[Q] How to play 720p/1080p media with subtitles through MHL properly? - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I own a Galaxy Note and got a MHL cable for watching movies on my Sony Bravia.
I'm having some problems for playing it nicelly.
With hardware decoding:
Only the stock samsung "Video Player" is able to play at TV resolution with the subtitles. The problem is that it seems to have an annoying bug that makes the subtitles stuck. After someone ends talking, the last sub don't vanish/disappear, it keeps there on the screen until the next speech. It's discussed at another older thread but no one was able to provide solution at that time.
With Software decoding:
I can get the subs with a third party player (like MX Player), but it doesn't stream the video to the TV directly, like the stock video player does. What I get is a rescaled screen, like when not playing a video, just browsing Android, and as such, not only it's not playing 720p/1080p video, but also, I get black areas because the phone aspect ratio doesn't match the TV aspect ratio.
Is there a solution for this?
As can be seen in the mentioned thread, there was a "stuck subtitle" problem with another Samsung device. Is this a bug with all Samsung devices?
Is there an alternative player that can play videos with hardware decoding and also display subtitles? So it can take all my TV screen.
I've checked this thread too, but there was general misleaded advices...

No One?
No One to Help?

Some updates on this issue
Well, here are some updates on this issue that may help others (but not me currently):
MX Player states in its FAQ that it'll be supported later, I've asked for any status about this support in their forums.
There's an Android open issue (issue 32564) about this problem.
It seems that on Jelly Bean (I'm on ICS) there's an option that may solve the issue: Home > Settings > Developer Options > Drawing section > Disable HW Overlays

