Questions on MPEGPlayer and JPEG Viewers

[darkarn]

My H10 RockBox is not showing up any viewer plugins like the video player or the 8-Chip player.... Did I do something wrongly?


EDIT: How can I find out the aspect ratio for each of my videos?

I am setting my WinFF via this parameter:
-ac 2 -acodec libmp3lame -ab 320 -ar 44100 -vcodec mpeg2video -s 128x128 -b 800kb -strict -1 -r 30
Is this good in terms of preserving the quality of the videos?

Is it also possible to create a playlist of videos for MPEGPLayer to work with?

I am also facing problems using the JPEG viewer. What should I do to ensure that my pictures can be viewed via RockBox?

(Changed the title of this thread since its focus has been changed)

Thanks!

[saratoga]

So what happens when you try to view an mpeg file?  The error message would be useful.

[bluebrother]

The viewers don't show up in the plugin menu, as described in the manual.

[darkarn]

Silly me; didnt notice that point in the manual.

Anyway, I am trying to convert my video files into suitable dimensions for a H10 5GB UMS player. My video converting program does not specify whether it uses pixel or mm as a measurement for video size. Should this be a point of concern since the wiki provided for the video plugin also do not state whether the LCD size is in pixels or in mm?

[bluebrother]

measuring the LCD size in mm doesn't make sense at all (except then physically building up the unit). The wiki only uses pixels, and I bet your conversion program does too (depending on the resolution of your display there could be a great difference between pixel and mm value, and therefore file size. How should it work in a useful way if measured in mm?).

Besides, the recommended converter WinFF already comes with profiles you only need to pick your player off.

[darkarn]

Ok, I am currently using Prism Video Converter for this; that's why I asked.

Since WinFF can convert more types of videos than Prism, how do I configure WinFF to create 1:1 video files? I do not need 4:3 videos...

I am also aiming for the highest video and audio quality possible...

Will this parameter be alright?

Code: [Select]

-ac 2 -acodec libmp3lame -ab 320 -ar 44100 -vcodec mpeg2video -s 128x128 -b 800kb -strict -1 -r 30

[AlexP]

4:3 or 16:9 are the aspect ratios of your videos.

4:3 is the old style non-widescreen TV aspect ratio, 16:9 is widescreen.  If you really selected 1:1 then the video that came out would be completely square.

Select the aspect ratio of the input video you are trying to convert.  If you change an existing video from either 4:3 or 16:9 to 1:1 it will be all squashed in one direction/stretched in the other and look really weird, unless you set up the conversion to chop off the axis that is 'too long', in which case you will miss loads of the video.

[darkarn]

Ok, this is something for me to consider. But how about videos that are neither 4:3 or 16:9? How can I find out the aspect ratio for each of my videos?

I am setting my WinFF via this parameter:
-ac 2 -acodec libmp3lame -ab 320 -ar 44100 -vcodec mpeg2video -s 128x128 -b 800kb -strict -1 -r 30
Is this good in terms of preserving the quality of the videos?

Is it also possible to create a playlist of videos for MPEGPLayer to work with?

I am also facing problems using the JPEG viewer. What should I do to ensure that my pictures can be viewed via RockBox?

[AlexP]

Ok, this is something for me to consider. But how about videos that are neither 4:3 or 16:9? How can I find out the aspect ratio for each of my videos?

You should keep the current aspect ratio.  Most video players should tell you the aspect ratio somewhere like properties.

I am setting my WinFF via this parameter:
-ac 2 -acodec libmp3lame -ab 320 -ar 44100 -vcodec mpeg2video -s 128x128 -b 800kb -strict -1 -r 30
Is this good in terms of preserving the quality of the videos?

This depends on what you call good quality.  Try them out and see - then you can tweak them.

Is it also possible to create a playlist of videos for MPEGPLayer to work with?

No, not at the moment.

I am also facing problems using the JPEG viewer. What should I do to ensure that my pictures can be viewed via RockBox?

Make sure they are a)  jpegs (obviously) and b) not progressive jpegs.

[darkarn]

1, 2. Ok sure. So far, whatever I am doing do not seem to be affecting the videos' quality.

3. Ah shucks.... But what if I made a Winamp .m3u8 video playlist? *Goes to test it*

4. I can comply with (a) easily... But how about (b)? How do I convert progressive scans to non-progressive scans?

[AlexP]

1,2  If you cannot see the difference, then keep reducing the bitrate until you can.

3,  Video files cannot be added to playlists, even if you utf8 encode them (which is what m3u8 is).  Trust me on this.  MPEGPlayer is a plugin and works differently to core codecs.

[darkarn]

Yeah, you have a point there; WinAmp keeps hanging on me...

So what should I do about the pictures then?

[AlexP]

Yeah, you have a point there; WinAmp keeps hanging on me...

I meant within Rockbox.  I have no idea what winamp can or can't do.

So what should I do about the pictures then?

This isn't really a Rockbox question anymore - consult google and/or your favourite image software (photoshop/gimp/...)

[Strife89]

So what should I do about the pictures then?

I believe that Irfanview is also handy in this regard...... (it's free, and much lighter-weight than GIMP if all you need to do is convert stuff )

[darkarn]

@BigBambi: Problem is, I do not know which program is suitable for making RockBox-compatible pictures; some programs may add some strange code into the pictures and make them unusable in RockBox...

@Strife89: Sounds good; will try that soon!