XVid, v1.96 & v2.18 w/ESS & DVP 642

[kelendral]

Ok, I'm having an issue I can't for the life of me figure out. I encoded some DVD rips in Xvid, and they look great on the comp. However, when I play them on the Philips DVP642 they look good if it wasn't for this strange issue of having the screen tear and display half of a much older frame every so often. It's driving me nutz as I do think thus far for the size the Xvid rips were of better quality than the DivX rips, but if I can't get them to play back right I may have to sacrafice quality.

It's really weird because if I play the file back multiple times it won't occur in the same spots but it will always occur with the same files. The DVP642 seems to play Xvids I have downloaded without a problem. It's just these I am creating with AGK that have issue.

[len0x]

are you definitely using ESS option?

[kelendral]

Yep... I even went so far as to uninstall AGK, and Xvid, reboot, open an Xvid with Gspot to verify that no Xvid codec was available (Divx, InterVideo were the only 2 codecs available for rendering). Then installed the latest 2.18, downloaded today.

Attached is the log from the most recent attempt to get a working Xvid. Source Material is NTSC Region 1 DVD, Black & White, 4x3, Doctor Who 006 The Aztecs. Part 1, found in PGC1.

[kelendral]

The resultant file will play on the DVP 642, but as I said, has a tearing issue that is really weird. Every so often, anywhere from half to 3/4 of the way down the screen instead of the current frame, some old frame will render. It's not even the previous frame or keyframe, but often something within the past 10 seconds. It only appears to occur with the Xvids I have tried encoding. One thing I have noted is that it seems to occur when multiple scene changes occur near a lot of changing scenery. Like right at the begining during the opening sequence and into the first scene. I have tried numerous settings and options to no avail.

Firmware version on the DVP642: 0112 - 2005

Media has not made a difference, CDR, DVDR, CDRW, DVDRW.

[len0x]

I have hard time to believe its a generic problem, because your player is very popular out there, so this issue would have been raised ealier. Sounds like a problem with your particular unit...

[kelendral]

Well, the unit plays Xvids I have downloaded just fine. Also, it occurs on the one in the other room which was purchased months earlier.

Doing a little more testing I was able to create a working XVid with AGK of a Color show. Doctor Who 051 Spearhead From Space, part 1. Using the same settings as I did for the black and white episodes.

I have since tried to rule out the Aztecs DVD and have tried Tomb Of The Cybermen, and The Seeds Of Death. -- No Luck.

Any Black & White 4x3 NTSC I try encoding comes out with this tearing issue.

[kelendral]

Even further testing shows that I can produce the problem on a color Xvid.

Here is the info from the one that worked:
[9/27/2005 1:32:38 AM] Expected quality of first pass size: 58.98
As I noticed this was below the quality level that I got with the B&W:
[9/25/2005 12:27:18 PM] Expected quality of first pass size: 83.16
So I increased the size from 1/2 CD to custom 466MB and redid the color episode getting:
[9/27/2005 4:15:19 AM] Expected quality of first pass size: 79.50
It's as though once I get past a certain quality level I can start to see this effect. The Color XVid that was at 79.50 only exhibited this problem during the opening credits. If you have seen Doctor Who the opening credits have a lot of motion and changing background pattern.

[Sharktooth]

Uhm, the video buffer used for the encoding is wrong. A lower buffer should fix the problem. That means AutoGK needs to encode the video with another profile with more conservative video buffer settings...

[len0x]

Me wonders then: how come the same DXN HT profile works in DivX, but not in XviD - it supposed to limit VBV buffer in exact same way...

[kelendral]

Is there a way I can check the AVI files for the bitrate during these problem areas? I'm more than willing to try some other settings as till I get this resolved I don't want to encode my Doctor Who episodes. Thus far the Xvid overall looks much better than Divx5 or Divx6. Especially on the set-top. That is of course discounting this little tearing issue I have been having.

FYI - Between this room, the living room, and the bedroom I have tested the following firmwares:
2004 v1109 - dvpxx, dvpxxdv, dvpxxew - works on all models, adds macrovision
2005 v0112 - dvpxx, dvpxxdv, dvpxxew - works on all models
2005 v0603 - dvpxx, dvpxxdv, dvpxxew - has the files for all models, only tested it on one of the later EW rom units.

The problem files were problems on all versions.

Unfortunately I can not test the following versions as all of my DVP642 units are of EW class and none came with 1223 installed:
2004 v0409 - dvpxx - only works on some early models
2004 v0531 - dvpxx, dvpxxdv - only works on some models
2004 v1223 - dvpxxew - download unavailable, found pre-installed on some units