Hardware acceleration and mkv playback? - Streak 5 General

I have some hockey and ski movies in mkv (various resolutions up to 720p) and it is impossible to watch them on Streak - they all lag as hell.
Should enabling h/w acceleration in build.prop help in this case?
I tried that and didn`t notice any differences but maybe i am missing something... - i read somewhere that maybe the ROM doesn`t handle this acceleration and some additional lines in build.prop should be added but have no idea whether it is correct or not.
Did anyone tried to play mkv`s or play with h/w settings in build.prop?
Cheers
Krzysztof

Edit:Wrong thread

EDIT: Wrong thread! D'oh

afaik hardware accel must be, well, hardware dependant. I'm not sure that the streak contains hardware that mkv videos can take advantage of. for example, divx videos (which are alot more common than mkv) are not hw-accelerated.

You may have to reencode them in a lower bitrate or resolution... H.264 video at around 4 mbps seems to be about the sweet spot from what I can tell. On videohelp.com are plenty of guides, I prefer megui for working with mkv's and mp4's.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk

Yeah, i guess that i was spoiled by Galaxy S video playback..
No big deal - Streak is great in all other aspects

Related

Xvid/Dvix Play back with stock rom?

We all know Divx/Xvid is capable with the TouchWiz, but is it the TouchWiz that allows playback or is there an underlying app that will allow Divx/Xvid to play?
Most of us are considering rooting and either loading the International Rom if its better or running some kind of stock rom to rid TouchWiz unless of course its not as laggy as reports have said.
I'm really digging on the idea of being able to play Divx/Xvid.
The T-Mobile Vibrant plays all the same videos the international versions do, no change to the video player at all. I've been watching 720p MKVs and various divx/xvid files on mine without issue!
I think the OP is asking if it plays those files without touchwiz being present or active?
yes you can disable the touchwiz and still have video playback in all formats...
Yeah thats what I was interested in. If we mod would it change the ability to play movies.
Have any if you try the divx video yet? It won't play on my vibrant for some reason. I was able to play 720p mkv,mp4 but not divx.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I didn't even know it had mkv/divx/xvid playback, this makes me happy lol..
I hope it does. All mose all my Vids are Xvids and Divx files. Just ordered mine so I couldnt' even tell.
do you just play the 4gig mkv or do you compress it somehow? I want to put some more videos on but dont know what size to compress them to/what program is best for my vibrant's resolution.
talltexan said:
do you just play the 4gig mkv or do you compress it somehow? I want to put some more videos on but dont know what size to compress them to/what program is best for my vibrant's resolution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't a file size limit persay, but it seems the Vibrant will reject any videos with resolutions higher than 1280x720. E.M. Total Video Converter HD seems to be best so far in terms of quality and conversion success rates, but if you're looking for freeware, Handbrake works very well. Set the profile to iPhone, and make sure the video resolution is 800x480 or less.
kizer said:
We all know Divx/Xvid is capable with the TouchWiz, but is it the TouchWiz that allows playback or is there an underlying app that will allow Divx/Xvid to play?
Most of us are considering rooting and either loading the International Rom if its better or running some kind of stock rom to rid TouchWiz unless of course its not as laggy as reports have said.
I'm really digging on the idea of being able to play Divx/Xvid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The international rom should be able to play the xvid/mkv video but if you flash on some other Rom (e.g. AOSP Froyo, etc) then it will lose the ability to play them unless someone figure out how to port the ability into the other Rom.
My vibrant wont divx, but play 720mkv perfectly. Yxplayer play divx but very choppy.
Didn't engadget somehow play a 1080p video on the Galaxy S when they compared it with the iphone? or do you mean the divx can;t be more then 720p?
And as for the rom thing...The video should be hardware decoded..so as long as the drivers are portable it would be possible on any galaxy s regardless the rom..or at least that is my guess...
gTen said:
Didn't engadget somehow play a 1080p video on the Galaxy S when they compared it with the iphone? or do you mean the divx can;t be more then 720p?
And as for the rom thing...The video should be hardware decoded..so as long as the drivers are portable it would be possible on any galaxy s regardless the rom..or at least that is my guess...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why the hell would they put specific hardware decoders in the phone for divx support? I would assume they just included the codec support with the stock rom. I seriously doubt that you can throw any rom in there and immediately playback divx video.
I'm not sure what you mean by asking if engadget played a 1080p movie on the galaxy S. Do you mean that they used a 1080p video and the phone auto-scaled it down to 800x480?
richse said:
