[FAQ] GT-i9100 Galaxy S II FAQ thread - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

hey everyone, so obviously this is a FAQ thread, which means if youre -Qing it it, i should be 'FA-ing it'? ..lol that sounded corny, but you get the idea. please feel free to ask whatever in here, or suggest something youd like to see here, or add something you think shouldve been here already, best way to get something added is to PM me. lalala
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GT- i9100 Galaxy S II FAQ
Release Dates:
Factory Model: May 1st
UK: May 1st
US: Q3
Where to Buy:
MobileCityOnline
Clove
i9100 vs i9103
both of these are variants of the Galaxy S II, to be respectively released in different regions, however key differences will will include:
i9100: Super AMOLED Plus screen, 1.2 GHz Dualcore Exynos processor
i9103: alternate screen (possibly SLCD, but yet to be confirmed), 1.0 GHz Dualcore Tegra 2 processor
List of Regions for Each Variant: INFORMATION NEEDED
Technical Specifications:
The Galaxy S II features a 480 x 800 pixels, 4.27 inch screen, 1.2 GHz Dualcore Exynos processor, 8MP camera with LED flash capable of 1080p/30fps video recording and playback in .MP4 format, 16GB or 32GB internal storage, with a 1650MAh Li-Ion battery. (full technical specifications can be found here)
What File System Will the Galaxy S II use?
EXT4
Does the Galaxy S II have Capped FPS like the Galaxy S I?
Yes, the Galaxy S II has its FPS capped at 60fps because of Vsync.
Hows the GPS on the Galaxy S II?
"Great!" check it out for yourself Picture, Video1, Video2
Does the Galaxy S II have a Notification LED?
unfortunately no, it doesnt, but the app 'BLN' has been worked with so that the Menu and Back LED buttons work on certain kernels, with certain messaging apps, such as Handcent.
one kernel that has BLN support is Ninphetamine
Is the Bootloader Locked?
No, it is not locked
Is it possible to run Nvidia Tegra Zone games on Galaxy S 2?
Yes, with the creation of Chainfire3D
Does having a Dualcore Processor in my phone use more battery than a Single Core?
No, on the contrary, having two processors do half the work to complete a single task requires less energy than a single core doing all of the work, it also keeps the temp of your phone down, since neither processor are overworked.
What Media Formats/Codec will the Galaxy S II support out of the box?
Video: MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263/H.264 AVC/VP8/3GPP/VP8/VC-1/WebM
Audio: MP3, OGG, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB/AMR-WB, WMA, WAV, MID, AC3, IMY, FLAC, XMF
Image JPEG/GIF/PNG/BMP/WBMP/AGIF
Will the Galaxy S II have NFC?
no, the i9100 variant will not, however a NFC enabled MicroSD card may be released to support NFC
Is there root for the Galaxy S II?
yes there is! a swell dev by the name of Chainfire made it, heres a link. you can also find it included in most Custom Roms
Cant i just use superoneclick, or an update.zip to root?
at the moment no, but as more people start to get this phone, development will start to pick up
Will the Galaxy S II get a Voodoo Kernel?
No, supercurio, Mr. Voodoo himself, said that he doesnt see any room for improvement on this phone =/
My Galaxy S II is locked to a network, how can i unlock it?
theres an app for that, and here it is
Is there a cyanogenmod available for the Galaxy S II?
yes here it is
What about MIUI
yep, right here
How can i backup my apps, or app/game save datas?
Titanium Backup can do all of this, its free and available in the market
I dont know much about whats available, can you recommend some cool mods?
Long press volume buttons to skip songs
Calls Recording
google talk with video calling over 3g (its just an app you install, nothing manual)

I'll bite.
This will be my first Android, coming from an iPhone. I'm probably going to get a bunch of, "use the search function" but is there a comprehensive resource on rooting and roms and such for newbies? Like a wiki or something?
I see there are threads with thousands of posts and that makes it pretty damn daunting to try and sift through the useful info. Plus, I'm married so my wife won't allow me to sit at the computer and do hours upon hours of research.

rwc3b said:
I'll bite.
This will be my first Android, coming from an iPhone. I'm probably going to get a bunch of, "use the search function" but is there a comprehensive resource on rooting and roms and such for newbies? Like a wiki or something?
I see there are threads with thousands of posts and that makes it pretty damn daunting to try and sift through the useful info. Plus, I'm married so my wife won't allow me to sit at the computer and do hours upon hours of research.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, i wont post this in the actual FAQ, because the root for the Galaxy SII isnt available yet (expect it a day or two after the phone gets released), but this is the root method for the galaxy s 1. the method will be the exact same, however the file will be different. this is the guide i wrote back when the galaxy s1 came out, i tried to make it as simple as possible, so take a look
http://samsunggalaxysforums.com/showthread.php/365-Detailed-guide-on-rooting-the-Galaxy-S

My biggest question which DAC will this phone have, no conclusive answers. Posts on twitter state it may be a Yamaha dac and not a Wolfson, now that review units are popping up.any way of finding out without tearing the phone down, if only ifixit can get hold of one!

