Develop Bugs

[Q] MKV Player Problem

So I've recently started watching shows again and I've wanted to find a great MKV player that works well on the Dinc. Only problem I'm having is the actual playback, is the Dinc not suited for mkv playability?
When I use Rockplayer, its really choppy on the different files. And the sound doesn't seem to sync up all that well, a bit on the laggy side. I know the hardware isn't really suited for video playability but it seems to do pretty well on avi's and mp4's and the sort. MKV seems to be the popular type among others, but it isn't handled well by the phone.
Should I just convert my videos to the "lower" format? Does anyone have a good reccomendation for an MKV player or settings of the sort?
Thanks in advance!

I tried RockPlayer today, too, and was disappointed in it. Seems that I'll be transcoding my files to AVI with h264 or some such. It might help to remove unnecessary language tracks, subs, etc. If you don't plan on using another screen to view the files, downsizing to 720x480 would be a great help, if the source files are larger.

Have you tried VPlayer? it is in alpha right now, but I haven't had a problem with it playing anything. Although I haven't tried a HD movie file.

When I had the Original Motorola Droid 1 I used both RockPlayer and arcMedia.
When I tested .mkv files with arcMedia, it played really smooth.
Look for arcMedia in the market and let us know if it works out better for you.

g00s3y said:
Have you tried VPlayer? it is in alpha right now, but I haven't had a problem with it playing anything. Although I haven't tried a HD movie file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VPlayer seems like the closest possible. Once it gets better I'll definitely use it. But right now, its not so good because its pretty choppy. For one of my dual audio files, it plays a screechy sound, but it'll get better. I'll leave the creator some feedback and such but, I like it.
FranzVz said:
When I had the Original Motorola Droid 1 I used both RockPlayer and arcMedia.
When I tested .mkv files with arcMedia, it played really smooth.
Look for arcMedia in the market and let us know if it works out better for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works somewhat well, but when I play videos, they're still choppy and the sound isn't synced either. Better than Rockplayer in terms of playing mkv files but maybe it might also be the size of the file itself that is causing the problems.
500mb does seem like quite a bit to process. But...a contradiction lies with the fact that Rockplayer and others can play large avi/mp4 files? Gah, I guess I'll just wait for updates or something, convert some of my files. >_>

Check out CorePlayer on Twitter. Their tweets indicate that it will be released very soon.
I've been waiting for this since I made the switch from Windows Mobile to Android. It should be extremely stable and play everything.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

mkv files are a problem in general. Most of my files are in .avi. I have a 1.4 gb dream theater concert that runs fine on arcmedia, but again its not an mkv.
We have VLC Mobile to look forward to early 2011 lol
Sent from my Droid Incredible using XDA App

[Q] Best video format?

i've never really watched videos on my phones (mostly due to screen size etc) but i figure now that I have the Galaxy Nexus i could watch a few things on it..
What would be the best video format to convert things to? I dropped an avi of a tv program onto it and it worked but it lagged a bit..

I just converted something to an HD mp4 using Permute for Mac, it bumped the filesize up about 100mb but tested it and it runs smooth in QuickPic or PlayerPro but when trying to use the built in video player (to get the true full screen) it plays for a second, stutters, then says it can't be played.. :S

has anyone managed to get moboplayer working ? says i need an arm7 neon codec - found that on their site ... followed instructions but it still wont work

Video playback may be a bit iffy until the apps are updated; one of the Diceplayer mob posted saying that it now supports HD playback for .mkv. They didn't mention .avi but that generally needs less resources than .avi so you could try your avi in Diceplayer.
The general trend in open source video development is towards .mkv, I'm trying that first.

I'd be surprised if much works well right out of the gate. The true beta is when the masses begin tinkering

vplayer seems to play avi nicely

Ill have to try it out.. downloading now

I've got the same question. And I don't mean what other player can I download to play movies. I mean what format can I encode videos in to get them to play in the native player. I did find the article below. I have tried each of these formats with no luck. Anyone know why Android can't play a movie out of the box?
http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html
And I also tired MoboPlayer with no luck.

