[Q] Nexus Player Supported Formats - Nexus Player Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Has anyone found what the supported media formats are for the Nexus Player?
I found the following information below when I search for ChromeCast, but could not find the equivalent for the Nexus Player.
From developers (dot) google (dot) com / cast / docs / media
Supported Media for Google Cast:
Streaming protocols
MP4
WebM
Video codecs
H.264 High Profile Level 4.1, 4.2 and 5
VP8
Audio decoding
HE-AAC
LC-AAC
CELT/Opus
MP3
Vorbis
Wav (audio/wav)
Audio passthrough
AC-3

Good question. I couldn't find any information on this either. One thing I'm going to try tonight is the Antutu Video Tester app. It downloads a video pack of dozens of different codecs and tests playback ability as well as the quality of playback. Should be interesting.

I can say from experience that when running XBMC I've been able to play video_ts folders (DVD rips) and MKV.. The only issue I ran into with video_ts folders was that it took upwards of 10 seconds to start play, and sometimes up to 30-40 seconds to return to the movie list when hitting stop.. MKV play without a hitch and are very snappy.
Hope this helps.

You can add VP9 and H265 to this as per asus site:
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/News/hSqRBkE3JWcSw1zC
Very good news as I use WebM extensively with my current Chromecast and Vorbis audio. Will be nice to use VP9!

I'm really getting tired of seeing so many articles claim that the Nexus Player can use VP9. Maybe it technically can, but it effectively never does, especially not on YouTube where it's needed most and makes the most sense. Anyone know how to force vp9 in the YouTube app?

Related

Can the Vibrant play .mkv files?

I downloaded some Family Guy Episodes that are like 25MB each are .mkv files. I put them on my SD Card, and they play for a few seconds, and than a message pops up saying this video cannot be played. However, the video actually starts and I can see and hear everything. So is there a way for this message to not pop up? Thanks.
BigWorldJust said:
I downloaded some Family Guy Episodes that are like 25MB each are .mkv files. I put them on my SD Card, and they play for a few seconds, and than a message pops up saying this video cannot be played. However, the video actually starts and I can see and hear everything. So is there a way for this message to not pop up? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The built in video player usually handles .mkv containers just fine. Having said that, .mkv is merely an advanced CONTAINER format that allows for the easy assembly of video, multiple audio streams, subtitle streams, chapters, so on and so forth.
The contents of those streams can be almost anything. And this is where your problem lies.
In the windows universe with advanced players like KMPlayer, GomPlayer, VLC, MPC, and advanced codec packs like Combined Community Codec Pack, it is easy to create a situation where your Windows PC will play pretty much everything you throw at it.
For us, though the native video player is probably the best one ever released on the Android platform, it is not perfect. I would imagine that those MKV containered episodes are using a codec for video or audio that the player is stumbling over, or one of those streams is using a bitrate or encoding method that the player hasn't accounted for.
So far in my experiences the built in player DEFINITELY does not like mkv's where the video format is AVC1 encoded using Nero Digital's version of the AVC1 encoder. Also, I've encountered audio issues with AAC audio. This isn't a problem with the AAC audio though, rather it's bad MKV stream header information where whatever tool was used to mux the MKV failed to put in proper bitrate info.
Bottom line, and I'm speaking from the experience of having over 3 terabytes of media on my media NAS server here at home, MKV containers do not necessarily have any "standards" to them, in the sense that being an MKV doesn't really tell you what the video and audio are within. This is just due to the nature of the MKV container format, but it is a problem slowly disappearing as more people use more standard encoding bitrates and codecs within these containers.
As a suggestion, visit the market and download ROCKPLAYER ARM7 version. When I've encountered video files the native player won't play, Rockplayer usually does (with the notable exception of anything using Nero Digital AVC1). Rockplayer is derived from the FFMPEG codebase, so it's a tad more forgiving in what it will play.
It's either another player, downloading a different set of those episodes, or re encoding those episodes...
Thanks RockPlayer Arm7 worked .
The rock player has been able to play videos (tv episodes) that I was not able to play with the default player. I don't know much about codecs, but it's worth a try.
My phone played some 1.4gb TV show episodes that are x264 video and dd5.1 audio 1280x720 (High definition) inside an MKV file just fine.
Maybe your phone was just having a fit because you were trying to watch episodes of family guy?
Lol, might've been. RockPlayer works though, so it's all good .
Anyone know if the full paid version of Rockplayer allows multiple audio and sub streams?
I need that BADLY.

[Q] Any video (MKV with AC3/DTS) streamer better than Plex?