Great idea mate !
So first you can go on and make the already answered question to begin like
- Will I need a lagfix ? answer : no because it will use an ext4 file system (the one that is already used for those lagfixes)
- something about bootloader and what supercurio has still confirmed
- why it is getting less fps than Tegra 2 in some benchmarks ? answer because samsung has capped the the fps count to 60 for battery saving and because it is useless to go further
etc etc

The model number is actually i9100. i9000 is the Galaxy S.
I can't wait for some detailed tests on media playback. Maybe we should make a table with containers, codecs and codec settings and fill in as people do the testing? Audio formats are also interesting. Hoping for DTS but doubt it.

touness69 said:
Great idea mate !
So first you can go on and make the already answered question to begin like
- Will I need a lagfix ? answer : no because it will use an ext4 file system (the one that is already used for those lagfixes)
- something about bootloader and what supercurio has still confirmed
- why it is getting less fps than Tegra 2 in some benchmarks ? answer because samsung has capped the the fps count to 60 for battery saving and because it is useless to go further
etc etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
60 FPS Cap is because of Vsync right?
And I think SLCD never was confirmed on Galaxy S2, though Tegra with Super Amoled Plus was confirmed(in Hong Kong, link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12935842&postcount=13).
I would add those questions:
Is it possible to run Tegra-powered games(from Nvidia Tegra zone) on Exynos Galaxy S 2?
No, but most have an non-Tegra alternative.
Is the bootloader locked?
No it isn't.
Is there a rotation animation in browser?
No, only pre-production devices got them
Is dual-core going to decrease battery life?
No, semi-conducters gets smallers, therefore battery life improves. It also improves the repartition of tasks on the two cores(SMP) so they will do the same task in less time.
And that big screen, is that not going to decrease battery life?
Samsung uses a new technology for his screens, called Super Amoled Plus. It is better than Super Amoled.
Which video-codecs does it support natively?
MPEG4, H.264, H.263, WMV, DivX, Xvid, VC-1
Which music-codecs does it supports natively?
MP3, OGG, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WMA, WAV, MID, AC3, IMY, FLAC, XMF
Is this the best phone ever?
Yes it is.

Another GPS test by the same guy, this time he does it indoors, and it still works pretty well. My backflip never gets a GPS signal unless I'm outdoors with nothing to get in the way.

EleCtrOx666 said:
60 FPS Cap is because of Vsync right?
Which video-codecs does it support natively?
MPEG4, H.264, H.263, WMV, DivX, Xvid, VC-1
Which music-codecs does it supports natively?
MP3, OGG, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WMA, WAV, MID, AC3, IMY, FLAC, XMF
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung's list says nothing about containers or bitrates/encoding features, so that's the testing part

Yeah you're right but I said "Codecs" explicitely in the question. Though audio containers are listed(OGG is one). Video containers doesn't seem to be listed though(I don't see MKV :/). "bitrates/encoding features" are not listed.

EleCtrOx666 said:
Which video-codecs does it support natively?
MPEG4, H.264, H.263, WMV, DivX, Xvid, VC-1
Which music-codecs does it supports natively?
MP3, OGG, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WMA, WAV, MID, AC3, IMY, FLAC, XMF
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is this information correct?
ive only found
MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC
can you share where you got the rest of this information?

EleCtrOx666 said:
Yeah you're right but I said "Codecs" explicitely in the question. Though containers are listed(OGG is one). Video containers doesn't seem to be listed though(I don't see MKV :/). "bitrates/encoding features" are not listed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh. Though by ogg they likely mean vorbis, as in the audio codec. (Since no other containers are listed.) Note, the faq should at least list containers separately. Right now mp4 is listed as a codec.

soraxd said:
is this information correct?
ive only found
MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC
can you share where you got the rest of this information?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the official site simply
http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxys2/html/specification.html

for the media part you should complete those codecs with some formats in order to understand that it reads also .mkv files like a charm, like that :
Video
HD Video Player & Recorder 1080p @ 30fps
codec: DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, VC-1
format: 3gp(mp4), AVI(divx), MKV, FLV, H.263Sorenson

soraxd said:
is this information correct?
ive only found
MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC
can you share where you got the rest of this information?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And could you please edit the reason for cap @ 60 Fps ? It's because of Vsync not battery life.
And also, like I already said, SLCD version is not going to exist, only Super Amoled + With either Tegra or Exynos.

