packed bitrate query

[gremlyn]

i'm looking to buy a divx dvd player and have had a good search on the forums and in the main site. I've learnt that a divx player, although it can play xvid, that they do not play xvids with packed bitrates.

i read that one can use mpeg4modifier to solve the problem. i also read on another forum that another way to solve this packed bitrate problem is to rename the files to .divx or .avi. I'm a bit confused now. i've never seen a .divx file. and i thought they were all .avi's anyway. can someone please explain please.


Also, how can i tell whether a file has packed bitrate or not? is there a software to use apart from mpeg4modifier? (i dont have the .net microsoft installed to work it you see)

grateful for any help.

[manono]

Hi-

how can i tell whether a file has packed bitrate or not?

GSPot will tell you (and maybe others). GSpot has a little black box (in my version), and when you hold the mouse over it, it says, "Indicates the presence of "N-VOPS", Characteristic of so-called "packed bitstream". "When you have an AVI with Packed Bitstream, that black box has green writing saying NVOP.

i also read on another forum that another way to solve this packed bitrate problem is to rename the files to .divx or .avi.

That sounds a little goofy to me. You files will most likely be AVI to begin with. I'll bet that celtic_druid knows the answer to that one, though

I've learnt that a divx player, although it can play xvid, that they do not play xvids with packed bitrates.

Mine plays XviDs with Packed Bitstream all jerky, but that's certainly not the case with all of them. Depends on the chipset used and the brand/model.

[gremlyn]

i've opened gspot (latest 2.52beta) and randomly opened some files

div3/div4


mpeg1


xvid


do you mean when i see a grey nvops thing? on one of them, its blacked out. When i hover over the nvop, on all the files i have it says "indicates the presence of "N-VOPS" characteristics ....etc* so which one wuould have packed bitrate? unless this only concerns the xvid file.

I'm actually interested in the Pioneer DV575A, which led me to query about this packed bitrarte thing. I want a player that plays any format, authored and anauthored, even mixed files also i.e. saving foles onto cd/dvd as "data", etc. I'm just trying to research as much as i can and see what files i have already so i'll be prepared lol.

thanks,

[manono]

Hi-

Your last picture is a good example. The NVOP box isn't filled in with the green writing, like the MPEG4 box is, so that one doesn't have packed bitstream, and it should play on just about any DVD/MPEG-4 player, unless there are some other things, such as Custom Quant Matrices or Q-PEL, that it doesn't like.

As for DivX 3.11 AVIs, some players play it and some don't. My first one didn't (Sigma Designs chipset), and my second one does (MediaTek chipset). Any player should play DivX 4/5.x AVIs.

I don't know anything about the player you're thinking of buying, but you might search the database on this site to see what others with that same player have reported.

All players have their quirks. About all you can do is to research as much as you can, read other users' experiences, and make your AVIs to conform with what it can play. This usually means following the DivX Home Theater Profile, or the XviD equivalent. If you download your AVIs, well, there's no telling what's in them until you get and test them, and this site doesn't support questions about illegally obtained content anyway.

Here are the reports on the Pioneer DV575A:

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDname=Pioneer+DV575A&Submit=Search&Search=Se...y=Name&hits=25

[gremlyn]

ah, i see what you mean now. thanks for your help manono. i've looked at the link and decided i'm gonna go get it. maybe adding my own 2 cents to its feedback.

cheers!

[celtic_druid]

Packed bistream is generally a problem for MTK based players. Mine and some others can play it back fine. Also it was only ever an issue when there was more than 1 consecutive bframe. After all DivX uses packed bitstream and it plays back ok, just that it only uses 1 bframe.

Speaking of bframes, a file can contain N-VOP's and not B-VOP's, in such a case it is of course not packed. N-VOP's are for instance used to drop dupe frames, when the player encounters the N-VOP it is simply meant to repeat the last frame.

You could also get a player that supporst mp4 playback. No pb issues then as mp4 doesn't need hacks like avi for storing MPEG-4.