divx on Evo, hdmi? - EVO 4G General

I haven't seen anything one way or another but does anyone know if the Evo will support divx I know HTC has it planned for the desire and Samsung already had it on the galaxy s n the moment. It just makes sense with the hdmi out

It would definitely make sense considering everything. We'll have to wait and see.

The H.264 video codec and mp4 format provides superior video quality, especially on the screen that the Evo uses.
Apple has done 1 thing in their existence that is actually useful.

VoXHTC said:
The H.264 video codec and mp4 format provides superior video quality, especially on the screen that the Evo uses.
Apple has done 1 thing in their existence that is actually useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it wasn't for Apple, I don't think Android would be the way it is now.
There is a lot to thank the competition for.

VoXHTC said:
The H.264 video codec and mp4 format provides superior video quality, especially on the screen that the Evo uses.
Apple has done 1 thing in their existence that is actually useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sure it does better quality, but I really don't want to have to encode all my files from mkv to mp4 just to put them on my phone, i'd rather just play em straight

I don't know about you, but I don't want to copy 15GB movies to my phone. Conversion is really the only way to go.

or just stream them to the device. I'm just not up to date with HD streaming, but normal video streams well.

you'd need nearly a 20mbit connection for that. 15GB/120min/60sec*8

divx plays okay on evo using xyzflash player but looks better and played smoother when I converted to h.264

Does DoubleTwist automatically convert stuff for you?

mrniceguy715 said:
divx plays okay on evo using xyzflash player but looks better and played smoother when I converted to h.264
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed (in another thread) you saying you got to play with one. Do you still have access to it?

yes i do indeed
watzone69 said:
I noticed (in another thread) you saying you got to play with one. Do you still have access to it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

dump it..dump it!

ehh im a puss. pics and my opinion on programs isnt proprietary and wouldnt risk my job. Ripping the source and uploading it before launch would be.... so im going to chill and be selfish for a good little while.

Slightly off topic, but would you consider recording some video on the Evo camcorder and posting it so we can check it out?

Related

H.264

Guys i am currently using HD2 and i want to get another (extra) phone. Now i am getting a X10 cheap but what i would like to know before hand is which profiles for H.264 does the X10 support? I watch a lot of anime so having to convert them is a chore. Btw h624 is MKV file and even the HD2 is unable to play high profile H624.
So how is it buddies?
fairly certain it will not play anything from the .mkv container. it will, however, render .mp4s with the proper player from market. you are pretty much SOL for anime because retaining subtitles is a huge pain when you convert videos, unless you are watching dubbed or have a lot of time on your hands. anyways, gl hf.
I'd agree with the .mkv format. Nearly no media player to date supports this container. However, what you can do is instead download the XviD .avi formats most fansubbing groups release instead. Little lower quality, but you won't need it on the X10 anyway. Subs should also come hardcoded into the video in .avi. If you can't come across them, you might have to do the conversion yourself or look at some options with the PSP conversions. But seriously, most *decent* shows/fansubs will have a .avi mux.
Nonetheless, still good to give the files a conversion to reduce bitrate and whatnot to save battery life. There's no need having crazy ~350MB files on the X10 when it's resolution isn't even near 720x480 or higher.
SohKai said:
There's no need having crazy ~350MB files on the X10 when it's resolution isn't even near 720x480 or higher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The X10 resolution is 854x480.
If you are referring to 720p, that's 1280x720, which is indeed much more than the X10 resolution.
I know..but try saying that to >500 GB of MKV Anime in my drive n ull know my predicament
try wuzhenhua player. It plays MKV files as well. someone has uploaded the apk file in this forum but u have to look for the thread.....
edit: just found the link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=642713
Wow...Thanks a lot man.. I didnt realize that Andriod was no crippled in the Multimedia Department . SOOO glad i have the HD2 as my primary instead of getting the Nexus or some other Andriod at that time . Gonna get the x10 to play around..or searching for a used desire :S
Crippled because is not playing mkv
What's wrong with mp4?
found below english menu 4.1 wuzhenhua player. the quality is a bit better than v3.2
but i think it is better to rip the x10 mp4 format to have the best video quality..
http://jetdl.com/download/Wuzhenhua+Player+V4+1/3e1k7
tuxStyle said:
Crippled because is not playing mkv
What's wrong with mp4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes...because....im simply too lazy..well that...and ...plopping down 500+ $ for devices which cant even play back MKV is quiet to say at the least ...
You might want to wait for Galaxy S.
No idea if will play mkv but at least will have hardware divx decoder
I'm still in doubt ... N1 or Galaxy S ...
Or i should wait for x-mas and buy myself a nice one then.
Hopefully Google will come with their second iteration by then.