EleCtrOx666 said:
Is there a rotation animation in browser?
No, only pre-production devices got them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure about this? The videos I saw with browser rotation animation were looking buttersmooth and I don't see a reason why Samsung shouldn't use this in their production models.

EleCtrOx666 said:
And could you please edit the reason for cap @ 60 Fps ? It's because of Vsync not battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's still not confirmed, the original GS were capped at 56fps supposedy for V-sync too but the refresh rate of the screen is exactly the same as GSII 60Hz
And even if it is for V-sync, the question is still why they chose V-sync unlike Lg with it's O2X ? then you go back to that "battery life" efficiency
EleCtrOx666 said:
And also, like I already said, SLCD version is not going to exist, only Super Amoled + With either Tegra or Exynos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh ok
And what do you do to the "* May not be applicable in some regions" near the "Super AMOLED Plus" specification on the Official GSII website eh ?

El Salvador said:
Are you sure about this? The videos I saw with browser rotation animation were looking buttersmooth and I don't see a reason why Samsung shouldn't use this in their production models.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see a reason : patents. It's really hot news last time, Apple sueing Samsung.
And I have seen no Galaxy S2 retail version w/ browser rotation.
Though I really hope it will come :/.

touness69 said:
Well that's still not confirmed, the original GS were capped at 56fps supposedy for V-sync too but the refresh rate of the screen is exactly the same as GSII 60Hz
And even if it is for V-sync, the question is still why they chose V-sync unlike Lg with it's O2X ? then you go back too that "battery life" efficiency
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vsync is not only for battery life, it can help but it also prevent tearing. So it's not limited to "battery life", instead "Vsync" is a way better explanation.
And what do you do to the "* May not be applicable in some regions" near the "Super AMOLED Plus" specification on the Official GSII website eh ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was never confirmed to be SLCD, though it is confirmed that Tegra in Korea will have Super Amoled Plus(well see message on page 1).
So, you can't confirm one model will be SLCD, AMOLED, Super Amoled, IPS LCD, .... or none of those and simply Super Amoled Plus.
But most probably Super Amoled Plus, since it's confirmed for Korea w/ Tegra.
//Sorry for double post

wow, comments are coming in fast, great! ill try to keep up
how should i list codecs and formats? should i list them as they appear on samsungs site
http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxys2/html/specification.html
or should i list them as they appear on android's developer site
http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html
the thing is, the developer site isnt complete, because the galaxy s has added formats not found in basic android

Related

[Q] Will it handle 720p High profile MVK's ?

Will the SC2 handle 720p High Profile MVK's (Exynos CPU) .. I know from the tegra 2 can't and chokes on the content that a JB ipad with XBMC plays
I think it does, I downloaded the latest episode of fringe (1gig in size) which is 720p high profile. Plays without a hitch. Wont play at all on my HD2 and wouldnt on my tegra tablet either. (or ipad using VLC player)
it even plays 1080p high profile, albeit you cannot use seek or it just hangs, if you just start the movie and let it play it plays fine and in sync, tested this on a 2 gig episode of band of brothers 1080p high profile.
and this is before any optimisations by any media player makers, the phone has the potential to blow everything else out of the water, not even the IPAD 2 can play my copies of fringe, just stutters.
SG2 - 1
rest of the workd - 0
It'll play 720p and 1080p without breaking a sweat until you've used it you won't realise just how powerful this processor actually is. It's even more of beast if you're willing to use to 1.5ghz kernel that's available
101matt101 said:
It'll play 720p and 1080p without breaking a sweat until you've used it you won't realise just how powerful this processor actually is. It's even more of beast if you're willing to use to 1.5ghz kernel that's available
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks guys .. Now i just hope that they release the Exynos CPU version in Japan
Tokyorob said:
Thanks guys .. Now i just hope that they release the Exynos CPU version in Japan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't you just import one even if they don't? I have no idea what bands Japan use or anything though to be honest. Are they the same as the UK? Glad to help btw
101matt101 said:
Can't you just import one even if they don't? I have no idea what bands Japan use or anything though to be honest. Are they the same as the UK? Glad to help btw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The bands are the same for DoCoMo and Softbank however DoCoMo filters the IMEI so you can't use a non docomo handset without paying extra
Softbank don't use filters however their service is poor

[Q] 1080p limitation on the Touchpad?

Wondering if the Snapdragon SoC can do a better job than the Tegra2. Has anybody tested some high profile 1080p?
Thanks.
On sensation all my HD 1080p videos played with no problem
samomamo said:
On sensation all my HD 1080p videos played with no problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even 1080p [email protected]? If that's the case, my coming Touchpad will get a lot more usage than I expected
Thanks.
1080p flash works well on the sensation but not on the pad
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
Itaintrite said:
Wondering if the Snapdragon SoC can do a better job than the Tegra2. Has anybody tested some high profile 1080p?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think it`s just software limitation.
also the cpu @ 1.2ghz is underclocked. it can run up to 1.5ghz without any problem.
Cellphones, Tablet PCs,
Qualcomm gets official with TouchPad-powering Snapdragon APQ8060 processor
By Donald Melanson posted Feb 10th 2011 1:31PM
HP already put out the first official word about Qualcomm's new Snapdragon APQ8060 processor yesterday when it revealed that its TouchPad was based on it, but Qualcomm's now also come out and properly announced the new processor itself. That's, of course, a dual-core processor, and comes paired with an Adreno 220 GPU that Qualcomm says helps to deliver "unprecedented processing and 3D graphics performance." What's more, while the TouchPad is the first device to use the processor, it obviously won't be the last, and Qualcomm has now also given us an idea of what sort of capabilities those devices (including smartphones in addition to tablets) might have -- namely, cameras up to 16 megapixels, and the ability to capture and display 1080p stereoscopic 3D video or 8 megapixel stereoscopic still images. Head on past the break for the complete press release.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.qualcomm.com/documents/files/snapdragon-msm8x60-apq8060-product-brief.pdf
Why do people go nuts over thing like this? i really dont get it.. unless its just so they dont have to re-encode anything... but what the point of running a 1080p video on a screen that is only 1024x768? when you do this you are making the processor work harder scaling it down.. there for using more battery..
if its just for easy of use.. thats one thing.. just copy and go.. or if the touchpad had a video out port (that would be SWEEETT!!)
Darkomen64 said:
Why do people go nuts over thing like this? i really dont get it.. unless its just so they dont have to re-encode anything... but what the point of running a 1080p video on a screen that is only 1024x768? when you do this you are making the processor work harder scaling it down.. there for using more battery..
if its just for easy of use.. thats one thing.. just copy and go.. or if the touchpad had a video out port (that would be SWEEETT!!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Calm down. Why do people think it's their job to tell others what to want? First of all, nobody's going nuts here. Secondly, you're right. I don't want to reencode my tv shows just to watch then delete. Third and last, i don't care about battery when im on my bed and want to something.
Itaintrite said:
Calm down. Why do people think it's their job to tell others what to want? First of all, nobody's going nuts here. Secondly, you're right. I don't want to reencode my tv shows just to watch then delete. Third and last, i don't care about battery when im on my bed and want to something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry i didnt mean to imply that anyone here was going nuts over it.. but there was quite a... debate.. over the issue on the nook forums about it.. people calling it a POS because it couldnt do 1080p ect.. people were even complaining that even tho they were already having to re-encode there videos to get them to play on the nook.. they were having to re-encode them to 800x480 instead of the more 'common' format of 1280x720
I understand. There was a big ordeal with the Tegra 2 and high-profile h264, but it is an issue that needs to be addressed. Anyhow, it LOOKS like this 3rd-gen Snapdragon chip is a better decoder. Will try it myself when I get my Touchpad. Wonder if there's a HW-decoding player for webOS though.
Itaintrite said:
I understand. There was a big ordeal with the Tegra 2 and high-profile h264, but it is an issue that needs to be addressed. Anyhow, it LOOKS like this 3rd-gen Snapdragon chip is a better decoder. Will try it myself when I get my Touchpad. Wonder if there's a HW-decoding player for webOS though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try this player KalemSoft Media Player
shah_vm said:
try this player KalemSoft Media Player
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does not look like this software is hardware decoding because even 720p h264 mkv are lagging.
No it isn't. It transcodes the files. Somebody needs to write a player that will do hardware decoding. This soc is technically as good as the ipad2. I would be more than happy to pay for such app.
I know this isn't exactly what is being asked, but just to add I played some HD videos from Vimeo yesterday and they worked really well.
stevenmu said:
I know this isn't exactly what is being asked, but just to add I played some HD videos from Vimeo yesterday and they worked really well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vimeo is more HQ than HD imo
From using touch player on the device (which is built off of ffmpeg), I can tell you that even 720p will lag a little (but still playable). I highly doubt 1080 will be. Besides, how much do you think you are going to fit onto it with nothing but 1080p shows? 2 seasons of the simpsons @ 720p took up nearly 16gb.
yareally said:
From using touch player on the device (which is built off of ffmpeg), I can tell you that even 720p will lag a little (but still playable). I highly doubt 1080 will be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchplayer is a software-decoding player. We need hardware!
Itaintrite said:
Touchplayer is a software-decoding player. We need hardware!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Start developing it
There doesn't exist anything else for touchpad as far as I know.
yareally said:
Start developing it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would take too long. First I have to learn how to code lol. I wish somebody would take advantage of the fire sale and make such software. There's gotta be like 1/4 a million Touchpads out there right?
I'd consider it, but I don't think there's much of a market for selling it on the touchpad. Besides the fact android will be on it soon.
yareally said:
I'd consider it, but I don't think there's much of a market for selling it on the touchpad. Besides the fact android will be on it soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps, but I wonder if Android performance will take a hit as a port.

