picard_beta

Originally Posted by Ranma13

Well, I'm going off what I perceive with my eye, and it doesn't SEEM like it's playing any more smoothly. I'll know more once I finish downloading RL_XQ_640x480. The nice big fat 1.5Mbps video should reveal all.

if you play videos which play without frame drops in raw framebuffer mode too, there won't be much difference (except for scaling which is much better with 2700G and optional dithering which is only possible with Raw Framebuffer)

Originally Posted by Ranma13

Just noticed something. Scaling using rawframebuffer looks like it's using bilinear scaling whereas scaling using 2700G decoder looks like bicubic.

I depends what settings and zoom level you are using with raw framebuffer. The default is nearest neighbor (except for 50% where it's 4->1 average). As an option you can turn on 'Smooth Zoom (Always)', but it will only be bilinear and only in one direction (horizontal to source). On the other hand 2700G can do 8-tap horizontal and 4-tap vertical scaling which i don't know the name for, but definitly better as bilnear.

Ranma13

I just tried RL_XQ_640x480. I didn't do a benchmark but from what I can tell, it plays a tiny bit smoother than rawframebuffer. You really have to look closely to notice any difference though since the file plays pretty smoothly in both instances. One thing to note though is that in the beginning of the file, where it has those white flashes, there's very noticeable bands of white that looks like the screen is having trouble refreshing fast enough, is this the same thing as the 'LCD tearing' that Picard mentioned?

I always wondered, what do the Smooth Zoom (50% and always) and Dither do? I know what dithering is but it doesn't seem to have much effect on the video files, even though the screen is 16-bit, and I haven't noticed any changes with smooth zooming.

picard_beta

Originally Posted by jusu

I got 144,65% with that file, making X50v the new speedking with the huge marigin of 0.61% :)

at that level there is at least 2%-5% variance depending on the storage card speed. if you run this movie from built-in storage (very fast) you will get about 180%.

and i spent way too much time on ati imageon pusing the limits. this code is only about 1 day old :)

picard_beta

Originally Posted by Ranma13

I just tried RL_XQ_640x480. I didn't do a benchmark but from what I can tell, it plays a tiny bit smoother than rawframebuffer.

from CF card i get about 107% with rawframebuffer for RL_XQ. this is definitly not enough for smooth playback (the file is VBR so some part will have problems) on the other hand 144% with hardware decoding is very smooth.

Ranma13

Originally Posted by picard_beta

I depends what settings and zoom level you are using with raw framebuffer. The default is nearest neighbor (except for 50% where it's 4->1 average). As an option you can turn on 'Smooth Zoom (Always)', but it will only be bilinear and only in one direction (horizontal to source). On the other hand 2700G can do 8-tap horizontal and 4-tap vertical scaling which i don't know the name for, but definitly better as bilnear.

There's definitely a BIG difference between the two scaling methods, I can see what you mean by bilinear in only the horizontal direction, it looks like the video was slightly shifted in one direction but not the other, but using 2700G decoder, it looks...well...very very nice :).

What sort of troubles did you run into with the ATI chip? I heard it wasn't very popular.

Nice work on the plugin by the way. Before this, I was running all my files at 100%, even if it meant having a border surround my 512x384 files, because scaling it made the video unwatchable. Now, there's no noticeable difference in playback. However, it's pretty hard for me to find a file that Betaplayer has trouble playing at full speed, anime is about as high as you can get in video bitrate (250MB for 25 minutes of video, audio at 128kbps) and I never had trouble watching any anime before this.

By the way, I just paid really close attention to the video I was playing and I can see gradients where normally the dithering would have made it look nicer. Is there any way to get the 2700G to handle dithering also?

picard_beta

Originally Posted by Ranma13

However, it's pretty hard for me to find a file that Betaplayer has trouble playing at full speed, anime is about as high as you can get in video bitrate (250MB for 25 minutes of video, audio at 128kbps) and I never had trouble watching any anime before this.

Hopefully now you can lower the cpu speed and save some battery time which is very important with 1100mAh battery. I guess the task orientated hardwired decoding of 2700G needs much less power as the general use CPU.

picard_beta

Originally Posted by Ranma13

What sort of troubles did you run into with the ATI chip? I heard it wasn't very popular.

First of all I didn't signed NDA for ATI and it took much more work to use the driver properly (the lastest PocketMVP source with ATI support was never released). Second there is a hardware decoding bug in ATI Imageon 3200 which causes 'green-tint' effect. BetaPlayer tries to compensate it, but it's still very annoying sometime.

Originally Posted by Ranma13

Is there any way to get the 2700G to handle dithering also?

Not with hardware decoding. At least there is no API for it. Maybe with manipulated pre-decoding stuff, but it's not likely I will start to spend time on tweak like that in near future.

Ranma13

Just did a power test:

Using rawframebuffer and CPU on Power-Saving (208 mhz), the video 'refreshed' itself once every 10 seconds or so. In other words, unwatchable, but the audio played fine. On Normal (503 mhz), the video was slightly chunky (about 10-15 FPS is my guess) but still watchable.

Using 2700G Decoder and CPU on Power-Saving, there was no difference between 624mhz and 208mhz. This is GREAT news for those who are worried about battery life. I for one don't really mind since I have 3 batteries, 2 regular and 1 extended.