Native divx playback?

Can anyone confirm whether the DHD offers native divx / avi playback it does this require third party software such as rockplayer or mplayer?
It requires software codecs to play those file types
Sent from my CyanogenMod Desire HD
No great sweat. Rock player works well on the Desire so can only assume it will be excellent on the dhd!
I dropped few divx on mine without any third party software and it plays it and good too
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
vimto25 said:
I dropped few divx on mine without any third party software and it plays it and good too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting to hear, thanks. I didn't think it supported such formats out of the box.
dont waste your time with rockplayer, it loses sync all the time now and the dev wont trasferre your licence when you change phones.
im currently using vplayer alpha - it free and tbh excellent app. ive not noticed any sync problems since loading it, and it handles 720p with no problems.
give it a try
Just to confirm that DivX/Xvid plays natively, however, I tried a high bit rate video and it lagged beyond belief. I suggest you try Rockplayer or Vplayer, both are very capable.... whatever happened to Core Player for Android!
Regards.
lynxboy said:
Just to confirm that DivX/Xvid plays natively, however, I tried a high bit rate video and it lagged beyond belief. I suggest you try Rockplayer or Vplayer both are very capable.... whatever happened to Core Player for Android!
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, just tried the native player and I can feel the lagginess and the framerate is slow... Rockplayer played the same video smoothly...
I tried to play a 1,5 GB Xvid with the stock player, which wasn't a big success, then installed the free rockplayer from the market, which worked fine, excellent playback and the screensize makes it very watchable (gotta use earplugs though)
Playing 720p Flv videos with HTC Desire HD
Hi all! My main use of a smartphone is to play 720p Videos on the go. I've tried all of the last giants (Htc Desire, Sony X10, Hd2 with Android roms...) using native videos player,Rockplayer,Alphaplayer but my 720p flv videos did not play smoothly.Now I have a Samsung Vibrant, so far so good! All of my videos play with no issues.
My question is: does the Desire HD capable of playing 720p videos in flv format smoothkly (Ps:I'd like to buy it for the bigger screen and 8Mpxls)?
Thanks
edsontzr said:
Hi all! My main use of a smartphone is to play 720p Videos on the go. I've tried all of the last giants (Htc Desire, Sony X10, Hd2 with Android roms...) using native videos player,Rockplayer,Alphaplayer but my 720p flv videos did not play smoothly.Now I have a Samsung Vibrant, so far so good! All of my videos play with no issues.
My question is: does the Desire HD capable of playing 720p videos in flv format smoothkly (Ps:I'd like to buy it for the bigger screen and 8Mpxls)?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why dont you just re-encode it to a file format that takes less powered to decode ?
Hi. Because I have more than 500 Go of movies, mangas and many things in 720p flv format so I don't have time to change them when I want to travel.
I might be wrong but I THINK the SGS is king when it comes to movie playback and the formats supported out of the box.
I can't speak for the DHD yet as I don't have one but I'm sure someone will be able to check this out for you.
Id also like to know were Core media player for android went.
Wonder if it ever will get released.
xspyda said:
I might be wrong but I THINK the SGS is king when it comes to movie playback and the formats supported out of the box.
I can't speak for the DHD yet as I don't have one but I'm sure someone will be able to check this out for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is true, the SGS plays everything without problems. It handles full dvd 720p mkv`s like a champ, even with dts sound. I hope DHD can, as in terms of power it could handle them too.
Can anyone confirm if the dhd can handle the same as above?
xspyda said:
Can anyone confirm if the dhd can handle the same as above?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it can't. The DHD (as stated in the specifications) does not play mkv files out of the box. It's capable of decoding the video stream (which is h264) but the audio is ac3 which is a no go with the stock player. I tried vplayer but the results are disappointing - it's like a slowmotion video. What you can do is reencode the files copying the video stream and encoding the audio to aac, and saving it in mp4 format. It takes a couple of minutes for half hour movie, so it's no trouble at all. Still you might be careful what bitrates you encode since the DHD has to have some limit on that.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Thanks all for the feed back! Now I think that it's better for me to stay with my Vibrant for watching my HD videos (even if I like the 8Mpxls and dual led flash of the Desire HD). However it's just impossible to have the perfect smartphone isn'it? My dream: I hope some day we will have an Android phone with 12Mpxls 25 mm wide angle, Full HD recording and playback in any formats (specially flv for me), 4,3 inch or bigger screen with 1280X720 resolution and MEGA AMOLED!!!
Keep on dreaming
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
I hear that divx is supported by the dhd out of the box, just wondered if anyone had managed to get divx / avi to play from a pc on the network using the 'connected media' option within videos... is this possible?