pretty much if you use a baseline .mp4 format you will be fine
basically:
h.264 video
LC-AAC audio
no CABAC
and you should be fine up to 1080p these settings work on all my android devices
just set mpeg 4 level 4 and it should take care of it by itself

noobdeagle said:
pretty much if you use a baseline .mp4 format you will be fine
basically:
h.264 video
LC-AAC audio
no CABAC
and you should be fine up to 1080p these settings work on all my android devices
just set mpeg 4 level 4 and it should take care of it by itself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks noobdeagle,
I have tired those settings on several encoders (handbrake, Adobe Media Encoder, Magic DVD ripper) and still no success. What software are you using to encode? and have you tried the movies on the galaxy nexus? Because I have never had a problem on any other Android devices. Just this one.
cj

gave up re-encoding videos.
vplayer has played everything ive thrown at it so far. the built in movie player seems very limited.

wilbur-force said:
gave up re-encoding videos.
vplayer has played everything ive thrown at it so far. the built in movie player seems very limited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the feedback but I have two problems with this particular advice.
1 - Have you seen the permissions for that player? Why would a video player need access to my "Phone calls - Read phone status and identity" and "Your personal information - Read sensitive log data"? Really?
2 - Why the hell can't this phone play videos out of the box. <rant>I have, as I suspect a lot of us here do, a fair few friends that I would call iPhone fanboys. One of the biggest gripes I always hear about android is that every time you run into a problem on Android is the best answer is to root your phone and install cyanogen, or go get xxxx app and that will take care of it, or you should have bought this phone instead. So I get this phone and think that finally Android is going to hit the main stream and I can't even play a movie. WTF!</rant>
Like I said, I appreciate the feedback but I am still looking for a way to play a video in the default video player.
cj

chrisjaffe said:
Thanks noobdeagle,
I have tired those settings on several encoders (handbrake, Adobe Media Encoder, Magic DVD ripper) and still no success. What software are you using to encode? and have you tried the movies on the galaxy nexus? Because I have never had a problem on any other Android devices. Just this one.
cj
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no i have not tried on a galaxy nexus yet as that one week delay sim free means i wont be able to have mine in my hands untill at least next week :\,
i use mediacoder to encode videos, cant speak for the GN but ive used it for my xoom, nexus S, desire hd, htc legend and SGS 2 in the past (however SGS2 supported all codecs quite nicely anyway)
according to the android dev site the supported video list hasnt changed so this is quite strange.

noobdeagle said:
no i have not tried on a galaxy nexus yet as that one week delay sim free means i wont be able to have mine in my hands untill at least next week :\,
i use mediacoder to encode videos, cant speak for the GN but ive used it for my xoom, nexus S, desire hd, htc legend and SGS 2 in the past (however SGS2 supported all codecs quite nicely anyway)
according to the android dev site the supported video list hasnt changed so this is quite strange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. I will seek out and try mediacoder.
FYI...I got my GN SIM free from Phones 4U. It was not easy though. I went in to a few stores before finding one that would sell it to me SIM free. And I think that I happened upon the manager at the store that did sell it to me. What makes it even better is that I am in the UK on business for a few months and so I can get the VAT back on my way out. Which makes it nearly 90 quid cheaper.
Thanks again,
cj

seems as if media coder works. Though that is one complicated program. You could get lost in those settings for days.
Thanks again.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

chrisjaffe said:
seems as if media coder works. Though that is one complicated program. You could get lost in those settings for days.
Thanks again.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Format factory works and it's easy as to use.

Format factory does seem to work and is a little easier to use. Thanks. And just in time too because Mediacoder was having some trouble iwth a few of the vids I had.
cj

[Q] Video playback fluidity / support on GN and over MHL?

All the reviews I have seen so far completely ignore media playback on the GN, or give it only a passing mention.
I'm really interested to know how well it handles media playback - AVI, MKV etc both on it's own screen, and over MHL to an HDMI connected screen - along with which specific MHL adaptor was used.
The SGS2 and HTC Sensation for example seem similar in spec, but when detailed reviews started coming in, it was clear the SGS2 was far superior in terms of media playback - both formats supported and fluidity of playback.
I'd love to get a GN, but I really need to know if the media playback is 'great' - and by great I mean 100% fluid on any reasonable file (up to 720p movies for example) - no skips, no out of sync etc... I'd also really like to know how well the MHL works in playing movies back on an HDMI connected screen - is it the same in terms of fluidity? What audio is sent over the cable?
Unfortunately here in New Zealand the device isn't released so I can't go try one myself, or else I would have already!
I'm not afraid of buying a good app if that's what it takes to have perfectly fluid playback - love to hear experiences with both the native and 3rd party payers on the GN.
Cheers - Neil G