[VIDEO] Encoding settings for H264 video playback @ 1080p

When I started using my Droid X2 I notice I could not play most of my MP4 files with hardware decoding. (I use MX Video Player which clearly shows you if it is hardware decode.) Using software, the phone is not fast enough to play back 720p or higher.... Even the Droid X had better hardware support as it could play back most of my 480p MP4 files in hardware.
I know the DX2 can play back its own 720p/30fps video files flawlessly and in hardware, so there had to be something going on.
So I dug into what's going on and it turns out the Tegra 2 has a pretty bad video decoder in it. (Thanks for nothing NVidia......) Even the old Hummingbird single core chip in the Galaxy S can do much better!
What I have found is on our phone we can only playback video using the Baseline profile. This is the worst quality profile and pretty much everything out there uses High Profile. (And sometimes Main profile.) Baseline is the easiest to encode and decode -- but really it's not used much anymore because of how inefficient it is with bitrate. (Meaning lower quality in comparison)
As a test I converted some 1080p content to various profiles to test it out ... and then did it again at 720p and then 540p. (The native phone resolution.)
All I could get to play on my phone in hardware was video encoded with baseline.
Now, what was interesting is I created a 1080p/24fps baseline file at about 7.5mbps and the phone had zero problems playing that, even that that high bitrate! Very surprising there....
Now, I created two files -- one using High Profile and the other Baseline profile -- both at the same bitrate so they are both identically sized -- and the quality difference is quite noticeable when playing through VLC on my computer. The Baseline is much more smudgy during lots of movement.... Sucks
NOW, realistically if you only watch video on your phone's screen, then encode at 960x540 and use baseline and it will look really good.
If you connect HDMI, though, then the hardware decoder will send the video to the TV at full resolution (up to 1080p) but then the quality difference really becomes noticeable.
It's a shame really .... This TI OMAP CPU in the Bionic/Droid 3 does not have this problem ... but all Tegra 2 devices like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and so on have the same issue as the Droid X2.
(Although it does appear the newest 3.1 update on the Tegra 2 tablets allows high profile 720p not, I tried it on our phone and it does not work. Not even 540p at high works.) We are using a lower slightly lower end version of Tegra 2 versus the tablets so that might be the difference.
Attached is the Baseline profile settings to use for Handbrake for our phone.
This is why my computers only rock AMD.
could the latest update have done anything? I would really like some higher res movies with out having to go through all the hassle, cause I have no idea how to do all that with baseline and everything lol
fargles said:
could the latest update have done anything? I would really like some higher res movies with out having to go through all the hassle, cause I have no idea how to do all that with baseline and everything lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very doubtfully no, since its really a hardware issue.
Re-encoding is generally pretty simple, especially if someone gives you the right profile/settings you need, as he did above. Grab Handbrake, check his settings, and give it a shot with a short video file. The worst part is the length it can take to transcode something, which is mostly dependant on your CPU.
Thanks for the info man, was going to play around with this when i first noticed it but never had time and forgot about it. I'll be lazy and keep the old Archos 5 going with component out video lol, doesn't look too great, but 120GB and great battery life will help.
ihavenolife008 said:
Very doubtfully no, since its really a hardware issue.
Re-encoding is generally pretty simple, especially if someone gives you the right profile/settings you need, as he did above. Grab Handbrake, check his settings, and give it a shot with a short video file. The worst part is the length it can take to transcode something, which is mostly dependant on your CPU.
Thanks for the info man, was going to play around with this when i first noticed it but never had time and forgot about it. I'll be lazy and keep the old Archos 5 going with component out video lol, doesn't look too great, but 120GB and great battery life will help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely will try that, and the reason I asked was cause at the bottom he sounded unsure that it was a hardware problem... so I thought why not ask lol no harm no foul right?
in my completely n00b opinion if we are using a slightly lower tegra2 than the ones in the tablets it would seem that we wouldn't have such different results. I would think that if we are using slightly lower processors we would get slightly lower results. However I know very little about what I am talking about so I could completely be off base
This phone just keeps getting better and better.
To topic greater what derision of android were you using and what rom? Cause I found that on 2.3.3 using eclipse 0.2.2 I had next to no problems playing any 720p video files using hardware. They were h264 in mkv. Just.get mobo video player and its codec pack. If you trying to watch anime download mkv ripper to rip the subs out so you can still.use hardware. Yes software support make it skips but i rarely need to use software. At least on my dx2. And using software support on 480p runs with out any problems.
Mobo player is the best video player out for android use that instead I tried mx player and it was quite crap. Your.playback of video files depends on the video player itself as well as the phone. And in hardware 720p runs just fine on mobo with very little hickups for.fast.pace action scenes and I know I'm not on baseline.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App

