Pixelation in certain frames while playing files in a DVD player

[aarelovich]

Hi:

I've come across a repeated problem when downloading certain files that are encoded with xvid/mp3 codecs that are supposedly dvd/divx player standalone compatible. They play all right but...

The problem manifests itself mostly during frames where there is a static picture (be it a cartoon or with live action video) and the camera zooms in or out of that static picture. When that happens the screen becomes a mess (the closest thing that I can come up to describe it is pixelation where the pixels are huge and out of place). It gets bad enough that the subtitles dissapear momentarily and the screen is total garbage this can happen for a few frames or last a few seconds in the worst cases. The phenomenon can also be observed in fully motion shots but to a lesser degree and it manifest most strongly on static things in the screen like subtitles (of course, assuming hard subs).

What I usually do now is that I simply encode the video again (with something like media coder) and the problem goes away.

However I've recently come across a batch of files that I encode with the XVID4PSP software that renders files with this problem.

I'm pretty sure (given the solution) that this is a option of the codec that creates these problems so I'm wondering If anyone has come across this problem and knows which option causes it.

Thanks for any help.

[jagabo]

Different Divx/DVD players have different abilities. This post describes a lowest common denominator that plays on most Divx/DVD players:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/295067-Common-DivX-DVD-Players-AVI-Playback-problems!

[aarelovich]

Thanks! I'll check it out. Although I've had two completely different dvd/divx players (BHG currently and a Philips one that broke) and both had the same problem.

[aarelovich]

Effectively, removing the QPel and GMC options out of the XVID4PSP options in video encoding got rid of the problem.

thank you so very much.

[jagabo]

There are no hardware decoders that can play Xvid's 3 warp point GMC. Some can handle Divx's single warp point GMC. A lot of newer players can handle QPel.

[aarelovich]

Ok, but you know what? At least as far as I have been able to see, removing both QPel and GMC have no only cause negligible (in most cases that I have seen, null) reduction in quality, in this case the 2-pass encoding of the original file went from about 52 minutes to 22 minutes. So no complains here about the player not being able to handle it.

Anyways the best solution will probably always be just plug in a cheap pc to your tv (which is what I want to do in the future) and bingo you've got a universal file player for your tv. And frankly any 200 dollar computer can handle video playing just fine.

[jagabo]

Ok, but you know what? At least as far as I have been able to see, removing both QPel and GMC have no only cause negligible (in most cases that I have seen, null) reduction in quality

Yes, they rarely make any significant difference.

[jman98]

Anyways the best solution will probably always be just plug in a cheap pc to your tv (which is what I want to do in the future) and bingo you've got a universal file player for your tv. And frankly any 200 dollar computer can handle video playing just fine.

Media players like the Western Digital HD and HD Live players sell for $100-130 US (depends on the model) and can play almost everything that a computer can. Plus they take up a lot less space.

[jagabo]

The WDTV and WDTV Live don't play Xvid's 3 warp point GMC. They are very low power though. About 4 watts in standby, 9 watts playing 1080p.