DDC2 Idea, can it be done? - G1 Android Development

My Droid Dev Challenge 1 is going so well ($650 in donations, about 20+ devs working on it) that I am starting to wonder what I will do for the second contest. While I will probably post a thread asking for ideas and allow them to be voted on, I had an idea I would love to see on the list. I want to make sure its possible before I throw it in though. I have heard that ppl turn down the idea saying it is too hard, but could divx/xvid player be made for android? From what I have heard it would require the codec to be written in java (which I know nothing about) but is that even possible? Please let me know if this sounds viable.

I know this is not necessarily a app but I remember a thread a week back that was talking about the possibility of revamping the bootloader to multiboot seperate builds. If this became the objective for one of these contests I'd definitly donate.

I think we would need bootloader source for that to begin.

The possibility of writing a MPEG4 decoder in Java using Canvas to draw is pretty much out of the question. However i'd settle for an app that could parse mkvs or other containers and pass the h.264 stream to opencore. Dunno if that's possible in 1.5 or not.
The question you should be asking is whether the project goal should be for all Androids or rooted Androids only.
Edit: However, acceptable performance video decoding using a custom-written native binary library could be possible.

Related

Can these codecs be ported from Archos Android device

Archos just released it's android Pmp and has downloadable HD WMV and MPEG2 plugins. I guess they have to be purchased, but was wondering if this could be ported to G1 as it seems it would be pretty cool just to get a working mpeg2 codec.
It is a little difficult to decipher what they are saying here, but it almost seems like they are intimating that the Android pmp can read mkv too.
Now formats are usually the keys that are ruling the Video world. Some video services provide H.264-encoded videos, some provide WMV encoded ones, while others choose MKV as a format. It can be standard format (SD), or High-Definition (HD). It can be a maze to get through. With the extensive codec support of the ARCHOS 5, all it takes is a drop and drag to watch the video files you want, taking the tedium out of converting video files. You can then experience your favorite movies in super quality with finer details and richer colors with support of the most popular High Definition video formats.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If only we could get a dump of this Andoid OS
Well apart from not being legal, their codecs will come without source code and be coded for acceleration on that hardware.
I've wanted an Archos PMP for a while, but now I REALLY want one!
Do I need one? Nah.
But I am drooling over this one.
As stated above, would be impossible.
I would be impossible (or rather, infeasible) to write any HD codecs in Java, so the chances of it strictly using the stock Android SDK is out the window. It's more than likely using the NDK, or worse, a highly customized version of Android, to do HD decoding.
Then, the ONLY chance of it working on the Dream, is if the hardware matches. I can't find the exact specs of it, but it's using an OMAP3 CPU, which throws any chance of it working out the window.
^^ Ahhh well. Makes sense, thanks for the input.. one can always dream
pixel-painter said:
^^ Ahhh well. Makes sense, thanks for the input.. one can always dream
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And so we have the HTC Dream
I would assume they ported already done codecs from C to C using the NDK.

Best Video Converter for HD2 :)

Hello All,
I have spent almost the whole of today looking for a good video converter for the HD2
I have sum new RMVB and MKV Movies and would love too convert them in 800x400 but cant seem too find a good converter!
Can you please help me with whats working for each off you!
Much Appreciated
format factory rocks
The free and amazing mp4forHD.
You can find it on this forum, it's made for HTC HD but it also has a profile the HD2
MeGui - nothing beats it!
Toss3,
but for getting best results in MeGUI advanced experience is needed.
Could you do us the favour and post your most important settings for
best results on HD2 here? Would appreciate it
Best regards, Olioaglio
wow...thanks for the replies guys!!
i found mp4hd and used it too convert the simpsons movie and rambo 4
the quality of conversion is great but the sound and video is out of sync by a little and not much!
should i be looking at any specific settings to get the best out of mp4hd???
thanks again and i will try the other recommendations and get bk too u guys
cheers
I use my custom profile in WinMEnc, which offsets the audio so it plays in sync on the device
Olioaglio said:
Toss3,
but for getting best results in MeGUI advanced experience is needed.
Could you do us the favour and post your most important settings for
best results on HD2 here? Would appreciate it
Best regards, Olioaglio
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search for p-krill's posts. I'm using the same settings he posted in this thread.
TMPGEnc.XPress converter looks so good but its taking me 5 hrs plus too convert a 2hr movie
the quality looks immaculate with the settings provided
am trying formfactory now so let you know how it goes but it seems alot quicker and has alot of functions aswell
Have a look at the HTC HD Touch Video Converter, get also really nice results. And you can use Subtitles too.
TMPGEnc.XPress
There have been really quite a lot of threads on this subject before: original poster, you might like try to searching the forum before posting a question to see if it has been asked before.
A couple of examples of earlier threads: here, here and here.
Sadly, such threads never seem come to any useful conclusions. This is partly because everyone piles in and automatically recommends whichever app they use, without stating why they recommend it, or what benefits it has over any other app, or what parameters they recommend using with it. It's also because I don't think ever completely nailed down the optimum encoding parameters. This thread got some way towards that goal, but I don't think we ever came to any firm conclusions.
If you are not sure what you are doing then I recommend MP4ForHD, which you can download here. The results are perhaps not quite optimal, but they're pretty good, and it's fairly idiot proof. Use the default HD2 profile, to begin with.
I would steer clear of the Touch HD "Video Encoding GUI" as its settings are too conservative for the HD2; it trades off video quality for ease of processing in a way that is necessary on a Touch HD but not on an HD2.
If you are more of an expert then I suggest MediaCoder.
To elaborate on my settings.
Install WinMEnc
Add my profile to the profile folder.
Load WinMenc, add you files, select my profile from the dropdown list, check 'fit to width' on the 'Video' tab, and encode.
Play the mp4 in HTC Album.
Example video
I've batch encoded Dexter season 4 720p with the above settings, and it looks amazing.
Shasarak said:
There have been really quite a lot of threads on this subject before: original poster, you might like try to searching the forum before posting a question to see if it has been asked before.
A couple of examples of earlier threads: here, here and here.
Sadly, such threads never seem come to any useful conclusions. This is partly because everyone piles in and automatically recommends whichever app they use, without stating why they recommend it, or what benefits it has over any other app, or what parameters they recommend using with it. It's also because I don't think ever completely nailed down the optimum encoding parameters. This thread got some way towards that goal, but I don't think we ever came to any firm conclusions.
If you are not sure what you are doing then I recommend MP4ForHD, which you can download here. The results are perhaps not quite optimal, but they're pretty good, and it's fairly idiot proof. Use the default HD2 profile, to begin with.
I would steer clear of the Touch HD "Video Encoding GUI" as its settings are too conservative for the HD2; it trades off video quality for ease of processing in a way that is necessary on a Touch HD but not on an HD2.
If you are more of an expert then I suggest MediaCoder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply because everyone has their own standards of what is good/good enough/who cares? There isn't a single encoding method that is the "best", per se.
For me, I have ended my quest for encoding specs, and I've already listed the software and parameters I've used. I'm sure someone out there will disagree, saying that other parameters would make it better in terms of size/quality, with or without CUDA (and the list goes on and on), and kudos to them. Personally I'm more than happy with my encodes, I'm glad that kr00t0n finds it useful too.
kr00t0n said:
To elaborate on my settings.
Install WinMEnc
Add my profile to the profile folder.
Load WinMenc, add you files, select my profile from the dropdown list, check 'fit to width' on the 'Video' tab, and encode.
Play the mp4 in HTC Album.
Example video
I've batch encoded Dexter season 4 720p with the above settings, and it looks amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recently I'm having troubles with this profile for encoding mkvs (mostly music videos)...They tend to crash a little into the encoding. You have this problem?
However if I encode them into avi with similar encoding specs, it works. It looks like encoding h264 into h264 causes a problem for mkvs, at least for me.
madmarf said:
Have a look at the HTC HD Touch Video Converter, get also really nice results. And you can use Subtitles too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use this
I use Winavi MP4 converter.. easy fast nice ;-)
Hi,
i downloaded HTC touch HD video converter 1.21 version.
and converted a 2.5GB 720p mkv movie to 800x480 900kbps 160kb audio.
i am interested in mainly converting mkv to hd2 format.
i have a duo 2 core 8400 processor and it took me like 4 hrs.
i read somewhere that on HD2 keeping the video bitrate above 700kbps doesnt make a difference and just ends up using more battery while playback.
is that true??
what should be the best settings i should keep in order to get good results?
also is there any other way to convert in a shorter time than this??
will keeping a lower video bitrate decrease the total time??
i know many of you will say trial and error is the best way, but i am asking to get a head start as 4+hrs to convert one movie is alot of time.
anyways thanks for answering guys
i am curious too about the questions geronemo has, maybe some would like to share their experiences here?
I use badaboom it use your Nvidia GPU wich is much faster If you want the right settings for it ask me. 30 minutes video is 6 minutes converting video.