Why the hell would they put specific hardware decoders in the phone for divx support? I would assume they just included the codec support with the stock rom. I seriously doubt that you can throw any rom in there and immediately playback divx video.
I'm not sure what you mean by asking if engadget played a 1080p movie on the galaxy S. Do you mean that they used a 1080p video and the phone auto-scaled it down to 800x480?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember reading it has the video decoder built into the Hummingbird GPU..but I don't remember where...let me see if I can find the source.
Edit: never mind the 1080p..I went searching for that article and they modified it since I read it to say they did it via youtube 1080p setting on the app >.>..but they dont even know if it was 1080p or 720p either..sigh
gTen said:
I remember reading it has the video decoder built into the Hummingbird GPU..but I don't remember where...let me see if I can find the source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went searching and found a review that states "Dedicated Graphics Hardware With Divx decoding" as a pro for getting the phone. I think they combined two things here (the Power VR gpu and the software support for divx). I see how it could be read to imply that the divx support is hardware based, but an earlier part of the article indicates that the divx codec support is built into the video player software.
Here's the article: http://pocketnow.com/hardware-1/samsung-galaxy-s-gt-i9000-review
This is really a situation for Occam's razor. Would they go to all the expense of adding hardware divx support to the cpu design or would they just use already existing software solutions that cost almost nothing to implement? The press release from last year revealing the hummingbird doesn't have any mention of it. http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/newsView.do?news_id=1030
richse said:
I went searching and found a review that states "Dedicated Graphics Hardware With Divx decoding" as a pro for getting the phone. I think they combined two things here (the Power VR gpu and the software support for divx). I see how it could be read to imply that the divx support is hardware based, but an earlier part of the article indicates that the divx codec support is built into the video player software.
Here's the article: http://pocketnow.com/hardware-1/samsung-galaxy-s-gt-i9000-review
This is really a situation for Occam's razor. Would they go to all the expense of adding hardware divx support to the cpu design or would they just use already existing software solutions that cost almost nothing to implement? The press release from last year revealing the hummingbird doesn't have any mention of it. http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/newsView.do?news_id=1030
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go I found it:
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-1ghz-hummingbird-mobile-cpu-takes-on-snapdragon-2750348/
They do mention it..the ARM® NEON™ multi-media extension is it
Edit: Hardware video decoding is good because it saves battery life and more efficient over software decode...I'm researching the ARM NEON now..on their site it says it can decode ANY video but is not specific on all formats..only lists MPEG-4, H.264, On2 VP6/7/8, Real, AVS..... but the ... means there are more they are not stating
gTen said:
Here you go I found it:
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-1ghz-hummingbird-mobile-cpu-takes-on-snapdragon-2750348/
They do mention it..the ARM® NEON™ multi-media extension is it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All I see is it says NEON does "video decoding" and I can't find a single mention of divx in the article or in the NEON link they provide. Every video card or gpu I have owned has had some hardware to decode and encode video but none have natively supported divx.
richse said:
All I see is it says NEON does "video decoding" and I can't find a single mention of divx in the article or in the NEON link they provide. Every video card or gpu I have owned has had some hardware to decode and encode video but none have natively supported divx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The article was to show that it does have hardware decode in general...
I can't say for sure about divx/xvid..I don't even have the phone yet to test if it is the case or not...their site does state ANY format
NEON enhances many multimedia user experiences:
Watch any video in any format
Edit and enhance captured videos - video stabilization
Anti-aliased rendering and compositing
Game processing
Process multi-megapixel photos quickly
Voice recognition
Powerful multichannel hi-fi audio processing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That said Divx Decode was part of the ATI hardware decoder..at least in the 4XXX series
As for samsung''s reason to do this...we have to remember that the Hummingbird was meant to be scalable so they can use it for tablets..thus having it natively support the large array of formats is key.
Just got the Vibrant and noticed that it would not play some AVI files (simple TV show low res). had to DL rock player to play those files.Also had an mp4 play in stock video player but would not play the sound and in Rock player tried to play the sound but was garbled.
So not sure what the full support is and wondering if we just need to get a nice media player.

