Android 4.4.2 - Video playback: no ac3 sound when streaming - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Please read carefully! It took me an hour just to write this post, not counting days of troubleshooting.
The old situation:
I have a collection of video in different compressed formats on my home server, and i want to access them from my phone.
So far, i have been using sftp for this (several file managers support this, esp. ES File Manager), but either the sftp protocol or ES file manager aren't suitable for streaming, there's too much stuttering and freezing. This is not a bandwidth issue!
Partial solution & new problem:
I use a dedicated media server (ampache) on my home server, and a dedicated client (DSub) on my Acer E700 (aka E39), stock android, rooted, firewalled.
I noticed a problem with video that uses AC3 sound encoding - The video plays fine (even hi-res), i just don't hear any sound.
And it happens only when i stream the video through the network (http?) (*) - the file plays just fine when i copy it to the phone, or use sftp via ES file manager, or download the file through my media server.
I tried this with all media players i have:
stock android video player
ES media player
MX player (with or without custom codec neon.1.7.32.rev1.zip) - it says, when playing files through the media server, that HW+ or SW decoding is not supported, however when i play the same video locally there's no such limitation.
I also tried all video streaming settings inside DSub:
Raw
HTTP Live Stream (HLS) (this did not work at all)
Direct transcode (requires video -> mp4 or similar setup on server)
Flash plugin (did not work, i guess i don't have the flash plugin)
and the result is always the same: all video plays fine, but video with ac3 sound has no sound.
unfortunately most hdtv videos use h264/ac3...
here's a list of codec combinations and resolutions that don't play sound:
h264/ac3 1280x720
avi/ac3 704x396
avi/ac3 640x368
here's a list of codec combinations and resolutions that do play sound:
quicktime/mp4 848x448
quicktime/mp4 1280x720
quicktime/mp4 716x404
avi/mp3 640x360
I can only come to the conclusion that android treats different codecs differently when streamed through the network. How can I solve this?
(*) i also copied one of the affected files to the public html section and tried to open it through my phone's browser, and the result is the same: no sound with ac3.
i did notice that one of the "good" files opened right inside the browser, whereas the "bad" file asked to open with a media player.

i'm pretty sure this is about ac3 audio.
i just don't understand why it works flawlessly when i play the files straight from phone memory, but not over the network?

Related

[Q] Anyone else having problems with the stock Vibrant Video Player?

Hey guys,
So I was wondering if anyone else thinks the video player on the Vibrant is really lacking in terms of functionality. The device says that it can play .avi files (and then some) but when I download files from my PC to the phone (I transferred a few episodes of The Simpsons and Pixar's UP), it simply says "Unsupported Filed Type".
Does anyone else have this problem? I've also tried downloading official .divx files (movie trailers) from divx.com that I know should work on the Vibrant, but it still doesn't.
Now, I've downloaded RockPlayer and all those files that couldn't be played with the stock video player now plays perfectly. Now, what am I missing here? It's not an issue with my particular phone right? Additionally, if the phone is marketed as a multimedia phone that supports a wide variety of file types, it kind of sucks that it can't even play on the stock video player.
[PS. The files I transferred to my phone can play fine on a PS3, so the format should be correct, I believe]
Often the issue is a particular encoding or the resolution is too high. I use MediaCoder to do my conversions, because Rockplayer freezes occasionally on me.
The avi files in PC (usually downloaded from torrents) tend to be encoded with special codecs and not all players can play it. Even in the PC, if you don't have VLC player, some times they don't play in computer itself...
Convert them to supported formats before copying them to mobile.

Video: which app on NC?

Wondering what app you use to watch movies from sdcard. Built-in app doesn't work. Neither does es file explorer video app.
Sent from my mod'd nookcolor
ethanwinkley said:
Wondering what app you use to watch movies from sdcard. Built-in app doesn't work. Neither does es file explorer video app.
Sent from my mod'd nookcolor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The built in video app works fine for me, but I prefer RockPlayer.
The built in player also works fine for me. But it really only supports MP4 video files, if I understand correctly. I use Handbrake and the iPod Touch preset to encode for my Nook.
That said, I actually use Act 1 Video Player because it has the nicest 'library' view that groups by folder.
I use yxplayer, no need to encode... plays avi files like a charm.
The built-in player outperforms RockPlayer, which has some audio sync issues.
I use the iPod Touch preset in Handbrake, but I bump the resolution up to 720 x ???, turn off Anamorphic, and set a constant video bitrate of 800kbps and an audio bitrate of 80kbps.
Works well for me. Speed Racer looks gorgeous on this screen.
from my very very few experiments, i concluded that once videos are converted to mp4 (h.264 / AAC) any player is the same (uses the hardware decoding).
with videos in different formats its likely that there will be problems
i agree with nooter on using handbrake's iphone preset modifying the bitrate setting it around 800kbps (for animated movies it can be lower 600kbps should be ok). About altering the size of the movie, only for reducing it (remember the max lines in landscape is 600)
rock player works if u have the latest universal player but you need to install add block because even if you pay for it you cannot activate it
I've found that all the players avail still play back xvid/divx avi's really choppy, going to have to give handbrake a try to take advantage of the hardware decoder...
I was just able to install vplayer from the market (a few days ago it wouldn't install)... some audio sync issues but there are some cache parameters to tweak... anybody had any luck?
Kokanee483 said:
I've found that all the players avail still play back xvid/divx avi's really choppy, going to have to give handbrake a try to take advantage of the hardware decoder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same experience with playing divx/xvid files, choppy sound and 21-24fps video playback. Take that same video and run it through handbrake to convert to .mp4 and it runs great.
Where is the built in video player located? I cannot seem to find it anywhere..
I agreed with vplayer beta from the market place. It's free. It'll play most video formats. I've tested 480p and 720p mkv and both play with high speed setting. 720p mkv video is slow but 480p play fine. It's great with cifsmanager and mounted shared videos.
Nooter said:
The built-in player outperforms RockPlayer, which has some audio sync issues.
I use the iPod Touch preset in Handbrake, but I bump the resolution up to 720 x ???, turn off Anamorphic, and set a constant video bitrate of 800kbps and an audio bitrate of 80kbps.
Works well for me. Speed Racer looks gorgeous on this screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, what filetype does that create? What is the Extension? MP4 or M4V? Also, are there any other settings, other than the ones listed above that you use?
I am asking these questions because I am having issues with movies encoded this way playing in the default player. It doesn't recognize the video, so it will not play.
Also, VPlayer plays them, but there is a definite audio lag once you forward to about mid-movie.
Also, as an aside, I am converting ISO files (Direct DVD rips) using HandBrake. That is how I am generating these files. I do change the extension to mp4 from handbrakes default (m4v i think).
Thanks for any help.
J
sano614 said:
Where is the built in video player located? I cannot seem to find it anywhere..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no shortcut in the App drawer (or Gallery) for the stock video player....I just click the video file (in whatever file manager you use or the Nook Library My Files tab).
Personally I use Act 1 Video player as it will present a list of videos on the SD card and Nook. Although for some reason it list videos on the Nook twice.
Sent from my Nooxus One using Tapatalk
The Act 1 app seems to be the only one that can properly sort videos. I tried the trial version, and it seems to work great, but as intuitive as the in-video touch areas may seem, I just can't get my brain dialed in to use them in practice. I think the built-in NC player works just fine, it's the video file/folder sorting that's nearly impossible to navigate once you have 20 or 30 vids on there along with a few thousand photos.
The media sorting options on Android are surprising lacking, or I just can't seem to find methods to deal with 32 gigabytes of media on this device.
I just did a bunch of conversions from some 720p MKV's. I converted them using Xilisoft video converter.
The settings I used were:
720x420
800k bitrate
44.1khz 128kbps audio
H.264 codec MP4 extension
Plays flawlessly with Rockplayer. No desync on fastforward.
The Built in player IS the best
After many attempts and reboots, I have determined that the Built-in Media player is the best player for videos encoded as specified earlier in this thread...
I tried Rock, and VPlayer beta, but both had very bad audio sync issues.
The Built-in player played all my encoded videos flawlessly. The wife LOVED watching Salt on the Nook during our road-trip. The only downside is the audio on the nook--hardly any volume. Easily solved by a good set of earphones. We are very pleased with the nook.
J
Check out mVideoPlayer. I haven't tried it on the Nook, but its perfect on my Galaxy S phone.
As for encoding, go with handbrake. Choose the Apple TV preset. Set resolution to custom and width to 800 (handbrake should automatically choose the correct height based on asperity ratio of source material). Set the video quality to constant at 60% (70% is the max you want for HDTV). Under audio, select the appropriate track and select aac with Prologic II or stereo as the encoding. Use the MP4 extension as to avoid issues with different t players.
You can get way more detailed on settings beyond that. It just depends on the material and the playback device. Those settings should get you outstanding video on the Nook. May have to scale back a little if the video is choppy.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
After much trial and error, I have to agree with previous poster who said the best player is the built-in player with mp4 files created with the settings mentioned. The other players all had issues with controls and added nothing if the file was formatted as described.
I also had a lot of trouble getting any player to play any file at first. I think installing some of the other players added some necessary codecs. Then after a reboot, everything started to work. Hope that helps someone else avoid some frustration.
Despite a few trials like this, I love this tablet! Thank you xda devs!
Sent from my rooted Nook Color using XDA App
I'm running the free version of Rock Player. It's not exactly the cheapest app out there on the Android market, but if it works well, not a big deal.
Whenever I choose an mp4 video that I've encoded at 848x360, for example, Rock Player seems to default the widescreen video to this resolution, assuming the Nook Color scaled resolution is 1024x600, which means that a high quality widescreen rip at the smaller resolution will default launch with black bars around all 4 edges.
I noticed that the video display resizing has 3 modes,
(1) the default mode as mentioned above
(2) zoomed mode which fills the whole screen, stretching as required
(3) scaled mode which allows the widescreen video to stretch to the left and right edges properly, while maintaining a proper aspect ratio.
So the simple question is, how do I configure Rock Player to default launch video files in the mode (3) mentioned above?

