Sansa e200 Video problem

[Indiaan]

When I use the mpeg player the screens seems to be to small for the video 'cause I can only see a part of the screen...

And it isn't that big a deal 'cause I just use the original firmware to play the vids. But then I have to convert al of them wich takes a lot of time and i'm not able to play them from my microsd so then I have to move them wich also takes a lot of time...

Here is an example of what I'm trying to say

[Chronon]

You need to convert them to the proper resolution to match your screen.  Part of converting them for use with the original firmware must also include changing to the proper resolution.  See the page about Mpegplayer in the wiki (PluginMpegplayer).

[Indiaan]

Thanx for the info I have been searching this forum for answers and also the wiki but couldn't find anything...  (didn't search hard enough probably :-P )

Does somebody know some free or shareware converting software?

[Chronon]

Read that wiki page.  There are several options listed there.  Please don't use net slang such as "thanx".  

[grossaffe]

I, personally, use Super.  just drag n' drop a bunch of videos in there.  its pretty intuitive.  220x176 isn't a resolution option, but 240x176 works just fine.

[Indiaan]

I've read the wiki but I find it not well explained certainly when English isn't the persons motherlanguage and I downloaded that 'WinFF' but I don't know how to use it...

For example I don't know what bitrate the video needs and same for the audio. And I tried it just without filling in the bitrate and chose Mpeg-4 as compression format but when it was converted I noticed the file had the extension .avi

Can someone explain me how to use it perhaps in dutch or otherwise in english but a bit more simple... (and what's wrong with 'thanx'? I don't use it as slang I just write it like that 'cause it's faster)

[Chronon]

Notice that the PluginMpegplayer page tells you that it only supports MPEG-1 or MPEG-2:

It is currently capable of playing back MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video streams with MPEG audio multiplexed into .mpg files (MPEG Program Stream).

For WinFF: Did you replace the existing presets.xml with the one provided in the wiki?  You should be able to choose a preset that matches your player.

Bitrate will affect the quality and size of the resulting file.  You have some flexibility on this one -- it comes down to user preference.

[Indiaan]

Thanks for the help  

Now I'm still struggling a little bit with the bitrate does anyone know what bitrate is best for playback on a sansa?

keeping in mind that I don't have that mutch storage room...

And what happens if I don't fill in the bitrate will it just stay as it was before convertion?

[Chronon]

I'm not too sure of the specifics of using WinFF.  I find that a video bitrate of around 650 kbps looks decent on my large 320x240 screen -- though this depends on the complexity of the frames being drawn.  Your screen has roughly half the pixels of my screen so you can probably get similar results with about half of the video bitrate.  You'll have to find what values work for you, however.  

[Indiaan]

Thanks Again...  

Finally I can watch video on my sansa without having to reboot my player into the original firmware  8-)

And I can store much more movies on it now because of the smaller compression

greetings

[Llorean]

650 is way too much for the Sansa, I'd say.

On a 320x240 screen, I use 600 for fullscreen, and a mere 400 for widescreen. On the Sansa you can probably get away with ~250 or so, maybe even less, and still have it look good.

[Chronon]

Thanks for the input, Llorean.  Though you'll notice that I was suggesting half of the bitrate that I use for 320x240 (i.e. about 325 kbps).  

Anyway, my spec was just a stab at extrapolating what might work for that screensize.  Obviously it's better to follow Llorean's suggestion since he has a Sansa.

[Llorean]

Ah, yes, I missed that. My mind was already formulating a response to another post, and I just skimmed your reply, and somehow read right past the second half.

Also, of course, not everyone's tolerance for compression artifacts is identical. You might be able to go way lower without noticing a problem (especially dependent upon source material).

[Indiaan]

Lucky for me that this forum exists otherwise I would never have been able to play mpeg's on my sansa. And about the bitrate, I'll just fool around a little bit and see what suits me best...