Help? DivX/Xvid Encoding for Philips DVP642 PlayBack

[chrisb01]

I just bought the Philips DVP642 player a few days ago. As you'd expect, I moved my video collection from hard drive to DVD+RW for the convenience of playing in the set top player. Well, it's hit-or-miss as to which files it plays successfully. Some files it can't read... it says "reading index" but then skips the file. Some files have no audio... and others have pixelated video with excellent audio. This a pretty discouraging, but manageable. What I'd like to know is if anyone has come up with a specific encoding technique that always plays on the DVP642. Like a specific codec with parameters that always plays in this player. That way I can go back and re-encode my older stuff, and only encode the new stuff that way. Any help would be appreciated.

[jtoolman2000]

Ok, I have one of these players as well and you are correct. It is hit and miss. The only way you can be 100% it will play excellent to your tv is to produce your own divx backups. Divx/Xvid movies acquired from other sources are a crap shoot.

I find that Dr. DIVX produces escellent results. You first have to rip the entire movie to the HD unless you are running AnyDVD in the background.

Of course running DVIX 700mb movies on your TV can look good or bad depending on the degree of compression used ( bit Rate setting ) but that's another subject altogether. Usually if you let DR. Divx do a dual pass encoding it will look very good.

Back to the original problem. Yes those movies are a hit and miss affair and other than completely reworkinig the files through various tools ( too much work for what it's worth ) there's not much one can do.

[timmyp]

Take a look at this thread. It is quite lengthy but has a lot of info about this player.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=215682&highlight=dvp642

My experience is that the player will play any DivX file (with mp3 audio) that I throw at it. Xvid, OGG, etc are hit and miss depending on how they were encoded.

[somebodeez]

Don't use Qpel.

[chrisb01]

Well, I'd like to re-encode the videos that don't work... and rather than going through a lengthy trial and error, I was hoping that someone had an encoding profile that always works with the DVP642. For example, DivX single pass, 1000+ bit rate, indexing settings, frame rate, etc.

I'd like to create a template, whether it's in VirtualDub or ProCoder, or whatever, which will give me the least possible loss from the source and always work with the player... I'm not even sure what tool to use since there are so many methods... some way too complex.

Jtoolman2000 mentioned Dr. Divx... but, I my situation is that I have to re-encode stuff that is mostly already encoded with Xvid... will Dr. DivX do that without much fail. Does it have a build in bit calculation like ProCoder... so I can set the size of the output, and have it set the bit rate.

[chrisb01]

Here's an example. I have a video with the following specs:
XviD, 672x288, 1661 kb/s, 25 FPS, 0.343 bits/pixel

So I re-encoded to:
DX50, 672x288, 1404 kb/s, 25 FPS, 0.343 bits/pixel
1-pass, 75% Quality Setting, Encode as progressive, Max Keyframe interval 300

I was thinking that it was the Codec... it took 5 hours of re-encoding to find out it wasn't. For anyone who's created video that plays good on the DVP642, can you tell me what your codec settings were.

[chrisb01]

Sorry, that re-encode did work. I tested the wrong file originally, caught my mistake, and played the re-encoded file in the player and it worked fine. It must be the Codec... so, I re-encoded a small portion to Xvid also, and it worked too. Perhaps the original was encoded with Xvid 1.0... I've heard that doesn't work... maybe that's the issue here. How can I tell which version of Xvid a video is encoded with?

[brownstem]

Hi, I also need some 642 help. The first several DivX/Xvid files I played on this unit (whether burned to cd or dvd) played great. Now I'm in possession of some .avi files with one of two problems: The first is that the audio is great but the video is goofy. Colors bleeding everywhere, almost as if painted or animated. The second problem is no audio on another file. Both sets of files play perfectly using my PC's DivX player. Any tips on how I can either upgrade firmware (out of the box my Philips is up to date, I believe) or convert these files to something palatable to the Philips? Thx.

[Thomas Davie]

As a disclaimer, I am not accusing anyone of piracy, so don't jump on me if you think that I am.

