[Q] Galaxy S III and Hi10p video playback - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I am interested how the Galaxy S III performs when playing video files with 10-bit color. Since the Exynos 4412 is based in the same design as the Galaxy S II, I assume that it will not include hardware capabilities to decode videos encoded with 10-bit with hardware acceleration.
There are some good video players such as Dice Player and MX Player Pro that support software decoding videos. However, 10-bit video decoding is quite demanding in software. To my knowledge, no device on the market currently supports the necessary performance to play videos smoothly. The Galaxy S III seems to perform quite good in benchmarks. However, I could not find any information if anyone tested videos with Hi10p.
I imagine that I am not the only person looking for Android devices that can play videos with Hi10p. If someone already has a Galaxy S III, I would be interested to know how it fares.
MX Player Pro on a Galaxy S II or Galaxy Nexus can play 10-bit videos without artifacts and scenes without much action are watchable, but action intensive scenes have massive slow done. The extra performance of the SGS3 might make it possible to make playback much smoother.

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I would be interested to know as well so I can just dump all my anime on my phone for train journeys without having to convert them first.

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alex_uz said:
I am interested how the Galaxy S III performs when playing video files with 10-bit color. Since the Exynos 4412 is based in the same design as the Galaxy S II, I assume that it will not include hardware capabilities to decode videos encoded with 10-bit with hardware acceleration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even without a GS3 on hand, I can sort of give a good educated opinion on this.
I've been playing 10-bit encodes on my Transformer Prime which has a Tegra 3. OCed to 1.5ghz, a ~1.5mbps 720p TV anime encode will play okay (I want o say anywhere from 15-23fps) which is fine for watching something on the go (you'll still see slowdown, but it's mostly bearable). I need to OC to around 1.6ghz for more demanding 720p blu-ray rips with FLAC audio (why? so, audio doesn't drop during high motion scanes). References frames, is a big factor in playback smoothness as more ref frames require more cpu power to decode.
Since software decoding a video file is relying purely on the CPU, unless Samsung really did something with the Cortex-A9 in the Exynos (unless memory subsystem has an effect), then I would presume playback is going to be roughly the same on the GS3.
I do have say though the developers of MX Video Player has really done a great job getting better performance out of software decoding.

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My Galaxy Note can play up to 720p Hi10p fairly well, I expect that the S3 will do better (and should certainly do better than the Transformer Prime going off how Hi10p plays on my One X).
I have some 10-bit files at 720p and 1080p in my test files batch, will test it on the day of release here and update you.

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NZtechfreak said:
My Galaxy Note can play up to 720p Hi10p fairly well, I expect that the S3 will do better (and should certainly do better than the Transformer Prime going off how Hi10p plays on my One X).
I have some 10-bit files at 720p and 1080p in my test files batch, will test it on the day of release here and update you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for this info as well.
btw, can you be clearer on how hox performs playing hi10p vids?
tia.

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NZtechfreak said:
My Galaxy Note can play up to 720p Hi10p fairly well, I expect that the S3 will do better (and should certainly do better than the Transformer Prime going off how Hi10p plays on my One X).
I have some 10-bit files at 720p and 1080p in my test files batch, will test it on the day of release here and update you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting. Are you using MX Player and doing fast software decode on both phones? With MX Player you can change how many cores it can use for software decoding since that is the only way to playback hi10p files without artifacts.
I can't see the Galaxy Note do better on software decoding compared to a Tegra 3 device since decoding hi10p videos is pure cpu and both SoCs use the ARM Cortex-A9 (since video decoding is multi-threaded under MX Player, more core is better).

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I had heard that some people are getting some results with Tegra 3. Seeing that the SGS3 did well in benchmarks, I was hoping that Samsung did a wizbang job with the SoC and that it might outperform Tegra 3 in this regard.
If rumors are true and Samsung is using the Exynos 4412 in future tablets such as the Galaxy Note 10, results of the new chip would be even more interesting.
I was hoping that someone who already has a SGS3 could shed some light in this matter. In Germany, the white SGS3 seems to be available since Friday and some people may also have one early.

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t3ch7 said:
That's interesting. Are you using MX Player and doing fast software decode on both phones? With MX Player you can change how many cores it can use for software decoding since that is the only way to playback hi10p files without artifacts.
I can't see the Galaxy Note do better on software decoding compared to a Tegra 3 device since decoding hi10p videos is pure cpu and both SoCs use the ARM Cortex-A9 (since video decoding is multi-threaded under MX Player, more core is better).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using Dice Player. I use hardware decoding by default in Dice and from memory it didn't prompt me to change to software decoding (can't remember for sure, was weeks ago when I tested them and I deleted the test files from the Note after to make space). Will check again.
The 10-bit files are ones I actually haven't checked on my One X, will get around to that shortly also.

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I tested both 720p and 1080p Hi10p files:
Source file (720p)
Code:
General
Unique ID : 206791318654521762636585017334151270501 (0x9B928F2D35DFA67BA4C40A6DD3385065)
Complete name : Pluschan-Supremes__Hotarubi_no_Mori_e-__BD__Hi10P-720p__Sub_Ita___E5A907EF_.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 339 MiB
Duration : 44mn 59s
Overall bit rate : 1 053 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-03-05 21:15:38
Writing application : mkvmerge v5.3.0 ('I could have danced') built on Feb 9 2012 10:38:07
Writing library : libebml v1.2.3 + libmatroska v1.3.0
Attachment : Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 16 frames
Muxing mode : Header stripping
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 44mn 59s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Title : Hotarubi no Mori e
Writing library : x264 core 120 r2164+656 2ff844c
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=16 / deblock=1:-1:-2 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / fade_compensate=0.60 / psy_rd=0.80:0.30 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-4 / threads=6 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / fgo=0 / bframes=16 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=infinite / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=70 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=18.2 / qcomp=0.70 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=81 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.80
Language : Japanese
Matrix coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 44mn 59s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 20ms
Title : Hotarubi no Mori e - 2.0
Language : Japanese
Text
ID : 3
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Title : Hotarubi no Mori e
Language : Italian
Menu
00:00:00.000 : it:Inizio
00:39:31.410 : it:Ending
Samsung Video Player: audio only
MX (HW mode): audio only
MX (SW mode): audio + video, no noticeable stutter, watching is enjoyable
Source file (1080p)
Code:
General
Unique ID : 240952699660374658927750261536576723754 (0xB545CD4C4FFE69ECB85EFD01E8A75B2A)
Complete name : Madoka_opening_10-bit_1080p.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 66.1 MiB
Duration : 1mn 30s
Overall bit rate : 6 150 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2011-08-06 00:27:49
Writing application : mkvmerge v4.9.1 ('Ich will') built on Jul 11 2011 23:53:15
Writing library : libebml v1.2.1 + libmatroska v1.1.1
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Muxing mode : Header stripping
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1mn 30s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Maximum bit rate : 20.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Writing library : x264 core 116 r2044 392e762
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.60:0.10 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=9 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=1 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=1 / weightp=1 / keyint=24 / keyint_min=2 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=29 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=17.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=81 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=20000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=vbr / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Language : Japanese
Color primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 1mn 30s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Language : Japanese
Samsung Video Player: audio only
MX (HW mode): audio only
MX (SW mode): audio + video, video stutters, watching is not enjoyable

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i remember all video files 700+ mb 720p or 1080p lagged on SG2 (low frames) i hope it wont be like that on SG3.would love to see how it does over MHL on tv 1080p movie that has like 2-3gb

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proudixz said:
i remember all video files 700+ mb 720p or 1080p lagged on SG2 (low frames) i hope it wont be like that on SG3.would love to see how it does over MHL on tv 1080p movie that has like 2-3gb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about 10bit files? Because my SGS2 at least plays most mkvs without a hint of a stutter.

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I will have my S3 next week and will report then how it well it works. To my surprise, it seems no one with the device tested this yet.