[Q] stream mkv from nas?

Have an external hd connected to my western digital media hub, both have quite a lot of movies on there id like to stream to my phone, i can stream mp4 through twonky quite easily but 99% of my movies are ripped in mkv format, would be perfect if i could stream them to my phone then use hdmi out to watch in another room, any ways to do this?
no then? :s
+1
Would like to know any app that can stream media files from smb/cifs share.
CIFS Manager will get you file level access to the NAS, provided the kernel you're running supports CIFS (I don't have an SGS, so can't tell you). You should be able to find instructions in the forums.
In terms of playback of the actual files, if they're playable from SD card, they should work via CIFS manager.
Have a look into Plex as its an awesome app. It has a problem on the S2 at the mo but there is away around this, read the post here:
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/26473-samsung-galaxy-s-2-audio-only-problem/
Another way to try is to dl UPnPlay and then see if this works, you may need to download rockplayer but the stock video player should work with UPnPlay

[Q] Best media player utilizing HW accel?

I am looking for something than can play wmv/ogm/mkv/xvid/mp4/etc supporting multiple audio streams and multiple subtitle tracks
Any suggestions? I would prefer something that is accelerated so the phone's specs will help video run well as the resolution and file-sizes of the video files are quite large
Dice player....
Sent from my EVO 4G LTE
Thanks
Works well, but my MP4 video 5.1 sound files have a horrible crackling noise when it gets to loud parts. Decreasing volume doesn't help.
Ack double post! Just wanted to update on my progress:
Mobo player - won't open video for some reason, says it "can't open /mnt/sdcard/extsd........" error. Doesn't seem to be codec/decoder related as it does it regardless
MX Player - Works only in software mode, regardless of which decoder I use the video switched to "SW (FAST)" mode and shows HW as unavailable
Dice Player - Like I said above works GREAAAT except for popping/crackling audio. Software decoding works with audio but makes the video horrible and slow and laggy.
[EDIT]
RockPlayer Lite - Will not play the video file
VPlayer - Crackling audio, slow video playback even with codec/decoder
[EDIT 2]
Dolphin Player - Will not play the video file
[EDIT 3]
QQ Player - Will not play the video file
Shameful triple-post thread BUMP
Desperate for a video player with HW acceleration that decodes 5.1 AAC without terrible crackling noise.
Other alternative is to re-encode all videos but that is waaaay too much work, and is only a last resort.
Must be something in the encode it doesn't like. Stock player should play mp4 just fine, dunno how it handles 5.1.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA

Streaming videos from NAS locking up...

i guys,
when using MX Player , VLC Player and so on I cant stream movies, the alwys lock up after a few minutes of playback.
When I use the Sony OEM player it works fine. Would be ok but a) it has no on screen volume and brightness and b) doesnt play all video formats.
Anybody know why all the other players dont work? When stored local, movie playback is fine, only happens when streaming from NAS.
Thanks,
I would start by checking the strength of the Wifi signal. Use Wifi Analyzer.
Change your channel number or move the Wifi router to a better location.
I use Plex Server to host and catalogue my videos and the plex client on the device for playback. In the client you can change the settings to allow a direct stream with no transcoding of the video or audio, set your device profile as external and then choose which client to playback the video. I use Archos with the codecs plugin.
If your wifi signal/bandwith is low you can choose a max bit rate and the server will transcode the video reducing the bitrate.

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