I find that when I use Auto Gordian Knot to back up my DVDs, I use DivX 5.1.1 Pro (now 5.2 Pro), and always make sure to select cbr mp3. I don't change any of the encoding parameters, but let the program do so; after all, I am choosing the final file size output. I have not had 1 file out of ~50 DVDs backed up thgat woulf refuse to play properly.

However, if you download movies, then you are going to get a bunch of different people encoding them. Just as obviously, you will get some that work, and others that don't. The solution, ot me, is pretty simple; don't download movies.

That having been said, if you are going to re encode a movie, I would use the most recent version of VirtualDub and just set the video encoding parameters as closely as you can match them to what is already existent (check in gspot) assuming of course that you want to keep file size the same.

Again, I will stress that Auto Gordian Knot works perfectly for me.

Tom

[Heywould3]

I have this player also.. and i have lotos of divx/xvid files.. one thing for sure that i found is that you need to make sure that the disk is closed b4 you play in the player. it will still play without but have odd issues like no pause/ff/rw etc.. the rest is hit and miss.. i have a bunch that the red and blue channels were inverted all i could do was re-encode them all.. 180+ vids. other divx/xvid files all were hit and miss.. the ones that didnt play i just re-encoded the bad ones.. the best format i found is one that keeps the bitrate below 1000. 880 is where i keep video. i just do a 1 cd @ 710meg 2 pass. they all look good. dr-divx has a batch run option and that is what to do.. set them all up and walk away.. never had one fail with this method.

again.
dr-divx 2pass 128kbs audio 880 video good results.
i know you are going to dvd but i just take a 2hour movie and use the 1cd @ 710 meg option and it sets all the rest up for you.. (no brainer)

gl hope this helps

[manono]

As has been said before, .avis from unknown sources are hit or miss, as you don't know the settings used.

Your player uses the ESS chipset, and it's pickier than others about what it will play well.

To be safe, use only the MPEG or H.263 matrices. Although it can use some of the XviD Custom Matrices, without a lot of testing, you won't know which ones. And don't use either Q-PEL or GMC. Other than that you should be OK.

However, all DVD/MPEG-4 players have problems with bitrate spikes, so if the action gets intense, you may see some stuttering/freezing until things slow down again. If you use DivX, encoding to the Home Theater Profile should keep everything within the proper limits.

And if you use AutoGK and XviD for your encoding (a very good combination), make sure that you install it with the ESS chipset option. That limits the matrices to MPEG or H.263. Otherwise it'll use custom matrices which may give your player problems.

[pharaoh^J]

It's simple. The player supports Divx 3.11, 4.12, 5.0+ and Xvid. The player DOES NOT support QPEL and a few other misc codecs or formats. If it's skipping the file it's because the file isn't supported with the player.

Easy solutions are:

1. encode your own stuff and don't use QPEL ever
2. make sure your source is using a format that is supported by your dvd player (this is HIT or MISS as stated before)

Good luck!

[optimus]

Well, I'd like to re-encode the videos that don't work... and rather than going through a lengthy trial and error, I was hoping that someone had an encoding profile that always works with the DVP642.

Dr. Divx has divx certified profiles that work with divx certified players like the philips and rjtech players.

Also, QPEL isn't the only culprit. GMC and bframes can be a huge problem as a well.

If you want to check your avi to see if it was encoded with QPEL or GMC just use the tool found at the link below. Load the avi file and look for S(GMC)-VOP and QuarterPixel usage. It can also tell you if b-frames are present. If any of these three are present, it's up in the air. Otherwise, playback is usually fine.

http://fer.peque.org/descargas/avicheck.zip

[chrisb01]

Well, I've come to the following conclusions about playing files on this player:

1) It does not reliably handle XviD. Some XviD files would play fine, some would not play at all, some would not allow FF and RW, some would play fine until a certain point in the video, then the player would stop. Even doing a fast recompress to to re-encode the XviD file would not help any of these problems. Initially, I was trying to keep XviD for it's fast encoding with great quality; but I abandoned this (see #2).

