AVI (DIVX) to PSP problems with 368x208

[exodar]

I was wondering if anyone else is having a similar problem and knows a fix. I am using ffmpeg to convert .AVI (DIVX) files to PSP format. I am using the suggestion by several readers to maximize the use of the possible 76,800 pixels on the screen. I drag my .AVI file onto ffmpeg, select PSP as the target format, change the resolution to 368x208, change the video bitrate to 640, change the audio bitrate to 128, and put 38 38 0 0 in the letterbox. Once I am done processing this file, I run PSPREZ on the file to trick the PSP into thinking it is a 320x240 video file. The PSP looks like it recognizes it as a playable file and even takes me to a black screen like it is about to play it, then it exits out and tells me it is an unrecognizeable format.

Now....when I do EXACTLY the same procedure as above except leave the resolution on 320x240 and the letterbox on 0 0 0 0, it works perfectly! Is there something I am doing wrong with PSPREZ? I run it and it displays Ready! almost immediately. Everything I read says it should work.

Please help...I am hoping I can see measureable results with this 368x208 trick!

[major]

In 0.0.9t you don't need to use psprez. Also, don't use such high values for bitrate, leave the bitrate calculator estimate them for you. And finally only use allowed sizes listed below (if you add padding bars, you must subtract them from the image height).

From the 0.0.9t release notes:

Added support of PSP non-standard resolutions for use with 16:9 sources: mainly 368x208, but also 416x176, 320x176, 384x160, 480x160 and 400x192 are supported. Note that the PSP screen has a resolution of 480x272, but for movie playback, width x height must not exceed 76800 pixels, so only the smaller sizes listed above will work. Note that no matter the non-standard resolution used, the picture will be always scaled to the full 16:9 PSP screen size, so if your source is 2.35;1 you must prior reverse it to 16:9 by using black bars. For 4:3 sources, always use the standard 320x240 resolution as it will bring best results. To gain a little quality if you don't mind for the bigger filesize, you may use a video bitrate of 400 kbps.

[exodar]

what do you mean "let the bitrate calculate for you"? whenever I select PSP it always says 300 for the video bitrate and something like 24 for the audio which always yields a blocky result. Is there some "auto" bitrate option I am missing or something?

[major]

Click the "Best" button in the video tab.

[warmace]

I agree with Major, 640 kbps is a bit too high and will just make your file sizes bigger without a boost in video quality. In the Video tab in the Bitrate Calculator underneath where you enter the bitate are several buttons for various bitrate calculators. Clicking "Best" will get you what it thinks is the best setting for video quality. Anything higher than this setting will yield bigger files with little or no benefit to video quality. Clicking this with a resolution of 368x208 consistently yields a value of about 515kbps which seems to give excellent video quality but yields somewhat large files. If you need to fit a file into a certain size, enter a value in the "MB" field and click "Rate". This will give you a bitrate that will yield a file to fit in your specified size. For me, this tends yield files that are slightly larger than what I enter. To fit long movies onto my 512m Memory Stick which has a formatted capacity of 468m, I usually set ffmpegx at 420m. A two hour movie needs a bitrate in the low 400s to fit into 450m. I would suggest you experiment with bitrates between 400 and 515 to find what suits your tastes best. 300kbps does seem to be too low to get high quality video although animation does better at lower bitrates.

If your source video is 16:9 there is no need for letterboxing. This just add empty pixels to encode.