Porting question.

As you can tell I am not as familiar with Android as I would like to be. I have a question. I know that there are some pmp's out there that run android such as the archos media player. Would it be possible to port the actual movie player/codecs from an archos android build? Or are the kernels too different and the hardware too different for something like this to work?
ElAguila said:
As you can tell I am not as familiar with Android as I would like to be. I have a question. I know that there are some pmp's out there that run android such as the archos media player. Would it be possible to port the actual movie player/codecs from an archos android build? Or are the kernels too different and the hardware too different for something like this to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's entirely possible, but one of the things about movies on a phone is resources... it takes a lot of effort to decode those things and we don't have a high horse power piece of machinery. It's one of the reasons VLC hasn't been pursued on Android, that and running native byte code is difficult. Not impossible but difficult.
It's definely not going to be as simple as ripping the apk from their media player. You are probably better off trying to find a Dev capable of porting a VLC player to Android, I have looked into it but judging from the VLC Forums it would be really difficult - too it would probably be like a lot of Android stuff and Handset specific because of the hardware differences.
Thanks for the explanation. Most times I can watch movies with A1 or Meridian but sometimes I have to reboot and make sure no other apps are running. This is almost my answer to a phone/music player/movie player that isn't made by apple. The winmo devices can do that well but the battery life sucks. The TP I had was great with movies if you wanted to plug in after 20 minutes. I can watch a full movie on the hero and use much less battery.

[Q] Nexus S codecs - install extra codecs

Hi there,
I noticed that the Nexus S did not play all of the DVIX films I have that would play with the Samsung Galaxy i9000. I used mVideoPlayer. I presume that it is missing codecs.
Is there a way to install missing codecs, that would not have been included by default in Android 2.3?
Regards, F.
Try Rockplayer, its free in the market.
I know of RockPlayer, but this was not my question (although its clear that Rockplayer has the codecs in it)
I want to install the codecs so that any app can play the video whether its stock, mVideoPlayer or others.
Looks like RockPlayer that might use libavcodec. Did anyone attempt to compile this for Android 2.3.4?
For those interested, there is an article here about compiling this.
http://odroid.foros-phpbb.com/t338-ffmpeg-compiled-with-android-ndk
OP i came from a galaxy S i know what you're talking about
use Dice Player it new and it supports most vid/audio codecs with hardware support
like in the galaxy S
I don;t think this is the best way forward. Compiling, and making generally available, the correct libraries would better serve us.
FFmpeg is available as per my link. I'll check what it really can decode, and then try and compile this. This'll take a week or so (min) as I have lots of other work to do At least the library is available fro Android. I think it strange that even Debian can install the proprietary codecs within a few clicks, yet stock Android cannot.
forgetmyname said:
I don;t think this is the best way forward. Compiling, and making generally available, the correct libraries would better serve us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you want everything for free
he freely released his source if you actually looked
Devs have to put food on their plate also
$3 is pocket change especially considering the caliber of the apps capabilities until you put forth something to this caliber and freely distribute you have no right to complain
And FYI if you looked at Dice player source you would know it was compiled with FFmpeg
http://vpn.inisoft.co.kr:8000/public/DicePlayer/
demo23019 said:
What do you want everything for free
he freely released his source if you actually looked
Devs have to put food on their plate also
$3 is pocket change especially considering the caliber of the apps capabilities until you put forth something to this caliber and freely distribute you have no right to complain
And FYI if you looked at Dice player source you would know it was compiled with FFmpeg
http://vpn.inisoft.co.kr:8000/public/DicePlayer/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your comments have no place in this thread. This is a discussion about missing codecs, that are freely available with the majority of all modern operating systems. Neither is this a complaint thread. It is about seeking information and taking action. I advise that you read the thread once more.
An analogy: When I purchase a telephone I expect it to be able to be able to hear the called party not only connect the call. I should not have to pay extra for the missing sound; The same is applicable to a built-in video player.
Your statement "what do you want everything for free" is clearly misinformed, when I would have to pay, and am willing to pay, 550 EUROs (775 USD) for a Nexus S. I might suggest that you take this up with Google.
This thread went down the path of compiling ffmeg: I was going to do this myself, and making this freely available. It would follow that I might write the front-end player myself. If I did this, and sell it myself on the Market, then according to you I am a free-tard. I suppose that this is true of all other developers out there. Arguably there would now be another player on the market - I don't think this would really help as others have more experience in this.
It is my opinion that Google should make all codecs easily available. It is not a lot to ask, especially as the likes of Canonical and Debian can do the same.

