PSP H264 vs PSP 2.81

[Vargol]

I'm try to convert, some xvid and AVI movies to PSP H264 format using the PSP H264 preset but its not working. The PSP has firmware 2.81.

I'm not changing any options, just dropping a file on the Source/From area, selecting PSP h264
and pressing the Encode button.

After moving the new movie, which plays on my iMac (intel Core dual, 2Ghz) on my PSP, the PSP just shows the 'Corrupted data' icon. Using the other PSP preset works just great.

The path to the file on the PSP is...
/Volumes/Untitled/MP_ROOT/100ANV01/MAQ06860.MP4


Can any one see where I'm going wrong or have Sony broke things again.

This is the information from a short test AVI...

FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Thu Oct 12 18:56:38 BST 2006
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
Input #0, avi, from '/Users/vargol/Movies/test.AVI':
Duration: 00:00:01.0, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1683 kb/s
Stream #0.0, 15.00 fps(r): Video: mjpeg, yuvj422p, 320x240
Stream #0.1: Audio: pcm_u8, 11024 Hz, mono, 88 kb/s
Output #0, psp, to '/Users/vargol/Movies/MAQ06860.MP4':
Stream #0.0, 29.97 fps(c): Video: h264, yuv420p, 368x208, q=10-51, 384 kb/s
Stream #0.1: Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, 48 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Stream #0.1 -> #0.1
[h264 @ 0x54340c]using cpu capabilities MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2
Adding PSP atoms..
video:24kB audio:5kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 92.106420%
[h264 @ 0x54340c]slice I:1 Avg QP:22.00 size: 6219
[h264 @ 0x54340c]slice P:27 Avg QP:24.48 size: 1627
[h264 @ 0x54340c]mb I I16..4: 42.5% 0.0% 57.5%
[h264 @ 0x54340c]mb P I16..4: 17.6% 0.0% 0.0% P16..4: 45.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% skip:37.3%
[h264 @ 0x54340c]final ratefactor: 29.53
[h264 @ 0x54340c]kb/s:429.5
Encoding completed on Thu Oct 12 18:56:38 BST 2006

TIA, Dave

[H Power]

I've been having the same problems with PSP firmware version 2.81, but I've been using movies that have been ripped to H.264 MP4 files. Before I upgraded my PSP I'd open a movie file in ffmpeg, choose PSP H.264, bump up the video to 450 kbps and the audio to 128, then I'd select the destination and I'd convert the file. It always worked perfectly. Now that I've upgraded my PSP it doesn't work. I've tried using the PSP H.264 settings as is, I've tried increasing/decreasing the kbps in the video and the audio, I've tried using 2 pass encoding, etc. It still doesn't work. Thankfully using the regular PSP settings still work, but the image quality isn't as good as with H.264. Perhaps sony has changed which type of H.264 files can be played and which ones can't with their lastest firmware upgrade... any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

[Ai Haibara]

I believe it was one of the 2.8 firmware updates that also added the ability to see videos in a folder named VIDEO off the root of the Memory Stick. If you can't get the videos to play from one of the original folders, try placing it in the VIDEO folder and see if the PSP will recognize it, then.

[johnplaid]

I'm also on PSP 2.81, and having problems with H.264 files. I've tried placing them in the old MP_ROOT file, and also in the VIDEO folder that now appears.
If placed in the MP_ROOT folder the H.264 is not seen, and placing it in the video folder gives the PSP error message of "Unsupported data"
I think Sony have broken things with 2.81

[bluejadog]

Hey guys. I'm new to the forum but I've been missing with ffmpegx and I've figured out what works for me. My PSP is updated to 2.82. I import the movie I want to convert and select PSP H.264 I don't really change the quality settings (not a huge deal to me). But in options I turn on High Quality
use only I-frames
Trellis quantization
Quarter Pixel ME
Decode with QT
Then hit encode.
When its done I put it on the PSP. Havent had any sync problems with A/V. I've found that if the file is and M4V you can put it in the Video folder. If its MAQ file You have to put it in MP_ROOT/101ANV01. Once I started this process its been working without any problems. hope this helps.

[fwtong]

I've been having the same problems with PSP firmware version 2.81, but I've been using movies that have been ripped to H.264 MP4 files. Before I upgraded my PSP I'd open a movie file in ffmpeg, choose PSP H.264, bump up the video to 450 kbps and the audio to 128, then I'd select the destination and I'd convert the file. It always worked perfectly. Now that I've upgraded my PSP it doesn't work. I've tried using the PSP H.264 settings as is, I've tried increasing/decreasing the kbps in the video and the audio, I've tried using 2 pass encoding, etc. It still doesn't work. Thankfully using the regular PSP settings still work, but the image quality isn't as good as with H.264. Perhaps sony has changed which type of H.264 files can be played and which ones can't with their lastest firmware upgrade... any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm having this problem with PSP Firmware 3.01. Has anyone been able to get H.264 encoded files to work with their PSP? If not, is there a way to downgrade to a Firmware that supports H.264?

[adpanther]

I had the same problem My issue was the video size I have succesfully encoded h264 with firmware 3.01 with video size: 160x112, 324x248 and 368x208 I don't actually know which size is for wich ratio becuase I watch everything widescreen anyway. I always encode with 368x208 and no longer have ne issues. Hope that helps.