I would also like to know about this.
Thanks

Theres a Diceplayer thread that says MKV work well, ive tried the trial version of it with 1 720p tv episode and it looked great.
not got any hdmi cables so cant test that but looked great on the phone.
AVI wasnt as good tho with what looked like a low fps problem.
do a forum search for Diceplayer for a bit more info.

r3k0 said:
Theres a Diceplayer thread that says MKV work well, ive tried the trial version of it with 1 720p tv episode and it looked great.
not got any hdmi cables so cant test that but looked great on the phone.
AVI wasnt as good tho with what looked like a low fps problem.
do a forum search for Diceplayer for a bit more info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea and the developer posted something about fixes for AVI, so that bug should be gone soon. Diceplayer might be the best choice for GN as of now.
EDIT: Actually MX Player seems to be updated and people are reporting better playback than Diceplayer: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362375

It works fine over MHL and on Diceplayer, i've recorded a video of it.
Uploading atm, I have poor upload speed so it'll be a while till I can link you.

Help please
I really want to buy this phone but i'm waiting to see how the volume issue resolves. But one of my major considerations is video playback. I have a huge collection of blu ray rips(1080p and 720p) and most of them are .mkv; does the galaxy nexus natively support .mkv files? Is there any file size limit on videos i put in the device?(the rips range from 3gb to 10gb). I know that the galaxy nexus doesn't support USB mass storage... does that stop me from transferring natively unsupported file types to the phone? Any help would be greatly appreciated

I believe Nexus does have USB storage.
For the MKV, it does play them natively, can you post a short sample? We could then give it a try. Two players are supposed to be able to play with hardware acceleration: Diceplayer and MX Player.
From what I know, 720p is not a problem at all. 1080p, might depend on bitrate and other things.

Finally got the video uploaded.
Includes play of 720p + 1080p files.
Good value imo, works well and doesn't look or feel too cheap.

Thanks for the video samples!
Thankyou sir, that's _exactly_ what I was looking for. I think I see some jumpiness in the playback, but I suspect that's actually youtube's fault. Certainly seems to handle 720 and 1080 fine.
Could you link to the exact MHL adaptor your purchased please?
Cheers - Neil G

talkiet said:
Thankyou sir, that's _exactly_ what I was looking for. I think I see some jumpiness in the playback, but I suspect that's actually youtube's fault. Certainly seems to handle 720 and 1080 fine.
Could you link to the exact MHL adaptor your purchased please?
Cheers - Neil G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was checking out my friend's Galaxy Nexus and we noticed he had to install the codec pack on Android Market for MX Player before it allowed HW-accelerated playback of the specific clip he used, even though it played back fine in the stock player (though no sound). With the codec pack he could set it to HW for the video and SW for the sound. In the end it worked out great and I was surprised, considering the table of supported formats on developer.android.com didn't list MKV + h.264 as a supported format.

I've been using Dice Player and MX Video Player for 720P .mkv files on both my Thunderbolt and Rezound. The Thunderbolt had sync issues(even overclocked). With the Rezound, most of the time playback is fine, but occasionally will have a slight sync issue here & there.
Considering the specs of both the Nexus and the Rezound though, even with a possible 'stock' issue, it'd just be a matter of eventually loading a custom ROM & some minor modifications/tweaks here & there.

Another video demo (though not specifically of the Nexus). MHL is just mirroring so there's no difference in playback. If it works on the phone, it's exactly the same mirrored.
I can also confirm that it natively plays back AVIs (Xvid), sample: http://www.multiupload.com/GML7HC3HHM

schriss said:
I believe Nexus does have USB storage.
For the MKV, it does play them natively, can you post a short sample? We could then give it a try. Two players are supposed to be able to play with hardware acceleration: Diceplayer and MX Player.
From what I know, 720p is not a problem at all. 1080p, might depend on bitrate and other things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure i'll upload a sample or two in a bit. I know for sure it supports googles own mkv container(vp8 or something) but does it support mkv + h.264?

talkiet said:
Thankyou sir, that's _exactly_ what I was looking for. I think I see some jumpiness in the playback, but I suspect that's actually youtube's fault. Certainly seems to handle 720 and 1080 fine.
Could you link to the exact MHL adaptor your purchased please?
Cheers - Neil G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's off ebay, item no 220897013161.
Can get the same thing a bit cheaper from HK if you're prepared to wait a few weeks.
The jumpiness might have been because I had a lot of apps open at the same time, I just tried playing back the same files and they were perfectly smooth with only the browser open.