2) It reliably plays all DivX files, as it is supposed to... no problems with FF/RW, no stoppage in the middle, no sound issues. Someone mentioned about having to "close the disk" to avoid FF/RW problems. I found this not to be true... the difference between movies that had FF/RW problems was simply that some XviD files could not be FF/RW, and all DivX files could be FF/RW, regardless of the disk status.

3) The easiest way for ME to re-encode my videos which were in XviD was to use Dr. DivX. I used the default Home Theater profile. The only thing I changed was to make 1 file(s) of 700 MB. This quality setting seems to be the perfect combination of quality and size. I can now fit about 6 videos per DVD+RW, and all play beautifully. Also, the great thing about Dr. DivX is it's batch mode... so I can setup to re-encode several files, and it's done when I wakeup in the morning. Usinng this method, it won't take too long for me to have my home video collection completely converted.

Hope this helps any one looking to play compressed video on this DVP642 player. Unfortuneately, to get reliable play, you need to be in DivX.. which means re-encoding any files you have in XviD.

[pharaoh^J]

A quick note on the xvid problems. I haven't had any except for QPEL stuff which is rare anyway.

Dr. Divx is a bug fest and inconsistant. Try AutoGK for really easy encoding with DivX or XviD. I still haven't had any problems with the formats I've tried with the exceptions being anything encoded using qpel.

--(Quarterpel (Qpel / Quarter Pixel) is used to estimate the motion on smaller blocks hence getting more accurate results and potentially producing a more detailed output. The cost is a slower encoding process and the potential addition of noise to the video.)--

Also not necessary at all and most encodes are done without it. This is a matter of being extremely picky versus common sense. If you want dvd quality that bad, buy the original instead of messing around with an encode that may or may not work correctly and isn't supported on your dvd player. I'd also appreciate it if those using the obscure codecs and formats would label their output properly instead of just saying Divx or Xvid.

Finally, a nice solution to not being able to play QPEL encodes on your dvd player is running a tvout cable from your PC's video card to your home theater

DO NOT DESPAIR!

[Alan69]

It's simple. The player supports Divx 3.11, 4.12, 5.0+ and Xvid. The player DOES NOT support QPEL and a few other misc codecs or formats. If it's skipping the file it's because the file isn't supported with the player.
Good luck!

Actually it's not just that simple. Even with supported formats, it will sometimes just not start playing a file.


Chris, try this. Load it up in VDUB, mark the beginning, mark 30 or 60 frames in, and delete. Then save the file after chopping off this little bit.

Not sure if it's the indexes needing rewriting, or the actual video at the start, but I've made many encodes that wouldn't play, where chopping off the first half second or so made them play fine. The player simply balks on starting some files, and chopping off a bit to make it work beats reencoding..

Alan

[pharaoh^J]

That seems to be your problem specifically cause not everyone is having the same problem. If you have a supported format that doesn't work, your media is shit, your encode is shit or your format isn't supported after all.

I've tested over 400+ encodes and rips in a variety of formats and the only thing the Philips DVP 642 won't play is QPEL and GMC.

[lifeisfun]

I also had to reencode on some files VBR audio to CBR ......

[chrisb01]

Okay, so far I've only come across one file that wouldn't play at all. I haven't gotten to that one yet.

Let me correct a previous statement about the inability to FF/RW being isolated to XviD. As I re-encoded some XviD files to DivX, I noticed that they still could not be FF/RW. Here are the specs for 2 files. File1 cannot be FF/RW, but File2 can be. The biggest difference I see here is the B-VOP setting; can anyone provide input as to why this may or may not cause the inability to FF/RW the file? Both of these were encoded with Dr.DivX with the same default profile, so I'm not sure of the B-VOP is something in the original file that Dr.DivX doesn't change/re-encode?

For those who claim that it only has to do with GMC and QPEL, notice that GMC and QPEL were not used for either of these files... yet, one plays fine and the other cannot be FF/RW.

File1
-----
Total Streams: 2
Running Time: 2:03:25
Index Chunk: Yes
Interleaved: Yes
Max Bytes Per Sec: 0
AUDIO: 0 - MP3 (0x55)
Average Bitrate Per Sec: 96 kb/s
Samples Rate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits Per Sample: 0
SuggestedBufferSize: 731
Sample Size: 0
Variable Bitrate: Yes (32, 128, 160)
VIDEO: DX50
B-VOP: Yes
S(GMC)-VOP: No
QuarterPixel: No
Frame Size: 512 x 208
Frames Rate: 23.976
Color Depth: 24
Total Frames: 177557
SuggestedBufferSize: 49384

File2
-----
Total Streams: 2
Running Time: 2:26:06
Index Chunk: Yes
Interleaved: Yes
Max Bytes Per Sec: 0
AUDIO: 0 - MP3 (0x55)
Average Bitrate Per Sec: 96 kb/s
Samples Rate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits Per Sample: 0
SuggestedBufferSize: 731
Sample Size: 0
Variable Bitrate: Yes (32, 96, 192)
VIDEO: DX50
B-VOP: No
S(GMC)-VOP: No
QuarterPixel: No
Frame Size: 480 x 208
Frames Rate: 23.976
Color Depth: 24
Total Frames: 210194
SuggestedBufferSize: 44487

[chrisb01]

Well, so much for that theory. I just found one file with B-VOP = Yes and another with B-VOP = No... both can fast forward and rewind. Any other ideas about the FF/RW issue based on the 2 file specs in the previous post. Remember, File 1 cannot be FF/RW and File2 can. I admit I don't understand "indexing", but the player always says "Reading Index" when it starts the file, so perhaps there's something about the indexing in one file versus the other... but how can I encode to make sure I always get an index that allows FF/RW on the file?

[chrisb01]

Here's another observation about the FF/RW issue. I was watching a video that had no problems FF/RW up to a certain point in the video. After that point, any attempts to FF or RW would cause playback to stop and the player would go back to the disk menu. Obviously, there are some issues... but right now, I can't tell if it's encoding problems, or possibly the player still has bugs.

[chrisb01]

FINALLY A SOLUTION! Actually, it was a solution that someone already proposed, but I had thought I'd disproven. Someone previously mentioned that closing the disk resolved the FF/RW problem. I didn't think it was true because I had some files that could FF/RW and some that couldn't on the same DVD+RW "unclosed". I copied all of those files to my hard drive, and re-burned them back to the same disk using ISO9660 file system with write-once enabled... even though it's actually a DVD+RW... and the files which could not be FF/RW before, can now be. Even the problem with the one file that would stop playback when attempting to FF/RW only after a certain point in the video could now be FF/RW all the way through.

PROBLEM: Cannot Fast Forward / Rewind a DivX / XviD movie on DVP642 Player

SOLUTION: Burn the video files to disk using ISO9660 file system and write-once enabled.

[Thomas Davie]

Life is strange. I had used Mitsumi DVD+RWs in my recorder and they all worked fine in all of my DVD players. And yet, if I burnt an mpeg or DivX/XviD to the +RW using my internal burner in my desktop....no go. But if I use the same disc, and the same program (Nero 6.0.1.17) on my laptop using an external burner, it works (I don't mean to say that ff/rw works and then does not, I mean that the disc is unreadable on the desktop, but readable when made by the external burner).

Tom

[mgh]

As per manual all R RW discs need to be closed plus there are issues on audio as well-pl. see
http://www.divx.com/divx/divxpro/guides/audio.php

[Heywould3]

FINALLY A SOLUTION! Actually, it was a solution that someone already proposed, but I had thought I'd disproven. Someone previously mentioned that closing the disk resolved the FF/RW problem. I didn't think it was true because I had some files that could FF/RW and some that couldn't on the same DVD+RW "unclosed". I copied all of those files to my hard drive, and re-burned them back to the same disk using ISO9660 file system with write-once enabled... even though it's actually a DVD+RW... and the files which could not be FF/RW before, can now be. Even the problem with the one file that would stop playback when attempting to FF/RW only after a certain point in the video could now be FF/RW all the way through.

PROBLEM: Cannot Fast Forward / Rewind a DivX / XviD movie on DVP642 Player

SOLUTION: Burn the video files to disk using ISO9660 file system and write-once enabled.

Im glad you resolved your issues.. All the information i posted regarding ff/rw etc was from trial and error.. as well as oter forums. AND i actually RTFM and it states close disk .. if using a cdr i do disk at once, close disk and all files other than Qpel will ff/rw and play fine.. the rest of the information in my post like using 1 disk @700 meg is also from trial and error.. i know everyone will need to test this for theirself but it saves you time trying my posts first as it has already been tested.. no need to re-invent the wheel.

[bunanson]

As has been said before, .avis from unknown sources are hit or miss, as you don't know the settings used.

Your player uses the ESS chipset, and it's pickier than others about what it will play well.

To be safe, use only the MPEG or H.263 matrices. Although it can use some of the XviD Custom Matrices, without a lot of testing, you won't know which ones. And don't use either Q-PEL or GMC. Other than that you should be OK.

However, all DVD/MPEG-4 players have problems with bitrate spikes, so if the action gets intense, you may see some stuttering/freezing until things slow down again. If you use DivX, encoding to the Home Theater Profile should keep everything within the proper limits.

And if you use AutoGK and XviD for your encoding (a very good combination), make sure that you install it with the ESS chipset option. That limits the matrices to MPEG or H.263. Otherwise it'll use custom matrices which may give your player problems.

I do know why people do not close the DVD, you can pack more kbite into the DVD if it closes. And it is also offerring more compatibility w DVD players if the disk close.

bunanson

[yohu123]

PROBLEM: Cannot Fast Forward / Rewind a DivX / XviD movie on DVP642 Player

SOLUTION: Burn the video files to disk using ISO9660 file system and write-once enabled.

thanx chrisb01.......after setting the mode to iso9660 and disk-at-once, i am now able to fast forward/rewind divx movies on my philips dvp642k.

[redrocklobster]

I am unanable to play XVID at all on my dvp642/37. I have the factory firmware. I have been burning using Mac OS X with Toast to Mac+Windows disks and divx works fine but not XVID. I called Philips tech support and they were worse then useless: they didn't know what a codec was really and didn't know what XVID was and didn't know the difference between an econded video (ie divx) and a burning format (ie ISO / Windows). So this thread seems to suggest it helps to burn in ISO for media with regards to some issues... would this resolve the xvid codec not recognized problem?

So far the details of the file i'm concerned with is:

Video: XVID 640x352, 23.9 framerate
Audo: a52 192kbps
(details from VLC)
file size +/- 700 meg

It has .srt subtitles. Filename is long -- too long probably for ISO? But originally burned in Mac+Windows format using Toast 7.

Thanks

[jman98]

I wonder if this sets a record for the longest gap between posts - about 2 and a half years. Anyway...

Xvid will normally play on this player. However, GMC and QPel are both problems and Xvid seems to default to use both. If you used either or both of these while encoding, that is your real problem. There is no fix except to re-encode without these settings. GMC will work if the warp point is only 1, but Xvid uses 3. QPel won't work at all. Default Divx behavior is to not use QPel and GMC, which is probably why your Divx encodes work. I don't know how to tell if your Xvid encodes have these options are not as the tool that we use to tell this, Gspot, only works on Windows.

At this point I don't think there is really a lot of difference in quality between Xvid and Divx, but some people have religious devotion attached to Xvid and they don't like to hear that. I'm only giving you my opinion and if you or others feel that Xvid is a million times better I'm not going to get offended, I just don't happen to think so.

[jman98]

I suppose I should have been more clear with my first sentence, but I was referring to the gap between bunanson's post and yohu123's post.