XMS-888 - Mpeg4 - Firmware?

[jokiin]

A new problem that wasn't there before the upgrade. If I zoom tp 1.5x on DVD's ( which I do for some wide screen dvd's ) the playback becomes very jerky.

Seems that some of the amendments to improve mp4 playback have had detrimental affects on DVD playback.


I just tried this and it plays perfectly all the way up to 3x zoom, which to be honest I didn't think it would. I have found in the past that players that have a zoom function that also allow you to centre the zoom don't playback particularly well. There are some things you might want to check that can effect playback while zoomed, for example if you were playing an NTSC title and have the video output set to PAL or multi, this is a lot harder for the player to do than if you have the output of the player and the input of your tv set the same, might be worth checking out how yours is set, and likewise for your tv. How many discs have you tried this with and what format were they in, pal, ntsc, 16x9 enhanced, anamphoric, 2.35:1 etc? There are multiple variables that can affect playback and the more you can diagnose things the easier it makes it to get a fix.

Personally it's not something I would check, or even want a player to do. I never really understood the whole zoom thing, I mean why get a high resolution format, zoom it up, degrade the picture quality and chop the sides of the picture off, it seems to go against the whole idea of the format

[jokiin]

I tried to flash it, it said erase then writing then it powered down, then i started it back up and took the cd out striaght away. I put the MPEG4 movie in and now it does the same except this time instead of saying done, it says disc error. I tried a DVD and it plays fine so i suspect the flash went ok, but the AVI's wont play. :(

have you tried some other format avi's, one thing that has become apparent to me while sorting this player out is that not all avi's are created equal and the mpeg-4 format is very loosely defined, it would seem that if there are set standards not all encoders follow them.

[andw]

I haven't had a problem like this, is it a particular type of disc? (cdr cdrw dvd-r etc.)
If you put mp3's or mpeg1/2 files on the same type of disc, does it fail to read those?
Maybe it's the discs, or something strange wrong with the drive in your one?
If it fails to read those discs, try a different one, or take the disc down to Strathfield (when they next open) and try it in one of theirs.

[The Man]

I create all my Xvid movies the same, using the latest build and I have only a few DivX movies which I also tried and got the same result. :confused:

[andw]

I never really understood the whole zoom thing, I mean why get a high resolution format, zoom it up, degrade the picture quality and chop the sides of the picture off, it seems to go against the whole idea of the format
I usually used the 1.5x zoom when I had a 4:3 screen, as it got rid of the black bars top and bottom perfectly. (lost the sides but, which is why I eventually got a widescreen TV, now I want a 1.2x zoom to lose the black bars when playing 2.35:1 movies on 16:9 screen.)

[andw]

I create all my Xvid movies the same, using the latest build and I have only a few DivX movies which I also tried and got the same result. :confused:
I've created a few using DVDx, XVID encoder between 900 - 1700 on video, standard 128k stereo (44KHz) on sound. (also have used divX encoder, but Xvid is a lot quicker for me)
Plays them back perfectly.

[The Man]

I create all mine using a program called vidomi, it works out the bitrate for me so that i can make it fit perfect(700mb) onto a cd, using standard 128kb audio as well. I tried some more AVI's and i managed to get one to work, and the quality is very lossy when it was being played compared to when I watch it on the computer. This movie was encoded using vidomi with the Xivd codec, but is the only one that will work for me, even the other movies using the same method of encoding and everything wont work for me.

[andw]

I'd definitely take a disc into your closest Strathfield and try it there. All the avi's I have played on my TV have been very good, perhaps even better than on the pc. (At least as good). (and other ones I've *ahem* come across *ahem* have been very good as well).
What bitrate has it made them at? I haven't tried anything lower than about 900.

[jokiin]

I usually used the 1.5x zoom when I had a 4:3 screen, as it got rid of the black bars top and bottom perfectly. (lost the sides but, which is why I eventually got a widescreen TV, now I want a 1.2x zoom to lose the black bars when playing 2.35:1 movies on 16:9 screen.)

I think the black bars are a fact of life, I've got a widescreen set also and even on dvd playback not all widescreen movies fill the screen, depends on the ratio. I prefer not to zoom though and retain picture quality (the bigger the tv, the more apparent quality is when zooming). I did mention what you said about the zoom on mpeg-4 to one of the suppliers that I met with yesterday and he didn't think it was possible to achieve, and this was with a Divx certified player.