Playing Divx/Xvid and Mkvs on Tmo Tab

I can barely play any codecs on my tmobile tab. Is it suppose to play Divx or xvid out the box? or do different carriers' tabs have different video codecs?
Also is there a stock video player app installed or can you only play out of the Gallery app?
I've already tried rockplayer and vplayer, both have video and audio lag for divx 720i videos.
ANd if other carriers tabs have more codecs can i install thme in my tmo tab?
The Tab plays more video out of the box than any other Android (or Apple) device I've ever used, and I've used most.
Now if you're trying to play videos you've (ahem) gathered from around the net, you will certainly find some that won't play properly. "Found" videos can have a truly phenomenal combination of audio codecs, video codecs, and bitrates, any of which might prevent proper playback.
While you cannot directly add codecs to Android (as yet), there are third party video players that will handle just about anything.
Rockplayer is one of these third party players. While it will play nearly anything thrown at it, it's not hardware accelerated (doesn't use the GPU) so it is largely limited to lower bitrate, standard definition videos.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/rockplayer-universal/com.redirectin.rockplayer.android.unified
if you actually read all that I posted you will see that i have tried RockPlayer.
And trust me I know enough about video codec, bitrates, and depths (Visual Effects/Graphics Artist) to tell you that I'm trying basic Divx and Xvid codec at a decent to low Bitrate and they are not working on Stock Video player and will not run smooth enough on rockplayer do to lack of graphic acceleration.
ALso, No the Samsung tab is not the Leader of COdec in the ANdroid Tablet market. The ARchos tablets (70,101 etc) lead in stock codecs by far (I own both a samsung tab and a 101).
Thanks... I guess
The only codec that is accelerated is h.264 in any container. So, mp4 and mkv work fine even at 1080p resolution.
If you encode your movies in h.264 and set Rockplayer to use hardware decoding mode down low in the settings, you'll have no problem viewing it.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
synplex said:
ALso, No the Samsung tab is not the Leader of COdec in the ANdroid Tablet market. The ARchos tablets (70,101 etc) lead in stock codecs by far (I own both a samsung tab and a 101).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's true that the Archos can play a lot of video formats, but I don't put it in the same category as other top Android devices because it's so lacking in other areas.
Sorry I just perused your previous post, but I've truly had very few problems in playing video on the Tab, even with "found" videos.
In fully reading your post, my question to you would be, Why Divx? If you're encoding video specifically for use on the Tab, why not encode to h264?
I have the Sprint SGT, and I have zero problems with 720 mkv and avi files, regardless of who encoded them. The stock player renders them as smooth as silk. It also has a 5.1 mobile mode for AC3 audio tracks. And the control lock means I can wipe fingerprints off the screen off with my shirt without disturbing playback. My only complaint with the player is the lack of a skip button.
I have read other complaints from other SGT users about poor or stuttery playback, and I'm quite baffled. The only file that would play were 720p mov files. Other than that, I've had zero problems.
Rockplayer was awesome on the Evo, but its useless for me on the SGT. Its now useless for me on the Evo, but thats because I don't even bother watching videos on the Evo anymore.
Wait... I did encounter one problem. I downloaded the newest version of mkvmerge to split mkv files into <2GB parts, and those files will not play on the SGT. But I mostly watch TV and those files top out at 1.5 GB. But xvid avi is no problem. Dunno about divx for sure, I never really use it.
well i have problems with sound playing 1080p BRRip H264 AAC-.mp4 files i get no sound,does anyone know why?
Is this your own rip or did you... uh... find it laying around?
Thank you all for the replies.
Im using Divx and Xvid because those are the native file formats I'm downloading from a sever/email at work on to my SGT on the go. If I could I would convert to mp4 or h264. Is there a android video converter app that can do did?
Yes I heard that the Sprint SGT can play Divx and some MKV out the box (my friend has one), why is that? Different native video player? If so can I get it extracted for my Tmobile Tab?
