PlayStation Portable (PSP)

[bibbo]

Since sony claims that PSP has h.264 support, i was trying to make some videos with Nero Recode (Portable AVC), but the PSP refuses to play them. I tryied all kind of configs, and also changing the mp4 container (mp4UI).
I can play fine some videos fron IGN. How can i get the specs of the PSP video player?

[Abnormal1]

I Don't have a PSP yet however this link (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000980024404/) may help. Apparently Nero Digital should also work however I have read how some people get it to work and others don't.

Also something else I read was that you have to put it into a particular folder on the memory card.


Quote: beatwho from PS2 Scene
　┳PSP
　┃　┣GAME <== homegrown yet to come?
　┃　┣MUSIC <== music, only tried mp3, worked
　┃　┣PHOTO <=== pics, only tried jpg so far, worked
　┃　┗SAVEDATA <=== hello mr save games
　┗MP_ROOT
　　　┗101MNV01 <=== video goes here!

Abnormal1

[bond]

i doubt that the psp supports h.264 (aka mpeg-4 avc) already, afaik it currently supports mpeg-4 asp

Originally posted by Abnormal1
Apparently Nero Digital should also work however I have read how some people get it to work and others don't.nerodigial .mp4 files are normal .mp4 files! you can encode in nero recode2 in both avc and asp
also you can try creating files with 3ivx too, or simply muxing divx5/xvid streams in .mp4

[Abnormal1]

Although I can not verify anything as I don't have a PSP, Everywhere I have read say that the PSP uses the newer MPEG-AVC and not MPEG-ASP.

Here is just one of them

However it is quite awkward to get the PSP to play videos, for instance the files have to be named in a particular way and placed on the memory card in certain folder. I have also seen quite a few people mention using a perticular 3GP Converter to get it to work.

Abnormal1

[ECY]

well according to this site PukiWiki (http://psp.holybell.to/index.php?mp4)(is a japanese site) the PSP only supports
"MPEG-4 Visual Simple Profile" (i think the mean ASP)
and AVC hasn't been verified at the moment (at least playing from Memory Stick DUO)

btw i haven't got a PSP, so asking me is pointless
but the data from the site seems to be accurate

[Abnormal1]

Its all very confusing and until someone on this forum actually has one to play with I will not believe what I read on other websites.

Abnormal1

[weak]

take a look at the following link (encoder + discussion)

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/archive/index.php/t-33128.html

[bond]

mpeg-4 simple profile is indeed different than advanced simple profile (asp), have a look at my mpeg-4 info sticky for more infos about that

[ECY]

Originally posted by bond
mpeg-4 simple profile is indeed different than advanced simple profile (asp), have a look at my mpeg-4 info sticky for more infos about that

Ah so at the moment the PSP supports only simple profile (no b-frames,
no GMC and no Quarter-pel Motion Compensation)
btw seems to have overread you first post :shame:

[weak]

Originally posted by ECY
Ah so at the moment the PSP supports only simple profile (no b-frames,
no GMC and no Quarter-pel Motion Compensation)
btw seems to have overread you first post :shame:

i doubt that. even from memory stick you can play videos with more than 15fps (although nobody managed to play full res videos (480x272) yet). i'd say that's a clear sign it does support advanced profile from umd _and_ memory stick.

[ECY]

Originally posted by weak
i doubt that. even from memory stick you can play videos with more than 15fps (although nobody managed to play full res videos (480x272) yet). i'd say that's a clear sign it does support advanced profile from umd _and_ memory stick.

simple profile doesn't means limited to 15fps
http://www.m4if.org/resources/profiles/visualtools.php

well the 3gp convertor uses
ffmpeg <input file>-bitexact -vcodec xvid -s 320x240
so simple xvid without bonus stuff

maybe the h.264 decoder is somehow connected with the UMD drive
and only useable with UMD movies.

btw it was said that the firmware of the PSP is upgradeable
so maybe the some features are still not unlock for now

too bad that we haven't have someone from sony in this community...