[gogul1@hotmail.com]

I have firmware 3.03 and I use ffmpegx. I have the problem of getting h264 to work too. putting the files in the 100anv folder says corrupted data. Putting it in the video folder makes it say file not supported. I think sony has screwed it up with this firmware version. How would I go about contacting them?

[r3v3rb]

yes, you can use psph.264 on 3.03 and get them to work but you must cancel the encode at 99% so that it stops before some headers are written.

[gogul1@hotmail.com]

what if it goes beyond 99%? My file that i encoded to h.264 has the last 5 minutes missing because I stopped it at 99% (sometimes it can encode to 120% etc). Any ideas?

[major]

Strange, I'm checking this issue with an user owning a 3.03 PSP and will hopefully clear this out very soon.

[BobRobertz]

Yup. I'm having the same issue. One of my encodes did stop at around 50% and that one did work on my psp. Also, is it just because I'm on a dinosaur (emac w/1.25 G proc) or is a 2 hour movie supposed to take 4 hours to encode.

Thanks!

Robert

[BobRobertz]

hey i just noticed that the 264 filter doesn't save the videos as 368x208. Instead, it's 240x180.

[gogul1@hotmail.com]

chances are it's because of the power of your emac, mine use to take forever too on my indigo G3. Now that I have the new flat panel mac it's not a problem anymore.

[gogul1@hotmail.com]

hey i just noticed that the 264 filter doesn't save the videos as 368x208. Instead, it's 240x180.

Mine are saved as 368x208. Sometimes if you encode more than one file at a time the picture ratio changes for some odd reason. Each time you encode something you must go back into the convert to menu and choose the one you want again to ensure it keeps the same aspect ratio that it's meant to be.

[BobRobertz]

hey i just noticed that the 264 filter doesn't save the videos as 368x208. Instead, it's 240x180.

Mine are saved as 368x208. Sometimes if you encode more than one file at a time the picture ratio changes for some odd reason. Each time you encode something you must go back into the convert to menu and choose the one you want again to ensure it keeps the same aspect ratio that it's meant to be.

Thanks, Gogul. Does the PSP h264 work for you on your PSP? If so, what firmware version do you have and how did you get it to work?

Thanks!

BobRobertz

[gogul1@hotmail.com]

I'm on firmware 3.03 but I'm having the same problem. My finished files won't play on my psp with this new firmware update.
The R3V3RB guy does have a point though. If you stop it just before the end it will play ok, it's just knowing where the end is. If you encode it and watch where it ends (e.g. it finishes encoding at 121%) you can then encode it again and stop it at 120%. This will hopefully only lose you a bit of the credits...hopefully!
But its not a good solution really, by all means it should work fine anyway! Has anyone contacted sony to ask why this is a problem?

[major]

I think they simply modified again the constraints on the file header. I will fix this as soon as possible.

[mspeed14]

I'm on Dark Alex custom firmware 3.03oe-c. I use the psp h.264 preset. when encoding look wherever your file is being output to. For me its my desktop. Around 99% or so a temp file with the same name as the current should be or is being created. Thats when i hit stop. You can also check the info window too. It will start doing something else after it been encoding awhile. I get perfect plays everytime on my psp. Plus i get to encode in full resolution 480x272. This is the only thing i change in the preset. I doubled the rates to see how it looked and it looked great but took up 800mb on my igb stick

[AlexTheStampede]

Weeeeird. That stopping the encode when the temp file is created works... even on the new 3.10 (usual psp h264 encoding won't work).
Oh, and this time they almost esplicitly said they messed up with it, there is something for locationfree avc -_-' can't they just leave that damn thing alone?

[BobRobertz]

I think they simply modified again the constraints on the file header. I will fix this as soon as possible.

Thanks, Major! Waiting for the temp file to populate is not doable for me in that my computer is so slow.

[joshewah]

Hi there Major. I am the one who was helping you via e-mail on psp encoding way back when. I was testing out encoding some videos I recorded on windows media center from live TV. The encode went fine but no PSP love, so I was lookin for some info and ended up back here. Then I saw the posts were only a few days old, so I am glad you will be looking at it.

The MP4 files from rocketboom.com seem to work fine, but I don't know what codec they are. If it helps looking at their headers to see what the difference is.

I think its great though that I can encode recorded tv now from media center into other formats. All the windows software I tried wouldn't work, or was annoying to use and slow! Even VLC on windows would render the video all dark. (Still running Vista RC2 though which probably doesn't help)

[major]

I think they simply modified again the constraints on the file header. I will fix this as soon as possible.

Thanks, Major! Waiting for the temp file to populate is not doable for me in that my computer is so slow.

What happens if you select "No profile" in the Options tab? Is the resulting file playable?

[gogul1@hotmail.com]

Tried the "no profile" option but no luck. The file was not playable.

[major]

OK, thank you. Will modify the preset very soon.

[xaymaca2020]

Glad I found this thread. Wanted to load up some movies for my upcoming trip to my PSP.
Anyone know if the 'regular' PSP output setting works or is that broken too?
Thanks
Vinny (registered FFMpeg-X user)

[AlexTheStampede]

Anyone know if the 'regular' PSP output setting works or is that broken too?

That works.

[defn]

Hi major, any news on the fix yet?

[major]

I try to do it this weekend.

[AlexTheStampede]

It dosen't work on the 3.11 firmware, too.
On the other hand, iPSP keeps the compatibility up.
Major, would you like a short clip in original and after iPSP encoding? I encoded in FFmpegx as a simple psp h.264, no settings modified.