1080p HD Video Playback (mkv) and Flash(HD youtube) Performances

I am trying to decide between the International Note or the Att note (both being equal in price). My biggest concern is the video playback in browser (HD 1080p flash video) and 720/1080p mkv videos (using stock or 3rd party players). I found that there are some reports of choppiness with the ATT note in the "Att note vs International Note review" thread. How true is this? And is it still true after overclocking?
LTE is not very impt, but definitely a plus since my area is LTE ready. Biggest thing is video playback and web browsing experience(especially in flash heavy websites). I actually find my Tegra 3 Asus Prime to be less smooth than my current galaxy s2 smartphone (can be a resolution thing..).
I had the HP Touchpad before with the same snapdragon processor as the att note and it was pretty terrible at playing the type of files I wanted smoothly (ESPECIALLY IN BROSWER). That was using Webos, so it can be a different story here.
720p mkv play perfectly - no re-encoding required - but you are apparently still constrained by the 4GB limit, so full length movies are not possible in many cases.
TV shows average about 1.2 gig so its most useful for those.
If we ever get ICS, I assume the 4gb limit will no longer apply, only you will have to transfer files via wifi or use a card reader and transfer directly to the SD card - the retarded samsung/MS USB file transfer protocols still fail at 4gb even if the device can store larger files.
I have this problem with my galaxy tab 10.1 I can play re-encoded mp4 much larger than 4gb but they have to be transferred by wifi. I assume the same problem will exist with the note under ICS.
Edit: Apparently NTFS formatting of the SD card has been attempted, don't know if it is an effective solution to 4gb limit, haven't tried it myself: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/galaxy-note-can-now-format-sd-card-to-ntfs-file-system/
Thanks, what about 1080p flash in browser? My Galaxy s2 can do this on youtube without a problem (and on engadget), but I'm wondering if it's possible with the galaxy note att. I am sure the international version will fair fine.
Yes, works with stock browser.
Tried Dark Knight 1080p trailer - plays fine.
NVIDA Pure Video 1080p test - plays fine.
Sharp Aquous Full HD 1080p test - plays fine.
1080p 30 fps 17Mbps HD Test Footage by DizzyDougTV - Plays fine
All were tested using LTE not wifi
Singuy1234 said:
My biggest concern is the video playback in browser (HD 1080p flash video) and 720/1080p mkv videos (using stock or 3rd party players).
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Since the Note's screen is 800x1200, and one typically watches videos on the phone "sideways", there's no real benefit of watching video above 720p; the phone can only go up to 800p "sideways". Not only that, but because the screen is so small you likely won't be able to tell the difference in videos at resolutions higher than DVD-quality (i.e. 480p) anyway.
As for poor playback performance, I've watched a couple of YouTube videos in HQ and I find that there is the odd minor stutter here and there, but nothing to serious. I'm not sure how much of that is the result of network latency, though.
I've played DVD-quality videos (480p) -- copied onto the device memory; not streamed online -- with absolutely no issues whatsoever.
I've also played 720p and 1080p videos which were copied directly on to the device. There is occasionally a frame dropped here and there (most people wouldn't notice, but I'm pretty sensitive to that after years of messing around with video on computers) but I would say they play perfectly fine, also.
From my understanding, the newer I717 has more CPU horsepower and a GPU that is a little more than twice as fast. I would imagine this would make it better at playing videos than the older N7000 (i.e. international version).
Don57 said:
Since the Note's screen is 800x1200, and one typically watches videos on the phone "sideways", there's no real benefit of watching video above 720p; the phone can only go up to 800p "sideways". Not only that, but because the screen is so small you likely won't be able to tell the difference in videos at resolutions higher than DVD-quality (i.e. 480p) anyway.
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Click to collapse
True, but he might want to output the video to a higher resolution display - I assume this thing has some sort of HDMI adapter.
Just my opinion, but 720p looks sharper than DVD quality to me even on a 5.3 inch display, though, granted, the difference is small.
Tried several MKV movies in 1080p (had to chop them up into smaller MKV size)..
Smooth as butter with Dice Player
I should also mention that you would want a player that will leverage Hardware Decoding..
Tried turning this feature off in Dice Player for 1080p playback, and sure enough, it was choppy.

