[Q] .mkv support via a third party app? - Windows Phone 8 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Good morning,
it seems like microsoft added a bunch of new video codecs in wp8 but no .mkv support.
i´m new to winphone but from my understanding there´s no 3rd party video player for winphone7 that supports it.
does anybody know the reason for that? and most important: is there any chance to see an app for that anytime soon or are there any development restrictions that would prevent that from ever happening?

Windows Phone 7 does not allow for Apps to consume external files. That would make an alternative Video player pretty much impossible. Another problem would be that most likely MKVs would not contain Codecs supported by the device and WP7 only allows for Managed Code which is not really what you would use to implement a Video Codec.
Windows Phone 8 on the other hand does allow for both: file associations and native code, so it's definitely doable. We'll have to wait and see wether someone will implement an according App though.

Support for MKV and all the other pirate bay friendly file formats is all that's keeping me from WP8

Related

Does anybody has problems with WMP 10?

Hi, let me ask you guys a question. Does anybody of you guys that have upgraded it to Windows Media Player 10, have any problems running it?. I been having problems when I open certain files, specially WMV and MP3, I though it was maybe a corrupt codec or something, but I recently did a fresh install of the Windows Media Edition 2005 on my laptop, and its been doing the same thing. It sucks cause I can't use the media player as I would want too. the files even play on my MDAII but the player crashes on my PC when I play these files!. I tried to find the solution, but I don't really know what's doing that, I even tried to run the Kazaa lite Mega codec pack, to see if it was a missing codec or something, same thing. Anybody has the same problems?, and/or have any solutions?
Yorch said:
Hi, let me ask you guys a question. Does anybody of you guys that have upgraded it to Windows Media Player 10, have any problems running it?. I been having problems when I open certain files, specially WMV and MP3, I though it was maybe a corrupt codec or something, but I recently did a fresh install of the Windows Media Edition 2005 on my laptop, and its been doing the same thing. It sucks cause I can't use the media player as I would want too. the files even play on my MDAII but the player crashes on my PC when I play these files!. I tried to find the solution, but I don't really know what's doing that, I even tried to run the Kazaa lite Mega codec pack, to see if it was a missing codec or something, same thing. Anybody has the same problems?, and/or have any solutions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problems so far Bro as a matter of fact I use WMP for loads of medias even DivX for example without having to install any third party codecs.
My guess is as good as yours - reinstall WMP10.
wmp 10 seems to have just ****ed my comp over all together!
Yo Yorch,
did u manage to fix your problem with wmp10?? because i got the same thing happening to mine..
Sounds like you either have a corrupted module in your graphics card drivers, your DirectX installation is a little screwy (Windows Media Player will try and use both to hardware-accelerate video decoding), or your Windows Media installation has gone a little screwy.
Either or. Maybe all three. I hate WMP10, I've so far avoided using it on my PC and I'm sticking with WMP9 for the time being - I still use Media Player 6.4 for all my proper video watching though
If you're having problems with codecs, it sounds actually like there could be a problem with your codec store too. You shouldn't use those codec packs, they clutter up your PC with WAY too many useless codecs, they install so many different filters and third party decoders your machine WILL (and does) slow down from parsing them all, adding their entries into the registry, loading them, registering them... Zzz. Best to keep your installations to a minimum, and use something like VLC - which uses the opensource ffmpeg and other free, opensource decoding classes to decode pretty much anything that's thrown at it. http://videolan.org to download that (it's a totally brilliant piece of software if all else fails, at least as a temporary workaround until you get your WMP problem fixed).
Of course, you still have Media Player Classic as another option too, google for that one.

[Q] Background apps and audio on WP8 - help?

I'm trying to make the switch to WP8 from my beloved Android for a few reasons: the awesome smoothness and fluidity of WP8, simplicity, less clutter. I have a new Nokia Lumia 810 on T-Mobile. Not too happy with the build quality but a new case helps overlook that.
But there is ONE thing I noticed, that will make me go back to my Android real quick: If an app is using audio on WP8, and it hides or goes to back (or whatever the correct term is), it stops playing the audio! So essentially if I'm streaming music or trying to sleep using the sounds of Sleep Bug etc, and I try to do something else like browse or FB, the audio stops until I go back and bring that app to the front.
Is this just how Windows Phone works or am I missing something? This is driving me crazy, using audio in background is a very important feature for me. I can deal with all the other little bugs of WP8 but I will get rid of this thing if I can't run audio while the app is not at front.
Any input on this? Much appreciated, thanks. I looked and looked but I really can't find anything on this issue anywhere...
Deeva said:
I'm trying to make the switch to WP8 from my beloved Android for a few reasons: the awesome smoothness and fluidity of WP8, simplicity, less clutter. I have a new Nokia Lumia 810 on T-Mobile. Not too happy with the build quality but a new case helps overlook that.
But there is ONE thing I noticed, that will make me go back to my Android real quick: If an app is using audio on WP8, and it hides or goes to back (or whatever the correct term is), it stops playing the audio! So essentially if I'm streaming music or trying to sleep using the sounds of Sleep Bug etc, and I try to do something else like browse or FB, the audio stops until I go back and bring that app to the front.
Is this just how Windows Phone works or am I missing something? This is driving me crazy, using audio in background is a very important feature for me. I can deal with all the other little bugs of WP8 but I will get rid of this thing if I can't run audio while the app is not at front.
Any input on this? Much appreciated, thanks. I looked and looked but I really can't find anything on this issue anywhere...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What applications are we talking here. Remember in Windows Phone there is a difference if you hit back and not the home button. So if you fire up some music make sure to hit the home button to make sure you do not suspend the app and stop the music.
If they are older apps not compiled for WP7.5/8 then it might not work but I think most if not all apps have been recompiled.
Bjd223 said:
What applications are we talking here. Remember in Windows Phone there is a difference if you hit back and not the home button. So if you fire up some music make sure to hit the home button to make sure you do not suspend the app and stop the music.
If they are older apps not compiled for WP7.5/8 then it might not work but I think most if not all apps have been recompiled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that is a good tip for Windows Phone use, because the back key on Android doesn't close out the app. Gotta get used to that. But I tried the home key and some apps still stop audio, example I use Sleep Bug and Soothr a lot. Sleep Bug will not play while other audio is running and Soothr WILL play while other audio is running but has to stay at front. It will stop playing even with home button only pressed. I guess this has to do with the way the apps are created? This will totally kill my desire to convert to WP8... :crying:
Deeva said:
Thanks, that is a good tip for Windows Phone use, because the back key on Android doesn't close out the app. Gotta get used to that. But I tried the home key and some apps still stop audio, example I use Sleep Bug and Soothr a lot. Sleep Bug will not play while other audio is running and Soothr WILL play while other audio is running but has to stay at front. It will stop playing even with home button only pressed. I guess this has to do with the way the apps are created? This will totally kill my desire to convert to WP8... :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps don't run in the background- they can have daemons which have limited functionality (minimizes battery and resource usage). So when an app is minimized, it is frozen, and it's ability to update live tiles/etc in the background is more or less independent of the running status of the app.
There is a system music player- apps can connect to it and direct music at it, and it will continue playing the music regardless of if the app is running. If the app doesn't use the system to play audio, then it is entirely within the app and thus gets frozen/killed with the app. If music apps are doing this to you, there are one of three reasons: the developer is retarded, the app is ancient, or the music content isn't supported by the system's player.
It depends on how the app was built. Apps can implement background audio agents, which can play music even when the app isn't running (be it tombstoned or inactive, or simply closed).
Other apps, like youtube, use a media element object to play what they play. These kind of apps are entirely dependent on being in the foreground. Usually, you can tell which app uses what by pressing the volume buttons: if the volume bar displays the music played by your app, it means you can safely go out of the app. If it doesn't, it means it is local, and leaving the app kills the player.
link68759 said:
There is a system music player- apps can connect to it and direct music at it, and it will continue playing the music regardless of if the app is running. If the app doesn't use the system to play audio, then it is entirely within the app and thus gets frozen/killed with the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This sounds terrible.
If this is true, it may be impossible to write a working music player, where working requires:
-gapless playback
-support of common audio formats
Since the system music player has neither.
I was planning to get a WP8 phone but if I will never be able to play my music even on a 3rd party app, I will definitely think again.
Can someone confirm or deny this?
CSMR said:
This sounds terrible.
If this is true, it may be impossible to write a working music player, where working requires:
-gapless playback
-support of common audio formats
Since the system music player has neither.
I was planning to get a WP8 phone but if I will never be able to play my music even on a 3rd party app, I will definitely think again.
Can someone confirm or deny this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm no dev, but yes, that sounds right; at the current time, unsupported formats means the app has to stay in the foreground.
I believe there is a dedicated decoder chip for supported audio formats, the usage of which saves battery (whereas the CPU decoding would be wasteful on the battery), so it's not just an arbitrary limitation. Unsupported formats can be decoded by the CPU, perhaps at the cost of better battery life. I don't think it's terribly significant though, because afaik android has no proprietary media decoding circuit and therefore all of its music operations use the battery suckin' CPU, and android phones don't just drop dead when playing music.
If you're just listening to music, there's no reason unsupported formats can't play in app while the screen is off and the phone in your pocket- you just can't multitask. There is currently only one flac player afaik and it sucks (also it's in Japanese so I have no idea what's happening).
I'm not so sure the system player doesn't support gapless.
I like my flacs as much as anyone, but no phone is going to have a good DAC where it'll actually be worth it. All you're accomplishing with flac on a phone is a false sense of satisfaction and wasting space- just convert what you want to MP3 or if you must, lossless WMA, or that weird HQ m4a format.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro
CSMR said:
This sounds terrible.
If this is true, it may be impossible to write a working music player, where working requires:
-gapless playback
-support of common audio formats
Since the system music player has neither.
I was planning to get a WP8 phone but if I will never be able to play my music even on a 3rd party app, I will definitely think again.
Can someone confirm or deny this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you need unsupported formats? As far as I know, WP8 supports quite a lot of formats. So unless you come up with some obscure algorithm nobody heard about, you shouldn't have any issues.
As for the built-in player...well...what the other guy said is partially true. Yes, you do direct music to it, but the player only plays the music. It is entirely up to the developer to decide how he directs the music. Hell, I think I can make it play music backwards with a little effort.
I all likelihood you won't need a third party app. And if you do, just hold on a few more weeks till I get mine done xD
mcosmin222 said:
Why would you need unsupported formats? As far as I know, WP8 supports quite a lot of formats. So unless you come up with some obscure algorithm nobody heard about, you shouldn't have any issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about any lossless codec ever, besides wma? You must not be an audiophile. I did say it's a waste of space (and it would be) but if you have space to spare, it'd be nice to not have to convert and manage an entire second library just for the phone.
I think you are terribly and unfortunately misinformed.
WP8 supports, as far as i know, every single codec available to the music industry. If there is one missing, that is .ogg.
take a look here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/ff462087(v=vs.105).aspx
So, codec support is really something you don't need to worry about, as opposed to Android.
mcosmin222 said:
I think you are terribly and unfortunately misinformed.
WP8 supports, as far as i know, every single codec available to the music industry. If there is one missing, that is .ogg.
take a look here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/ff462087(v=vs.105).aspx
So, codec support is really something you don't need to worry about, as opposed to Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You really don't know what you are talking about. At all.
Missing from that list are flac, alac, ogg, ape, wav, hell I don't even see wma lossless in there. So there is zero support for lossless audio codecs. Flac, ogg, and wav are very popular formats, so don't tell me they're obscure.
Missing from video is mkv and flv! extension support. mkv is pretty much the best container, but I'm not surprised it isn't supported. Video support is pretty good all things considered- though I'd like On2 decoding because those pop up with some frequency.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro
link68759 said:
You really don't know what you are talking about. At all.
Missing from that list are flac, alac, ogg, ape, wav, hell I don't even see wma lossless in there. So there is zero support for lossless audio codecs. Flac, ogg, and wav are very popular formats, so don't tell me they're obscure.
Missing from video is mkv and flv! extension support. mkv is pretty much the best container, but I'm not surprised it isn't supported. Video support is pretty good all things considered- though I'd like On2 decoding because those pop up with some frequency.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flv is a dieing format. If you want to play flash videos, use third party apps.
WAV is supported: my game uses WAV files for sounds, so it is supported.
OGG is indeed not there, i've already agreed to that.
As for MKV, microsoft has copyright issues with matroska, as do many video player developers, and that usually requires a dedicated player, or codecs provided directly by Matroska.
You also need to look at the specific processor type you are using. WP7.5 for example, does not support WMV, whereas most WP8 do.
With the real multitasking available to WP8, people can develop codecs for missing formats. The developers, however, need to know that they effectively have to change the way their application work, in order to run in the background all the time. You as user, also need to explicitly agree to said app running in the background. The same can't be said about WP 7.5 users, however
If you buy a WP8, you will be fine as far as music players in concerned. You might need to wait for a decent developer to make a proper player.
As a developer who has played around with this sort of stuff for Windows Phone, it is possible to write support for new formats in both WP7.x & WP8 but it isn't an easy task. You would have to implement a streaming audio application as written about here.

MKV and other formats?

Hi,
I've been an android user for ages, but I'm also a photographer and I'm very very intrigued by the Lumia 1020....but there is one particular thing that really keeps me from trying it...it's media player capabilities. I watch video on my android phone ALL the time. This is not an exaggeration. I watch videos going to and back from work, I watch videos when I'm waiting for a doctors' appointment (or any appointment). And the best part is that is nothing that Android won't play either straight away or simply by installing the right codec and a good player from the google app store (some of the best are free). I've the Lumia 1020 review and one of the main complaints were that there were A LOT of video formats and codecs that had to be converted before hand so the phone would play it. That is absolutely out of the question for me as sometimes I will copy like 8 seasons of a show directly to my phone.
Is there an app, codec, hack or whatever that will allow a windows phone the same flexibility when it comes to playing multiple formats or would I be stuck with converting videos before hand?
I just checked: there is an app which already supports playing MKV, but it's $4.49 US and I don't know if it's available in all regions, so you should check the WP8 store from your browser before buying. It also doesn't have great reviews (plays MKVs but some people say they lack subtitles, for example) although the dev is responsive to feedback according to some reviews. Alternatively, wait for VLC to be ported, which is a work in progress (once they have it working for Windows RT, the Windows Phone 8 port will be fast).
There are also media streaming clients on the phone which require you to install server software on the PC, but don't require that you convert the files. These also have the advantage of not using up phone storage. However, you will need to have very good bandwidth (both download to phone and upload from PC) to stream video.

Chromecast Video - A Chrome App That Streams Local Video From Your Computer To Chrome

I've posted my Chrome App late last night and has been a big hit on Reddit. Anywho, while we've ran into a couple people with issues it's been a pretty smooth rollout.
If you want to try it, here it is. It's, rather cleverly, called "Chromecast Video" .
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chromecast-video/cnciopoikihiagdjbjpnocolokfelagl
Let me know how much you love it, hate it, and want to see your bug fixed
-----------
Known issues:
// TODO
Mat.
Great start! So far gives me about a 50% success ratio, at least with mp4 files. And some of those that start successfully die after about 30 seconds. But the ones that stream successfully are smooth.
Reddit comments thread, that should be added in OP:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Chromecast/comments/1ybzw3/chromecast_video_a_chrome_app_that_streams_local/
Could you also add download link that does not require google account login?
PS if you want to know literally everything about acidhax start HERE and dig google
Avia does that
I'm going to check this out tonight, but given that there doesn't appear to be any transcoding going on, is it safe to assume that you still can't play .mkv files with audio?
I keep holding out in hopes that I don't need to convert my huge collection of media to h.264 in an .mp4 container.
mkhopper said:
I'm going to check this out tonight, but given that there doesn't appear to be any transcoding going on, is it safe to assume that you still can't play .mkv files with audio?
I keep holding out in hopes that I don't need to convert my huge collection of media to h.264 in an .mp4 container.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, well, if anyone here is good at NaCl development we can get some ffmpeg transcoding happening
Yet another reason to run Chrome... I may be converted yet...
BTW, added your extension to the FAQ.
It seemed to work but would stop after a few minutes
mkhopper said:
I'm going to check this out tonight, but given that there doesn't appear to be any transcoding going on, is it safe to assume that you still can't play .mkv files with audio?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't play mkv at all as far as I can tell. I just get a spinning circle forever if I try.
enricong said:
It seemed to work but would stop after a few minutes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some users have this problem. I honestly don't know what it is, it could be a Chrome bug or a WiFi driver bug.
Edit:
All I'm really doing is creating a Webserver on the Chrome App, and the Chromecast requests media from you. It'll just drop randomly for certain people.
acidhax said:
Some users have this problem. I honestly don't know what it is, it could be a Chrome bug or a WiFi driver bug.
Edit:
All I'm really doing is creating a Webserver on the Chrome App, and the Chromecast requests media from you. It'll just drop randomly for certain people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there an option to show debugging info or logging to try to determine the cause?
acidhax said:
All I'm really doing is creating a Webserver on the Chrome App, and the Chromecast requests media from you. It'll just drop randomly for certain people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could also be other extensions or antivirus
On this thread the tab casting problem (yes, I realize it probably uses a different mechanism, but it's still within Chrome) ended up being Adware Antivirus, and reinstallation of the Cast extension.
enricong said:
Is there an option to show debugging info or logging to try to determine the cause?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I'm aware of..
enricong said:
Is there an option to show debugging info or logging to try to determine the cause?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixed it. Update is being processed as we speak!
Thanks
MKV plays fine, but without sound.
Also, is it possible to support subs?
acidhax said:
Fixed it. Update is being processed as we speak!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Confirmed - all better now. With version 0.9.6.5 all mp4 videos play without interruption.
Another minor problem: if I attempt to play a video that doesn't load successfully (for example one of my mkv files), the Chromecast remains stuck on a blank screen and I cannot cast any more videos successfully until the Chromecast Video extension is shut down and restarted. It looks like the UI is still functioning, but maybe the background http server is stuck?
DJames1 said:
Confirmed - all better now. With version 0.9.6.5 all mp4 videos play without interruption.
Another minor problem: if I attempt to play a video that doesn't load successfully (for example one of my mkv files), the Chromecast remains stuck on a blank screen and I cannot cast any more videos successfully until the Chromecast Video extension is shut down and restarted. It looks like the UI is still functioning, but maybe the background http server is stuck?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guys MKV is a container, and have slim to none information about whats in it.
Really think the developer would love to know which Audio/Video codec you use
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MediaInfo <- Download that tool and the codecs will show up, they would help the developer understanding which codecs works and not.
bormeth said:
Guys MKV is a container, and have slim to none information about whats in it.
Really think the developer would love to know which Audio/Video codec you use
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MediaInfo <- Download that tool and the codecs will show up, they would help the developer understanding which codecs works and not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally my mkv files are all H.264 video generated by Handbrake, the same as my mp4 files. The difference is likely to be in the audio tracks. My mkv files all have either a single AC3 DD5.1 sound track, or else an AC3 DD5.1 sound track plus an AAC stereo sound track like the mp4 files. I stopped including the AC3 DD5.1 sound track in my mp4 files because I found that many (if not most) mp4 players will only accept a single AAC stereo sound track and nothing else. I sometimes wonder what was the point of designing container file formats that allow multiple sound tracks when so many players seem to choke on files that use that capability! Even Microsoft Windows Media Player doesn't have the basic ability to select which audio track to use when there are multiple tracks.
DJames1 said:
I sometimes wonder what was the point of designing container file formats that allow multiple sound tracks when so many players seem to choke on files that use that capability! Even Microsoft Windows Media Player doesn't have the basic ability to select which audio track to use when there are multiple tracks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's the general problem with containers... Having multiple streams requires additional logic on the player's side that takes it more toward a DVD/BD player, while most media players are more simple. In some cases players "cheat" and their "support" for a container is simply "pretend it's just a raw media stream."
While it does often work, it's bad practice because the kludge fails once the container is actually used as a container.
It's much like how people often like to rename VOB files to MPG to make them "work" but run into trouble when things leave the most-simple cases as VOBs also contain other data like navigational data, subtitles, etc. A proper demux works, but of course requires actual understanding of the container format.
bhiga said:
Having multiple streams requires additional logic on the player's side that takes it more toward a DVD/BD player, while most media players are more simple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! MKV was pretty much invented as a Universal Library container format to better support the different media that would normally be on a DVD/BR disc such as Multiple Language, Commentary tracks and Multiple Subtitles all in one tidy package.
But to support all that it requires Client side support that allows you to pick which tracks to actually use.
Unfortunately the player apps on the CCast are still very young and not yet mature enough to deal with this complexity as most developers are more focused on the communication and linkage needed to cast than they are with developing a full featured player on the CCast side.
This is why Subs and Multi Audio track content have hit or miss issues when sent to a CCast.
It gets even worse if transcoding is required.
And the fact that MKV can contain just about any codec it's even harder to write a transcoder profile or CCast player that can deal with it all.
There is no hardware I know of that supports MKV on chip. All the devices that play them without transcoding use software decoding built into the player. and I suspect in time someone will create a CCast player capable of doing that at some point as well as the capability to select Subtitle Overlay and Audio Track from the client side.
Once someone does that most if not all of our MKV issues will go away. Transcoding will no longer be needed and the selection of what gets seen and played will all happen where it should on the client side.

Video Player with Chromecast Support

Am I correct in thinking there is no video play with chromecast push support? I.e. MX Player, you are watching video on phone then you press cast button?
Not possible or just no app has done it yet?
Avia has paid ($2.99) CC support.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
There is an app called y2cast which can cast videos to the Chromecast together with an app called Moliplayer. The 1. problem of this is that everytime you turn on your TV, you have to connect y2cast with your Chromecast before you can start casting via Moliplayer and the 2. is that Moliplayer doesn't play every file format (even when you haven't connected it to the Chromecast) and is also very slow/has a lot of lag.
---------- Post added at 03:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 PM ----------
Does Avia play every file format and can avia cast every file format to the chromecast?
There are loads of apps now that will play media from phone to Chromecast - BubbleUPnP is my personal choice, Allcast, Localcast, Avia....there are more.
They vary in their capabilities - most can't cast videos that are not encoded in a Chromecast friendly format. BubbleUPnP can with the help of a Bubble Server installed on a PC on the local network.
neu - smurph said:
There are loads of apps now that will play media from phone to Chromecast - BubbleUPnP is my personal choice, Allcast, Localcast, Avia....there are more.
They vary in their capabilities - most can't cast videos that are not encoded in a Chromecast friendly format. BubbleUPnP can with the help of a Bubble Server installed on a PC on the local network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then you could just cast the video in a tab via Chrome. I'd love to see a solution where an android device does that, most of the devices are probably capable of doing it.
Pete1612 said:
Well then you could just cast the video in a tab via Chrome. I'd love to see a solution where an android device does that, most of the devices are probably capable of doing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Share the page to either vGet or Web Video Caster, and cast from there.
It's one extra step - sharing the link - but it works great for supported video formats.
vGet has more options and is a paid app. Web Video Caster just casts and is free.
EarlyMon said:
Share the page to either vGet or Web Video Caster, and cast from there.
It's one extra step - sharing the link - but it works great for supported video formats.
vGet has more options and is a paid app. Web Video Caster just casts and is free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for thus you can also use chrome for android (free from google obviously), go to chrome://flags and turn on chromecast support
Avia does NOT work on all formats. It's a bit of a hit and miss. Some work some dont
The moment everyone is waiting for is for mx player or vlc to support Chromecast !
I think that the limitions are not in the players but in the software of ccast that can play only a few format and codecs.
Do you think that, in future, ccast will be updated and so it will play other video format? Is a feature that can be implemented with a firmware upgrade?
Thanks!
davboc said:
I think that the limitions are not in the players but in the software of ccast that can play only a few format and codecs.
Do you think that, in future, ccast will be updated and so it will play other video format? Is a feature that can be implemented with a firmware upgrade?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and Maybe....
You're right in that the CCast is limited in codec and container support.
But that is really only true if the Player app that gets loaded into CCast relies on the CCast hardware to play the files.
Android itself is almost as limited as the CCast is as far as Compatible file formats are concerned but the video players we use on Android add the support for those different codecs and container types into the APPs themselves.
The same could be done on the CCast side and BubbleUPnP seems to be the one (and Only) app that has gone the farthest in doing that.
All the others seem to just send whatever format the file is in and if it isn't CCast compatible it won't play.
What needs to happen is for someone to create an MX Player type CCast Player app that can play many Container and Codec types without the need for Transcoding. Then others could potentially use that Player App (think along the lines of a JW Player type CCast Application) when sending Media to the CCast without the worry of incompatible file and codec format.
Or Google needs to create it and add it to the CCast OS as the default player.
As of now there is no option close to that...Bubble supports more container types than others and in conjunction with the Bubble Server will transcode the ones it doesn't support.
Plex seems to transcode everything that isn't directly CCast compatible and the other Player Apps we have for Android don't deal with Compatibility at all they merely send the media to CCast and it works only if it is compatible.
Perhaps in time they will add to the CCast Player side to gain more support but Bubble is so far the only one to really focus as much on the Player side compatibility expansion and features.
Plex is working on it as well but they are less focused on Compatibility due to the fact they are able to transcode everything to whatever format they want. After they get all the transcoding perfected they might turn focus into finding ways to avoid transcoding for those who have issues due to low power servers.
Asphyx said:
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perfect explanation! Really thank you. I hope that this device will be supported with the right software, meaning apps, in the near future.
Thanks again.
davboc said:
perfect explanation! Really thank you. I hope that this device will be supported with the right software, meaning apps, in the near future.
Thanks again.
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The problem right now seems to be that every App creates their own CCast Player App (called the receiver) but the DIAL protocol really doesn't require that to happen.
If the Open Source community would create a FREE TO USE Player App for CCast that any Android (or iOS app for that matter) could have the CCast load You might see a situation where all players could use that app to play to CCast and remove the need to code a Player themselves.
The only reason to code your own player then would be if you wanted to add other features like Media Info Mirroring and if the Player was Open Source it could be used inside their custom versions as well provided there is no issue with GPL license and Commercial Use.
the CCast support has come a long way since December...
I hope by next December we see more after people figure it out better.
The holdup is Google Locking it all up with the Whitelist.
I keep looking here hoping to find a developer that has decided to work on a CCast Player side to bring full client side support that others can use.
So Far Bubble is the only one focused on that side of the coding.
In the end the CCast player should support any container, Most Codecs, Client side selectable Subtitles and Multitrack Audio with Client side selection as well.
If they could add Dolby Support (not likely given the Licensing requirements) it would set the bar for all the others.
Localcast works well for me. Even let's me access and stream movies/TV shows straight from my USB stick on my Note 2 using an otg cable.
Sent from my Sinclair ZX81.
Koush tried software decoding for H.264 video - the processor ran hot enough to destroy his Chromecast, and that was using a known and mature routine.
The MediaTek processor is very good but it has limitations.
Maybe someone will take it further and succeed. I think it's more reasonable to look for more codecs on Chromecast 2, if at all.
Btw, LocalCast now lets you use your phone for headphones for stuff you're casting.
Not doubting you here...I know the Hardware is close to being an Egg Cooker even under normal usage....
But I'm curious as to why would he software decode H.264? No need to do that as it's already supported.
I'm just wondering if he was trying to do transcode from unsupported codec to H.264 on the device.
That method I would expect to not work at all.
But by adding loadable Software codecs it should not require the same proc cycles and speed as trying to transcode as it's really just a decoding operation which is roughly half the intense of transcoding which both decodes then re-encodes.
The Tricky part would be getting the player to load codecs on an as needed basis which is where I expect it might make the approach impossible.
I'm personally less concerned with codec support as I am with Containers, Subtitles and Audio Track selection being done on the Player side.
All of my Library is already H.264 But I much prefer MKV container for keeping Subs and Multiple Audio (for Commentary) so once a player comes out that supports all of those without transcoding I'll be a very happy puppy.
I don't know but I imagine that he was simply following a standard best practice -
Comparing known quantities to map the solution space before proceeding into the unknown.
The H.264 routine (just a software codec attached to a simple player from what I recall looking at the time) made sense for that, precisely because it was a mature, known quantity that could be compared to the existing feature in hardware.
Apples to apples.
perhap he tried that since H.264 is the most hardware intensive compression compared to say On2, Cinepak or the older Indeo...
If it could software decode H.264 then it could pretty much decode everything else just fine with the exception of MPEG2 which requires specific hardware.
Asphyx said:
What needs to happen is for someone to create an MX Player type CCast Player app that can play many Container and Codec types without the need for Transcoding. Then others could potentially use that Player App (think along the lines of a JW Player type CCast Application) when sending Media to the CCast without the worry of incompatible file and codec format.
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Are you saying if a player i.e. MX player had the cast function builtin into it then you can cast any video format that MX player supports?
ermacwins said:
Are you saying if a player i.e. MX player had the cast function builtin into it then you can cast any video format that MX player supports?
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That's what a lot of people want.
ermacwins said:
Are you saying if a player i.e. MX player had the cast function builtin into it then you can cast any video format that MX player supports?
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No not at all.....an App's (aka Transmitter) ability to cast to a CCast has little to do with it can support but what the CCast supports....Other than through the player app it tells CCast to load to receive the stream (aka the Receiver app).
Every App tells the CCast to load a player and it is that player that determines what format can be played not what the App that started the cast supports.
So even if MX Player supported CCast now...Doesn't mean at all that streaming from it to a CCast means MKV or MOV files will play on the CCast despite the fact they play in MX Player just fine.
That is unless MX Player wrote a custom player (receiver) for the CCast that supported all the formats MX Player does or MX Player added the ability to transcode any format to work with the receiver they load into the CCast.
As of today just about every app that supports more than just the standard CCast compatible media do so via Transcoding.
And thats not likely to change soon unless someone figures out a way to do it without frying the unit.
I bet it would work a lot better if the player app was run outside of the Google Sandbox the way Netflix is when it does it's own decryption.
The question is will anyone other than one of the Partners who invented the DIAL protocol ever get that type of access to the hardware?
Not without Google being fully on board....

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