ALso I never said Archos are on the top on android Tablet List, I was pointing out that they have Much more codecs out the box "Leaders in Codecs out-the-box"
Lastly Rockplayer is studding on me, giving me about 20-25fps when my video files are 30fps. Also audio sometimes lags on Divx and mkv files.
What is the latest version Rockplayer app out there or is there a better video app for SGT??
Have you tried VPlayer??? I prefer it over Rockplayer
synplex said:
Yes I heard that the Sprint SGT can play Divx and some MKV out the box (my friend has one), why is that? Different native video player? If so can I get it extracted for my Tmobile Tab?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting. I do have the Sprint Tab, perhaps that's why it plays almost everything I throw at it.
I'd never considered that different versions of the Tab would have such a major difference in codec support. I'd figured Samsung was responsible for paying the licensing fees for the various included codecs. Looking at the reality of these significant codec differences, it makes me wonder if the codec licensing fees aren't instead forced on the carriers themselves. That's the only reason I can fathom to explain the codec differences.
The Sprint ROM's are online here. My guess is that you could certainly pull the necessary files out of the Sprint rom and run them on your device. That said, I've absolutely no idea how the codecs are packaged and which files and libraries you'd need.
my tmo tab being a gsm device might not play nice with a sprint rom. And I have no idea how to take apart a rom or how to add codec to mine tab.
Anyone have any other options?
Also I have tried v player and same result as rock player
So far my tab has played all my video files with out a problem, (mostly .mkv animes) i have to use mkv sub extactor (from the market) to get subtitles to work. Rockplayer would go out of sync after 5mins of 720p .mkv
RockPlayer can play h.264 720p MKV videos using hardware acceleration as long as they don't have DTS audio (as many do when they are real BluRay rips). If you play TV rips they generally work since they are not using DTS. Dolby audio might work in HW mode as well, I am not sure.
You can play DTS audio though, but only in software mode . But the processor in the SGT cannot keep up with both DTS and h.264 in 720p. I think it might manage 480p with DTS though.
synplex said:
my tmo tab being a gsm device might not play nice with a sprint rom. And I have no idea how to take apart a rom or how to add codec to mine tab.
Anyone have any other options?
Also I have tried v player and same result as rock player
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read, most incompatibilities between GSM and CDMA versions of the Tab have to do with communications related apps, limitations that should have no impact on the video app.
I would think it's extremely likely that the Sprint video app and/or codecs would run flawlessly on other versions of the Tab. Ripping apps from ROM's and deodexing them is not my forte, but there are many in the developer forums who are very experienced in that sort of thing.
I use mVideoPlayer. It plays everything I throw at it.
Galaxy Tab
zozodouce said:
well i have problems with sound playing 1080p BRRip H264 AAC-.mp4 files i get no sound,does anyone know why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably because it's a 1080p H264 file and you're trying to play it on a device with a 1Ghz processor, and no hardware acceleration for video playback. It can't cope.
Geletis said:
From what I've read, most incompatibilities between GSM and CDMA versions of the Tab have to do with communications related apps, limitations that should have no impact on the video app.
I would think it's extremely likely that the Sprint video app and/or codecs would run flawlessly on other versions of the Tab. Ripping apps from ROM's and deodexing them is not my forte, but there are many in the developer forums who are very experienced in that sort of thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
....Anyone?
Filgaliel said:
I use mVideoPlayer. It plays everything I throw at it.
Galaxy Tab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read the app detail for mVideoPlayer, it only play videos/codecs your phone/tablet can already play. It doesn't add anything or help at all. It's just a skin that takes up app space.
...thanks anyway
Hanson68 said:
Is this your own rip or did you... uh... find it laying around?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
downloaded from the net.

[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 :/

Lagfree playing of .mkv 720p/1080p source

Hi folks,
Is there any posibility of a lagfree playing of those videos ?
It sucks watching Videos with less than 20fps...
3.1 is supposed to improve playback... just no idea if it will improve 720/1080p playback
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
I use Handbrake and imported these setting I found on the net.
https://sites.google.com/site/theiveryinc/a500files
That Google site is mine.
Converts all my 720p.mkv files perfectly, the only issue is the files are big, 2-4 GB, but the quality is outstanding. They even play on 'Movies' which darkens the navigation bar.
i was looking for something like this so many times before, but I never found a stable movie app. On my Samsung Galaxy S II however, it's no problem at all. And that's a freaking phone man! But it's no wonder the hole system is so fast. It makes my newly aquired Iconia looking really sluggish and outdated :-( I don't know if I gonna keep this tablet or gonna look my movies on a 4.3" screen...
I asked Acer customer support whether they're ever going to support additional formats and they replied that they won't ever add support for MKV and can't comment on the rest. So official support for MKV is out the window.
Mkv isn't a video format, it's a container. It's just that most mkv's don't contain only baseline h.264, which is the only supported video format currently. The most benefit would come from adding support for main or high profile h.264
themono said:
Mkv isn't a video format, it's a container.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, it still doesn't help at all if the video player application or framework don't support the container format. I personally love MKV, it's handy to slap in two different audio tracks and subtitles in English, Finnish and the hearing-impaired version, plus any metadata about the movie itself. No need to hassle with several files then.
The most benefit would come from adding support for main or high profile h.264
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed. I tried transcoding a 1080p movie to 720p in constant quality mode, both in baseline and high profile modes, and while the quality was the same the high profile one used a lot less storage space. With storage space being rather scarse on mobile devices....
Well, we can only hope. But I don't know if the DSP is beefy enough to decode high profile or if it can be re-programmed to support it. Some DSPs are hardcoded and can't be used for anything other than what they already do when shipped. I don't know anything about Tegra 2 internals so I don't know what to expect.
godashram said:
3.1 is supposed to improve playback... just no idea if it will improve 720/1080p playback
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use 3.1 atm, but there is no mentionable ddifference to 3.0.1
The nVIDIA Tegra 2 250 is fully able to hardware decode:
H.264
VC-1 AP
MPEG2
MPEG-4
DivX 4/5
XviD HT
H.263
Theora
VP8
WMV
Sorenson Spark
Real Video
VP6
and encode:
H.264
MPEG4
H.263
VP8
And this is for 1080p both enc/dec
Why ACER can't (won't) support them is beyond me! Even my Single Core 7" Samsung Galaxy TAB can play all 1080p videos I have thrown at it!
And here is the full spec of the Tegra 2 250 Link!
Is it maybe because of that, that I play these videos from my USB-HDD?
dgcxsk said:
Is it maybe because of that, that I play these videos from my USB-HDD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always copy one of them to the TAB and see if there is any change ( I doubt it)
Using a OLD 60gb usb hdd (literally 8 years old)
And it does not seem to matter - even with the low speed of an old external drive I have no issues playing video from it.
.Mkv -- Regardless of where it is stored is not going to work on the Iconia right now - i don't think there is anything anyone can do or change to fix that right now - the system will not?/can not? use the hardware decoder on mkv files - and software decoding, even for a low bit rate video file is always going to suck.
Hopefully 3.1 will improve our video performance - but I find it a very simple matter to just transcode a video file if the only source I have handy is mkv. Plenty of great and free tools that make the process pretty darn easy. I watch a lot of movies/TV on my a500 - and get a great experience as long as I don't throw .mkv files at it.
WereCatf said:
Indeed. I tried transcoding a 1080p movie to 720p in constant quality mode, both in baseline and high profile modes, and while the quality was the same the high profile one used a lot less storage space. With storage space being rather scarse on mobile devices....
Well, we can only hope. But I don't know if the DSP is beefy enough to decode high profile or if it can be re-programmed to support it. Some DSPs are hardcoded and can't be used for anything other than what they already do when shipped. I don't know anything about Tegra 2 internals so I don't know what to expect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is tegra2 will support h.264 high profile up to 720p @ 20mbps, but only baseline profile for 1080p.
With regard to the container format vs video format thing, I'm under the impression that container format support can be added by an app - so even if Acer never support mkv in the default player, if they do add hardware high profile h.264, then other apps should be able to play an mkv that contains high profile h.264 with hardware acceleration.
entropy.of.avarice said:
Hopefully 3.1 will improve our video performance - but I find it a very simple matter to just transcode a video file if the only source I have handy is mkv. Plenty of great and free tools that make the process pretty darn easy. I watch a lot of movies/TV on my a500 - and get a great experience as long as I don't throw .mkv files at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From playing around with PRIMEE, mkv containers are split appropriately and if the video format is supported hardware decoding works. The problem is that there is no support for AC3 therefore majority of compatible MKVs will play very well but have no sound.
Unfortunately once software encoding is enabled we are back to the same stuttery playback issues.
I personally don't believe it's Acers' job to add playback compatibility, I personally believe it should be built into Honeycomb as a baseline. Honeycomb is a tablet OS and as such should be expected to play popular video and audio. codecs. Saying that, if manufacturers did add additional codec support it would be a solid competitive edge.
Use mobo player.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
patterson12123 said:
Use mobo player.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you read any of the thread, running moboplayer doesn't help, as I mentioned above as soon as you enable software decoding HD MKVs start to get choppy.
hellcat82 said:
From playing around with PRIMEE, mkv containers are split appropriately and if the video format is supported hardware decoding works. The problem is that there is no support for AC3 therefore majority of compatible MKVs will play very well but have no sound.
Unfortunately once software encoding is enabled we are back to the same stuttery playback issues.
I personally don't believe it's Acers' job to add playback compatibility, I personally believe it should be built into Honeycomb as a baseline. Honeycomb is a tablet OS and as such should be expected to play popular video and audio. codecs. Saying that, if manufacturers did add additional codec support it would be a solid competitive edge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that's good to know, so with a baseline h.264 payload an MKV will play fine on stock?
I think it probably IS Acer's job to add codec support, frankly. At the end of the day we're talking about hardware acceleration, and Android provides the software framework for that to work, and it's up to the hardware vendor to make it work with their specific hardware.
Frankly I think Nvidia should be doing it though - it'd do wonders for Tegra 2 sales if they offered up code to support hardware acceleration for their platform on Android.
I guess you didn't really do your research on video playback on Honeycomb tablets, did you?
You can not blame Acer for poor HD playback when, frankly, this is a Google/nVidia issue. Currently no 10" Honeycomb tablet can playback high profile encoded HD vides--smoothly, if at all--without reconverting said movies.
There may or may not be a *real* fix in the future (quad core Tegras are right around the corner, so...), only time will tell.
OrionBG said:
The nVIDIA Tegra 2 250 is fully able to hardware decode:
H.264
VC-1 AP
MPEG2
MPEG-4
DivX 4/5
XviD HT
H.263
Theora
VP8
WMV
Sorenson Spark
Real Video
VP6
and encode:
H.264
MPEG4
H.263
VP8
And this is for 1080p both enc/dec
Why ACER can't (won't) support them is beyond me! Even my Single Core 7" Samsung Galaxy TAB can play all 1080p videos I have thrown at it!
And here is the full spec of the Tegra 2 250 Link!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edgie168 said:
I guess you didn't really do your research on video playback on Honeycomb tablets, did you?
You can not blame Acer for poor HD playback when, frankly, this is a Google/nVidia issue. Currently no 10" Honeycomb tablet can playback high profile encoded HD vides--smoothly, if at all--without reconverting said movies.
There may or may not be a *real* fix in the future (quad core Tegras are right around the corner, so...), only time will tell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought an ACER device so I'll blame them! Problem here is that the Tegra 2 chip is capable to decode and encode the formats at 1080p without problems! The fact that Google still hasn't taken advantage of this feature doesn't mean that ACER couldn't!! To back my words here is an example:
Samsung! The Galaxy S and Galaxy TAB (7") they have much superior video codec support! I'm playing 1080p movies just perfectly on the Galaxy TAB. Samsung have invested in codec support and optimized it for the platform (both Hardware and Software) The Hummingbird CPU is Single Core! So why can't ACER do it? Maybe because they never did something like this before? Maybe because the have done only the hardware till now and they don't have the programmers that can pull this of? Ones the managers at ACER understand that selling thees devices without enhancing the base that Google provides won't cut it, I think we will have a very good device (not that it isn't good now but...)
OrionBG said:
I bought an ACER device so I'll blame them!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess you'll have to "blame" every single manufacturer out there who have a Honeycomb tablet out too, then.
OrionBG said:
tl;dr
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Click to collapse
So does the Samsung 10.1 play 1080p videos smoothly?
From what I've been reading.. no. Frankly, watching a 1080p on a 10" tablet is pointless (which is what I'm assuming you're crying about). If 720p isn't "good enough" on a 10" tablet, well, then, time to buy a 17" laptop.

Handbrake: encoding 720p video that isnt jittery

Ive searched for various recommended settings and tried the ones from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1060825
And, for the most part, the videos are fine but what gets me is in situations where the camera is panning there is a noticeable jitter to the movement. Its consistent. Its only happening on the TF. I can play the encoded MP4s/M4Vs in VLC on the laptop and no jitter.
Id really love to get rid of this, it kind of kills the experience of watching videos because I like to watch shows like Top Gear on it and they pan a lot like that, although it does impact other shows. Its just more noticeable because it only happens when the entire camera is panning around subjects in way that most of the image on the screen is moving.
Im playing in the gallery BTW.
Hi,
this is a well known problem with the google libaries for hardware decoding. Until we get a update, there are only two solutions:
Use software decoding. Apps like Rockplayer, Moboplayer... have this option.
Use a Flash-Player. There is no stuttering with the flash libaries.
Does software decoding drain more battery?
And upcoming HB3.2 is supposed to improve hardware decoding of video files ...
number16 said:
And upcoming HB3.2 is supposed to improve hardware decoding of video files ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope because I have not had good luck with rock/mobo and HD content. Right now playing with the stock gallery is the best option I have seen. I was just hoping maybe there is something I could do to drop the compression or quality (without sacrificing HD) to get rid of this odd jitter.
Its a shame too because its the only thing that lets down the media experience. I have had multiple people interrrupt me on the plane to ask about it the screen is that good (well, than and after seeing me snap my netbook in half and put it back together ). Heck, even ipad guys have complimented how things look on it (and their screen uses the same tech IIRC).
I builded a very simple html site in the last few days which has the jwplayer flash player. This is the best way to watch hd content with less than 29,xx fps without the stuttering. Maybe i will put it online later today.
If you want to hard telecine the material you can remove most of the judder.
It's an unfortunate side effect of the GPU decoding that we haven't yet pinned down.
sassafras
Is there any way to load MKV files with JWPlayer without naming them and their location in HTML? I'd prefer a browse option myself. Otherwise it's pretty useless to me.
I tried using Handbrake to encode to "Apple TV 2" preset. which is basically 720p in mp4 file type. It plays back very smoothly with rockplayer lite, mVideoplayer or moboplayer.
AnTrans said:
I tried using Handbrake to encode to "Apple TV 2" preset. which is basically 720p in mp4 file type. It plays back very smoothly with rockplayer lite, mVideoplayer or moboplayer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually a great preset for this device. It's mpeg4 AVC High profile at a reasonable quality.
Good choice if you don't know a lot about how Handbrake works.
sassafras
sassafras_ said:
That's actually a great preset for this device. It's mpeg4 AVC High profile at a reasonable quality.
Good choice if you don't know a lot about how Handbrake works.
sassafras
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually its not smooth at all, there's still a minor lag which is obvious to my eyes..so far even with the very latest 3.1 update (the one with the new tegra bootup logo), the lag is still there..i am hoping 3.2 would address this...it sucks that you cant really play 1080p or even 720p smoothly
mlbl said:
actually its not smooth at all, there's still a minor lag which is obvious to my eyes..so far even with the very latest 3.1 update (the one with the new tegra bootup logo), the lag is still there..i am hoping 3.2 would address this...it sucks that you cant really play 1080p or even 720p smoothly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're either doing it wrong (possible) or confusing judder for 'smoothness'. Files encoded at sane bitrates play back fine in 720p and are completely smooth. Unfortunately, as described by sontin earlier in this thread, there is some poor telecining going on in the hardware decoding and panning shots tend to create the effect of judder which can be somewhat distracting.
It's unfortunately probably a result of the lack of a NEON MPE core in the Tegra 2 chip that causes this.
But for the record, judder ≠ lack of smooth playback.
sassafras
sassafras_ said:
You're either doing it wrong (possible) or confusing judder for 'smoothness'. Files encoded at sane bitrates play back fine in 720p and are completely smooth. Unfortunately, as described by sontin earlier in this thread, there is some poor telecining going on in the hardware decoding and panning shots tend to create the effect of judder which can be somewhat distracting.
It's unfortunately probably a result of the lack of a NEON MPE core in the Tegra 2 chip that causes this.
