Xvid Encoding for Iriver X20 - Flickering Playback

[kidcash]

Hello,

For the last 3 days I have been trying to encode a file with Virtualdub using Xvid 1.1.3 to play well on my Iriver X20, however the video flickers/distorts at times, Only once was I able to get a perfect video, however I have forgotten what settings I used.

I know that it can play Xvid files because the defualt video's that come with the player are xvid encoded, and they play pefect, however I am not able to get none of my ones to play good.

Link to player and specs :

http://www.iriver.com.au/iriver/index.cfm?pageID=2&sID=1&prodID=19#

Screenshot of Gspot Information for Defualt Video that came with Player :

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8549/infofq8.png

I have even tried very low bitrates but still the problem is there.

What Settings on Xvid should I use to be able to encode a video that will play well on this player, it has to be possible because the defualt vids that come with the player dont have any problems and they are xvid encoded

Thanks,
Kidcash

[kidcash]

I have found out that on the xvid settings, If I use Simple Profile L1 2 or 3, and encode the video, the flickering is not there, however simple profile only allows me to use a maximum bitrate of 384k when using 2 pass. It is only when I use single profile and single pass will it allow me to use a higher bitrate. Is there any way I can use Simple Profile, and not have a bitrate limitation, and any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Kidcash

[henryho_hk]

Try the following:

1) disable b-frames (set max consecutive B frames to 0).
2) limit the highest video bitrate to 512kbps (try 1-pass CBR mode as it guarantees the max bitrate; for 2-pass mode, you need to fiddle with the VBV settings).

[kidcash]

Yeah on Simple Profile at Level 3, Using CBR I can use whatever bitrate I want, and the output plays fine on the player. If I try use a different profile, that will allow higher VBR Settings with 2 passes, should I disable b frames and take the flickering away? Because on any other profile than simple profile it flickers.

- Turning BVOPS off fixed the flickering
- Using H.263 Quantization instead of MPEG fixed the issue of blurred edges
- Leave Quarter Pixel off.
- With a constant bitrate of 448kbps, quality was fine and there were no seek issues and audio being out of sync after going to the middle of the video.
- at 512kbps and higher the video and audio went out of sync after seeking, on longer video's, the video would jerk after seeking.
- I have tried higher bitrates of upto 900kbps, however audio/video may be out of sync during playback.


For the best compatibility with the Iriver X20, Encode single pass at 448kbps, Use H.263 Quantization and do not enable Quarter pixel.
2 pass VBR encoded video's should work fine too.

There was hardly any playback issues at all with these settings, except for horizontal lines appearing for a split second when scenes change, especially when a scene quickly goes black, But I think this is a probem with the Iriver X20, and does not depend on the settings used in Xvid, I will try to see if this happens with WMV encoded video's. This is a negligible problem as you can hardly notice it. I will do some more testing and update this thread.

Edit : To partially eliminate seek problems at higher bitrates, use 2 pass encoding, I have found that whenever I encode video's with 2 passes, there are less seeking problems, most of the time the audio does not go out of sync after skipping to the middle of the video.