Stuttery Playback

[Triumphdog]

I have a DVD player that supports divx, avi, mpeg, etc. Now some of the video files that I burn to a data dvd and then playback are GREAT looking and playback smooth. Others, they playback and look sometimes like they are in slow motion or just a bit slower looking then other ones. The thing is, while viewing them on my PC they look great, but after buring them some of them dont turn out to well, but others playback just the same. Would this have to do with bitrate or FPS? Any ideas?

[celtic_druid]

You can't compare a hardware player with a PC. SAP's are way more limited.

Hard to say what the problem is without specs on the files and the player. Especially since you mentioned multiple file types. Most famous case of stuttery playback with MPEG-4/AVI SAP's would probably be Xvid encoded files with packed bitstream and multiple b-vop's on older MTK based players. Problem was fixed via a firmware update though.

[Triumphdog]

You can't compare a hardware player with a PC. SAP's are way more limited.

Hard to say what the problem is without specs on the files and the player. Especially since you mentioned multiple file types. Most famous case of stuttery playback with MPEG-4/AVI SAP's would probably be Xvid encoded files with packed bitstream and multiple b-vop's on older MTK based players. Problem was fixed via a firmware update though.

When you say "problem was fixed via a firmware update though", are you saying I should try to update the firmware on my DVD player? Can I even do that? What would your recommendations be?

[celtic_druid]

I never said that was your problem, nor that your player is in fact MTK based or that there is a firmware update available for it.

My advice would be to look at the specs of the files that are effected.

[gonwk]

Hi folks,

@ Triumphdog,

1) you can try the following software ... to unpack your "packed bitstream" as Cletic said ... it might fix most of your problems ... in my experience there are some stubborn ones that even this software won't totally fix ...

http://www.digital-digest.com/software/mpeg4_modifier.html

2) Just out of curiosity what is the Brand and Model number of your Home DVD Player?

@ Celtic ...

Q1: Celtic do you know any firmware fix for Philips DVP5960/37 ... because their newest f/w actually adds the packed stream problem back into their player.

Thanks,
G!

[Triumphdog]

Hi folks,

@ Triumphdog,

1) you can try the following software ... to unpack your "packed bitstream" as Cletic said ... it might fix most of your problems ... in my experience there are some stubborn ones that even this software won't totally fix ...

http://www.digital-digest.com/software/mpeg4_modifier.html

2) Just out of curiosity what is the Brand and Model number of your Home DVD Player?

@ Celtic ...

Q1: Celtic do you know any firmware fix for Philips DVP5960/37 ... because their newest f/w actually adds the packed stream problem back into their player.

Thanks,
G!

I will try that software. So I would pretty much run the video file that I want to burn to a data-dvd through this program, and it may fix the problem? I will give it a shot. My DVD Player is a Phillips DVP 3040. I found this link here for reviews on this player, although not a topic here, they say you need to use ther remote to eject the disc, which is not true. Anyhow, here is the link. http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers....&Search=Search Check out the second post in the link and it says that there is a firmware hack and that is fixes the divx problem. How do you even install firmware? Do you need to burn it to a CD+R and then play it in your dvd player? Thanks for the help.

[gonwk]

Hi Triumphdog,

It seems you are on the right track ... I am very busy today ... getting reasdy for a wedding so I don't have the time to do any leg work and research for you ... just google and find the right Firmware Hack for your MODEL dvd player and REGION (some of the European hack might now work for US ... that is if you are in US).

As far as how to install a Firmware Hack ...

1) Download the firmware
2) Unpack the bin-file
3) Burn the bin-file - TO A CD per Philips instruction ...

Follow Philips instructions ...

http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/d/dvp3040_12/dvp3040_12_fur_eng.pdf

4) Update player (look in the same PDF for that, too)
That's it...

Also while you are at it ... follow the instructions in this post that you referred me to and make your Player "REGION FREE" ...

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?select=Philips+DVP+3040


And as far as your Question on the AVI files ... Whenyou run MPEGModifier program it will tell you if your AVI (Xvid, DivX, ...) is "Packed" ... if it is ... then run the program to "UNPACK" it and save it with a different name ... XXXun.avi

Good Luck,
G!

[celtic_druid]

You should only need to unpack if the file is packed and has > 1 consecutive bframes. The problem is that the first bframe is packed, but the others aren't. 1 packed bframe should be fine. This is what DivX HT profiles use (also Xvid HT profiles).

[Triumphdog]

Alright fellas. All I actually did was download the MPEG4Modifer mentioned above, unpacked the the packed up bitstream, and like John Madden would say...BOOM!...it worked. Every file plays really clean and smooth now. Nice easy fix without having to mess with my firmware, which I couldnt seem to burn correctly anyhow even with the Phillips guide. And it only takes about 30 seconds to unpack so it is all good. Thanks fellas for the help.