Philips DVP642/37 MPEG4 stutter, hang.

[Nudnik]

Even with the latest firmware updates, I've noticed this player will stutter and/or hang when there is a lot of information to process in MPEG4 files. For example, it cannot seem to render waves on water without hanging for a second or two at a time, stuttering its way through the scene. Although shots of the ocean or even a disturbed birdbath guarantee problems, any scene involving many objects moving around at considerable speed will produce the same result.

Fortunately this only happens once or twice during the typical film, but it can be extremely annoying when viewing material with extended shots of water in motion.

Do I have a defective player? If not, what causes this, and can it be corrected (in theory at least) by future firmware updates?

[setarip_old]

Hi!

1) Did you create these files at a low bitrate?

2) What particular MPEG-4 format are you using?

3) How well do they playback (at fullscreen) on your PC?

I've encountered no such problem when playing any of my DivX (v.3.11alpha)-compressed .AVIs, with either .AC3 audio or .MP3 audio on my DVP 642/37 - including those with high action, explosions, water shots, etc. ...

[Nudnik]

After checking, the bitrate seems to vary widely on the films in question, but it seems to do this primarily with Xvid and later DivX versions.

I've never had any problems with DivX 3.11 either.

None of these symptoms are apparent on my PC.

[Eruendil]

Hi Nudnik!

I once (2 weeks ago) had a DVP 630 and experienced the same problem (got me *MAD*!).

DivX-standard allows max. bitrate of 4000 kBit/s (with some 1-second spikes of up to 10000 kBit/s). At least my DVP 630 didn't even stand the 4000 kBit/s in all scenes (some worked, some stuttered). VBV-Buffer control in XviD activated produced the same effect (some scenes worked, some stuttered, but usually other scenes than with 4000 kBit/s max setting ;)).

Solution: Buy the Pioneer DV-470. Insert any disc and relax. Scenes with up to 10000 kBit/s for several seconds? Not a problem. Just enjoy your movies, don't worry about bitrates :D

(I should be getting money from Pioneer, right?)

Greetings,
Eruendil

[Nudnik]

Thank you.

Might I inquire as to where you bought the Pioneer unit and how much you paid? A brief web search only reveals one source.

I welcome further comments: Is this a firmware issue that can be potentially resolved in the future, or is the bit rate issue being caused by a permanent component?

[Eruendil]

Bought it (new) at eBay.de for 69 Euro (= about USD 81,50).

I hoped, too, it would be a firmware issue and installed the latest version, but that didn't change anything.

The MediaTek Chipset MT1389xx (in the DV-470) definitely has a higher bitrate throughput; but I'm not absolutely sure, if the ESS Vibratto II-Chipset (in the DVP 630) couldn't be faster if the firmware would be optimized.

In which country do you live, if I may ask that in a public forum ;) ?

PS: My old DivX 3.x videos also never produced that problem (but I'm not sure, if it was because of bitrate-limitation I sometimes used in the earlier days).

[Nudnik]

I live in the US.

I'll perform a more thorough search and see if I can find a good deal on the Pioneer player.

Are there other players as compliant as the Pioneer?

Would be nice if a firmware update would solve this, but like you, I wont hold my breath.

I suspect the 600 series of Philips players are based on outmoded designs which are optimized for something like DivX 3.11.

:D

[Eruendil]

I guess there should be a possibility to obtain Pioneer players for a resonable price in the US. ;)

Sorry, I forgot to post a link to a page where players and their chipsets are listed; you'll also find a link to a "Buyer's guide" there: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=91616

Good luck! :)

Greetz,

[BigDid]

Hi,

Changing the player will higher the limits but there will always be limits :rolleyes:
Example: the ESS chipset is 4000kbps average, the MTK 1389 series are 6000kbps average.
Also if exists, remove packed bistreams for xvid files.
Others links or tips (old subject, just made a search on "stutter"):
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=101046&highlight=stutter
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=85433&highlight=stutter
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=85940&highlight=stutter

Happy hardware playing and holidays :)

Did