Another thing I've noticed: whenever the on-screen action pans, such as done in most anime scenes at one point or another, the screen looks like it's split up into sections, with the top, middle, and bottom section all moving across at different speeds. It looks really weird because a straight line appears to be snaking its way across the screen. It's hard to explain what it looks like, but is there any way to minimize this effect?

Oh, just did a test. It's very readily apparent that video playback, at least in pans, look much smoother using 2700G than rawframebuffer. Elsewhere though the benefits of the higher framerate are negligible, or at least I can't see a big difference.

Ranma13

Originally Posted by picard_beta

First of all I didn't signed NDA for ATI and it took much more work to use the driver properly (the lastest PocketMVP source with ATI support was never released). Second there is a hardware decoding bug in ATI Imageon 3200 which causes 'green-tint' effect. BetaPlayer tries to compensate it, but it's still very annoying sometime. Not with hardware decoding. At least there is no API for it. Maybe with manipulated pre-decoding stuff, but it's not likely I will start to spend time on tweak like that in near future.

I heard about the green tint effect, I feel sorry for those who have to deal with it in the Toshiba E800 and HP HX4700. After all, the chip IS 2 years old and ATI doesn't exactly want to 'upgrade' it to get rid of the bug.

Well, the dithering is a minor point, I'd much rather have higher framerate playback than dithering madness :). Any plans for subtitle support in the future? Too much anime nowadays come in the OGM container with removeable subtitles.

picard_beta

Originally Posted by Ranma13

Any plans for subtitle support in the future? Too much anime nowadays come in the OGM container with removeable subtitles.

yes. it's very high on the list. things don't go as fast as i would like to, but i definitly want to see subtitles in betaplayer for christmas :)

i will work the lcd tearing problem...

theoak

First results are with CPU in processor set to Power-Saving:

BetaPlayer Version UNSTABLE.0.093g Benchmark Results

Average Speed 97.79%
Video Frames 3635
Audio Samples 6675840
Amount of Data 29773 KB

Bench. Time 2:34.872
Bench. Frame Rate 23.47
Bench. Sample Rate 43106
Bench. Data Rate 1.6 Mbit/s

Original Time 2:31.448
Original Frame Rate 24.00
Original Sample Rate 44100
Original Data Rate 1.6 Mbit/s

URL \SD Card\Movies\RL_XQ_640x480_1500_128.avi
Size 30605312
Platform PocketPC
OS Version 4.21
OEM Info Dell Axim X50
Clock speed 208 Mhz
Video output Intel 2700G 480x640
Audio output Wave Output 44100Hz 16Bits 2Ch.

---------------------------------------
checksum of this file: 5fbe2395135e31ba


The next results are set with Processor set to Maximum Performance:

BetaPlayer Version UNSTABLE.0.093g Benchmark Results

Average Speed 178.32%
Video Frames 3635
Audio Samples 6675840
Amount of Data 29773 KB

Bench. Time 1:24.931
Bench. Frame Rate 42.80
Bench. Sample Rate 78604
Bench. Data Rate 2.9 Mbit/s

Original Time 2:31.448
Original Frame Rate 24.00
Original Sample Rate 44100
Original Data Rate 1.6 Mbit/s

URL \SD Card\Movies\RL_XQ_640x480_1500_128.avi
Size 30605312
Platform PocketPC
OS Version 4.21
OEM Info Dell Axim X50
Clock speed 626 Mhz
Video output Intel 2700G 480x640
Audio output Wave Output 44100Hz 16Bits 2Ch.

---------------------------------------
checksum of this file: 35a00981af7a45db


Well, I must say at first I was not impressed. Then I thought, "I wonder what the processor is set at?" Needless to say the huge difference posted above. With that being said though, it is pretty cool that it can play pretty much at 100% set to Power-Saving.

Awesome!

Edit:

I am running Betaplayer off of my SD card. Not sure if that makes a difference ...

Edit 2:

The above were with the Video set to Intel 2700G Decoder.

JoeQFlyer

I downloaded the plugin, installed it, but don't see the 2700 decoder to select it. Do I need the to install betaplayer again to see it. I did a soft reset.

I'm looking at Options > Video


Q

JoeQFlyer

Originally Posted by JoeQFlyer

I downloaded the plugin, installed it, but don't see the 2700 decoder to select it. Do I need the to install betaplayer again to see it. I did a soft reset. I'm looking at Options > Video Q

OK, I think I see it. I need 093g. I'm on 093a. Is that it?

Q

24va

will betaplayer ever work with .wmv files in WMP10? again? Ever since the ROM update with my old x30h .wmv files stopped working.

With my new x50v I can not get .wmv files to play.

theoak

Below is with Processor set to Maximum-Performance with Video set to Intel 2700G:

BetaPlayer Version UNSTABLE.0.093g Benchmark Results

Average Speed 91.06%
Video Frames 3635
Audio Samples 6675840
Amount of Data 29773 KB

Bench. Time 2:46.322
Bench. Frame Rate 21.86
Bench. Sample Rate 40138
Bench. Data Rate 1.5 Mbit/s

Original Time 2:31.448
Original Frame Rate 24.00
Original Sample Rate 44100
Original Data Rate 1.6 Mbit/s

URL \SD Card\Movies\RL_XQ_640x480_1500_128.avi
Size 30605312
Platform PocketPC
OS Version 4.21
OEM Info Dell Axim X50
Clock speed 626 Mhz
Video output Intel 2700G 480x640
Audio output Wave Output 44100Hz 16Bits 2Ch.

---------------------------------------
checksum of this file: dfcce3eac77e31ba