But for the record, judder ≠ lack of smooth playback.
sassafras
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i guess you're right, its a judder then, but if that's the case, is there any way to solve it? i want a perfect playback like what i get on a pc
I do feel though that playback has improved considerably with the last update. I have downloaded some files that were encoded specifically for the Apple TV and other such devices. Basically mp4 with [email protected] encoding with bitrates around 3000 kbps and stereo AAC sound. Before this update, every now and again they would freeze for five seconds or so, especially in high action scenes. Now they seem much smoother. Judder is still there, but it's definitely watchable.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
sassafras_ said:
You're either doing it wrong (possible) or confusing judder for 'smoothness'. Files encoded at sane bitrates play back fine in 720p and are completely smooth. Unfortunately, as described by sontin earlier in this thread, there is some poor telecining going on in the hardware decoding and panning shots tend to create the effect of judder which can be somewhat distracting.
It's unfortunately probably a result of the lack of a NEON MPE core in the Tegra 2 chip that causes this.
But for the record, judder ≠ lack of smooth playback.
sassafras
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing to do with telecine. It only occurs when there is audio in the file. Mux a video with no soundfile embedded and it plays buttery smooth. Something occurs when sound is added which causes a weird juddering effect. It's been suggested it's hardware acceleration not being enabled causing it but I'm not so sure. Jitter can happen when the audio framerate does not match up with the video framerate to the refresh rate of the display or somesuch (Not sure on the technicalities). It's why tools like ReClock are used on PC's.
I can only repeat what i said a few times: The only way to get nearly smooth playback with hardware decoding is using a flash player. There is no other solution.
And there is a positive sideeffect: Using the browser filesystem (file:///) makes video streaming over the network more useable than using a file manager app. Even over HTTP (thx to drivedav and co) it's much better.
sontin said:
I can only repeat what i said a few times: The only way to get nearly smooth playback with hardware decoding is using a flash player. There is no other solution.
And there is a positive sideeffect: Using the browser filesystem (file:///) makes video streaming over the network more useable than using a file manager app. Even over HTTP (thx to drivedav and co) it's much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, you're right. with jwplayer it works perfectly, smooth and no judder!
Interesting
for those of you that are interest!
This is what i have decided to do and its quite amazing results for its purpose!
Previously i had ben encoding mp4's with x264, @ 1280x544 or 600 whatever the video wanted to strech too, i was finding amazing quality even at fullscreen! I was amazinly happy with respectable file sizes
The dark knight 2.3gb
Saving private ryan 3.5gb
Quantam of solice 2.6 CB
However, after my huge success! I wanted to accomplish more! I need more videos on my transformer! I felt ripped off, i could not put more videos then what i had becuasw of the file sizes!
After some trial and error i found an amazing discovery but it comes with some sacrifice,
Let me talk about the file sizes first!
The dark knight 1.1gb
Saving private ryan 1.6gb
Quantam of solice 1.2gb
The hangover 880mb
Some of my movies are under 1 gb wow
I have 27 movies on my sdcard alone! Which is great!
Ok so this is how i managed such small files with mp4,x264. First off i started my encodes by dropping the resoltion from 1280 to 800 and then letting handbreak decide how to strech it
800x544 is what it normally looks like, the quality is set to 21! This is an inferior resolution for filesize with mp4! In some cases 60% filesize drop!!
This comes with a small drawback! I run my videos in the stock player anyways, so they will not be fullscreen movies! Myself i dont mind the bars on top and bottom!
If this bothers you, then this discovery is not for you!!
MKV FANS!!
STOP!! , before you start to lecture me, about mkv ,doing higher res, with 500mb encode's ! just stop!
I undersand, and know how as well , but its not supported properly right now ,and thats not what im discussing
I hope someone finds this useful
Thanks
I don't want to reencode anything. I just want it to play my existing MKV's without juddering. How do I use file:///??? to play my existing MKV's with the Flash player?
mlbl said:
yes, you're right. with jwplayer it works perfectly, smooth and no judder!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where can you get jwplayer - I looked in the market place and found what I am quite sure was not the tool that you meant...

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