Full HD Media Playback Discussion

Hello! I will be updating this thread on video playback capabilities of the Nexus 10, particularly on high-end resolution. The new software update is out and under testing at many sites, as well is it is shipping worldwide, so I'll try to share as many information about the multimedia capabilities of the Nexus 10 as possible, you can help out too. Discussion should cover
- full HD video playback performance, formats, framerates
- stock vs. 3rd party media player apps
- youtube and streaming at fullHD
- tweaks to optimize performance
Video performance test by italia0101
please visit his XDA thread for other excellent videos!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994164
How to get DTS working with MX Player
Download this file and follow instructions here (thx olis4)
YouTube 2600k sample:
720p/1080p MKV samples:
404 ERROR said:
HI10P 720p sample file: http://hotfile.com/dl/148950242/e652ee9/
HI10P 1080p sample file: http://android.tnonline.net/Software/Video/Hi10P Software/hotd-op-1080p-hi10p.mkv
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still on pre-release, but AndroidCentral points out that background tasks and fullHD video cause some lags, killing those tasks makes it smooth. For me to be able to play properly coded videos water tight on a $500 device is essential, if it fails to do so I have little reason to prefer this over the Nexus7. We shall see results soon.
BoneXDA said:
Still on pre-release, but AndroidCentral points out that background tasks and fullHD video cause some lags, killing those tasks makes it smooth. For me to be able to play properly coded videos water tight on a $500 device is essential, if it fails to do so I have little reason to prefer this over the Nexus7. We shall see results soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah this kinda does worry me, as a big part of why i'm looking at this is to play movies while a travel, he does say its only with HD rips of blue rays, but would be nice to see if it does it with HD movies downloaded via the playstore etc.
might have to wait to see what happens when people get it in their hands.
Of course there are some 2600k videos too to get the maximum out of the Nexus 10, mostly gaming. Anyone with hands on the device should check this out:
BoneXDA said:
Of course there are some 2600k videos too to get the maximum out of the Nexus 10, mostly gaming. Anyone with hands on the device should check this out:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well hopefully this isn't going to be a result of google having to beat the retina, if thats the case then i'd much more want a screen of the 1920x1080 res that is really good, and that the processor isn't running at 100% trying to run.
I'll post some 2560x1440 (not upscaled) clips shortly for folks to check out their new toys, along with same clips in 1080p BD bitrates (35Mbps) for comparison testing.
e.mote said:
I'll post some 2560x1440 (not upscaled) clips shortly for folks to check out their new toys, along with same clips in 1080p BD bitrates (35Mbps) for comparison testing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reviewer said he was trying it on ripped blue rays, does that mean it would be playing a video on 1920x1080 and stretching the image? standard blue ray def is 1920x1080 right?
BoneXDA said:
Still on pre-release, but AndroidCentral points out that background tasks and fullHD video cause some lags, killing those tasks makes it smooth. For me to be able to play properly coded videos water tight on a $500 device is essential, if it fails to do so I have little reason to prefer this over the Nexus7. We shall see results soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said he was downloading things in the back. I think a lot of devices lag when you're downloading things.
>The reviewer said he was trying it on ripped blue rays, does that mean it would be playing a video on 1920x1080 and stretching the image? standard blue ray def is 1920x1080 right?
Original BD is 1920x1080 with avg bitrates of 30-35Mbps. Rips can keep the 1080p res or be downscaled, but bitrates are inevitably lower (for smaller size) as they're intended to be downloaded.
Many devices now can handle 1080p of the "rip" (lowered bitrate) variety, but fewer can smoothly play "remuxed" (original BD bitrate) 1080p content. So to say that a device can playback 1080p is relatively meaningless unless the bitrate is specified. Anything from Youtube would not be a good test, since YT stuff are highly compressed (very low bitrate relative to resolution), and fidelity is substantially compromised.
My expectation is that N10 should handle "normal" 1080p rips (10Mbps), given it's the latest-gen SoC, and that video playback is a staple use. I'm more curious about performance with BD-bitrate content, and 1440p content, hence the pending clip uploads. Admittedly, these would be more for curiosity's sake than for practical use--there is no 1440p content, and BD ISOs won't fit through wifi pipes, HT40 or no.