MX Player and ChromeCast

This is a continuation of the original thread on Google Groups.
Link to original thread: https://groups.google.com/d/topic/mx-videoplayer/Xgb6KKj95vg/discussion
Thanks for starting this up here. Any updates on Chromecast support?
captbunzo said:
Thanks for starting this up here. Any updates on Chromecast support?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS is the Chromecast solution I feel I have been waiting an eternity for. Best of luck with ongoing development...
Well, Miracast accomplishes a similar result, but as it's live transcoding of your entire screen, it would only have decent video playback on higher-end devices. That and Miracast means you can't do a 2nd task on the phone when the video plays.
From my understanding of Chromecast support right now, Google is slowly rolling out support for different formats and file containers. Not sure how long this will take. MX Player transcoding should mean that anything would be playable, assuming your device can handle live transcoding.
CDB-Man said:
From my understanding of Chromecast support right now, Google is slowly rolling out support for different formats and file containers. Not sure how long this will take. MX Player transcoding should mean that anything would be playable, assuming your device can handle live transcoding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google is slowly rolling out support for different formats and file containers
Where is the proof or where did you find that
ALSo. I wanted to ask.
Could you please not do one step at a time?
E.g add Chromecast support but for NORMAL. E.g. Basic support. For normal formats which work. Like avia media player.
Thank you
Supported formats: https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/media
As to your question about adding Chromecast support, that would be a question for the developer to answer. @bleu8888
Hopefully we will see this happening any time soon.
Thank you in advance, because we all know MX is the best out there.
Sent from my SM-N900 using Tapatalk
Ok, so what exactly does this mean? Is the developer working on Chromecast support? Any ETA for when it should be expected?
Yes he is working on it; no an ETA has not yet been indicated. Thing is, the developer wants ALL videos to work on Chromcast; this means MX Player must do live transcode on any format that Chromecast doesn't support.
CDB-Man said:
Yes he is working on it; no an ETA has not yet been indicated. Thing is, the developer wants ALL videos to work on Chromcast; this means MX Player must do live transcode on any format that Chromecast doesn't support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any update to the progress or challenges? eagerly awaiting any news on this, as it would be super to unlock these features through MX player and ChromeCast!
CDB-Man said:
This is a continuation of the original thread on Google Groups.
Link to original thread: https://groups.google.com/d/topic/mx-videoplayer/Xgb6KKj95vg/discussion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I don't understand is WHY don't you do 1 step at a time?
Why cant you simply right now, add the NORMAL chrome cast features, just MP4 files first.
and then later work on every single file format and transcoding?
Im sure many people would like this option?
Is it possible for a modern quad-core ARM phone/tablet to transcode video formats on the fly? I love MX because it literally plays anything I throw at it, but I don't know if this is the same as transcoding these different formats for casting.
Sent from my SGP511 using Tapatalk
@Krisshp Don't know; it was the developer's decision.
@CAL7 well, for 10-bit I would assume it can't handle it, considering only the more recent phones were able to decode it. For 8-bit, it might be possible if the bitrate isn't too high.
CDB-Man said:
@Krisshp Don't know; it was the developer's decision.
@CAL7 well, for 10-bit I would assume it can't handle it, considering only the more recent phones were able to decode it. For 8-bit, it might be possible if the bitrate isn't too high.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cant you give this suggestion (which many ACTUALLY want) to the developer? and take it 1 step at a time?...
Thanks
there are many different options out there to use at the moment if you want to stream to chromecast. I agree with the developer having his standards of exactly what he wants his app to be able to do before releasing it... Kudos to him! :good:
I echo the same sentiment of playya.
I agree with you guys, no need to rush, it must come out when ready... But it would be very nice to be updated about the progress, just to know if we can expect it this month or in december 2015
JerryBels said:
I agree with you guys, no need to rush, it must come out when ready... But it would be very nice to be updated about the progress, just to know if we can expect it this month or in december 2015
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...... Or just leave us in the dark, alone, crying about our insecurities, struggling to overcome our fear of the unknown, but in the end doomed to the abysses of hell. That's cool too.
Glad to see that there is a possibility of seeing a Chromecast compatible MX Player in the future. Kudos to the devs for wanting to keep the standards up. If you need a beta tester count me in. I have helped with other apps in development. Do love MX Player the best I 've found. Just updated to pro to hopefully help with Chromecast development.

Categories

Resources