What do you guys use to Covert Videos for your N1

like the title says.. what do you use to get the best video quality and best conversions from movies for you N1 i use videora and Android Converter and they both are.. mediocre at best
I never managed to convert a video on ubuntu to get it playing on the nexus.
Now I have this software player that can play alot though...
I used ffmpeg, now I don't convert anymore 'cause I don't watch films on my phone
By the way, the script should still work:
avc (main executable): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1512702/android/avc/avc
functions (BASH functions): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1512702/android/avc/functions
preferences.avc (preferences file): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1512702/android/avc/preferences.avc
I use Super for my conversion needs. it's free but runs on windows.
Also since I'm lazy, I use Rockplayer that does a good job at playing nearly everything
I don't do much video encoding myself, but Handbreak always comes up in discussions about encoding software. I think it has a preset iPhone encoding which should also work pretty well for Android.
rock player... no re-encoding necessary
doubleTwist.... its like iTunes for iphone but faster. Just drag video to software, it will convert and transfer to your phone at highest bitrate possible to retain best quality.
JHaste said:
rock player... no re-encoding necessary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, this.
pfmiller said:
I don't do much video encoding myself, but Handbreak always comes up in discussions about encoding software. I think it has a preset iPhone encoding which should also work pretty well for Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Handbrake is quite excellent; I've used it with the iPod preset with great success.
JHaste said:
rock player... no re-encoding necessary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like to convert videos to save space. I don't need a full-resolution movie on a 3.7-inch screen.
handbrake ftw!
adrianr514 said:
like the title says.. what do you use to get the best video quality and best conversions from movies for you N1 i use videora and Android Converter and they both are.. mediocre at best
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Handbrake. free and fast and so far the best video to mp4/m4v converter i've used.
http://www.handbrake.fr
another thumbs up for handbrake from me!
Converting videos is for chumps.
RockPlayer. Plays nearly anything.
GldRush98 said:
Converting videos is for chumps.
RockPlayer. Plays nearly anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How many 12GB Blu-Ray rips would i get on my 16GB SD card without using Handbrake?
I use Any Video Converter, it's free and easy to use. I mainly watch Anime on my phone with subtitles so this works well. It can convert an .mkv into an mpeg4 and RockPlayer will still display the subtitles.
I can't seem to get Handbrake to keep the subtitles after converting .mkv's into .mp4. I've tried extracting the .srt file from the .mkv and burning them into the converted file with handbrake but it still doesn't work.
is there anyone covering video and or audio on the phone itself? would probably be hard on the battery but I can think of a couple of situations I would have needed this function.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I don't know if you know, but encoding/decoding is one of the most CPU stressing processes. For sure you may re-encode a video, but while it takes ~30 minutes to convert a film on a dual core 3 Ghz, it may take ages on our phones.
vlc is comming soon to android i cant wait
DirkGently1 said:
How many 12GB Blu-Ray rips would i get on my 16GB SD card without using Handbrake?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your problem is using an uncompressed video format in the first place.
GldRush98 said:
Your problem is using an uncompressed video format in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All video formats are compressed. The ones i use just happen to be compressed better. Start with a good quality source and work down. The Handbrake converted films look pretty good on an Amoled, WVGA screen at sizes as low as 700MB. At sizes of 2 Gigabyte or more they look incredible!
GldRush98 said:
Your problem is using an uncompressed video format in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, so you do need to convert it at some point, even though it's for chumps?

[Q] How do you play Video?

This may sound completely stupid, but how do you play video on your xoom? I mean there isn't even a dedicated video app. How the hell do you release a tablet and expect it to compete with the I pad without a native video player or support for most video formats? I just transferred a couple of avi files that don't show up anywhere because there's no app to play them.
verusevo said:
This may sound completely stupid, but how do you play video on your xoom? I mean there isn't even a dedicated video app. How the hell do you release a tablet and expect it to compete with the I pad without a native video player or support for most video formats? I just transferred a couple of avi files that don't show up anywhere because there's no app to play them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See: http://www.gigadroid.com/androidtalk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=21
verusevo said:
This may sound completely stupid, but how do you play video on your xoom? I mean there isn't even a dedicated video app. How the hell do you release a tablet and expect it to compete with the I pad without a native video player or support for most video formats? I just transferred a couple of avi files that don't show up anywhere because there's no app to play them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theres an icon on your homescreen that says gallery. It plays movies as long as they are supported format. Try rockplayer universal it will play avis
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tencent.research.drop&feature=search_result
QQplayer works for me too. Multichannel too. i havent tried mkv files yet
edit: it does play MKV files and with subtitles
Great just what I was afraid of. I have almost a 1TB of movies/videos/TV shows. So my only options are to convert them all or use a non tablet android app to play unsupported files. Thanks for the info though guys.
inspiron41 said:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tencent.research.drop&feature=search_result
QQplayer works for me too. Multichannel too. i havent tried mkv files yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mkv high profile will not work on Xoom with any current player and I tried them all.
Ya i just tried a couple of files i had already converted for my moms ipad. a couple were DVDrips and those played pretty much fine using rocklayer. But one was a converted 1080p music video. The music video played fairly well but there was a noticeable difference in the frame rate from the standard def videos.it wasnt at all choppy but it wasnt as fluid as i would have liked. If this is what im going to have to expect from HD video then im definitely not sold on this tab.
verusevo said:
Ya i just tried a couple of files i had already converted for my moms ipad. a couple were DVDrips and those played pretty much fine using rocklayer. But one was a converted 1080p music video. The music video played fairly well but there was a noticeable difference in the frame rate from the standard def videos.it wasnt at all choppy but it wasnt as fluid as i would have liked. If this is what im going to have to expect from HD video then im definitely not sold on this tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is certainly not what i expected. Hopefully it can be fixed with an update or app.
i downloaded dvd catalyst 4 online it was 9.99 (normally $20) and has a preset for motorola xoom
just load any dvd into your computer click go and when its done it will have you connect the xoom and transfer it
then click on the gallery app and there it is. the quality is great too
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/63258/kw/video/p/7901,7906
You can use Handbrake, a free video encoding program. I found that redoing h.264 high profile to h.264 main profile(see the link) and dropping motion estimation method to diamond, Subpixel ME & Mode Decision to 0, and avg bitrate to 4000 kbps makes for a lower encode time(20ish minutes for 1 hour on my i7 920 win 7 64bit). Excellent quality too vs original.
I'm attempting to convert a 720p copy of inception using handbrake right now. (6 hrs estimated time) what a pain in the ass. I set it to the APPLE preset. Which I'm hoping/assuming is what one would use for the ipad. Ill let you guys know how it turns out. If it does work won't be so bad as I can just set a bunch of files to convert in queue while i sleep.
verusevo said:
I'm attempting to convert a 720p copy of inception using handbrake right now. (6 hrs estimated time) what a pain in the ass. I set it to the APPLE preset. Which I'm hoping/assuming is what one would use for the ipad. Ill let you guys know how it turns out. If it does work won't be so bad as I can just set a bunch of files to convert in queue while i sleep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Iceytea posted a handbrake preset for Xoom. I am trying it now and it is going much faster. 2 hour 720p movie took me 1 hour estimated with Apple universal preset and with this one 45 minutes. Can't comment on quality yet as it is still converting.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11695846&postcount=50
someone on here said that mkv works on RockPlayer on the Xoom
Neo3D said:
someone on here said that mkv works on RockPlayer on the Xoom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mkv works with stock player as well just have to convert it to baseline. High profile mkv works with nothing on the Xoom. I tried them all.
verusevo said:
Great just what I was afraid of. I have almost a 1TB of movies/videos/TV shows. So my only options are to convert them all or use a non tablet android app to play unsupported files. Thanks for the info though guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, the SDK was just released this week. There will be a tablet optimized app within a month or so... your video files are not wasted.

[Q] Chances for better hardware-accelerated media playing?

Hi Iconia-Lovers,
I really love my Tab for web-browsing and gaming, but you have to admit it sucks at video playing. MP4 and 3GP are crappy formats that are hardly used in RL und converting your whole video and movie collection isn't a real option.
I had have an Archos A70 which plays even 1080p MKV flawless with a single core 1GHZ CPU, but relies on an additional decoding chip if i get this right.
In theory, the Tegra 2 has more than enough power to play 1080p files, right?
I already tried like 6 different media players but all of them weren't able to play 720p mkvs nice and even non-HD-avi-files felt a little slowed-down.
So can we hope for a hardware-accelerated media player that enables alle the joy of moving pictures for us? Will possibly acer itself help us out on this issue? What are Samsung and Motorola doing on their Gingerbread tablets to enable nice media playing?
Hoping for a better tomorrow
Cheers
pint
pintness said:
Hi Iconia-Lovers,
I had have an Archos A70 which plays even 1080p MKV flawless with a single core 1GHZ CPU, but relies on an additional decoding chip if i get this right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you sure about that?? my 101 throws a fit with 1080p mkv videos and both use the the firmware.
but i agree, i would love better video support on the iconia, since it runs circles around my archos when it comes to everything else.
pintness said:
Hi Iconia-Lovers,
I really love my Tab for web-browsing and gaming, but you have to admit it sucks at video playing. MP4 and 3GP are crappy formats that are hardly used in RL und converting your whole video and movie collection isn't a real option.
I had have an Archos A70 which plays even 1080p MKV flawless with a single core 1GHZ CPU, but relies on an additional decoding chip if i get this right.
In theory, the Tegra 2 has more than enough power to play 1080p files, right?
I already tried like 6 different media players but all of them weren't able to play 720p mkvs nice and even non-HD-avi-files felt a little slowed-down.
So can we hope for a hardware-accelerated media player that enables alle the joy of moving pictures for us? Will possibly acer itself help us out on this issue? What are Samsung and Motorola doing on their Gingerbread tablets to enable nice media playing?
Hoping for a better tomorrow
Cheers
pint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried VPlayer? it costs like $4/ £2.30 but it can play practically all standards, not sure how it fares for 1080p tho.
I had it playing .avi and .mkv fine though.
Vplayer--
Video formats: divx/xvid, wmv, m4v, flv, rmvb, avi, mkv, mov, mp4, 3gp, ts, tp...
Streaming: http, rtsp, mms and m3u(apple http stream, m3u8)
I use UPnPlay (network streaming) along with MoboPlayer and it has played everything i have on my NAS very well.
Also I know Rockplayer gives you the option of hardware/software decoding so you may want to give that a try if you haven't already. There is a free version.
Both moboplayer and rock player are useless for my 720p and 1080p videos... total stutterfest, but that's a known thing for tegra devices on 3.0...
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
godashram said:
Both moboplayer and rock player are useless for my 720p and 1080p videos... total stutterfest, but that's a known thing for tegra devices on 3.0...
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... I use moboplayer, and every 720 did I've tried has been great! I haven't tried any 1080p vids though.
tested 1080 quality....the videos lag and the audio missing....
hope acer will figure it out....
Avatar & 10,000 B.C. in 1080P using UPnPlay & MoboPlayer streamed from my WD NAS, looks great. No lagging at all.
not another one of these threads..
edgie168 said:
not another one of these threads..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess what? You aren't being forced to read this thread.
lord_voldemort666 said:
Guess what? You aren't being forced to read this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess what? It pushes down other, more quality threads.
Guess what? There's already something like 6 or 7 threads EXACTLY LIKE THIS ONE already.
Guess what? People need to learn to use the search function.
Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?
^ If you don't like it, report it to a mod and move on...
edgie168 said:
Guess what? It pushes down other, more quality threads.
Guess what? There's already something like 6 or 7 threads EXACTLY LIKE THIS ONE already.
Guess what? People need to learn to use the search function.
Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess what? You've just caused this thread to get bumped several times.
XP
I have been trying all the suggested encoders to get smooth playback for film material as 60/50hz works fine. I maybe more sensative to it than others as I tent to look for it on moving objects. But I got it to replace a media player too.
I tried the script posted in another thread with good results but the jump is still there.