In terms of quality Plex can't be beaten for streaming video. I can play a 1080p MKV with DTS audio and have it reencoded on-the-fly from my PC to my TF at 5Mbit and it looks awesome (Sound is a bit iffy though). I tried a few other streamers like VLC, Androstream, Qloud etc and they all sucked.
I'm still looking for a player that supports embedded .ass subs. Playing the files directly off a Windows share is not very good either as none of the players can play AC3/DTS in MKV and 1080p is no go. Dice player sort of looked promising but all the videos I tested it with would freeze up after a few seconds.
Video playback is the TF's weakest point IMHO. It's OK if you want to stream stuff though which is why I am looking for something better than Plex.
How did you get Plex to work? I'm on Windows 7 64bit and the media server isn't working right. It sends me to the browser when I try to click on it and then has a connection error.

720p mkv hi10p playback with subtitles

Hi all,
I'm looking to play 720p mkv hi10p videos with embedded subtitles on my Nexus 7. I'll probably want to be doing this by streaming it off a computer or accessing a Samba share.
Does anyone know if this is possible?. Trying to toss up my purchase with the knowledge that its easy / do-able to watch tv shows, movies and things like anime.
Cheers!
I'm just downloading vPlayer to see how it works with my Serviio server. I'll let you know how it goes.
the latest beta VLC player worked for me, was having abit hit or miss with mxvideo player but VLC just played everything i threw at it off my western digital tv live hub.
I tested a 720p hi10p video yesterday using MX Player Pro, no streaming over air.
A couple of frame drops, cannot handle panning scenes very well.
Styled subtitles however look ace, I haven't bothered to check out advanced typesetting though.
Have been exploring the ability on my phone with ES explorer and different media players. 8 bit 720p mkvs work perfectly. 10 bit just falls about for me though on a GNEX with just about every player. Obviously there is a difference in processing power though.
Keen to know if anyone gets it working / how (even if its a solution like PLEX).