Related

[Q] Galaxy S2 MHL cable subtitles problem

Hello there XDA users!
I have a problem with viewing subtitles for movies via my MHL cable (oryginal) on TV screen.
Stock movie player shows them (.srt) but it doesn't make subtitles dissapear when the dialogue finishes (it just leave them on when nobody is talking till the next dialogue). Other movie players from market (like mVideoPlayer or QQplayer) doesn't show subtitles on TV screen at all (just on the phone screen).
I would be very thankful of Your advice.
Cheers.
Am I the only one facing this problem?
Can't find solution myself.
You are not alone in this, but apparently there are very few people (or devices ;-) ) with this particular problem. I myself have this as well. I can't imagine why this is such an "exclusive" bug. The only player from the market (that I have tried) that displays subtitles over MHL is Rock Player Lite, and only if you select software decoding mode, but then you will also have a mildly annoying logo on the upper left corner of the screen... plus it crashes a lot in my case, no idea if it'll crash to you too.
May I ask what your firmware is? Mine is 2.3.3 (XWKF3).
Thanks for Your reply.
I have Lite'ning Rom v6.1 XXKH3 and speedmod kernel K1-T30.
I didn't try Rock Player Lite as I was aware of that annoying logo. I would be very happy if I only had fix for stock player (as I consider "not disappearing" subtitles to be easier to manage, but I'm not sure).
Same here. Apparently, the MHL interface is designed to send the video feed directly, without any interface "overlay" (in this case subtitles). No "mirroring" effect, like when in the Galaxy menus etc. Rock Player achieves that only when using software mode. In hardware mode you will get no subtitles (and no logo ). After having used mVideo Player, I searched their forums, and it was mentioned that Samsung has modified their stock player to take care of that.
As I have mentioned in another post, I have tried .srt & .sub files, as well as both ANSI & Unicode encoding for the charsets (english-only and non-english). I even changed the phone language to english, hopping that it would be something this trivial. As you can imagine, the subtitles are never removed from screen and change only when a new line is to be displayed. I can't imagine that all my subtitles are defective or that there is noone else with this kind of problem.
Come on people ! What are we doing differently? I want to belong to the rest of you fine problem-free movie-watching GalaxySII-owners ...
PS: BTW, I have this problem even when viewing on the phone's screen, not just via MHL. How about you? Also, how do you transfer files on the phone?
Yes, as I posted I also have problem with not removing subtiltes till the next line on the phone screen using stock player. Thats the main problem, because i will survive with no mVideoPlayer support for MHL cable if I will be able to watch movies with properly working subtitles using stock player.
Still mVideoPlayer support would be AWESOME!
I too have noticed the problem of subtitles appearing, but not disappearing until the next subtitle appears, with the stock media player.
Am I reading the comment from Alchemius above correctly, to say that this is only a problem for some of the Galaxy S2s?
I just assumed it was a bug that needs to be sorted out in the software for all the SGS2 units out there.
Actually, this is what I am trying to figure out myself. I have asked this question in other topics as well, but apart from a couple of owners (only 2 so far !!! 3 if I include you), I get no response. Most of the SGS2 users probably use another media player (e.g. mVideoPlayer) that has no such problem, and won't notice it.
It would be pretty weird to assume that this is a problem for only a few handsets, but then again, apart from us three, nobody else is complaining. I know that the MHL API from Samsung is indeed modified, in order to send the subtitles via MHL, and I would imagine it being responsible. But as I said, noone else is complaining. And that's what worries me...
I´ve got this problem. I´m facing some crashes when some video is playing too. I think this issues is all about softwares... Maybe I´ll try to change the firmware...
My fw now is UHKE2
Im facing the same issues as mentioned here.
Thats sad as most of my movies I tried to move to watch them with the device on a big screen are DTS...
So DicePlayer works great..on the phone, on the screen its another thing.
BsPlayer, Vplayer and any others are slow.
mvideoplayer = no sound
What we've got left? isnt there any kind of mod or change to make the default player support it?
I dont buying an app for a few bucks. I tried Dice and it wasnt well.
I just want it to work..
And the built-in player isnt that great either, as the encoding isnt right. Im using hebrew subtitles and it shows only some signs.
After many attempts and tries, I can write my results:
1080P is a waste of time, as..only DicePlayer plays it excellent, the others (mvideo, built-in) require DTS conversion.
Not to mention, the need to split it with MKV...
If you wish to show the movie with the MHL its a big problem as the subtitle isnt seen on the big screen, and only the built-in kindof working...but then you need to use an external subtitle which is a mess, becauase you just splitted the movie to two files...
Its an *huge* headache, and nothing seems to work...
If only dice player could show subtitles over MHL....
other players cant even show it smooth enough.
And also, you cant run backward-forward as the sound-video isnt synced if you do.
The easiest thing you'd think of doing is adding the subtitles on the video file itself, but it would take....hours over hours..
eranyanay said:
After many attempts and tries, I can write my results:
1080P is a waste of time, as..only DicePlayer plays it excellent, the others (mvideo, built-in) require DTS conversion.
Not to mention, the need to split it with MKV...
If you wish to show the movie with the MHL its a big problem as the subtitle isnt seen on the big screen, and only the built-in kindof working...but then you need to use an external subtitle which is a mess, becauase you just splitted the movie to two files...
Its an *huge* headache, and nothing seems to work...
If only dice player could show subtitles over MHL....
other players cant even show it smooth enough.
And also, you cant run backward-forward as the sound-video isnt synced if you do.
The easiest thing you'd think of doing is adding the subtitles on the video file itself, but it would take....hours over hours..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an official discussion group for DicePlayer (linked from developer's page) here:
http://groups.google.com/group/diceplayer/topics
I suggest you start a discussion regarding subtitles over HDMI/MHL to make the developer aware of this.
Thanks, I'll give it a try, even though it seems to be pretty abondan
i've had this issue as well, but i've managed to find a pretty good substitute in Mobaplayer. it also has the option to view videos with software decode, and i don't believe it has any watermarks either. not buggy at all and hasn't crashed on me yet. also, the fonts are better than in stock player, since they use a different border color so the white text won't blend in with a white background.
poofish said:
i've had this issue as well, but i've managed to find a pretty good substitute in Mobaplayer. it also has the option to view videos with software decode, and i don't believe it has any watermarks either. not buggy at all and hasn't crashed on me yet. also, the fonts are better than in stock player, since they use a different border color so the white text won't blend in with a white background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, while the stock player runs it smooth enough, MoboPlayer wont :\
I have the same problem here
Alchemius said:
You are not alone in this, but apparently there are very few people (or devices ;-) ) with this particular problem. I myself have this as well. I can't imagine why this is such an "exclusive" bug. The only player from the market (that I have tried) that displays subtitles over MHL is Rock Player Lite, and only if you select software decoding mode, but then you will also have a mildly annoying logo on the upper left corner of the screen... plus it crashes a lot in my case, no idea if it'll crash to you too.
May I ask what your firmware is? Mine is 2.3.3 (XWKF3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alchemius did you find any solution to this problem? And could you please tell me which app do you use to see movies with greek subtitles in srt format on your galaxy S2?
Hi all,
after some tests I found out that the best player is MX player. It's very similar to mvideoplayer, but has the ability to process based on software. So the subtitle problems are solved.
blue99_ said:
Hi all,
after some tests I found out that the best player is MX player. It's very similar to mvideoplayer, but has the ability to process based on software. So the subtitle problems are solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just tried it and the only way the subtitles will show at the TV is when you choose the software decoder. sadly, the movie is not running smoothly at all (i checked an HD 720p file).
so, still no perfect solution...
For me, I can play 720p with the built in player just fine. Its smooth enough and supports subs over mhl.
1080p is a real trouble maker as its not smooth on the builtin player.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

