* Update *
Youtube Video Samples below for comparison - some compression artifacts showing there, not from the sony tablet playback (it was flawless on either mode), most likely youtube recompression tools
Hi,
I bought one of these tablets just yesterday - 16GB version - and so far I'm extremely pleased with it! Typing is a breeze, image quality is superb, gaming is pretty decent even for 3D, I bought Riptide GP after upgrading Honeycomb to 3.2, but I'm having issues with HD mkv playback.
Basically, watching 720p or 480p even (anime mkv files) I get jerky video playback when the movie player is set to HW mode. The jerks are subtle and steady, but mostly noticeable especially on panning scenes. If I change the player settings to SW or Fast SW, playback is smooth but slightly less quality there (but totally fine though). I've tried several players other than the built-in video player and results are the same.
HD flash plays OK, so I don't think this is a hardware performance issue, probably some HW / codec compatibility issue....
Can anyone else confirm this? Horriblesubs releases (Naruto Shippuuden / Fairy Tail).
SD xvid releases play just fine, both HW and SW settings on the player.
Better .h264 codec support perhaps?
(apparently, not .h264!)
Oh, and quite pleased with the fact that video files can in fact be played directly from the SD card, without having to copy them to the internal memory storage!
I tried posting from the XDA free app in the Market, but somehow, it crashes everytime I try to post from it, so I'm using the android browser - already submitted a report.
Video Info:
Codec 4CC: AVC1
Image Size: 1280x720
Frame Rate: 23.976 fps
Global Motion Compensation: No
packet Bitstream: No
Quarter Pixel: No
Audio:
Codec: AAC
Channels: Stereo
Bitrate: 16000 Bps / 128 Kbps
Variable Bitrate: No
Frequency: 44100 Hz
SW Mode (Fast): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiAj80cC0s8
HW Mode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AXWH3RE-R4
wickwire said:
Hi,
I bought one of these tablets just yesterday - 16GB version - and so far I'm extremely pleased with it! Typing is a breeze, image quality is superb, gaming is pretty decent even for 3D, I bought Riptide GP after upgrading Honeycomb to 3.2, but I'm having issues with HD mkv playback.
Basically, watching 720p or 480p even (anime mkv files) I get jerky video playback when the movie player is set to HW mode. The jerks are subtle and steady, but mostly noticeable especially on panning scenes. If I change the player settings to SW or Fast SW, playback is smooth but slightly less quality there (but totally fine though). I've tried several players other than the built-in video player and results are the same.
HD flash plays OK, so I don't think this is a hardware performance issue, probably some HW / codec compatibility issue....
Can anyone else confirm this? Horriblesubs releases (Naruto Shippuuden / Fairy Tail).
SD xvid releases play just fine, both HW and SW settings on the player.
Better .h264 codec support perhaps?
Oh, and quite pleased with the fact that video files can in fact be played directly from the SD card, without having to copy them to the internal memory storage!
I tried posting from the XDA free app in the Market, but somehow, it crashes everytime I try to post from it, so I'm using the android browser - already submitted a report.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having the same problem you described? Is this typical on all android tablets?
Looks like i'll need to convert unfortunately... I wonder if there is an app for that.
Unless it is a codec issue and there is an alternative codec or fix..
I'm curious, do you feel the quality between HW mode and either SW mode available to be that worse? I'm using SW for now on these particular files, I was thinking about converting the files original formats but SW still seems pretty good I think! I will try to snapshot the differences and post them here!
Hadn't noticed before, the tablet comes with 3 HD sample videos inside all play just fine, no jerks - seems more and more like a specific codec compatibility issue with tegra possibly, to me...
A software issue. I can play videos fine on my Jetstream and Ipad2 which play badly on the tablet S.
So it isn't an android issue.
For MKV playback try DicePlayer and install the Diceplayer plugin for tegra.
Try the trial version to see it meets your requirements (before buying).
----- snip -----
Diceplayer uses HW video decoder.
It use HW video decoder at various containers and audio codecs combination. ( H.264/AC-3/MKV, H.264/DTS/MKV , H.264/AAC/MOV )
-------------------
yhzhrm said:
For MKV playback try DicePlayer and install the Diceplayer plugin for tegra.
Try the trail version to see it meets your requirements (before buying).
----- snip -----
Diceplayer uses HW video decoder.