[Guide] How to play smooth 1080p MKV with DTS audio on the HTC One

I have been experiencing persistent difficulties playing high definition 1080p MKV rips on my HTC One, since day one. The video playback frame-rate always drops and the lag was apparent. My HTC One is rooted, so i was able to install FPS Meter to test the frame-rate during playback and it would always oscillate rapidly between 10 and 30. I always used MX Player Pro for video playback on Android, so i stuck to the latter and in order to enable DTS audio support, there's the settings option in-app to download the required custom codec (it's the ARMv7 NEON for the HTC One), which coincidentally opens up a link on XDA where a developer has been compiling the DTS audio codec. Here's the link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2156254. You can download and extract the libffmpeg.mx.so to any folder on your phone. Then, in the MX Player Pro settings, point it to the location of the libffmpeg.mx.so file. But in my case, even after all that, the lag wasn't solved. I thought that maybe the Snapdragon 600 SoC wasn't powerful enough to handle these bulky (around 10 GB) 1080p MKV files. That is, until i came across the following FREE media players which solved the lag completely!
DicePlayer
1. Download and Install the FREE DicePlayer app from the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inisoft.mediaplayer.a
Try to play your video file. For me, the DTS audio was supported right out of the box. Maybe it was due to the custom DTS audio file that i had already installed previously for the MX Player Pro? In any case, you should first try to play your video file to see if it's fully supported.
But if you get no audio, follow these steps:
2. Download the DTS Audio Codec to your PC: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7909146/DicePlayer-DTS-AudioCodec-libffmpeg.zip
3. Extract the downloaded zip file.
4. Transfer the extracted libffmpeg.so file to the root of the internal SD card on your Android device. DO NOT transfer it to a folder or sub-folder. Make sure to place it in the directory of your phone's internal storage.
5. Launch Dice Player on your Android device and open the Settings Menu
6. Scroll down to Custom Plugin and check the box
7. Go back to the main menu.
8. Select your video file. You should now be able to play DTS audio on your HTC One!
Archos Video Player
1. Download and Install the FREE Archos Video Player app from the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.archos.mediacenter.video
2. Download the Archos Video All Codecs Plugin to make sure that you have all the required video and audio codecs: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.m4rk3t.libcopy2
3. From the main menu, select "All Videos" and then choose the video file that you want to play.
(Credits to @spawndk for suggesting the Archos Video Player and its codecs pack)
VLC for Android
1. Download and Install the FREE VLC for Android app from the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.videolan.vlc.betav7neon
2. From the main menu, just select the video you want to play.
3. Enjoy!
Note: The video file tested has been copied onto the phone's internal memory via USB, so if you stream the video file from your PC or online, the result might differ. If your video contains embedded subtitles, the video playback might lag in VLC and the image itself might appear corrupt (that would also depend on your video file). Since the VLC for Android player is currently in beta, some bugs still need to be ironed out. However, in DicePlayer and Archos Video Player, the subtitles play without any issue. Conclusion: use DicePlayer or Archos Video Player if you need subtitles. I tested the smoothness of the playback with power save mode on and off - it made no difference, so you can leave power saver mode on (when enabled, the power save option lowers your Snapdragon 600 CPU frequency which could cause lagging and stuttering if there is a high-enough CPU load).
Since there are many different types of codecs and bit rates used in 1080p MKV files, here is the exact video file that i've used for this guide (just in case anyone wants to replicate the steps in this guide to verify if they get identical results with the exact same video file):
Pacific.Rim.2013.1080p.BluRay.DTS.x264-PublicHD.mkv
Runtime ............: 2:11:17
Size ...............: 13.8 GB
Video ..............: 1920x1080
Bitrate ............: 13300 kbps (H264 [email protected] CBR)
Audio 1.............: English DTS 5.1 Ch 1510 kbps
Audio 2.............: English OGG 2.0 Ch 64 kbps -Commentary By Director Guillermo Del Toro
Chapters............: Yes
Source .............: 1080p Blu-ray AVC DTS-HD MA 7.1-PublicHD
Subs ...............: English French Spanish Portuguese
Using MX Player Pro, that same video file would lag all the time. No amount of tweaking in the settings would fix it.
Disclaimer: I own that movie on original Bluray disc, but instead of re-encoding it myself (my PC is too slow and i'm far from being an encoding wizard to know the best settings for optimal compression while preserving image quality) to play on my mobile devices, i got it from torrents. I am in no way promoting piracy. If you like a movie, definitely buy it.
I also tried playing the same thing with mx player .. it played video but no idea .. then added dts codec from xda and now no hiccups at all
Dts is patented and the company that has the patent doesn't want to license it to any Android player, last year most players played Dts out of the box until they got trouble from the patentholder.
Software patents suck but to ban reverse engineered playback
Good post Electronical
Still, Id like to suggest to try my favourite player Archos Video
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.archos.mediacenter.video
And the free codecs that give support for AC3 and DTS audio
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.m4rk3t.libcopy2
Plays all my mkv's 100% smooth not only on my HTC One but also on other devices I own.
And it grabs movie info, coverart, auto download subtitles etc. etc.
spawndk said:
Good post Electronical
Still, Id like to suggest to try my favourite player Archos Video
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.archos.mediacenter.video
And the free codecs that give support for AC3 and DTS audio
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.m4rk3t.libcopy2
Plays all my mkv's 100% smooth not only on my HTC One but also on other devices I own.
And it grabs movie info, coverart, auto download subtitles etc. etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested that app and its codecs pack with the same full hd movie and there was no lag. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll add it to the main post. :victory:
I have found that es file explorer plays 1080p mkv better than anything else.
1080p mkv files play fine for me on mx player. at first audio did not work but that was fixed by using hw+ decoder or even sw decoder (battery hog).
~dumbo.
an0ther said:
