PocketTV Team

PocketTV Classic (freeware) MPEG movie player is now optimized to take advantage of the Intel 2700G video hardware accelerator present in the Dell Axim x50v.

This means full support for VGA-resolution MPEG files playing at full framerate with optimum image quality.

Betaplayer too is optimized for the 2700G, but PocketTV Classic is also FREE, so it gives one more choice to the user, and a little friendly competion is always good.

You can get PocketTV Classic (freeware) from the download section of www.pockettv.com . You need version 1.0.4 or better for 2700G optimization.

If you try it (FREE download it from www.pockettv.com ), please give us your feedback!

Enjoy!

Here is an extract of the release notes ( http://www.pockettv.com/release-note...#release-notes ):

================================================== ==========

Added support for VGA resolution with Dell Axim x50v and other devices with the Intel 2700G video hardware accelerator chip. When this option is available, it is selected by default (see "Options > Use 2700G").

Some VGA-resolution test MPEG files are available from www.pockettv.com/mpg/vga . We ran some benchmarks using the file 5e-640x480-1.7Mbps-v2.mpg in fullscreen (audio disabled), and we get the exact same results as Betaplayer (185%).

Color controls (brightness, contrast, color saturation, hue) can be used with 2700G ("Options > Color > Adjust..."). Generally "Options > Color > Enhanced" will default to optimum values. You can see the adjustments in the image while you make them, and there is no performance penalty in using color adjustments.

PocketTV automatically adjusts the orientation of fullscreen video to match the UI (User Interface) orientation on your device. You can set the UI orientation using "Start > Settings > System > Screen" or by mapping the <Rotate Screen> command on a hardware button using "Start > Settings > Buttons". When the UI is in Portrait orientation, you can select the fullscreen orientation using "Options > Fullscreen" from PocketTV.

PocketTV automatically powers off the 2700G video hardware accelerator chip when the application is Minimized (i.e. de-activated in the background). So you have no risk of draining your battery faster just for having PocketTV sleeping in the background. Note that Betaplayer does not power off the 2700G when it is in the background.

Note that if you also use Betaplayer, you should first Exit Betaplayer (using the Exit command in the menu) before starting PocketTV. That's because Betaplayer does not release the 2700G hardware when it is Minimized. So if you have Betaplayer running in the background (i.e. Minimized and invisible), you need to Stop it completely (Exit) before starting any other application using the 2700G (e.g. PocketTV). On the other hand, PocketTV does release the 2700G hardware when it is Minimized. So it does not prevent you to start Betaplayer. Hopefully the Betaplayer people will correct this problem so that they can co-exist better with other applications using the 2700G.

Dell recommends that you install the latest firmware updrade for the x50v, which should reduce the "tearing" effect (caused by a bug in the 2700G driver). Be sure to make a full backup before installing any firmware upgrade. The Dell Axim x50v firmware upgrade is available from here:
http://support.dell.com/support/down...=7464&devlib=7

Now JPEG Image capture ("Save Image...") works in all cases, including when Intel 2700G or ATI video accelerators are used. Previously, "Save Image..." was not working when video accelerators (e.g. ATI) were used.

jdh1415

awesome, im sure v owners will enjoy

rsmith4321

Am I wrong, or doesn't betaplayer play mpeg files as well? Why would we want to use this?

tancerman

I believe it does. I LOVE BETA PLAYER, plus it's FREE and plays more types of files. On the website it says the version of pocket tv that you have to pay for works better than the free one. I'll stick with beta player right now. I works well and I know how to use it.

Adrian Knack

People like choice.

There is about 500 MP3 players out there and everybody likes different things about different ones. Just to draw a parallel...

I think it is good that someone else is also supporting the X50v. I love BetaPlayer but a bit of **Freindly** competition is always good :)

PocketTV Team

Originally Posted by rsmith4321

Am I wrong, or doesn't betaplayer play mpeg files as well? Why would we want to use this?

Yes, it does too, but both applications have different features.

For example:

- PocketTV can stream from a web server using http protocol. Betaplayer can only play files.

- PocketTV can play video frame by frame, to look for a particular image in a movie. Betaplayer cannot do that.

- PocketTV can capture an image from a movie. Betaplayer cannot do that.

etc.

Naturally Betaplayer also has specifics features.

PocketTV Classic is also free, and it works very well (it is very well tested on many devices because it has been around much before Betaplayer), so it is a very popular application.

Having both PocketTV and Betaplayer does not hurt.

Do you think that having choice is a bad thing ?

grentz

thanks for the update, looks great, i will have to try it out soon :)

by the way tancerman, pocket tv is also free for personal use :)

knopix

can anyone explain what this application is for?
I'm new as you can tell..

PocketTV Team

Originally Posted by Adrian Knack

People like choice. I think it is good that someone else is also supporting the X50v. I love BetaPlayer but a bit of **Freindly** competition is always good :)

Exactly.

PocketTV tends to be simpler than Betaplayer, i.e. it has less options, because it tries to select automatically the best options, and does not offer choices that make little sense.

Betaplayer is a bit the opposit: they have about all the options that you can imagin, but most of them are of little or no use.

I'll give you a simple example (among many) to illustrate this: when you play video in Fullscreen with PocketTV, if your Screen UI (User Interface) is oriented in Landscape (right handed or left handed), PocketTV will automatically orient the fullscreen video to match the orientation of the UI. With Betaplayer, you must select what orientation you want for the fullscreen video, i.e. if this option is not selected correctly, the fullscreen video will play up-side-down compared to the User Interface. That does not make much sense, and Betaplayer does not have any option to let Betaplayer select the video orientation automatically and correctly for you.

PocketTV Team

Originally Posted by knopix

can anyone explain what this application is for? I'm new as you can tell..

PocketTV plays MPEG video files.

Windows Media Player cannot play MPEG video files on Pocket PC and Smartphone.

Un[R]egistered

PocketTV Team: IIRC, You were boasting you were working on MPEG-2 support for the 2700G in your player. What has happened to this; has any progress been made? That could be the main feature that sets your player apart from Betaplayer (...for a little while)

PocketTV Team

Originally Posted by Un[R]egistered

PocketTV Team: IIRC, You were boasting you were working on MPEG-2 support for the 2700G in your player. What has happened to this; has any progress been made? That could be the main feature that sets your player apart from Betaplayer (...for a little while)

No, we have never said anywhere that we were working on MPEG-2 support.

Where have you seen that ???

We said we were working on the 2700G support for VGA, and that what we delivered today.

BTW MPEG-2 has many patents attached, so it would probably not be "legal" to distribute a free software that does MPEG-2. This said, it it correct that the 2700G chip can do hardware acceleration for MPEG-2, so technically it is possible to play MPEG-2 with good performance on the x50v.

Un[R]egistered

Originally Posted by PocketTV Team

No, we have never said anywhere that we were working on MPEG-2 support. Where have you seen that ???

I thought I remembered you talking about that a while back. I guess I'll try to search for it...

PocketTV Team

Originally Posted by Un[R]egistered

I thought I remembered you talking about that a while back. I guess I'll try to search for it...

I can guarantee that we never said that we had immediate plans to implement MPEG-2.

In fact, unless you can use a video hardware accelerator that can do MPEG-2 (e.g. like the 2700G), it is virtually impossible to decode and display interlaced MPEG-2 with acceptable quality on a Pocket PC.

Un[R]egistered

I guess I read too much into:

Quote:

We already have the SDK and sample source code from Intel (which includes a modified MPEG-2 decoder interfacing with the Intel SDK)