[Q]Video playing

I use mobo player and sometimes when i watch video, the audio is not in sync with the video and I know that the video is lagging. So I would like to know what is the maximum specs of a video(eg: file type, video screen size etc) that the hardware can support so that in future, I can find only of that and below so that my video will not be off sync.
LexterAce said:
I use mobo player and sometimes when i watch video, the audio is not in sync with the video and I know that the video is lagging. So I would like to know what is the maximum specs of a video(eg: file type, video screen size etc) that the hardware can support so that in future, I can find only of that and below so that my video will not be off sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ace does not play HD videos(720p and above) properly. But 480p videos play smoothly.
Soft decoding is slow and causes that.
Yes, I use MX and there's an option between hardware and software decoding, first say not supported on your device.

Embedded Subtitles via HDMI output

I wish the prime would show embedded subtitles on the TV when playing via HDMI. Currently the A/V goes out HDMI but the subtitles still display on the tablet. I emailed the developer of the Dice video player and he said this is device dependent and would need to be fixed by the device manufacturer.
Hey Asus,
Fix the subtitle overlay issue so embedded subtitles are displayed via HDMI.
I wish this first day i bought ATP. I spent 30$ on Hdmi cable that now is useless to me. Only way is software decoding in player's settings, but when playing mkv more than 5gb all is very very bad. The best player than can show subs via Hdmi in software decoding mode is MXPlayer. I manage to play 720p mkv with subtitles and all was smooth.
Someone here said that we want much from a tablet, and if you wish a home HD player buy one like popcorn but that is another 300 bucks
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
Hi!
Same here... I got my HDMI cable yesterday, and had to realize, that it's useless for me. I watch everything with subtitles, and with H/W Decoding it's simply a no-go.
Unfortunately, this is not an ASUS problem, but it has to do with the HDMI Mirroring implementation of ICS (some people are reporting, that there was no such problem with HoneyComb?).
I really do hope, that Google fixes this issue very soon (hopefully in JellyBean).
I tried out many-many videos, and the conclusion is, that most files play smooth with a max. resolution of 720p in software rendering mode, but I've had some .mkv files (SD, not HD!) with embedded subtitles which simply stopped after about 30-40min. (MX Player) and I had to restart the movie (fortunately I could seek, so I didn't have to watch it from the beginning).
My conclusion is, that 1080p simply won't work, it's just too much for software decoding to play & downsample it to 720p for the output.
PLEASE GOOGLE FIX THIS!
drunken_m said:
Hi!
Same here... I got my HDMI cable yesterday, and had to realize, that it's useless for me. I watch everything with subtitles, and with H/W Decoding it's simply a no-go.
Unfortunately, this is not an ASUS problem, but it has to do with the HDMI Mirroring implementation of ICS (some people are reporting, that there was no such problem with HoneyComb?).
I really do hope, that Google fixes this issue very soon (hopefully in JellyBean).
I tried out many-many videos, and the conclusion is, that most files play smooth with a max. resolution of 720p in software rendering mode, but I've had some .mkv files (SD, not HD!) with embedded subtitles which simply stopped after about 30-40min. (MX Player) and I had to restart the movie (fortunately I could seek, so I didn't have to watch it from the beginning).
My conclusion is, that 1080p simply won't work, it's just too much for software decoding to play & downsample it to 720p for the output.
PLEASE GOOGLE FIX THIS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly...made my dream to play movies on my HD tv via Prime impossible.. would love this to be fixed in the near future. maybe someone who tried a jelly bean tablet with hdmi could tell us if it works there.

[A] Choppy Video Playback

First thread and post! Hello everyone!
I have not found the solution to this problem on any thread on any forum yet, but here it is (with some back story)!
I had just got a Tab 10.1 P7510 (wifi only retail) running Honeycomb 3.2. To my dismay, video playback was choppy no matter what format I wanted to play, no matter what player I tried (MX, Dice, Mobo or whatever it is, native Video, etc).
I read here and/or elsewhere that Touchwiz was the culprit.
I read here and/or elsewhere that videos not encoded by a strict set of rules was the cuplrit.
Poppycock! I can play all the same videos on my Casio Commando in MX and on my kids' Archos 101 Gen8 tablets without a hitch using the stock video player. FLV, H.264 MP4, Xvid/Divx AVI, MP3, AAC, AC3. Doesn't matter! However, any video format I played on my SGT was choppy.
I was thoroughly frustrated by this point, as you can imagine.
To get around Touchwiz I flashed CleanROM Rewind 1.0 (HC 3.1). Problem solved! Except now when my Tab would go to sleep, waking it up presented scrambled video output, requiring a cold boot. I flashed CleanROM 1.2 (HC 3.2) and so, back to choppy video.
THE PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
The problem, as I serendipitously discovered it, was HARDWARE rendering! All I had to do was turn on software rendering in MX and suddenly my SD videos are playing smoothly, regardless of how they were encoded.
I didn't bother with the other video players because they did the same thing as MX, so I safely assume that those players have the option to switch between HW and SW rendering.
I hope this helps some folks out there!
As an aside, thanks to all of you in the Android community for helping me solve most of my other problems!
EDIT: I only had to enable software rendering, not turn off hardware rendering (I don't think you can disable HW rendering). In the case of MX Video Player, it appears that it will use HW or SW as it sees fit.

Galaxy S3 and HDTV adapter.

I recently bought the HDTV Adapter for my S3 and so far it served its purpose except for one thing, video playback (.MKV to be exact) soft subs. They do not show on my big screen for some reason as if it was splitting my phone and giving it a second monitor but not showing exactly what's on my phone's screen. Any way to make it so my soft subs display on my big screen through the HDTV Adapter?
I don't know which program you're using, but I can tell you from my experience with MX Player that if you use the software decoder, the subtitles will appear on your external screen.
If you're using BS Player, go to Preferences -> Decoding mode and choose Hardware Decoding Mode (system). For me, using this or the software decoder worked perfectly.
It's just a matter of fiddling with the settings.
Hope I could help.
Cheers
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
I tried and actually worked with MX Player but terrible video instability and lag issues followed with both 1080p and 720p videos, will have to keep looking.
This is a known bug. please vote to get it fixed.
I got the same issue across all players (bsplayer, mobo,mx, vlc, etc. you name it) on an Asus TF700T/ICS.
As someone who prefers to watch their HD-high-bitrate-movies in Originalton, meaning original soundtrack and not their own language,
on an external screen (beamer,TV) hardware-decoding and subtitles are often mandatory.
Please Vote(star) here to get OHAP's attention: code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=32564

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