H264 playback on Nokia 6300

[e-Pawel]

Hy,

on the Nokia website it's written, that the Nokia 6300 supports H264. And here are my questions:

- Which profile should I use?
- When not using MeGUI - what do I have to consider if I want my output file to be compatible with a given profile?
- What container file type does this mobile support? (3gpp or mp4)?

Thx,
Pawel

[Atak_Snajpera]

Which profile should I use?

You will have to use iPod profile.

When not using MeGUI - what do I have to consider if I want my output file to be compatible with a given profile?

No CABAC , no b-frames , 1-ref frame , level 1.3

What container file type does this mobile support? (3gpp or mp4)?

Most likely mp4

[e-Pawel]

And how to set the level?

[Atak_Snajpera]

You add --level 1.3 to x264 command line. That's it.

[LigH]

Sorry for blowing off a heap of dust...

I just have the same issue, and I will test around a bit and publish my results here later.

I found that the "Freez 3GP Video Converter (http://www.smallvideosoft.com/3gp-converter)" (freeware) creates quite compatible files and is a reliable tool supporting many source formats, so it is (technically) a recommendable software for this purpose if you don't want to experiment a lot. The phone supports resolutions up to 320x240 pixels in 3GPP and 3GPP2 container (with MP3, AMR or AAC audio).

But I believe its AVC codec is not the most advanced (I found it a bit suspicious that the main DLL looks encrypted, it doesn't start with "MZ" -- and the ProcessExplorer reveals it being a hidden ffmpeg.exe instead, called with typical command line parameters like "-y -i {input} -vcodec mpeg4 -s 320x240 -qscale 8 -r 25.0 -acodec aac -ab 48 -ar 22050 -ac 2 -f 3g2 {output}").

So I will try to find optimal settings for the MeGUI, to use x264 for the video and NeroAAC for the audio (it supports AAC+ and eAAC+ too). Starting from the "Mobile Phone Level 1.3" preset seems to be a good idea, and ffmpeg shall do the final container conversion from MP4 to 3G2:

ffmpeg -f 3g2 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -i input.mp4 output.3g2

Just a neccessary reminder: The Nokia 6300 is sometimes unable to play the video straight. If you feel it is played choppy or jerky, as if the processor was overcharged, just switch the phone off (top button) and back on (PIN code).
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P.S.: Because the display has only a 64K color resolution, may it be recommendable to apply a kind of "Pattern Offset Dither" filter (like the one in the VanDerLee "UnPlugged" PhotoShop filter set) to the video? Is there any for AviSynth at all? (Probably in the ffdshow plugin, in the Noise filter group.)
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The display may have 320x240 pixels. But the maximum video resolution seems to be 176x144.
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The following combination plays successfully, but choppy (at clearly less than 25 fps), and gives video errors (difference pictures from middle grey) when jumping forward:

- Video: Derived from preset "x264: Devices-Cellphones_PDAs-Level1.3", using CRF 22, min. QP 12 and Deblock 1:1
- Audio: Derived from preset "Nero AAC: NDAAC-HEPS-48kbps" for an average bitrate of 40 kbps
- multiplexed with ffmpeg to 3GPP2

I may try to encode another test with settings that may reduce the GOV length, but I am not sure if that will help. Basic ffmpeg encodes seem to be more compatible than rather optimized ones with x264. May be my fault tweaking the wrong options.