It use HW video decoder at various containers and audio codecs combination. ( H.264/AC-3/MKV, H.264/DTS/MKV , H.264/AAC/MOV )
-------------------
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried it, perfect playback with the plugin - bought it already, many thanks!
yeah DicePlayer indeed the best HW accelerated player in the market... support MKV, AC3 audio codec, subs... wooot
exkaizen said:
yeah DicePlayer indeed the best HW accelerated player in the market... support MKV, AC3 audio codec, subs... wooot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I tried out MX player too but found that DicePlayer had smoother playback.
Working container / video / audio combo and easy conversion
I've tested several combinations of container / video / audio formats with several players. First of all, I didn't notice any significant differences in playback quality between the players I tried, but I might not have tried Dice player for all of the combos.
I did try MX Video Player, mVideoPlayer, MoboPlayer and BS Player Lite, with a 720p h264 encoded video track at about 3000 kbps. For all players, I found the SW decoding modes to insufferably slow and jerky - I assume a lower bitrate in the video track might fix that. Per hardware acceleration, the video always played fine (when it played at all, see format details below).
These combos did NOT work:
mkv/mp4 container, h264 encoded video, mp3 audio
mkv container, h264 encoded video, ac3 audio (plays the video hw accelerated, but doesn't play the sound at all)
mkv container, h264 encoded video, aac audio
The only combo that did work flawlessly was this:
mp4 container, h264 encoded video, aac audio
I now had the problem that my standard video encoding tool, handbrake, cannot transcode files without also recoding the video file - and why would I want to recode the video when usually it's a h264 encoded video that will play with the right container & audio? The easiest way to transcode such a file is to use ffmpeg - I did this under linux, but it should work the same for Windows:
Code:
ffmpeg -i INPUTFILE.mkv -vcodec copy -acodec libfaac -ab 160k -ar 48000 -async 48000 OUTPUTFILE.mp4
I couldn't figure out a way to easily transcode mkv files where the video track has a variable bitrate (VFR) - I had to recode those with handbrake. If anyone has a simpler method that doesn't involve avisynth / is available for linux, I'd be happy to hear it.
DicePlayer rocks. I tried various apps but only did DicePlayer works. Tested with a 1080 h.264 movie and the quality was STUNNING! Definitely worth the money
By the way, Honey does not support H.264 natively so most of the players out there won't work
zenithz said:
DicePlayer rocks. I tried various apps but only did DicePlayer works. Tested with a 1080 h.264 movie and the quality was STUNNING! Definitely worth the money
By the way, Honey does not support H.264 natively so most of the players out there won't work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up and for the good news! Downloading now!
Anyone have any luck getting the View or Flyer to play 720p mkv files? Using mx video player, the files will play for a few seconds, then the player freezes. Shows that it is using hardware decoding in the few seconds before the freeze. If I quickly switch it to SW fast decoding, it will play but the CPU can't keep up so the playback is jerky.
The same files played fine on my OG Epic with HW decoding (obviously I know hummingbird <> snapdragon) and my ET4G. They also stream just fine to my PS3, so I'm pretty sure it's not the files. Anyone else have any ideas?
My workaround right now is just to handbrake the files to 1024x600 mp4 files (which play just fine with the hardware decoder, just adds an extra step that takes awhile even with my 3.2ghz C2Q).
Have you tried a different video player? I hear MoboPlayer is quite good.
nubyw00tz said:
Have you tried a different video player? I hear MoboPlayer is quite good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should have specified that I tried mobo and rockvideo player. The others either don't work at all (rock) or didn't handle DTS audio (mobo).
I think you need to compress the files in Handbrake (try keeping it at 1280x720). I wonder if its just the file size that's the problem. It makes sense more powerful phones/devices can handle them. Perhaps the tablet just can't handle it. I haven't yet received my View, but I think the View just can't handle the videos you are using.
I'm using mx player and can play 720p x264 encoded videos in mkv containers smoothly.
Hi,
I am playing a 720p mkv movie with subtitles without any problems on the prime using Dice (or BSplayer), but when I connect it to my tv via HDMI, the subtitles just won't display on the tv and stick on the prime's screen!
Is there any way to see the subtitles on tv also? One of the reasons I bought the TF201 was for HD movies on my tv, but since I am watching with subtitles everytime..
If anybody found a solution to this problem, let me know!
Thanks!
I have the same problem, if anybody have solution... please share the knowledge. Thanks
The only solution for now is to reencode the movie with hard subs...aka encode them into the video images. There isn't a player yet that supports the mkv or other style pluggable subs over HDMI.
rand4ll said:
The only solution for now is to reencode the movie with hard subs...aka encode them into the video images. There isn't a player yet that supports the mkv or other style pluggable subs over HDMI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, that is not entirely correct. It's not the players fault. The subtitles are rendered as a separate layer over the movie, but ICS outputs only the movie stream with H/W Decoding (and the subtitles are on S/W side). This is IMHO a really nasty BUG in ICS. All media players are affected.
There is another way besides "burning" the subs into the movie: play the files with S/W Decoding instead of H/W (most players support this, such as MX Player, Mobo, BSplayer). The downside: S/W decoding is much harder on the CPU, the tablet gets more warm (not to worry), it drains the battery faster. But the worst part is, that with S/W decoding you can play on max. 720p resolution. 1080p (and even some 720p files with a very high bitrate), are simply too much for S/W decoding.
Does anybody have that?
For example Apple has listed for its Ipad4
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG‑4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are these specs from samsung or google? When I had my Ipad 4, this helped GREATLY with converting movies to the proper format.
Rinzler said:
Does anybody have that?
For example Apple has listed for its Ipad4
Where are these specs from samsung or google? When I had my Ipad 4, this helped GREATLY with converting movies to the proper format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sort of a moving target.
The Exynos 5250 has native support for: MPEG-4/H.263/H.264 decoding and encoding and decoding only for (MPEG-2/VC-1 and VP8)
Source:
http://www.samsung.com/global/busin...t/application/detail?productId=7668&iaId=2341
BUT
The actual wrapper formats supported nativley and in what players depend on software support. Everything will play on the processor in software mode through a cpu decoder like FFMPEG being used by MX Player or BS Player from the market place (free). But software mode is not the most efficient mode and will drain the battery at a faster rate than native HW playback.
Here is what I know seems to work so far in the native player: MP4/H.264.
If anyone else has had native support with something else sound off. As to a spec sheet that is the best I can show you, but as I said it is not representative.
MrGrimace said:
Sort of a moving target.
The Exynos 5250 has native support for: MPEG-4/H.263/H.264 decoding and encoding and decoding only for (MPEG-2/VC-1 and VP8)
Source:
http://www.samsung.com/global/busin...t/application/detail?productId=7668&iaId=2341
BUT
The actual wrapper formats supported nativley and in what players depend on software support. Everything will play on the processor in software mode through a cpu decoder like FFMPEG being used by MX Player or BS Player from the market place (free). But software mode is not the most efficient mode and will drain the battery at a faster rate than native HW playback.
Here is what I know seems to work so far in the native player: MP4/H.264.
If anyone else has had native support with something else sound off. As to a spec sheet that is the best I can show you, but as I said it is not representative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to smoothly playback mp4's?
If you are..what frame rate and what avc works for you best?
Step 1: download MXplayer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad&hl=en
Step 2: make sure your content isn't 10-bit (hint: most likely it isnt)
Step 3: Your content will play. Basically 99% of regular content will work. To be honest, I cant think of anything that hasnt worked for me, and I play high-bitrate anime with advanced substitle scripts (ASS-subs). It works fine.
Rinzler said:
Are you able to smoothly playback mp4's?
If you are..what frame rate and what avc works for you best?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Most of the MP4s I have tried are H.264 standard 30fps and up to 1080P. All worked on the native player
For other's experiences with MP4s up to 60fps and 1440p see this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1995176
If you are using a player like MX Player and are trying to play an Mp4 Muxed into an MKV then the video will play with hardware and you can select software for the audio (right now. this may improve in the future).
As the other poster said. Almost everything will play with MX Player. It is just a question of whether it is played using HW codecs or SW Codecs. HW codecs use built in decoding capabilities on the chip to vastly reduce the workload on the processor. SW decodes everything on the processor and then pushes it to the screen. The only difference between the two from a user perspective is efficiency and battery usage. (and on super-res files there may sometimes be slowdown in SW mode)
To be honest I have tried everything from mkvs to rms to movs to wmvs on MX Player and ALL have played successfully in the SW player.
First what is H/W+ Decoding in Some Video Players?
Second, i heared that Some Video Formats are Decoded S/W which means decoded by CPU while Others decoded H/W so it's Graphic Card
So what Video Formats use S/W and Who uses H/W?
I actually have Xperia U and trying to Play 1080p video and i never had a lag until the ICS update it's horiblly laggy and CPU is 100% always Using MX Player and video format is MP4:crying: