Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

I have rendered a 15sec (25fps) 800x480 video in som different codecs and bitrates just for testing purposes to see how well they play on any device. There is a timecode counting each frame so keep an eye on that to see if you get any slow downs or dropped frames.

Quicktime (h.264)
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...4_1000kbps.mp4 <- 1000kbps
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...4_2000kbps.mp4 <- 2000kbps
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...4_3000kbps.mp4 <- 3000kbps

Xvid
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...d_1000kbps.avi <- 1000kbps
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...d_2000kbps.avi <- 2000kbps
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...d_3000kbps.avi <- 3000kbps

Divx 6.8.5 Preset: "Home Theater"
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...ter_preset.avi

Windows Media Video v9
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...9_1000kbps.wmv <- 1000kbps
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...9_2000kbps.wmv <- 2000kbps
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...9_3000kbps.wmv <- 3000kbps

Adobe Flash 9 (h.264), 1.5Mbit VBR f4v
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...4_1500kbps.f4v <- 1500kbps VBR

DVD PAL (720x576) mpeg2
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...6pal_mpeg2.mpg <- 4000kbps

ZIP WITH ALL 36.5mb
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...video_test.zip

I tested them all on my n810 with mplayer with this scientific result:

• Quicktime h.264 - very slow on all bitrates
• Xvid - good in 1000kps. I see slight slowdown in beginning
• Divx - good
• wmv - very slow and frame dropping (runs good when no motion)
• f4v h.264 flash - very very slow
• DVD - ok

Good isnt perfect at all here. Considering it is an old device I am really happy it actually played all files even though slow. My conclusion on this is that mplayer has very good arm code for Mpeg4-part2 (xvid and divx) but not so much for the newer mpeg4-part10 (h.264). Same goes to wmv.

Im looking forward in seeing n900 test results to see if it goes through them all flawless. Interesting to see if hardware accelertion kicks in on all of the h.264 ones. If it does I will make a 720p HD of this and let try that too.

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

Only the divx / xvid and dvd run in the built-in media player, everything else fails with "media format not supported."

The DVD / DivX versions played flawlessly.

The 3000 kbps xvid stuttered around 5 seconds the first time, around 9 seconds the second time, and not at all after that. That suggests that my external class 6 microSD wasn't being read fast enough to keep up, but once the data was cached, it was fine. I'm worried about the data transfer rates with the SD card, honestly... There seems to be something wrong. I hope it is my card, not the device.

I will install VLC, currently the fastest alternative that I know of, and report my findings.

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

Qole, you're using what device for this test?? (And if the N900, I guess you might as well include the OS.)

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

Is there a mplayer build out yet?

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

Hmh, interesting.. I wonder if Quicktime plays if change file extension to .avi? It is a h.264 compression and should play afaik. Also I thought wmv9 would play by the default? from maemo.nokia.com:

Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

I tried with vlc. The "unsupported media type" files play in VLC, but they play terribly. The FLV one plays a few frames at the beginning and a few frames from the middle. The rest play the video but full of stutters and freezes.

The video might be the wrong dimensions... I know the internal camera saves .mp4 video at 848x480, approx 3000 kb/s. Maybe try those dimensions?

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

Honestly this is abit dissappointing.. but I am sure when software gets sorted it will be fine..

Here some more for you to test..

Quicktime h264 848x480:
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...4_3000kbps.mp4 <- 848x480 @ 3000kbps

Another codec:
Mainconcept h264/AVC encoder: (bundles with lots of video tools)
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...0_3000kbps.mp4 <- I left it at its Standard Definition state: 720x480 @ 3000kbps

And yet another codec
http://www.h264encoder.com/ a free h264 encoder for windows:
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...er_800x480.mp4 <- 800x480
http://castus.dnsalias.com:8080/shar...SD_640x480.mp4 <- Standard setting 640x480

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

joppu: there's an mplayer build out, but as far as I know, it is not optimised for ARM and so it isn't terribly good for demanding playback.

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

claesbas,

I tried your videos on my N900. As others wrote, the built-in Media player only played DivX and XviD, while attempts to play other file formats resulted in a message about "unsupported file format".

However, I also installed MPlayer (and KMPlayer as a GUI/frontend for it) and checked your videos with it. Mplayer played back *ALL* your videos except for MPEG-2 (which loaded but instantly crashed the player). The Flash video seemed to play just a little bit slower than other formats (it was not "frame dropping" but kind of very slight "slow motion") but all other formats played just fine, at the highest bitrate you made available.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Michal Jerz
My-Symbian.com
My-Maemo.com (coming soon)

Re: Testing videos (different codecs & kbps)
 

Wow. That's cool. Last time I tried Fremantle mplayer (a month ago?), it wasn't very good.

I should look at mplayer again! :eek: