General Comments
I've created this thread to centralize video discussions, tips, issues, etc.
Please limit this only to those running CM7. Something that works or doesn't work in rooted stock or Froyo may have no correlation to CM7 at present. CM7 is using different codecs, different DSP kernel driver, different media backend, and different userspace ALSA.
To start things off I have attached a handbrake profile that has worked well for me.
I will update this post as more specifics are found.
A few things to consider: ALSA
Our ALSA implementation is picky about the buffer size. Other devices that use ALSA in the same fashion have had to reduce their buffer as well. This may be due to a limitation of what can fit in the DMA buffer on the McBSP. Because the ALSA buffer scales with the audio sample rate, I recommend using 44.1K instead of 48K when transcoding videos. This is contrary to every handbrake profile I've seen folks post on XDA for the nook.
CPU Governor
Some people have had better luck with the Conservative CPU governor rather than Ondemand or Interactive.
Bitrate
I have found it best to limit the bitrate to something under 1000kbps.
Resolution
The resolution should always be limited to 854x480. This is the maximum limit for the open source codecs. We do not have a license for 720P codecs yet. Perhaps B&N will get a license for their Froyo update.
dalingrin said:
I recommend using 44.1K instead of 48K when transcoding videos.
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I concur....I started doing this last night, coupled with a DRC of "3" and sound is better and louder.
360Razir said:
I concur....I started doing this last night, coupled with a DRC of "3" and sound is better and louder.
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I agree about DRC. I just updated my profile with dynamic range compression of 2.
Your preset causes an unhandled exemption for me when I load or use it in handbrake. If I try to play what it outputs, it doesn't play in the stock player.
I have to turn off Weighted P-Frames to get the nook to play in hardware (stock player.)
EDIT: Attached my preset. It has all the typical preset stuff, plus 44.1/128 audio like dal recommended, and it doesn't throw a fit when I import or select it in handbrake.
chisleu said:
Your preset causes an unhandled exemption for me when I load or use it in handbrake. If I try to play what it outputs, it doesn't play in the stock player.
I have to turn off Weighted P-Frames to get the nook to play in hardware (stock player.)
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Click to collapse
Weighted P-frames are off in my profile.
What version of HandBrake are you using? I have rev3736.
The other thing I have to test is my Droid X. Most of the Handbrake (HB) encoded movies I have were done for my DX last year. Like the NC, I set the movies to 854x480 for my DX and so that makes it nice to be able to test between the two devices.
My DX is now running (leaked) Gingerbread and playing the same videos between the DX and the NC, the DX is so incredibly smooth. No lag. No crackling. No slow-downs. No audio popping. Just buttery smooth. Now, I understand the screen is smaller, but again, same video resolution of the video. Not sure how the "guts" of the DX are vs. that of the NC, though?
However, what I can say, is that back in January when I first got my NC and went with AutoNooter, I was able to take my existing HB-encoded movies that I had lying around for my DX and play them perfectly on rooted stock. Since CM7, out of the 25 or so movies I have for the DX, only 7 of them play on the NC (using Act 1). The NC is picky, indeed.
The quest continues....
dalingrin said:
Weighted P-frames are off in my profile.
What version of HandBrake are you using? I have rev3736.
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Yours and the other guy's won't load without throwing an exemption which is where my confusion came from in the other thread.
Mine says 3728... it is 0.9.5 and says 2011010300 and says it is the latest when I try to update... going to redownload...
You are on the linux version aren't you?
Here are the videos with their specs that do currently work with Act 1 on my NC:
NOTE: most of my videos that work are in .m4v format. I had removed that setting in HB, but when I did, the video didn't play. I am sure it was probably something else getting in the way, but .m4v just seems solid for me right now, so sticking with that. To each his own.
As you can see from the attachment, the size, bitrate, dimensions, and frame rate are all over the map. Each plays well in Act 1 with Zoom set to "Aspect Full".
I will post my exact HB settings when I have something I have settled on and I am taking the suggestions from this thread, so thanks for that.
chisleu said:
... it is 0.9.5 and says 2011010300 and says it is the latest when I try to update...
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Same here....Win7/32-bit
I am attaching my settings for HB that work well for me with regards to full-length movies. Has excellent audio/video sync, with no lag.
Highlights include:
[ Original Presets were taken from Regular > High Profile and then just tweaked accordingly ]
● Picture: Anamorphic Loose
● Video Filters: Off
● Video: H.264, Same as source, 2-Pass Encoding (Turbo 1st), Avg Bitrate (kbps) 2000
● Audio: Source (default), AAC (faac), Stereo, 44.1, 160, DRC = 3.8
● Advanced: B-frames = 0, CABAC & 8x8 & Weighted P-Frames = unchecked
Again, I am using Act 1 with "Zoom" set to Aspect Full.
Please let me know what you think if you dare to try.
EDIT: Video source is a regular DVD, widescreen, ripped into Handbrake directly
The dalingrin presets work for me with the Handbrake svn3907 on Ubuntu. My resulting conversion of my Letterman test video plays fine.
@dalingrin:
Any ideas as to why disabling WiFi would stop the madness of the lagging/stuttering in the video? Was it something my system was doing in the background or one of my widgets fetching data?
Is this just the case for my NC or can this be replicated? Any tests I can run for you to see if it is something you can help with? Thoughts? Thanks.
~ Razir
360Razir said:
Any ideas as to why disabling WiFi would stop the madness of the lagging/stuttering in the video? Was it something my system was doing in the background or one of my widgets fetching data?
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That's always been my guess. Things never quite settle as long as they have access to the network.
Is this just the case for my NC or can this be replicated? Any tests I can run for you to see if it is something you can help with? Thoughts? Thanks.
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Nope. Same here. And, it's not just video... it makes Pandora rather unpleasant. Luckily, my primary use case for video is on a plane where network access is unlikely or expensive.
Have you tried using the Conservative governor? It helps my situation.
Some rules for this thread to consider
Let me extend this discussion and propose a few rules for this thread:
1. The source video should be made clear. If you start with poorly encoded video you're obviously going to output something similarly crappy. Provide a link to the file, or upload it yourself and provide a download link. It should be legal, i.e. if you ripped it from your blu-ray, or if you torrented it from somebody else who ripped it from a blu-ray, then it doesn't belong on this thread. My source video will be a 1080p trailer from The Eagle, downloaded (legally) from here: http://www.hd-trailers.net/movie/the-eagle/
2. The encoder and settings should be made clear. I never used Handbrake before, but this morning I downloaded Handbrake 0.9.5 and installed it on my Win7 64-bit desktop. I'm using the preset for "iPhone & iPod Touch". This defaults to H.264 encoding and m4v container. I then adjusted either resolution or average video bit rate but everything else I also left at default, since I mostly don't know what they mean anyway.
3. The player should be made clear. I used Titanium Backup to uninstall Music because of a prior FC issue, then sideloaded music.apk that I pulled from cm_encore_full-37.zip, thus I'm back in business with the stock Video player and no longer using Act 1.
4. Optional: upload your transcoded file and provide a link to it. I've made 2 clips of the eagle trailer which can be downloaded here:
Eagle trailer - 854x352 - 800K: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22573583/Eagle_854x352_800K.m4v
Eagle trailer - 576x240 - 800K: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22573583/Eagle_576x240_800K.m4v
The short of it is that both files play flawlessly on my NC running CM7 n37 with dalingrin OC kernel 040411, overclocked 300/1100 interactive. Here are some notable observations:
- The 480p-ish 854x352 resolution limited by our open-source license plays flawlessly for me up to a video bit rate of 1300K, at which point one or two random split-second audio stutters occur through the clip. You can download my 800K encoded video at this resolution. I've gone up to 3000K at 854x352 resolution with still very smooth playback. I've also been able to play an 800K clip resized to 1024x600, the native NC resolution, flawlessly.
- The 576x240 resolution for me is the sweet spot on the Nook. Text resolution is inferior to 854x352, but the playback is perfect and file size is more accommodating. Stutter-free at 800K (download my Handbrake encoded file if you want), and actually stutter free all the way up to 3000K. What's so incredible is that the high-speed scrub (put finger in middle of screen and slide right or left) at this resolution is buttery-smooth.
- Adjusting the CPU speed up or down and moving around governor setting didn't do anything good or back for video playback. Video playback was just as good at 800MHz as 1100MHz CPU speed.
I'm not an expert on video codecs and encoding, by any means, but I've been around HD-DSLR video and non-linear editing ever since Vince Laforet busted out with Reverie nearly 3 years ago.
I'll stand by my opinion, expressed previously on the kernel thread, that CM7 and dalingrin OC kernel in its current iteration (nightly 37 and 040411) absolutely rocks for properly encoded video.
360Razir said:
@dalingrin:
Any ideas as to why disabling WiFi would stop the madness of the lagging/stuttering in the video? Was it something my system was doing in the background or one of my widgets fetching data?
Is this just the case for my NC or can this be replicated? Any tests I can run for you to see if it is something you can help with? Thoughts? Thanks.
~ Razir
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it doesnt stop it for me. no wifi. no bt. still stutters randomly on good files.
sinanju said:
Have you tried using the Conservative governor? It helps my situation.
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Yes, I saw your post about that from the OC Kernel thread and so that is what I tried last night. It seemed to work at first, but then this morning it was also choppy using that governor. So, being on Interactive with WiFi off works.
My Droid X has many more widgets running and network access (both 3G and WiFi) and there is no hiccups or slowdowns whatsoever playing the same video. I know not apples-to-apples, but the quest is to get my NC to that kind of stability.
MedLine said:
Eagle trailer - 854x352 - 800K
Eagle trailer - 576x240 - 800K
The short of it is that both files play flawlessly on my NC running CM7 n37 with dalingrin OC kernel 040411, overclocked 300/1100 interactive.
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Click to collapse
Both of your videos are still choppy for me with WiFi enabled....meaning, something is fetching data in the background (Pulse, Palmary Weather, Plume, Engadget, or Google News, or even email polling) is messing with my video playback. Just wish the video was "shielded" from such things.
When WiFi disabled, all is good with your videos.
Which app you guys using to play videos? I'm using Rockplayer right now and getting audio sync issue. I had better luck with Mobo Player.
OK:
Using Sony's HD Experiment because it is short and high action.
http://www.demo-world.eu/trailers/redirect-high-definition.php?file=hd_other_sony_hd_experiment.rar
Encoding using the iphone and ipod touch preset.
I set 576x240 resolution and I can play completely smoothly with wifi on. File size is 4.44megs w/ RF: 25 (iirc)
I set 854x480 resolution and RF 30 it locks on whatever frame you start playing (black screen, etc.) Won't play. I set 854x480 and 800kbps avg kbps and it is also black screen. If I hit home and then go back and let it go, the video will change, but it doesn't seem like it will catch up. Definately broken.
I downloaded that 1080p trailer you linked.
start handbrake, load 1080p trailer, select "iphone and ipod touch" preset, select 854 width (auto height 368), changed to average kbps and set 800. My file size isn't exactly yours, but is very very close.
854x368 plays very well and looks fantastic, but it does have those pops/skips.
Disable wifi:
still get rare/random skips with my 854 file.
still get rare/random skips with your 854 file.
I turned "Disable Fullscreen" off on a hunch it was play a role in this:
My 854 file still skips from time to time.
My 576 file still skips from time to time, although more rarely. only once in 2 plays.
Your 854 file still skips from time to time.
Your 576 file still skips from time to time, maybe more rarely? Hard to quantify.
I encoded the eagle trailer with my 854 width, RF 25 "high quality" preset.
It is smaller than 800kbps (13.1M vs 18M)
It skips too.
tablo said:
Which app you guys using to play videos? I'm using Rockplayer right now and getting audio sync issue. I had better luck with Mobo Player.
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We are mostly using the stock player because it forces hardware accel.
I prefer VitalPlayer to all. If you are having sync issues it is probably playing in software mode. I should say, VitalPlayer has never given me any sync issues at all while playing in software. Wish I had discovered that before DSP was working. haha
Hi guys,
I have a Nook HD+ running 4.3 stable. I've downloaded the Flappy Bird game (latest version) and it runs slow as hell. I compare it to my iphone 4 and my friend's galaxy tab 3. Both of them run very smoothly. Is there something wrong with the game or the Nook? Is it the GPU or the screen resolution?. I used to have the same problem with Candy Crush, but when I unchecked the Disable HW overlays in Developer options. It's much better. But it isn't the same in Flappy Bird. Do you guys have a solution for this? Thank you very much!
Possibly over simplification of game's graphic settings. Games should scale for various gpu's but if the user has no way to do so some devices will have bad fps.
Sometimes as in the case of hw overlays the few android options work but otherwise the chance should be greater that it needs to be fixed by the developer.
Some games allow setting tweaking in a roundabout way and sometimes there are apps that make it easier.
Not to mention any other problems....
Weird.
The HD+, despite it's processor struggling to power its REALLY REALLY high res screen, is still really strong. So it's strange that the device can't play Flappy Bird. I'd understand if you tried High graphics on Asphalt 8, but.
Maybe try verygreen's EMMC CM11?
As Game Tuner has been discontinued I can no longer get some games to run at higher resolutions. They made an excuse of an integration into Game Launcher which now only lets you limit the frame rate and "lower" resolution without any specifics. It's hard without direct comparison but I suspect some games are being rendered at 1080p even when the screen is set to WQHD+. For example Real Racing 3 has this issue most phones I've owned, where the graphics are rendered at <720p on 1080p phones. On Oreo for Note 9 I could get around this using Game Tuner, and if I have performance issues I could also overclock the phone. Usually games still have sloppy antialiasing but I still prefer them running at full resolution. After the Pie update Real Racing 3 really looks awful since I have no control over its resolution. The third-party RR3 graphics app only helps with rendering quality, not resolution, and back on Oreo, it actually looked better at medium settings since there was less aliasing.