Subscribing as videos are the #1 thing I use tablets for. There was one video posted in the general section last week that takes advantage of the N10's resolution. A quick browse back a few pages and you'll find it in one of the threads talking about the screen
Playing back laggy HD video is a major concern. Not that I would watch movies on it myself but the last thing Google and Samsung needs is more ammo against them. This being the only somewhat major issue though, unlike the fake issues like no SD, plastic construction, and tablet specific apps(the ipad ones really are not that much better than the iphone ones, except games with HD in the title).
That said, my core 2 duo chugs during some streams so i am guessing if it chugs on the PC, Nexus 7, ipad 4, tf700, it will chug on the Nexus 10 and everything else that isn't an i7.
Tomatoes8 said:
Playing back laggy HD video is a major concern. Not that I would watch movies on it myself but the last thing Google and Samsung needs is more ammo against them. This being the only somewhat major issue though, unlike the fake issues like no SD, plastic construction, and tablet specific apps(the ipad ones really are not that much better than the iphone ones, except games with HD in the title).
That said, my core 2 duo chugs during some streams so i am guessing if it chugs on the PC, Nexus 7, ipad 4, tf700, it will chug on the Nexus 10 and everything else that isn't an i7.
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Click to collapse
What kind of streams are you running against your C2D? I find it hard to believe it's choking on even 1080p 24+ bit-rate streams. Are you on some ancient video card that doesn't have acceleration, thereby forcing your CPU to brute-force the decode?
edge929 said:
What kind of streams are you running against your C2D? I find it hard to believe it's choking on even 1080p 24+ bit-rate streams. Are you on some ancient video card that doesn't have acceleration, thereby forcing your CPU to brute-force the decode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess it has something to do with my home group connection or wifi connection in general. Playback through a USB drive or internal storage never chugs though. Although some files still have artifacting.
I would be interested in knowing if this can play 10bit MKV files.
situman said:
I would be interested in knowing if this can play 10bit MKV files.
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Click to collapse
Good lord. So do I.
BoneXDA said:
Still on pre-release, but AndroidCentral points out that background tasks and fullHD video cause some lags, killing those tasks makes it smooth. For me to be able to play properly coded videos water tight on a $500 device is essential, if it fails to do so I have little reason to prefer this over the Nexus7. We shall see results soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many tweaks that can be used to slim down a loaded system, but regarding games & videos, I would set the heapsize to 512m, to start. The next place I would look is swappiness. Usually when running one big app and not task switching, you'd want to increase this so that other processes are cached to virtual memory, freeing ram for your main process. With 2gb ram, though, the opposite might be better, as some apps will periodically wake to check for email, news, chats, etc. In this case I think it would be better to keep those processes in ram so that they don't cause a hit to disk to wake from virtual memory.
In other words, I would definitely try tweaking swappiness, but I don't know which way would be better. I'm going to sub this thread; please post whatever results you experience.
situman said:
I would be interested in knowing if this can play 10bit MKV files.
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Click to collapse
I'd never heard of a 10bit MKV until you brought it up. So I downloaded a sample to see it.
For what it's worth, I just tried it on my Galaxy Note 2.
The gallery player didn't play it (audio only) but it worked OK with MX Player in software decoding mode.
Since this resolution is so high on this device, is the Nexus 10 the 1st. "ULTRA" high resolution mobile device/tablet? Doesn't ultra start around this resolution or so?
Wooba99 said:
I'd never heard of a 10bit MKV until you brought it up. So I downloaded a sample to see it.
For what it's worth, I just tried it on my Galaxy Note 2.
The gallery player didn't play it (audio only) but it worked OK with MX Player in software decoding mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bsplayer is slightly better. Mxplayer will lose audio. But it can get pretty bad even with my note 10.1. Audio n video gets way out of sync.
situman said:
Bsplayer is slightly better. Mxplayer will lose audio. But it can get pretty bad even with my note 10.1. Audio n video gets way out of sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not had any issues previously using MXplayer. However since this video was animated and in Japanese, it might have been completely out of sync, I have no idea

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