Again, thanks OP - really great info and I've just ordered and paid for a Galaxy Nexus from Clove
Cheers - Neil G

Just an update to the 'clipping' on the home screen, you need to switch OFF 'overscan' in the TV menu settings, it should look like this:
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/5277/img0427wt.jpg

whyamihere said:
Finally got the video uploaded.
Includes play of 720p + 1080p files.
Good value imo, works well and doesn't look or feel too cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice video mate

blunden said:
It was checking out my friend's Galaxy Nexus and we noticed he had to install the codec pack on Android Market for MX Player before it allowed HW-accelerated playback of the specific clip he used, even though it played back fine in the stock player (though no sound). With the codec pack he could set it to HW for the video and SW for the sound. In the end it worked out great and I was surprised, considering the table of supported formats on developer.android.com didn't list MKV + h.264 as a supported format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
witch codec plz ?

le_pere_noel said:
witch codec plz ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ARMv7 ones. It never complained about needing them but it worked after installing them.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mxtech.ffmpeg.v7_vfpv3d16

A.Ik said:
Sure i'll upload a sample or two in a bit. I know for sure it supports googles own mkv container(vp8 or something) but does it support mkv + h.264?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of my files are MKV x264. 720p plays in hardware perfectly. I don't have many 1080p to try. also, 1080 move plays almost perfectly.
The only 1080p mkv x264 I have doesn't play in hardware for some reason.
Edit: MX Player seems best for me.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

How To Play .MKV Movie Files on Your GS3

So I was googling this stuff and I came across a pretty great media player, it is called BS PLAYER
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bsplayer.bspandroid.free&hl=en
I also installed the CPU Support
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...tLmJzcGxheWVyLmJzcGxheWVyYW4uY3B1LmFybXY3diJd
I transferred a 3.3GB .mkv file and it plays perfectly fine at 24 fps, smooth as a whistle, the video only lags when you have the GUI up, once it goes away the video goes back to being 4.8" of HD GOODNESS.
Enjoy. :]

Stock player plays mkv perfectly fine. As for third party MX Player takes the cake.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

It does however with a file that has a DTS audio track, the stock player does not decode the sound so you get no audio
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Yeah the stock player has worked fine for me directly from the gallery. I was worried about loading .mkv files onto my phone but I figured I would just put them there and wait for VLC to hit a stable release but when I tried it on a whim it was butter smooth playback. (Note, the first time I tried this I was using the TuchMi 5.0 ROM with faux123's kernel overclocked to 1.8GHz)

Diceplayer has played anything Ive thrown at it
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

Hey I'm considering the S3, I had a question if you wouldn't mind answering. I was wondering what resolutions you all were playing these files at, and also if you happen to know or could check if the .mkv files were encoded in H.264 or Hi-profile H.264. The reason I ask is than I have downloaded tons and tons of anime and other files and most of them are encoded in Hi-profile h.264 MKV. I would appreciate any help, thanks.

acidtreat101 said:
Hey I'm considering the S3, I had a question if you wouldn't mind answering. I was wondering what resolutions you all were playing these files at, and also if you happen to know or could check if the .mkv files were encoded in H.264 or Hi-profile H.264. The reason I ask is than I have downloaded tons and tons of anime and other files and most of them are encoded in Hi-profile h.264 MKV. I would appreciate any help, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to a review on "anandtech" (I can't post a link due to the 10 post rule), the camera actually encodes recorded video in 1080p H.264 - High Profile. I know it's not mkv but at least this means it should support the format.

1080p high profile is no problem, you can also play back lower res 720p @ 60FPS, assuming you running stock based rom, CM, AOSP won't have media codecs.
Also flash this kernel Sammy ICS version.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1756776
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

dunkaskunk said:
According to a review on "anandtech" (I can't post a link due to the 10 post rule), the camera actually encodes recorded video in 1080p H.264 - High Profile. I know it's not mkv but at least this means it should support the format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah well .mkv is just a file container anyways, so as long as the video is encoded in that format, then that means it does have the support! Thanks for letting me know, I'll go find that review too.

Sorry to keep bothering you guys, just to confirm 100%, I was wondering if you could download the "Serenity – 720p “On HD DVD” Trailer" from this site. This file is giving my Atrix problems, audio wont sync up and video is really choppy. So if it works flawlessly on the S3 then I know this will be the phone I get.

acidtreat101 said:
Sorry to keep bothering you guys, just to confirm 100%, I was wondering if you could download the "Serenity – 720p “On HD DVD” Trailer" from this site. This file is giving my Atrix problems, audio wont sync up and video is really choppy. So if it works flawlessly on the S3 then I know this will be the phone I get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude are you serious? Two post up I told you gs3 can play 720p @ 60FPS and 1080p at up to 30fps no sweat.
That trailer is measly 1280×720 (720p), 23.967 FPS, and gs3 plays it without breathing.
Atrix is a gimp.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

VLC is amazing.

Downloading it now. I'll let you know how it goes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

raheelanwar89 said:
Downloading it now. I'll let you know how it goes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely VLC Beta.
It's the only app out of half a dozen I've tried that'll play 1080p h/w accelerated WITH DTS audio & subs.

I've been using vplayer to watch Doctor Who for the past week or so with no problems. And yes, they have the DTS sound track as well. No lag, no issues, all butter
Though methinks its only a free trial, so hopefully these other apps work just as well so I don't have to worry about having to pay for it.
Edit: VLC Beta really is awesome, plays mkv files with dts tracks perfectly. Thanks for the heads up!
Herp derp SGS3 Tapatalk 2

ghost77 said:
Dude are you serious? Two post up I told you gs3 can play 720p @ 60FPS and 1080p at up to 30fps no sweat.
That trailer is measly 1280×720 (720p), 23.967 FPS, and gs3 plays it without breathing.
Atrix is a gimp.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the Atrix can play other encoded videos at 1080p and even h.264 content at at least 720p...it only has a problem with specifically hi-profile encoded h.264 content. The atrix website claimed it can decode h.264 content, and it can, but not the hi-profile setting. Anyways, sorry I don't mean to sound like I am doubting you, I am just overly cautious. Thanks for letting me know.

chris198810 said:
Anyone here has the mkv playback problems on S3? I tried the Vplayer, #15 recommended, but the video and audio are out of sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tried mx player?

No 1080p Video Playback?

Do any of you guys use your Nexus 7 2013 for 1080p videos? It seems that my device isn't able to play 1-2 hr 1080p resolution videos at all through VLC. VLC has no problem playing 720p videos. For 1080p, I get audio but the video doesn't play at all. If I decrease play speed to something less than normal speed, the nexus is able to keep up and play it at a reduced speed, so I'm unsure if it's a VLC issue or if the nexus is just not capable of doing 1080p.
Let me know what your experiences are with 1080p video playback!

I can't recall ever having issues but I'm also not 100% certain I've ever played a 1080p video. I'll toss one on and test it in a little bit. Is it only VLC that's having the issue? And what format is the video you're trying to play? I assume you've tested multiple video files and also played them on another device to make sure it's not the files that are bad?

Just tested a 1080p movie with VLC and it worked fine.

The 1080p videos I tried to play are mp4 files. I don't know enough about videos to find out encoding these files are in (if that even matterS), but they're pretty large at 1.8GB and 1.6GB. I will try another 1080p video I downloaded a while ago.
Out of curiosity, what version of VLC are you running? Mine is VLC v0.9.10 Revision 630a95b (2014-10-16)

_MetalHead_ said:
Just tested a 1080p movie with VLC and it worked fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tested a different 1080p movie and it worked fine. I guess there's something wrong with some of these video files I have. Thanks for your help!

Yeah I figured that's all it was. Not sure what version VLC I'm on, but its the latest. Just reinstalled it the other day.

Try using Mx-player. So far it played everything I threw at it. (1080p)

ShannonAUT said:
Try using Mx-player. So far it played everything I threw at it. (1080p)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VLC is MUCH better than MX Player. It's pretty much the de-facto king of video players, on any platform. Besides, he already solved his problem, it was a bad file.

That might be true on other platforms but on Android I had it constantly crashing or not playing some files whereas mx-player played everything.
Just saying you could give it a try. I've been using vlc since way back on pc and I am still using it, just not on Android. (but granted I haven't tried the last release)