video on mobilepro 900c

has anyone had any success doing good (decent) video on the 900c?

wince.net 4.2, pocket video (unfortunately for some reason I can't make a divx conversion, any ideas?)

I'd love to be able to watch short videos or even longer ones but what I've seen so far makes it seem problematic.

I'm looking for ideas on frames per second, quality settings etc. Anything to get video to work at an acceptable level (even if not great, I'm talking better than 5 frames a minute

Thanks!
Guyturf

Have you tried PocketDVD?

erm.. 900C specifically? betaplayer or maybe mediaplayer could be ok but i haven't tried it yet. i know even less about other players.
i'm not too sure about betaplayer though.. do you get the screen problem (darkening) with it?

as for video conversion/compression..
pocketdvd (not free but cheap - with settings for hpc's!)
pocketdivxencoder (free - settings for ppc's only)
virtualdub for more advanced users (free but you have to figure out things for yourself..)

you shouldn't specify a high bitrate and i think a lot less than 24 fps will be enough for a dstn screen.. so that you can watch higher quality video (more bits for one frame) Pocketdvd (i'm talking about the developer) recommended 8 fps. (don't worry it won't be a slideshow as it is only a slow dstn screen)
i prefer watching video full screen on a hpc.. but if you don't mind less resolution then the bitrate can be higher

sorry that's about all i can say.. i'm no expert myself

Did I hear my name?

I have had a mp900 for a while that I used for developing the 'screenrating' stuff for PocketDVD. and based on the benchmarks from Betaplayer/TCPMP, the most optimal fps is around 8 fps for 640x240 resolution. (this is true fullscreen, made this way by using the offset sliders to slice off slightly more of the video then just the black bars.
if you go for a normal widescreen with just the black bars sliced off, screenrating will adjust the framerate to the optimum value. a 320x240 movie will play good on 15 fps, a 520x240 ( close to non-sliced widescreen) will be around 10.

in less technical wording. The DSTN screens can only change so many pixels per second. This is the screenrating value. This setting is totaly independent from the video bitrate, the other determing factor for image quality. My MP900 could only handle 160kbps for the video, but I am assuming that the MP900C can go over 200 without any issues. However, both have the same screen, so the screenrating should be around the same.

I hope this helps.

on the www.pocketdvd.ca website is more detailed information to be found, concerning both the screenrating stuff and the offset stuff, including suggestions/screenshots for 640x240 devices



A lower framerate does result in a better image quality. an example.

20 fps - 200kbps video equals in 10 kb per frame.
if we go to 8 fps to make it full screen, we can actually get the same image quality per frame by using only 80kbs for the video quality.

more practicaly, using the default bitrate of 160kbps for the video (recommended and tested for j720/mp900(non-c) on a fullscreen 640x240 resolution on 8fps will have the same quality per frame as a 480kbps video file.

I have 2 devices, a ppc (ipaq 2210) and a hpc (j720) and eventhough my Ipaq can play even normal 700mb dvd rips without issues, I still prefer my own ripped dvd's optimized for the HPC playing on 8fps.

Edited by PocketDVD 2005-07-29 11:14 PM

PocketDVd, is your code optimized for a SSTN screen liike my mips 6651? I can already play the stuff ripped for ppc with pretty goods results. 320x240 hig motion chops a bit. Anything smaller or slower plays fine. I can play 770mb rips at 50% size with acceptable quality.

PocketDVD has numerous adjustments to basicaly suit any device screen or resolution.

If you watch a movie on a DSTN screen, the screen itself is not capable of displaying all the frames of a movie in normal way. Due to the slow update time of the screen, if a movie is played on 24/30 fps on the screen, the first frame is still visible on the screen while the second one is already being send to the screen, and on and on.

By adjusting the framerate to try to match the screen refresh rate, you can get a better quality playback of the movie, but the fewer fps the movie, do reduce the overall smoothness of the movie a little. However, in trade for the fewer fps, more bits are availiable for each single frame, resulting in a sharper image in return.

Since HPC devices use the devices processor to actually display the frames, a simple benchmark of a file in betaplayer/tcpmp will provide you with the capabilities of your device. the screenrating number is calculated by multiplying the width,height and the played fps values in the benchmark, and when you use this value with PocketDVD, AND enable the use screenrating checkmark, PocketDVD will adjust the framerate automaticaly to produce the best results.

Newer devices, with higher cpu power and tft screens do not have use for screenrating though.

All the adjustments are up to you. The program does not force you into using the settings that I use, but it does pay off by playing with a few different settings to get the best quality for your device.

Ty, AFAIK, my 6651 has either a gdi subsystem or dedicated video memory, or both.
I'll d/l a demo (if there is one) and give it a spin. Maybe I'll get in video for those long dull travel times.

what do you want here... your Intermec has TFT not dstn..

Couple of questions for pocket dvd...

I wonder why I can't convert to pocket divx? Just get the quick cmd window and it closes doing nothing.

I also would like to know why I get a weird error.

It says " is not a valid integer value.

any ideas?

thanks!

Yea, I meant that but typed the other Long weekend over here, I'm having too much fun already

Guyturf,

The * integer error is a known bug, it is not serious, it's mainly due to text field input errors. It's been addressed in PocketDVD.ca's next release.

The PocketDivX error, that could be several things. What is the literal file name and file extension of the input file that you are using (if PocketVideo) or what is the DVD that you are trying to convert (if PocketDVD).

If you hit the preview button, what happens... do you see the video in full? or does it shell out?

Please have a look on the support forum: www.pocketdvd.ca/mforum

Concerning interer value, it depends what you are trying to convert. if you are trying to convert a home made dvd, it can cause issues, retail dvds should work easely.
If you have the XVID codec installed on your computer, you will have to make sure that the DIVX codec is set to be used for generic mpeg4. this is explained in the manual in the second screenshot.

I need a few more details to be able to resolve your issue.

The HPC:FACTOR forums are not really meant for support on PocketDVD though.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest.
I can understand that the PocketDVD team want to get a repository of information going though.

But as said, doesn't bother me.

Well, I was able to convert a video with Pocket DVD and it looks great, but now I can't get pocket video to convert a short video to divx or any of the other options either. I just get a quick box pop open and close so fast I can't read it.

Any ideas?

Guyturf.

P.S. I would love to find a way to keep my screen from blanking while playing back a video. Doesn't seem to matter whether it's plugged in or not

Its easier for me to keep track of the issues with PocketDVD. looking through multiple forums to find these issues can be quite time consuming, as well as solutions might already be availiable on the PocketDVD message forum.

Concerning PocketVideo. It basicaly is totaly codec independent when converting to DIVX. if it previews, it will convert it, plain and simple. However, one of the known issues is that if the XVID codec is installed (koepies binary version) in default method, it is basicaly set to use xvid for generic mpeg4. this can cause crashes with the divx conversion.
If the conversion screen closes right after activation, it could be that the settings can not be handled properly, and you might want to try different settings. In the last case, please let me know the settings you are using, so I can resolve this issue.