[andw]

Ok, here's a couple I tried the other day, apart from widesreen / zooming problem (as discussed at length above in the thread)...
Video -
XVID/yv12 - runlength 01:36:33 (138,899 fr)
picture size 592x320 (1.85:1) [=37:20] (played back letterboxed)
bitrate 876 kb/s
fps 23.97
qf 0.193 bits/pixel
Audio -
0x0055(MP3) ID'd as MPEG-1 Layer 3
129 kb/s (64/ch, stereo) VBR LAME3.93 48000 Hz
File size - 717,278 KB
- looks very good.

or this one
794 MB (or 813,662 KB or 833,189,888 bytes)
Video -
Runtime - 01:30:03 (135,065 fr)
xy - 576x432 (1.33:1) [=4:3] (encoded as anarmorphic widescreen) (played full screen)
bitrate 1099 kb/s 25.00 fps qf 0.177 bits/pixel
Audio
0x0055(MP3) ID'd as MPEG-1 Layer 3 128 kb/s (64/ch, stereo) CBR 44100 Hz
(dumped onto a 99minute cdr)
played absolutely fantastic

[andw]

I did mention what you said about the zoom on mpeg-4 to one of the suppliers that I met with yesterday and he didn't think it was possible to achieve, and this was with a Divx certified player.

If you mean stretching a 16:9 image to fit a 16:9 TV, I believe that the Lite-On unit's do this function.
on the xms-888 it looks more like this.
+----------------------------------------+
| screen here |
| +-------------------------------+ |
| | picture here | |
| | | |
| +-------------------------------+ |
| |
+----------------------------------------+
it should resize to fill the screen I believe.

edit: silly forum thing gets rid of multiple spaces!!

[jokiin]

Are these files that you encoded yourself, I'm guessing that if you find a format that works well and you stick with it you won't have a problem. Most of the issues seem to be from the fact that so many of these files are done differently, each encoder seems to do it a little different. Even files available from Divx.com vary widely, stuff from kazza etc are even worse sometimes.

[jokiin]

I haven't had a chance to try a lite-on but I would think that if it does do this then it must have a fill to screen option based on either a 16:9 or 4:3 option like the Divx player for PC does. This would require a more capable video processor though. Any idea which chipset the lite-on uses?

[andw]

EM8500 chipset.
I'll try and get a proper screen shot of what I mean.

[andw]

Ok, this image is a 640x352 XVid file...
Click here for picture (http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~wweb/DSC00828.JPG)
Notice the black bars on both sides, as well as large black bars top and bottom. (also, people are squashed, short and fat).

[jokiin]

Ok, this image is a 640x352 XVid file...
Click here for picture (http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~wweb/DSC00828.JPG)
Notice the black bars on both sides, as well as large black bars top and bottom. (also, people are squashed, short and fat).


How does it look on a regular 4:3 set? I know that your set handles 4:3 differently to some other widescreen sets. I've got a Toshiba and I have a lot more options available as far as viewing size and ratios go.

[andw]

Ok, 'square screen' 4:3 shot here (http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~wweb/DSC00829.JPG)
this screen is offset more to the left than the Singer widescreen (which appears to be offset to the left).
There is a small black line down the right hand side of the screen, fairly large black bars top and bottom. (look out for the finger top right :-) ).
As you can probably guess, it outputs the avi in a mode more compatable with 4:3 screens.

[The Man]

Yes well I think I will have a talk to my brother about this and see what he wants to do with it(probably take it back with one of the MPEG4 movies) and try get a refund on it. I was going to take one in when I bought it but I forgot to take it with me(1 hour drive to Brissy Car Sound). So I will see what my brother says first and go from there.

Edit: I just tried one of the MPEG4's that didn't work again, and it worked this time, so i thought i would take it out and put it back in and see if it played it again. So i stopped the movie, ejected the CD, put it back in, pressed play and got the Disc Error message.

So these CD's are just working when they want to. How is this possible? Is my DVD player FUBAR? because i'm thinking take it to Brissy Car Sound and show em it not working.

[malcez]

REPLY TO "THE MAN":

Your problem is that when you try to play some divx/avi files, on the old firmware it would play 00:00:00 on the timer and then go back to the menu, but now the same thing happens but now it goes to the menu with the exclamation "Disc Error". If this is what happened to you ====> it happened to me too.

This is not a problem with the player. It is cheap disc media. You can either burn to better discs, or burn to a DVDR. This is how i fixed this problem. I found it happened when reading the "index" of the large .avi > 700mb on a cheap CDR. However I eventually was able to get it to work [even as it was] by continuously wiping the rubbishy oil\dirt\grease\superficial scratches off the disc and rebooting (maybe 5 times). Those cheap discs will not play unless they are absolutely squeaky clean. Strangely another commercially pressed promo-disc which they were giving away at Target called "strawberry shortcake" to my kid plays no matter how many fingermarks, etc are on it. It is definitely a disc thing i am convinced - on this player. I had no problem with CDRW's and DVD's. Only CDR's.

Hope this helps.

[The Man]

The CD's I tried to play are burnt onto Imation CD-R's and TDK Gold CD's. Are these what you meant by cheap or do you mean ones like the Strathfield 30 cent cheapo's. I buy spindals of 50 CD's. Does the speed at which you burn the movies to the CD have any effect? I burn at 24x. Which CD-R's did you find work well for you?

Edit: Just tried an Imation Black CD, works good. Then I tried another brand called 'Circle Data' they work ok too. Then I tried a couple of the Strathfield CD's and they work as well. Maybe this player doesn't like normal Imation CD's and TDK Golds :confused: