DivX playback on DVD Player not working

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally Posted by MrVideo

OK. According to one of the people involved, DivX videos have been encoded with a vertical height of 404, which is not mod16. How can that be?

Unfortunately alot of encoding applications allow people to generate MPEG-4 SP/ASP encodes at "any old" mod value

[MrVideo]

Originally Posted by SeeMoreDigital

According to your PM one of your guys has an Toshiba SC-4000 which is fitted with an Zoran Vaddis 966 chipset. Which should offer .MP4 container support too

The Toshiba SD-4000KU2 appears to display anamorphic video correctly on the screen (letterboxed), but the MP3 audio plays out-of-sync and slightly distorted. But, I'm thinking it is because the video is 59.94 fps, as the source is 720p59.94.

I'm having him check out a video, 720x400 square pixel, that is 23.976 fps.

[MrVideo]

Originally Posted by MrVideo

I'm having him check out a video, 720x400 square pixel, that is 23.976 fps.

The video played just fine, including the audio. Next up is a test for anamorphic widescreen 720x480. Also, the XviD encoder was used.

[kalehrl]

Why don't you just change the encoding parameters to suit "normal" dvd/xvid player instead of choosing a player which plays files encoded with some "strange" settings?
Maybe I'm missing something here.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally Posted by MrVideo

The video played just fine, including the audio. Next up is a test for anamorphic widescreen 720x480. Also, the XviD encoder was used.

Well, if the 720x480 16:9 and 4:3 anamorphic samples I gave you did not work with the Toshiba. No MPEG-4 SP/ASP .AVI contained encode will...

[MrVideo]

Originally Posted by SeeMoreDigital

Well, if the 720x480 16:9 and 4:3 anamorphic samples I gave you did not work with the Toshiba. No MPEG-4 SP/ASP .AVI contained encode will...

I have not heard a response from him about the test files. Don't know why. I will get him to play those.

720x480 anamorphic 16:9 does not play letterboxed. It plays as if the video was 4:3, i.e., does nothing but send it out the composite video.

A 720x400 square pixel encoding plays fine.

[MrVideo]

Originally Posted by kalehrl

Why don't you just change the encoding parameters to suit "normal" dvd/xvid player instead of choosing a player which plays files encoded with some "strange" settings?
Maybe I'm missing something here.

Who said the settings are strange. IMHO, the DivX certification is a mess. The fact that it won't play a 720x480 anamorphic 16:9 video correctly is fubar. DVDs have been that way for ages and yet, something "new" takes steps backwards.

And just what is normal? It is easy to find specs on encoding for DVDs, but pretty much impossible for DivX. And what settings might those be? The program, HDConvertToX, has lots of settings, including anamorphic.

[kalehrl]

If anamorphic is causing problems, don't use it.
It advisable to use square pixels when encoding in xvid and I think the same goes for divx.
I've been doing backups of my DVDs and satellite dvb-s recordings with AutoGK and sometimes with MeGUI and never have I had any troubles with playback on a standalone device - Philips dvp3260.
AutoGK always uses square pixels but MeGUI has also anamorphic function but, for standalone compatibility, it is not recommended when encoding in xvid.

[manolito]

@MrVideo

The fact that it won't play a 720x480 anamorphic 16:9 video correctly is fubar. DVDs have been that way for ages and yet, something "new" takes steps backwards.

You really have to take into account why the DivX company created this "Home Theater" profile in the past. They had to use the least common denominator to ensure compatibility with each and every standalone which had the DivX logo slapped on the front panel. To achieve this they gladly sacrificed a lot of possible options and features which the encoder offered.

To the best of my knowledge standalone players can either have the core "DivX" logo or the "DivX Ultra" logo. DivX Ultra supports anamorphic, menus, chapters and subtitles. But you can only author such a file using their own "DivXAuthor" software or TMPGenc Authoring Works.

For full compatibility with all DivX capable standalones I recommend to use the settings which their own "DivX Converter" uses. Those are:

1. Use the "Home Theater" profile

2. Square Pixels. Do not encode anamorphic.

3. Always deinterlace the source.

4. 2-pass ABR encoding. Do not use quality based encoding.

5. Audio should be MP3 CBR. Do not use VBR.
(AC3 is also allowed, but some standalones do not like it)


Cheers
manolito

[SeeMoreDigital]

MPEG-4 SP/ASP hardware player history lesson...

Given that DivX developed their first player "Certification" long before "aspect ratio signalling" (ARS) detection was conceived, there was no requirement for player manufacturers to include support for it.

Indeed, SigmaDesigns A/V decoding chip-sets included ARS detection support for MPEG-4 SP/ASP streams placed within the .MP4 container, a year or so before adding support for MPEG-4 SP/ASP streams placed the .AVI container!

Hardware player manufacturers who sold players based around MediaTek's MT1389xx A/V decoding chip-set(s) offered better ARS support for .AVI contained files than any other A/V decoding chip-set manufacturer.

Although, many A/V decoding "chip-set" manufacturers developed chip-sets that supported ARS detection for MPEG-4 SP/ASP streams placed within the .AVI container, not all "player" manufacturers could be bothered to enable it. And there's no-way they ever will now!

Xvid, offered the ability to generate MPEG-4 SP/ASP streams with ARS "years" before DivX.

Xvid also created a direct-show decoder filter capable of decoding MPEG-4 SP/ASP streams with ARS "years" before DivX.


Cheers

[MrVideo]

Originally Posted by kalehrl

If anamorphic is causing problems, don't use it.

Because it doesn't work, I'm not.

[MrVideo]

Originally Posted by manolito

For full compatibility with all DivX capable standalones I recommend to use the settings which their own "DivX Converter" uses. Those are:

1. Use the "Home Theater" profile

HDConvertToX doesn't have such an option, at least not that I've found. They have a "Stand Alone Player" compatibility mode, which I use. I also use the XviD encoder, as I seem to not have DivX installed. Fine by me.

2. Square Pixels. Do not encode anamorphic.

Ya, doing that now (720x400 for 16:9 material).

3. Always deinterlace the source.

That doesn't make sense for pure video material, as it has to be interlaced when sent out the composite video outputs. A moot point in a majority of the cases anyway, as the source is 720p23.976 H.264 MKV.

4. 2-pass ABR encoding. Do not use quality based encoding.

1300 kbps is the manual bitrate that I use.

5. Audio should be MP3 CBR. Do not use VBR.

192 kbps MP3 CBR

[MrVideo]

Originally Posted by SeeMoreDigital

MPEG-4 SP/ASP hardware player history lesson...

I appreciate the info. Thanks.

[Jawor]

Originally Posted by MrVideo

That doesn't make sense for pure video material, as it has to be interlaced when sent out the composite video outputs.

The “DivX Home Theater” profile supports interlacing, but...

1. It does not allow B-VOPs together with interlacing.
2. To retain the interlacing we'd have to keep the vertical resolution (576/480). Since the maximum horizontal resolution for “PAL” material is 720, we'll have a distorted AR with such clips (due to lack of widespread support for anamorphic signaling). Sure, we can create interlaced clips using other resolutions (by smart-bobbing before resizing and re-interlacing the clip after resizing), but does that really make sense?
3. Some players seem to have issues with interlaced MPEG-4 despite being DivX-certified. E.g. my Philips DVP3142/12 (also based on the Zoran Vaddis 966 chipset) doesn't like TFF with 720x576 @ 25 FPS, but with 720x480 @ 29.97 FPS it works just fine.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Personally speaking...

Given the relative low cost of todays "high-def" capable network media players along with their ability to play just about any "popular" audio, video and container format. I'm of the opinion it's not worth the effort trying to find specific encoding options to accommodate these "low spec/weak" players!

[MrVideo]

As a result of all this, only 23.976 progressive material will be converted.

[kurkosdr]

Originally Posted by MrVideo

I also believe that the issue is with SUPER, but have no proof one way or the other.

Divx avi clips made with SUPER don't play in my player too (toshiba 19DV615DG). When I select the clip, the screen goes black, as if it's about to start playing, but nothing happens. So, just use some other program to make Divx avi files.

The converter I use is Divx Plus Converter (yes, the one from Divx Inc). The real problem with other converters is that they are not really Divx-compatible. If you encode using high quality settings (like me), they are almost certainly going to produce a bitrate spike that exceeds 4096Kbps for more than one second, thus causing some players to freeze or skip.

Even AutoGK, which has compatibility profiles for the ESS and MTK chipsets, if you select "100%" in the "target quality" setting, it tells you that "some compatibility parameterers are going to be ignored".

Of course, if you encode using low bitrates (quantizer 4 or just fitting a 2hour movie in 1CD/2CD), then this problem doesn't show itself, so you may also use AutoGK.

[Ghitulescu]

Originally Posted by kurkosdr

The converter I use is Divx Plus Converter (yes, the one from Divx Inc). The real problem with other converters is that they are not really Divx-compatible. If you encode using high quality settings (like me), they are almost certainly going to produce a bitrate spike that exceeds 4096Kbps for more than one second, thus causing some players to freeze or skip.

Since DivX Networks (now DivX inc) licences the divx use, format and logo for standalones, it's no wonder their encodes work the best on them.

[Jawor]

Originally Posted by Ghitulescu

DivX Networks (now DivX inc)

Now a part of Macrovision

The real problem with other converters is that they are not really Divx-compatible. If you encode using high quality settings (like me), they are almost certainly going to produce a bitrate spike that exceeds 4096Kbps for more than one second, thus causing some players to freeze or skip.

Using VBV in Xvid (which, BTW, is enabled by default in its VfW interface for two-pass encodes ) should help here. Actually, Xvid.org's own Xvid Home profile uses the same VBV values that are specified in DivX Home Theater (so do celtic_druid's MTK PAL / MTK NTSC profiles and my Generic Standalone profile).

[Ghitulescu]

Originally Posted by Jawor

Now a part of Macrovision

I thought part of Sonic Solutions. Good to know.