Also, on Oreo you could force a 16:9 game to run at full resolution in the navbar options, is there any way to do this in Pie? I can't find it in the game tool settings. Even though some apps don't have proper optimization, many of these still work fine if you forced fullscreen on Pie (for example Horizon Chase and Smash Hit).
Are there any alternatives for changing resolution/hardware performance on Pie?
Another reason to wait in OREO until PIE software mature enough
Da-BOSS said:
Another reason to wait in OREO until PIE software mature enough
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The huge improvement to Bluetooth latency in gaming is well worth the update. There's almost no latency with most headphones now. I don't know what took Samsung and Android so long since my ASUS Windows 10 laptop doesn't have this problem.
FYL21 said:
I don't know what took Samsung and Android so long since my ASUS Windows 10 laptop doesn't have this problem.
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when i start the car in the morning, its cold. when i use my phone at lunch time, its warm.
see the link? neither do i.
FYL21 said:
As Game Tuner has been discontinued I can no longer get some games to run at higher resolutions. They made an excuse of an integration into Game Launcher which now only lets you limit the frame rate and "lower" resolution without any specifics. It's hard without direct comparison but I suspect some games are being rendered at 1080p even when the screen is set to WQHD+. For example Real Racing 3 has this issue most phones I've owned, where the graphics are rendered at <720p on 1080p phones. On Oreo for Note 9 I could get around this using Game Tuner, and if I have performance issues I could also overclock the phone. Usually games still have sloppy antialiasing but I still prefer them running at full resolution. After the Pie update Real Racing 3 really looks awful since I have no control over its resolution. The third-party RR3 graphics app only helps with rendering quality, not resolution, and back on Oreo, it actually looked better at medium settings since there was less aliasing.
Also, on Oreo you could force a 16:9 game to run at full resolution in the navbar options, is there any way to do this in Pie? I can't find it in the game tool settings. Even though some apps don't have proper optimization, many of these still work fine if you forced fullscreen on Pie (for example Horizon Chase and Smash Hit).
Are there any alternatives for changing resolution/hardware performance on Pie?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also like to know where the tools option has gone. I`m getting notifications in game which I don't want..
FYL21 said:
As Game Tuner has been discontinued I can no longer get some games to run at higher resolutions. They made an excuse of an integration into Game Launcher which now only lets you limit the frame rate and "lower" resolution without any specifics. It's hard without direct comparison but I suspect some games are being rendered at 1080p even when the screen is set to WQHD+. For example Real Racing 3 has this issue most phones I've owned, where the graphics are rendered at <720p on 1080p phones. On Oreo for Note 9 I could get around this using Game Tuner, and if I have performance issues I could also overclock the phone. Usually games still have sloppy antialiasing but I still prefer them running at full resolution. After the Pie update Real Racing 3 really looks awful since I have no control over its resolution. The third-party RR3 graphics app only helps with rendering quality, not resolution, and back on Oreo, it actually looked better at medium settings since there was less aliasing.
Also, on Oreo you could force a 16:9 game to run at full resolution in the navbar options, is there any way to do this in Pie? I can't find it in the game tool settings. Even though some apps don't have proper optimization, many of these still work fine if you forced fullscreen on Pie (for example Horizon Chase and Smash Hit).
Are there any alternatives for changing resolution/hardware performance on Pie?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The full screen option is moved to the "settings - display", search it there... I liked it more in the game tools, but atleast they kept that. For the other part of your post - I agree, a lot of missing features this updates, my biggest pain is the multiwindow that was literally toned down to the google default implementation and it's super basic and bad... then there are a tons of bugs or clearly rushed features and that's sad given how much months that update was in development.
Does not work for me with TSTO The Simpsons Tapped Out. Since Pie and without Game Tuner no possibility to launch it in WQHD+.
System settings are ignored.
I Found A Solution To Fix, But It Will Work Only Once. Set The Resolution To HD+, Then Launch A Game, Then Go To High Performance, Set The Resolution To WQHD+, And I Hope It Worked For You. Note: That Will Work Only ONCE!!!
You can use WQHD+ resolution in games by disabling Game Optimizing Service, Game Launcher, Game Tools.
You can search the way on web with 'how to disable galaxy bloatware'.
And yes, device settings - display - full screen apps is 16:9 <=>21:9 setting.