[bond]

Originally posted by ECY
simple profile doesn't means limited to 15fps
http://www.m4if.org/resources/profiles/visualtools.phpstrictly speaking all the levels (eg subparts of profiles) define only up to 15fps
still this doesnt mean of course that the player doesnt support higher framerates too (its just not sure)

[weak]

ok, so the fps mean nothing.

unfortunately i have no memory stick and shops are closed (public holiday). but i'll buy one tomorrow and try some other resolutions and stuff.

it would sux if only umd movies can use the full resolution.
but since game developers are planning to release additional content and demos through the net i still hope it's possible.

[works]

I couldn't get Nero's AVC to work on PSP, yet.

There are some restrictions that I have come across when testing:

No bitrate limit for audio nor video.
Audio can't be more than 24000Hz
Video must be 320x240

If someone is using the "3GP_Converter" here is my take on 2-pass xvid encoding profile that will work in PSP:


[Item12]
Title=320x240/25fps/550kbps VBR2 AAC/64kbps
TitleE=320x240/25fps/550kbps VBR2 AAC/64kbps
Command0=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ffmpeg" -y -i "<%InputFile%>" -title "<%Title%>" -pass 1 -passlogfile <%TemporaryFile%>_3.log -s 320x240 -r 29.97 -vcodec xvid -4mv -bf 1 -b 1500 -acodec aac -ac 2 -ar 24000 -ab 64 -f 3gp "<%TemporaryFile%>_pass1.3gp""
Command1=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ffmpeg" -y -i "<%InputFile%>" -title "<%Title%>" -pass 2 -passlogfile <%TemporaryFile%>_3.log -s 320x240 -r 29.97 -vcodec xvid -4mv -bf 1 -b 550 -acodec aac -ac 2 -ar 24000 -ab 64 -f 3gp "<%TemporaryFile%>_pass2.3gp""
Command2=""<%AppPath%>\cores\QT3GPPFlatten" "<%TemporaryFile%>_pass2.3gp" "<%TemporaryFile%>_final.3gp" -c QT_3GPP(MobileMP4)_QVGA_AAC.ini"
Command3=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ATOMChanger" "<%TemporaryFile%>_final.3gp" "<%OutputPath%>M4V<%RandomNumber5%>.mp4" "Camouflage_MP4_for_PSP.ini""
Command4="rm "<%TemporaryFile%>_pass1.3gp""
Command5="rm "<%TemporaryFile%>_pass2.3gp""
Command6="rm "<%TemporaryFile%>_final.3gp""

[weak]

i thought 25fps will work too?

the resolution thing sucks most. maybe you have to encode using h264 to get the full res? h264 is definitely possible if you can trust the system specs.

anyway, i've bought a memory stick meanwhile but i still need the usb cable (gonna pick up one from a friend today).

----------edit:

videos @ 25fps do play, but the audio is (completely) out of sync. (source material was dvb-c recorded mpeg2, PAL).

[ECY]

So does it support h.264/avc via Memory stick ?
(maybe try without b-frames)

hope to hear more results soon ^^

[works]

I tried to play Nero's AVC files made with Mobile and Portable profiles, but no luck. I'd _love_ to get it to work, since the PQ is much better.

edit: I'm also having some severe audio synch issues with PAL material (yea, got 25fps working, dunno what was the matter before)

Also updated the 2pass profile couple posts up.

[easy2Bcheesy]

I've got a PSP now and it's a beautiful little device, even if the MP4 playback is far from ideal. You can still get some nice results but cramming a 2.5 hour action movie onto the memory stick is very difficult.

I can't get Star Wars Episode II with reasonable quality to fit onto a 512MB memory stick, for example.

Firmware updates may cure some of these limitations but I doubt it - unbelievably Sony thinks that people will pay money to watch movies at less than DVD quality on a very small LCD screen.

The way forward is through the fact that the PSP can run executable files from its memory stick (witness the GAME function under the memory stick menu). So it's not beyond the realms of possibility that somebody will produce a better media player than the one that is built-in to the PSP... once the homebrew coders have got their heads around the system, any way.

[easy2Bcheesy]

Has any one got any Nero Digital profile to work? 3GP/ffmpeg seems to have a number of issues with its quality-based profiles - great on motion, terrible at relatively static screens.

[weak]

from the psp manual from the FCC site:


Compatible Codecs: Video - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile Level 3 Memory Stick (TM); MPEG-4 SP, ACC


link to page4 (http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=508701&native_or_pdf=pdf) (containing the above mentioned info)

so it's clearly capable of H.264

[easy2Bcheesy]

Originally posted by weak
from the psp manual from the FCC site:



link to page4 (http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=508701&native_or_pdf=pdf) (containing the above mentioned info)

so it's clearly capable of H.264

Based on the link you have provided, H.264 looks like it is limited to UMD playback only, which is a massive shame. The memory stick only seems capable of "MPEG4 SP, ACC" - so what encoders aside from ffmpeg support that?

As you can run executables from the memory stick, I think PSP's best hope in the future is either a hacked firmware or else a standalone media player.

[bond]

Originally posted by easy2Bcheesy
The memory stick only seems capable of "MPEG4 SP, ACC" - so what encoders aside from ffmpeg support that?mpeg-4 sp stands for mpeg-4 simple profile and can be encoded with divx5, xvid, nerodigital, ffmpeg, 3ivx aso...

i am sure its a typo and means AAC, which is the audio format defined in the mpeg-4 standard and can be encoded with quicktime/itunes, nero, realplayer, winamp5, aso...

check out the mpeg-4 info thread i link to in my sig :)

[weak]

Originally posted by easy2Bcheesy
Based on the link you have provided, H.264 looks like it is limited to UMD playback only, which is a massive shame. The memory stick only seems capable of "MPEG4 SP, ACC"

well, that would realy sux. but imho the line MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile Level 3 Memory Stick suggests that mpeg4 Main Profile is possible up to level3.

[easy2Bcheesy]

Originally posted by bond
mpeg-4 sp stands for mpeg-4 simple profile and can be encoded with divx5, xvid, nerodigital, ffmpeg, 3ivx aso...

i am sure its a typo and means AAC, which is the audio format defined in the mpeg-4 standard and can be encoded with quicktime/itunes, nero, realplayer, winamp5, aso...

check out the mpeg-4 info thread i link to in my sig :)

Nobody seems to have been able to make Nero Digital produce PSP readable files, and the 3GP program adds "QT3GPPFlatten" and "AtomChanger" steps to make ffmpeg produce PSP-ready files. Apparently though, someone has now patched ffmeg to produce MP4 files PSP can read without those two steps.

I'm a complete MP4 novice so have no idea what QT3GPPFlatten and AtomChanger actually are and how the patched ffmpeg could improve quality, if at all.

[bond]

Originally posted by easy2Bcheesy
I'm a complete MP4 novice so have no idea what QT3GPPFlatten and AtomChanger actually arei know mp4 but i dont know this either :D
the nd produced files are spec compliant to the mpeg-4 standard, but of course psp might have limitations, like only handling low framerates (eg 15fps), low framesizes (not 720x...), dont handle advanced settings like b-frames, cabac, deblocking aso, which could all cause files to not play

and how the patched ffmpeg could improve quality, if at all.from what you said ffmpeg only does the muxing, right? muxing will of course never improve quality
also ffmpeg doesnt support avc encoding, but only h.263 and mpeg-4 (advanced) simple profile encoding afaik

[easy2Bcheesy]

Well, the 3GPconverter script runs as follows

Title=Video: QB4 // Audio: 64kbps Mono // 2 Pass
TitleE=Video: QB4 // Audio: 64kbps Mono // 2 Pass
; -ab ƒIƒvƒVƒ‡ƒ“‚̐”’l‚̓`ƒƒƒ“ƒlƒ‹‚_‚½‚è‚̃rƒbƒgƒŒ[ƒg‚Ì–Í—lBƒXƒeƒŒƒI‚ŃGƒ“ƒR[ƒh‚·‚éê‡‚Í–Ú•WƒrƒbƒgƒŒ[ƒg‚Ì”¼•ª‚ðÝ’肵‚Ä‚_‚¾‚³‚¢B
Command0=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ffmpeg" -y -i "<%InputFile%>" -pass 1 -passlogfile "<%TemporaryFile%>" -title "<%Title%>" -bitexact -vcodec xvid -s 320x240 -r 29.97 -qscale 4 -acodec aac -ac 1 -ar 24000 -ab 64 -f 3gp "<%TemporaryFile%>.3gp""
Command1=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ffmpeg" -y -i "<%InputFile%>" -pass 2 -passlogfile "<%TemporaryFile%>" -title "<%Title%>" -bitexact -vcodec xvid -s 320x240 -r 29.97 -qscale 4 -acodec aac -ac 1 -ar 24000 -ab 64 -f 3gp "<%TemporaryFile%>.3gp""
Command2=""<%AppPath%>\cores\QT3GPPFlatten" "<%TemporaryFile%>.3gp" "<%TemporaryFile%>_2.3gp" -c QT_3GPP(MobileMP4)_QVGA_AAC.ini"
Command3="rm "<%TemporaryFile%>.3gp""
Command4=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ATOMChanger" "<%TemporaryFile%>_2.3gp" "<%OutputFile%>.mp4" "Camouflage_MP4_for_PSP.ini""
Command5="rm "<%TemporaryFile%>_2.3gp""
Command6="rm "<%TemporaryFile%>-0.log""
Command7=""<%AppPath%>\cores\ffmpeg" -y -i "<%InputFile%>" -f singlejpeg -ss 5 -vframes 1 -s 70x52 -an "<%OutputFile%>.THM""

So it seems to be running both passes through ffmpeg. Not sure at all what QT3GPPFlatten and ATOMChanger are doing - perhaps QT3GPPFlatten is somehow assimilating both passes from ffmpeg and ATOMChange is brute-forcing the result into a format that PSP will definitely run?

[bond]

would be interesting to know what these .ini files say

- this is definitely reencoding the video stream to mpeg-4 simple profile (by using xvid), with a framesize of 320x240 and a framerate of 29.97 and a fixed quantiser
- audio gets encoded to mpeg-4 aac (by using faac) with mono, frequency 24000 and 64kbps bitrate

maybe all .3gp files including streams following these parameters will work?

[easy2Bcheesy]

The whole converter package containing all the ini files is here: http://www.nurs.or.jp/~calcium/3gpp/

You seem to need to run the setup package, choose a transcoding file and then it should launch 3GPconverter.

Once installed, you can change the language to English by changing language=0 to language=1 within the 3gp_converter.ini file

[ECY]

maybe the ATOMChanger thing changes the fourcc header
before muxing the streams to mp4

well try and demux a psp working mp4 and see what the fourcc is
and try to replicate it, by muxing a file with mp4ui or a similar program

it could be that the psp only accepts specific fourccs
(i remember that mplayer used to refuse to play avc1)

[easy2Bcheesy]

Yeah that seems to be exactly what it does.

I'm really not happy with PSP playback to be honest, but I'm sure that it's down to the MPEG encoder (in this case ffmpeg) - the fixed level quantiser based encodes are either astoundingly good, or horrifically bad. Motion seems to dealt with quite nicely, but scenes where the background is static (or close to it) turn into an artifacted mess.

It seems that there are alterative encoders that could do the same job (there's no reason why Nero Recode files shouldn't work so long as it's reined in to ASP) but PSP just refuses to run them. I'm guessing it's down to the fourcc code as you say.

I've emailed Ahead asking them for advice, but got no response. A nice PSP profile added into Nero Recode would be a dream come true.

[bond]

there are no fourccs in .mp4/.3gp!
also its clearly defined how to place avc and asp streams in both containers, so the incompatiblity is definitely caused by the PSP

the tool indeed changes the structure of the .3gp/.mp4 files in a strange way, adds new atoms/removes/replaces atoms that normally are mandatory for a compliant file. very strange...

who is the author of that tool and where does he have the info from on what to do with the files to make them work (sorry my japanese is not good and babelfish crashes on the site)?

[easy2Bcheesy]

Email address is calcium@nurs.or.jp - they have been known to respond (in English!) to emails.

There is another tool that creates PSP-compliant video, Sony's own Image Converter 2, which was designed for creating video for the CLIE PDA. My guess is that MobileHackerz reverse engineered it (or a CLIE MP4) and used it with their tool.

As the ATOMchanger executable is included, I'm wondering if we can use that and the PSP MP4 Camoflage .ini to make a Nero stream compliant?

[bond]

Originally posted by easy2Bcheesy
As the ATOMchanger executable is included, I'm wondering if we can use that and the PSP MP4 Camoflage .ini to make a Nero stream compliant?i assume it should be possible (even with divx5 or xvid encoded streams)
but you will have to make sure not to use advanced mpeg-4 coding features the psp might not handle (eg b-frames, qpel aso...)
also it might be that the psp doesnt handle big resolutions, like 720x576 or so

there are lots of things that could be done wrong only on the encoding side which could cause problems on the psp independently of the actual muxing into the container

[easy2Bcheesy]

I'll try and give it a go in the next day, it seems to be fairly straightforward. As far as I know, the only limitations with PSP encoding, aside from being ASP/AVC only is a 320x240 resolution, and a 29.97fps (or 15fps) frame rate.

[easy2Bcheesy]

Just given it a shot and the ATOMChanger doesn't like the Nero Digital MP4 file. Perhaps it needs to be put through the 3GPPFlatten program - can't get that to work either with the Nero stream either. I guess I am going to have to wait... :(

[bond]

probably the two tools need a .3gp file as input (maybe quicktime can transmux from .mp4 to .3gp without reencoding)

[Methanoid]

Keep at it guys.. if you can solve this there will be lots of happy PSP owners...

I like the idea of getting Nero Recode to output PSP files... a LOT! :)

[weak]

ok, someone managed to get other resolutions working ...

ps2dev link (http://forums.ps2dev.org/viewtopic.php?t=1007)

[works]

I tried 416x176 and can confirm that it works, altho aspect ratio controls are nonfunctional.

EDIT: While the encodes play on PSP, the framerate stutters quite alot. Almost feels like the clip is playing 20fps instead of 29.97.

[bond]

found the following ffmpeg patch:
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=10627534

[bond]

and i found the following news which says that sony will sell own "DVDs" for the PSP using
- mpeg-4 avc/h.264 video
- mpeg-4 aac audio
- Universal Media Disc (UMD), able to store 1,8 GB


http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/56610

- as the psp already supports the .mp4 format, i assume they will place the data also in there with umd
- at a such a high bitrate it would make sense if sony will also use a higher resolution, at least like the dvd ones: 720x... ?

[easy2Bcheesy]

Yes, I think you're right that they will use the standard DVD resolutions and scale down to fit the PSP screen. The evidence from this comes from the announcements that standalone UMD players will be produced that connect to TVs etc. I don't think anybody would be particularly impressed with a 480x272 image on any type of convetional display.

The whole enterprise is still doomed though (why buy UMDs when you already own a DVD player?) so we'll await executable home brew media players and/or hacked firmwares for native resolution AVC playback from memory stick.

[bond]

Originally posted by easy2Bcheesy
Yes, I think you're right that they will use the standard DVD resolutions and scale down to fit the PSP screen. The evidence from this comes from the announcements that standalone UMD players will be produced that connect to TVs etc. I don't think anybody would be particularly impressed with a 480x272 image on any type of convetional display. indeed :)
this would also mean that the PSP should already be able to play DVD resolutions, which the tests dont show tough :(

The whole enterprise is still doomed though (why buy UMDs when you already own a DVD player?)exactly my opinion. i wonder why sony choose UMD discs and not lets say simply DVD discs? not to forget that they seem to place the UMD discs into these strangely formed plastic cases:
http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/7278631318563831.jpg

what player is supposed to handle such discs? the news say sony will open up the UMD specs, but why should player manufacturers support these? especially that HD-DVD and bluray will come soon...

[SeeMoreDigital]

It's an interesting topic all the same!

I for one, would like to see how good Sony will be at creating Mpeg4/AVC encodes for these Universal Media Discs?


Cheers

[ECY]

I reckon some people might be intressted to hear, that apperantly
the upcoming firmware (2.00) will enable AVC support via Memory Stick (info from liksang).
Question is, will Sony release/add AVC coding to their software (Image Convertor).

[plonk420]

Network
Internet browser added
* Macromedia Flash is not supported. A part of the web pages might not be displayed correctly
* The startup of the internet browser can be limited.

Video
Jump function added (UMD Video & UMD Music)
A-B repeat function added (UMD Video & UMD Music & videos stored in Memory sticks)
"4:3 mode" added to Video mode (videos stored in Memory sticks)
Sound mute function added (videos stored in Memory sticks)
MP4 (AVC) format playback support added (videos stored in Memory sticks)

Music
Can accept music tracks in Atract3 Plus format from "Sonicstage" under version 3.2 (now for pre-order)
MP4 (AAC) & Wave (Linear PCM) format playback support added (music stored in Memory sticks)

Photo
Wallpaper function added
Image receiving function added
TIFF, GIF, PNG, BMP format supported

Settings
"Korean language" added to "system settings" -> "System language"
"Character set" added to "system settings"
"Theme settings" added
"Internet browser startup limit" added to "Security settings"
"WPA-PSK (TKIP)" added to security method in "Network settings"
Keyboard now support web input.
* All the setting before the upgrade will be preserved.


the HUGE downside is 1.51, 1.52, 2.0 will be patched against running homebrew (as well as piracy). homebrew, specifically, that plays MODs (/XMs/S3Ms/ITs/etc), OGG Vorbis, PSFs, etc among many, many other programs (NES, SNES, MAME emulators, TXT viewers, and possibly Demoscene demos)

[Scarpad]

the HUGE downside is 1.51, 1.52, 2.0 will be patched against running homebrew (as well as piracy). homebrew, specifically, that plays MODs (/XMs/S3Ms/ITs/etc), OGG Vorbis, PSFs, etc among many, many other programs (NES, SNES, MAME emulators, TXT viewers, and possibly Demoscene demos)


Also Apparently it's avc at 320x240 so the limitation is still there but the vids might be a tad sharper. I fully expect a Homebrew may open up this limitation and make the full screen res available before sony ever does it.

[ECY]

Yes, i heard about the 320x240 limitation too.
I think people assumed it , because Sony is launching a new service
called P-TV (portable-TV), where the videos have a res of QVGA.
It seems that this service isn't only targeted at PSP owners,
but also to Pocket PC users as well.
If you have a look at the screen size of the clie, 320x480,
you see it does make sense.
Personlly i reckon that the psp will support higher res with AVC,
but commercial services, such as p-tv, will not offer higher res
downloadable videos than 320x240.
Does it make sense ?, i got meself confused now ^^.

you can read some stuff about p-tv at
http://www.psphome.com/ and http://www.p-tv.jp

[cypher_soundz]

a few links for you:

http://www.pspvideo9.com/ (good reports!)

http://www.nivasoft.com/rapizweb/

http://www.nurs.or.jp/%7Ecalcium/3gpp/

Regards
cyph

[ECY]

A PSP mediaplayer has been released by a homebrew coder, it is called PSP media player.
Apperantly it can play various media formats (without reencoding).
Unfortuantely i couldn't try it out myself yet (cannot find my PSP ^^).
The tool is written in chinese so it might be tricky to get through it.
Nevertheless you can find some description how to play with this tool
under http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/PSPmediaplayer.shtml

Ah yes it work only under 1.5 (not sure if it runs on 1.00).
It will be nice if someone can post some results.