slow or any bad grainy.
Or I just got lucky
i get much better performance from WM10 encoded with DVD to Pocket PC 3.6.2 @ 640x480 wide screen (stearo bluetooth headphones) it's so good it's addicting. gives my 42 inch plasma a rest
TCPMP is jumpy for me.but you get more optiuons to play arounf with WM10 work out of the box.
i use WMV files.
i also use DVD Decrypter and Wondershare Pocket DVD Studio at 480x368. not as good.
skywriter said:
i get much better performance from WM10 encoded with DVD to Pocket PC 3.6.2 @ 640x480 wide screen (stearo bluetooth headphones) it's so good it's addicting. gives my 42 inch plasma a rest
TCPMP is jumpy for me.but you get more optiuons to play arounf with WM10 work out of the box.
i use WMV files.
i also use DVD Decrypter and Wondershare Pocket DVD Studio at 480x368. not as good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you encode with "DVD to Pocket PC" 3.6.2 @ 640x480. That's a new tool on me; do you have a pointer to it? And what video and audio bit rates are you encoding with?
Also, are you running Win2K, or XP? (Or, heaven forfend, something else?) And when you say you are using WM 10, is that on the desktop, or on the Exec?
Thanks,
Doug
dougom said:
skywriter said:
i get much better performance from WM10 encoded with DVD to Pocket PC 3.6.2 @ 640x480 wide screen (stearo bluetooth headphones) it's so good it's addicting. gives my 42 inch plasma a rest
TCPMP is jumpy for me.but you get more optiuons to play arounf with WM10 work out of the box.
i use WMV files.
i also use DVD Decrypter and Wondershare Pocket DVD Studio at 480x368. not as good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you encode with "DVD to Pocket PC" 3.6.2 @ 640x480. That's a new tool on me; do you have a pointer to it? And what video and audio bit rates are you encoding with?
Also, are you running Win2K, or XP? (Or, heaven forfend, something else?) And when you say you are using WM 10, is that on the desktop, or on the Exec?
Thanks,
Doug
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use XP. it's WM10 on the uni, WM plays no part in encoding. other than three video form factors the audio and video rates are slidersm i would have to look in the file properties.. so it's a very dumb tool that gives pretty good results.
This works great for me:
DVD Catalyst 2.1 ($24.95 USD-much less than others!) is really fantastic. It is the only decoder that not only has a great UI but really works and is fast! The developer has worked really hard to get this program to work well and he is on the way to win more awards. You can download a fully funtional trial version. Go to http://www.dvdcatalyst.com/ and give it a try.
The settings I use is:
Output: Pocket PC DivX
Screen Size: 640x480 VGA PPC
Video Quality: 500-600 Kbps (depends on length of movie and if I want one or two movies on my 1G card)
Audio Quality: 112 Stereo Kbps
I use TCPMP and under Video options have Intel XScale selected for the driver.
Best results are after a soft boot to regain leaked memory and disable automatic mail checking or anything that might run periodically in the background and suck up CPU time.
The picture and sound are great.
Regards,
Gordo
When I clock the CPU to 520 MHz (The factory maximum for the Uni CPU) I get much much better results. If I do nothing with the speed the jerkyness occurs no matter how much I tweak it.
To see if it is a solution, play a video that is jerky when you are running on battery. Plug the Uni in the mains and play the video again, you should be able to see a significant difference (Uni goes to maximum speed when plugged in)
my uni hangs above 520mhz. i don't mind a bit of occassional jerkiness. i cannot use WIFI at the same time as BT HP (any application).
what i need is way to rip my matrix DVD's to watch! they are devious. i want to teh freedom to play them on my media of choice. i've bought many 100's of both DVD's and CDs, i've played the game long enough ny now.
skywriter said:
my uni hangs above 520mhz. i don't mind a bit of occassional jerkiness. i cannot use WIFI at the same time as BT HP (any application).
what i need is way to rip my matrix DVD's to watch! they are devious. i want to teh freedom to play them on my media of choice. i've bought many 100's of both DVD's and CDs, i've played the game long enough ny now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find that "Matrix: Reloaded" is an excellent test film for seeing how well conversions work. It has scenes where there is rapid regular motion, CGI, and plenty of other stuff going on that gives your CPU a good workout.
I'm still tweaking to try to get a good result. I personally *do* mind jerkiness; I can watch films converted at 800-1000kbps on my Zodiac; I would love to get the same kind of performance on my Exec. I will keep trying.
The only reason I mention the desktop/laptop OS is because my understanding is that you can get better handshaking between WM10 on the desktop and the version of WM on the Exec, and WM10 doesn't run on Win2K. Also, I may be getting some strange behavior during encoding because I'm running on Win2K rather than XP, so perhaps the codecs aren't working quite right. I don't know why that would be, but this stuff seems to be as much an art as a science. When my new laptop comes in (any day now!) I will give it a try.
Doug
For folks who are interested, I seem to have found a method for conversion and playback that works fairly consistently with a variety of films. Very little of this information is stuff that I have discovered on my own; most of it is culled from this and other newsgroups. Thanks to everyone for all their advice.
Here's my method.
Tweaking your Universal
Install Pocket Hack Master--You are going to want to set your Universal to run at 520MHz normally, and then test the other available clock settings using PHM's Speed Configuration option. I would then advise you to use the Application Speed option of PHM to force the speed of TCPMP to the highest available clock speed, overclocking your CPU if need be. Yes, this will burn battery power insanely, but if you want a smoother playback, this helps. (520MHz provides decent playback, however.)
It is worth noting that I bumped into some weirdness running PHM. Specifically, you either need to disable the Universal's built-in scaling functionality in PHM by choosing Edit > Settings > Advanced > Disable Device Built-in Scaling, or only run PHM when it is plugged into line current. Otherwise, you might experience a system hang, a screen white-out, or other irritating symptoms that can only be escaped with a soft reset.
Install Magic Button--This is not a requirement, but it helps when you are trying to make sure none of your applications are running while you run TCPMP.
Turn Off All Your Applications--Anything else running in the background will slow down your playback.
Reboot Your Universal Before Playback--This clears up any unwanted crap from your buffers.
Verify All Applications Are Off--On your Today screen on your Universal, select Start > Settings > System > Memory > Running Programs. Turn off anything that is running. Yes, I know; everything should be turned off as a result of your soft reboot, but I'm paranoid. Skip this step if you aren't as paranoid as me.
Conversion
Prior to converting my movies, I rip them using DVD Shrink, which I prefer over DVD Decoder. I don't really think it matters, though. I then encode using Dr. DivX. Here's the info:
Film clips: "Serenity" (television pilot); "Matrix Reloaded"; "The Incredibles"--this collection gives me a good cross section of animation, CGI, live action with little motion, live action with lots of motion, and live action/CGI combined
Conversion tool: Dr. DivX 1.0.7, using the latest DivX codec (6.2.5, I believe).
Video Bit Rate: 700kbps
Audio Bit Rate: 80kbps
Resolution: Make sure your width is 640; set your height based on whatever your film's aspect ratio is (For 16:9, 352 or 368 pixels; for 2.35:1, 272 pixels). It is important to use a width of 640, as TCPMP runs better when you set the Zoom to 100%.
I use two-pass encoding. I suspect that different films will require different video bit rates, probably varying between 500-800kpbs. This is just a guess, however.
Playing Your Movies
I playback with TCPMP. Personally, I haven't had a lot of luck using Windows Media, and Mitch (the author of DVD Catalyst) says that he has had better luck with *.avi format than *.wmv.
I use the following settings in TCPMP:
Speed: 100%
View > Zoom: 100%
View > Pixel Aspect Ration: Square
View > Orientation: Follow GUI
Video > Smooth Zoom (Only 50%)
Video > Dither (enabled) (To help minimize pixilation of the image)
Video > Quality > Normal
Video > Video Driver > Intel XScale
Video > Streams > Video (enabled)
All Other Settings: defalt
So there you have it. Is it a little bit of a pain? Heck yes. Is it worth it to get smoother playback? Well, it is for me; you have to decide if it's worth it for you.
Happy viewing,
Doug
Has anyone thought of running these videos through Benchmark mode (File > Benchmark in TCPMP) so that people trying to assist can get a better picture of just how jerky the video playback is?
I've the same issues here!
When plugged to the main power all the movies run smooth.
When running without chargin it becomes slow!
has anyone tried converting to .3gp since the TCPMP does support this. I have encoded most of my movies
video format = mp4
codec = CoreASP
video size = 352 x 288
frame rate = 15.000
audio = mp3
audio codec = CoreMP3
format = 48000Hz Stereo
Data Bit Rate = 128 kbit/s
sample rate = 48,000
weighs in around 700mb after compression
After I have made a backup copy of my intended movie using DVDfab HD decryptor:
http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm
which is absolutely free
...I then use DVD Decrypter, also free, which can be found here:
http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/dvddec-options.htm
in the "Descrambling / Ripping tools" section.
this app wont crack any current CSS keys but what it does is allow me to rip the movie to one single .vob which I then compress with Xilisoft 3gp converter.
the playback is very smooth & clear IMO.
benchmark test:
TCPMP Version 0.72RC1 Benchmark Results
Average Speed 208.60%
Video Frames 10190
Audio Samples 32725921
Amount of Data 53259 KB
Bench. Time 5:25.661
Bench. Frame Rate 31.29
Bench. Sample Rate 100495
Bench. Data Rate 1.3 Mbit/s
Original Time 11:19.333
Original Frame Rate 15.00
Original Sample Rate 48000
Original Data Rate 642 kbit/s
URL \Storage Card\VIDEO\CASINO ROYAL.3GP
Size 693721516
Platform PocketPC
OS Version 5.01
OEM Info HERM100
Clock speed 397 Mhz
Video output ATI IMAGEON 240x320 16bits Slow Lookup
Video zoom 352x288 -> 240x320
Audio output Wave Output 48000Hz 16Bits 2Ch.
BTW - I have ATT 8525
Hi,
Just wondering if anyone knows of an android video player app that can handle video's shot at higher than normal frame rates? I just got a gopro, but all the video's filmed above 30fps struggle to play back. I usually use 1440p 48fps, as this gives nice smooth playback and the biggest field of view when i'm skiing. i understand that stuff like this is better off being edited on a pc to get any sort of decent results.....but i'd just like to be able to have a little look at the vids straight from the memory card before i get home too.
so far i've tried vlc, which just becomes a garbled mess, the stock video app which detects it as a sound only file, and mx player which plays back the video in slow motion and plays back the sound in sections (i.e. it will play sound at correct speed, but keep stopping while it waits for the video to sync up). so mx is the best so far, but is there an payer that can actually understand the higher frame rate and play it back at that rate too?
Try the latest vlc nightly. Go into settings and try it with and without hardware acceleration
http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/armv7-android/
Have you tried Dice Player?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inisoft.mediaplayer.a&hl=sv
thanks for the suggestions guys. unfortunately i still have no luck with these players, no matter what settings i used. think i'll have to get used to doing lots of editing first ha ha.