I have found that es file explorer plays 1080p mkv better than anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried it. I never thought about using ES File Explorer for playing media before. :laugh: But using the video file mentioned in the first post, there is some lag, i can't select the audio track and the embedded subtitle doesn't load. In fact, there are no options on-screen.
HD mkv on HTC One
Hi, would just like to ask all poster above the following:
When playing this large HD mkv / 1080hp file where are you actually playing it from?
1. Are you streaming from PC to phone?
2. Is it stored on the phone itself?
3. Are you streaming it from the internet?
I ask this because I have been pulling my hair out over the last 3 days trying to get a 1080hp HD mkv rip of several different movies (between 3 and 5 gigabytes in size) to play successfully on my HTC One (M7). Movies are being streamed from a Synology NAS DS213j
NAS is connected to a VirginMedia SuperHub router.
This problem only happens when I try to stream over the internet via 3g to the HTC One.
Streaming over Wi-Fi over my LAN works perfect - can stream from NAS to Windows Laptop, my HTC One, the wifes iPhone, the kids P.C running XP four different movies at once or the same movie to all devices.
Tried bucket loads of different Video player for the HTC but nothing will play these movies stored on my NAS without buffer, lag, stuttering, choppyness whatever you want to call it.
I have done lots of research over the last few days and I am not sure whether it has something to do with Transcoding the movie on the NAS before being sent over 3g internet - really would like some clarification on this from an expert please!
According to a speed test, I am averaging 2mbps upload speeds on the virgin router - would an HD movie require more than this?
Thanks.
Terry1968 said:
Snip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... I don't think 3G will be fast enough to keep up. What speeds do you usually get with 3G? There's also the horrendous latency as well which could be causing the problem...
KiraYahiroz said:
... I don't think 3G will be fast enough to keep up. What speeds do you usually get with 3G? There's also the horrendous latency as well which could be causing the problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really sure how to measure my 3g speed or about latency?
I don't seem to have problems with mpeg4 or avi up to 1.5gb haven't tried anything larger though yet?
Terry1968 said:
Hi, would just like to ask all poster above the following:
When playing this large HD mkv / 1080hp file where are you actually playing it from?
1. Are you streaming from PC to phone?
2. Is it stored on the phone itself?
3. Are you streaming it from the internet?
I ask this because I have been pulling my hair out over the last 3 days trying to get a 1080hp HD mkv rip of several different movies (between 3 and 5 gigabytes in size) to play successfully on my HTC One (M7). Movies are being streamed from a Synology NAS DS213j
NAS is connected to a VirginMedia SuperHub router.
This problem only happens when I try to stream over the internet via 3g to the HTC One.
Streaming over Wi-Fi over my LAN works perfect - can stream from NAS to Windows Laptop, my HTC One, the wifes iPhone, the kids P.C running XP four different movies at once or the same movie to all devices.
Tried bucket loads of different Video player for the HTC but nothing will play these movies stored on my NAS without buffer, lag, stuttering, choppyness whatever you want to call it.
I have done lots of research over the last few days and I am not sure whether it has something to do with Transcoding the movie on the NAS before being sent over 3g internet - really would like some clarification on this from an expert please!
According to a speed test, I am averaging 2mbps upload speeds on the virgin router - would an HD movie require more than this?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I updated the post to add that the video file tested in this case is copied onto the phone's internal memory via USB. I haven't tested any of these video apps relative to streaming from PC or online but the limitation is not set on the HTC One in this case. It's most likely a bandwidth throttling or low performance decoding issue.
Thank You so much!
I am so glad to have found this. I actually used new MX Player Pro and downloaded their custom Codec directly from them and configured.
I have DTS and am streaming over my network on 2.4ghz on Shield Tablet (5ghz is an issue). Beautiful and stutter free.
I use ES File Explorer to browse my SMB shares and it launches MXPlayer to play the files. Everything is instant! I tried Dice Player because I own it from my first Transformer Tablet. It is painfully slow browsing SMB shares and crashes on file launch if using ES File Explorer. A shame really, back in the day it was great app.
I actually switched to a Win 8 Tablet just because I wanted to be able to watch ANY file on my shares on the tablet. Well that Win 8 tablet is now getting given to my daughter (who keeps "borrowing" it anyway) and I am getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2 to replace it.
Thanks again XDA-developers!!
Somtimes you may meet some problems, some MKV files playback without sound, while some MKV files even can not be recognized even with popular Android MKV players like BSPlayer FREE, Dice Player and MX Video Player.
The real reason behind that is MKV can be encoded by different codecs, some of those codecs are not compatible with your Android tablet or phone, so you are unable to play MKV videos on Android successfully. To get those MKV files to play nicely on your Android phone or tablet, the easy option is to convert MKV to Android commonly supported file format (H.264 encoded MP4 is highly recommended).
Can anywhere die codec Pack for archos Player codex pack mod for Digital 5.1 for 5.1 Toshlink output add?
i have only 5.1 by ac3 files and so by bluray Digital 5.1 only Stereo 2.0 .
can it any inofficell Mod or hack the codec Pack as Mod Edtion whit as Soundfiles support for 5.1 outfut too for all more channel Sounds?
Install BSPlayer. Done

Bitstreaming with MX Player (or other)

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this in, or instead the MX Player forums, but I keep reading persistent claims that people are successfully bitstreaming lossless (TrueHD and DTS-HD-MA) audio to their AVR via the MX Player app on NVidia Shield.
My library consists of uncompressed Blu Ray rips made using MakeMKV. I take the lossless audio codec whenever available.
For the life of me, I can't seem to get proper playback. If I enable HW+, video plays with no audio. If I disable HW+ in favor of "HW", I get neither audio or video.
I haven't downloaded or installed any extra codecs specifically for MX Player yet... currently, within settings, it says I have "Use ARMv7 type custom codec".
Anybody having success with this care to expound on what settings are making this work?

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