Is there a way to tell if an XviD is ESS compatible...

[KSJ]

...before burning it to a disc and taking it to a standalone player and playing it?

I am making all my encodes ESS compatible, but with encodes received from other sources, it would be great if there were a way of testing before burning a coaster (or for that matter, spending hours downloading an entire series of files). Is there a way to do this?\

*EDIT: Weirder and weirder. In my search I stumbled across Mpeg4Modifier and read the file with it, and it said that the file did not have QPEL or GMC. So I burned it again at a slower burn rate, and still had the problem with the video being distorted with blocks of bright color and shadows of images.

Could there be something else causing this?

[VidGuy]

More than likely, it's using a non-standard matrix. If you didn't use MPeg or H-323 matrices, you'll get a very strange picture on ESS players (at least, I think ESS can handle both those matrices)...

[jagabo]

Too high a bitrate?

[FulciLives]

Here is a guide on this topic that is a MUST read: CLICK HERE

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[KSJ]

Thank you very much. It looks like I need to re-encode. *sigh*

[KSJ]

All right, I am very confused, even after thoroughly going over that guide. The files that aren't playing on my Philips 642 don't have any of the settings that the guide says to watch out for with the 642.

This is what MPEG4Modifier says about a file that ended up playing with strange colors (blue was red and red was blue for the most part):



The guide in question says that 642 doesn't have a problem with packed bitstream, but as this bitstream is apparently unpacked, it doesn't seem to be an issue (the guide doesn't specifically mention unpacked bitstreams so I assume this is okay.)

There is no Qpel or GMC, the aspect ratio is square pixels, and the quant type is Mpeg, which the guide also says the 642 can handle. In short, there is nothing to explain why the file plays with red and blue apparently reversed before re-encoding with AutoGK but plays fine after re-encoding (changes after re-encoding with AutoGK were that the bitstream was packed and the quant type was h.263).

This is making it difficult to figure out whether or not something is going to play on my player, and since I don't want to spend countless hours re-encoding everything I didn't encode myself, I've got a bit of a problem.

Can anyone point me in the right direction here?

[jagabo]

Try pressing System Menu on the remote twice while playing.

Here's a good guide for DVP 642 owners:

http://www.jarnot.com/twiki/bin/view/Public/DVP642LisaBsAVIGuide