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Ok, I tested it and here are some results if there is anyone interested.
I tested two 720p files with crf16, one 24 min episode and one short clip. I was very surprised by the results. Using MX Player Pro with fast software decoding was perfectly watchable, even in fast paced scenes with lots of action and motion.
Below is some data regarding the files.
File 1:
General
Unique ID : 250503882088587374665036916282048074529 (0xBC754AF2F8F51F4BAF5C8011316B5321)
Complete name : D:\temp\[gg]_Aquarion_EVOL_-_24_[7BBBB082].mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 379 MiB
Duration : 24mn 23s
Overall bit rate : 2 171 Kbps
Movie name : [gg] Aquarion EVOL - 24
Encoded date : UTC 2012-06-11 06:45:37
Writing application : mkvmerge v5.0.1 ('Es ist Sommer') built on Oct 9 2011 11:55:43
Writing library : libebml v1.2.2 + libmatroska v1.3.0
Attachment : Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 16 frames
Muxing mode : Header stripping
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 24mn 23s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Title : [gg] Aquarion EVOL - 24
Writing library : x264 core 122 r2184+1 f5f5fd4
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=16 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.10 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=10 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=19.5 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=81 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Matrix coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 24mn 23s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Title : AAC 2.0
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Text
ID : 3
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Title : ass
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No​
File 2:
General
Unique ID : 253851847898499581660374966698541317202 (0xBEFA1668675EE521A61AD765F717FC52)
Complete name : D:\temp\[Commie] Steins;Gate - NCED [BD 720p AAC] [10bit] [C706859E].mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 23.5 MiB
Duration : 1mn 29s
Overall bit rate : 2 200 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2011-07-11 22:05:44
Writing application : mkvmerge v4.1.1 ('Bouncin' Back') built on Jul 3 2010 22:54:08
Writing library : libebml v1.0.0 + libmatroska v1.0.0
Attachment : Yes
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 16 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1mn 29s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Writing library : x264 core 116 r2019 9cc407d
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=16 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.30:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=10 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=15.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=81 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.40
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 1mn 29s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Language : Japanese
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Text
ID : 3
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No​
Using HW decoding resulted in black picture with sound only.
I also tried Dice Player; the playback was not as smooth, but still much better on than a Galaxy S2 and very much better than a Galaxy Nexus.
Perhaps this information is useful for some people if it can be found with a search. This also means that tablets such as the Galaxy Note 10.1 will have similar or likely even better playback capabilities.

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Did you see my tests? They are just a few posts above yours I have no idea why you did another test, but thanks anyway.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

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member68 said:
Did you see my tests? They are just a few posts above yours I have no idea why you did another test, but thanks anyway.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw the post, but I was under the impression that we were talking about the Galaxy Note, as some posts above seemed to be talking about the performance of the Galaxy Note. I read the posts on my mobile device and only glanced trough them, hence why I had misinterpreted.
I think my test files complement your tests nicely. Thank you for your tests.

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Can you also test performance of VP8 @ 1916x1080 Vorbis audio 44.1Hz @192kb/s ?

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Send me a link to a sample video and I'll test it
Sent from my GT-I9300

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Any particular reason that HW decoding doesn't work ?

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member68 said:
Send me a link to a sample video and I'll test it
Sent from my GT-I9300
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVG_bBJU94A&feature=bf_prev&list=SP14CEAAAD19844E2E
Good news for you if you have Asus Eeee pad TF700 it actually plays (using stock player) both of the samples nicely with some artifacts more visible with 720p sample. But the TF700 is in pre-order mode around the world while it suffers major issues if you search in its own forum section. Issues such as back camera, skype crash with accessing back camera, kernel v2.6 much older than the kernel came with sgs3 which is 3.0.
The downloaded content from the youtube link is a 1080p vp8 vorbis stream in mkv container, the TF700 actually have problems playback this file.
Then again sgs3 stock player plays this vp8 file in a watchable state with frame drops and some freezes.

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I just got an S3 today, what's the best player for Hi10p? I've read a little and saw MX Player Pro was smooth. Is it consistent with the sound, subs, and video quality? I had a problem with my old phone that the images would stutter and blotches of bright colors would wreck the screen.
Is it possible to decode Hi10p back to maybe 8bit or regular to make it easier on the phone?