Bought DVD Catalist 4 with same results.
Freemake with custom profile same again.
Handbreak I find too slow but I read it works but can't verify it.
Any Video Converter Pro with xoom profile WORKS - it has very little judder but having to strip the subtitles out of the MKV every time is a real pain ( Anyone know how to disable them ) and it's too expensive anyway.
Trying to edit DVD Catalist 4 profile now but no success yet
Oh and I tried Vplayer , Rockplayer , Moboplayer and any others I could find
Hope my two weeks at this helps somone else out.
@RaveOn911
With any problem, you need to find its parameters. Only a handful of people notice the "micro-stutter" deal, so it's either a user sensitivity issue, or a tablet-centric issue (which could be hardware or software, user-caused or device defect).
Ask somebody to watch a video clip on your tablet, and ask them if they see anything wrong with playback. Don't tell him beforehand about "micro-stutter", as you don't want to bias his observation.
If he notices the stutter, it's your tablet. If he doesn't, it's you.
If the first, then bring a video clip on a uSD card into a store and try it on other tablets (hopefully with same or similar make as yours). If it doesn't happen on other tabs, then replace your tab. If it happens on every other tab, then again it's you.
If you have heightened sensitivity, then there may be params that can alleviate the issue. The default interleave for MP4Box is 0.5s. You can reduce this interleave, eg
MP4Box -inter 250 -add infile.mp4 -new outfile.mp4
(or)
MP4Box -tight -add infile.mp4 -new outfile.mp4
MP4Box works on MP4 only. Given that MKVs can only play in software mode currently on Teg2 tabs, it's a fool's errand to play MKV and claim that they don't play smoothly. Avail of the native support.
Mobo Player plays my mkv and xvid/divx AVI's just fine. I'm no codec/encoding expert, but from what I've read it's worth re-encoding some of the files to a more manageable bitrate for both audio and video and maybe dump the 5.1 or AC3 audio. I haven't looked at every file I've played, but a couple that would choke on my Win7 Asus netbook, I re-encoded with Handbrake. They still look and sound great.
e.mote said:
Given that MKVs can only play in software mode currently
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understood that that's the whole point the OP was trying to make: he wishes that someone makes a video player application that can handle MKVs via the hardware decoder. It's not a bad thing to wish for, either; it would provide better performance and hardware playback uses less battery, too.
The question remains: is it possible? As far as I know, the chip itself doesn't get relayed anything more than the actual video stream inside the file, regardless of the container, and thus an app should be able to do exactly that. But since I don't know anything about Android internals are applications given any such access?
My N900 phone uses regular GStreamer stack and thus you can demux anything you want and supply the video stream to the hardware decoder. As long as it's H.264 normal profile and not too high a resolution it'll play, regardless of the originating container.
There's nothing wrong with wishing, but until it happens, we have to use what we've got. For HC, for now that means MP4 for native support.
3.1 thus far has been worse than 2.x insofar as multimedia, probably because vendors have had 2.x for much longer, and were able to add enhanced support. A good case in point is the Samsung GalTab 7 vs the GalTab 10.1. The 7, released last year, can play MKV. The new 10.1 can't. Ditto for all the "my old phone can play MKV, why can't my tablet" complaints. It is what it is.
From all indications, HC was and is a rush job. It had to be pushed out the door because of competition from the iPad. I think the prospective buyer should understand that s/he is buying into a beta, and temper his expectations accordingly. Android has high potential, but now isn't then.
I've written a script that does fast remux/convert to MP4. A straight remux takes a few minutes, and it can process batch. It's a more productive route than wishing for a HW-accel player to come along.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1102922
e.mote said:
It's a more productive route than wishing for a HW-accel player to come along.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose that's a matter of viewpoint.
I took a look at the MediaPlayer class in Google's APIs and it seems to me that it should be fairly straightforward to demux the MKV file in software on-the-fly, create named pipe with mkfifo and feed the MediaPlayer class the raw video stream via that. Just throw a simple GUI on top of that and you have a rudimentary video player capable of playing MKV files with hardware accelerated video.
I'll try it out once I receive my tablet, was planning to learn Android programming anyways.
PS. Bah, doesn't allow me to post links yet :/

Resources