Codec Test Pack

[ROBO731]

Is there a pack or some kind of group of files I can download to test which codecs and containers are supported by a player? I have a dvd player in my car with usb and sd card slots. I tried contacting customer support to see if they could help, but they said "mpeg-2 and ntsc." So I'm looking for something I can download to see what formats I can play. Maybe a bunch of different files all encoded differently.

[Baldrick]

Nope.

Most car players just supports standard dvds and still images(jpg).

[hello_hello]

No test packs that I'm aware of. DVD players are usually pretty limited in what they'll play and I know little about car players, but given a USB input I'd be tempted to at least try an AVI. It might play mpeg2 video in one form or another. If you can rip a DVD and remux a vob file as a TS or M2TS file with tsmuxer it couldn't do any harm to stick it on a USB stick to see what happens.

As Baldrick said though, it's not highly likely, and standalone DVD players are usually limited to the above at best.

[ROBO731]

Yeah I know that they have pretty limited features, but I know that it can play video from USB. I have played avi lfile on it. The video worked, but the audio didn't. I thought about using your suggestion and ripping a DVD. I think that will work, but i don't have a rip on me. Ill tryit when I get the chance.

[yoda313]

The video worked, but the audio didn't.

Check to make sure its plain old mp3. I'm betting it was probably aac and I would imagine any built in car dvd player wouldn't know what that was. However it will probably handle normal mp3 audio. (edit or perhaps even dts audio and that would probably never work in any car dvd player as a video file)

Use mediainfo to identify what codec was in the avi file and you'll know what it will be able to play at least as far as the video is concerned.

Just remember dvd players won't play hd files so anything over 720x480/576 won't work.

[jagabo]

The closest I've seen is the Divx Test CD. But it only includes Divx and Xvid AVI files.

[hech54]

Maybe if you mentioned the make and model of the car.....and which factory radio it has....somebody here could help a bit more.

[yoda313]

Maybe if you mentioned the make and model of the car.....and which factory radio it has....somebody here could help a bit more.

Also there is a chance this a boxed dvd player you could buy at bestbuy and plug in seperately. We are just assuming its a built in factory model.

It would be possible if its an external standalone portable dvd player that it would have more functionality than the plain vanilla ones the car companies would install.

But yes we need model number of some type here - either car model and year or the model number of the player if its an external standalone.

[ROBO731]

To confirm. It is a built in model. I hadn't metioned the number because I had made an entire thread once about the dvd player and no one could help. Maybe I'll have better luck here though. It's an Accelevision AXFA85WG. I would've checked the files it played already, but I don't have it with me right now. It's on my other computer (I'm on vacation right now). I think the video it plays is mpeg-2 and I figured it would play mp3 audio. I'll have to see though. Something to note, I was looking through the menus and it said something about a dvix registration code. I don't really know much about divx, but I thought that might be worth mentioning. Does anyone know of a tool to rapidly package streams into an avi file?

[hello_hello]

Does anyone know of a tool to rapidly package streams into an avi file?

Not if it's DVD video. As far as I know AVI doesn't support mpeg2 video so you'd have to convert it. Try tsmuxer to remux the DVD vob files to ts or m2ts, if the player won't talk to vob files via USB. One of them might work.

Other than that, I generally use VirtualDubMod for remuxing files it'll open as AVI. The main reason I use it for remuxing rather than VirtualDub is the latter doesn't have an option to make Direct Stream Copy the default video method.

Or there's AVIMux GUI.

[jagabo]

As far as I know AVI doesn't support mpeg2 video so you'd have to convert it.

MPEG2 is no different than any other codec -- you can put it in an AVI container. AviDemux can mux MPEG 2 int AVI, for example. No car player is going to play it though. When a DVD player says it will play AVI that usually means Divx/Xvid.

[hello_hello]

As far as I know AVI doesn't support mpeg2 video so you'd have to convert it.

MPEG2 is no different than any other codec -- you can put it in an AVI container. AviDemux can mux MPEG 2 int AVI, for example. No car player is going to play it though. When a DVD player says it will play AVI that usually means Divx/Xvid.

I tried VirtualDub (and mod) as well as AVIMuxGUI. Neither of the VirtualDubs would let me use Direct Stream Copy for the video after opening a vob file to save it as an AVI. They complained about it using an incompatible compression algorithm or something along those lines. AVIMuXGUI opened the vob file but didn't display the video contained within. It ignored it completely. It told me the AC3 audio in the vob file was incompatible with AVI and seemd to try to re-encode it. I've no idea why.

So how do you get mpeg2 video into an AVI?

[jagabo]

So how do you get mpeg2 video into an AVI?

I already listed a program that can do it: AviDemux. You can also create AVI files with MPEG 2 audio using an old version of ffdshow (before they took out the MPEG 2 encoder) and VirtualDub. To play the file you'll need a MPEG2-in-AVI decoder. Again, ffdshow will work for that. Attached is an example from a DVD VOB file.

[El Heggunte]

So how do you get mpeg2 video into an AVI?

With ffmpeg or Mencoder.

Besides,

PTS (Presentation timestamps)

well wtf are they and why would we need them? every (video) frame has a decode timestamp(DTS) and a PTS, the DTS is the time at which a frame is feeded into the decoder, the PTS is the time at which the decoded frame will be presented to the user, codecs which have no bframes / zero delay always have PTS =DTS and AVI as it wasnt desiged with b frames in mind has no concept of PTS, there are just DTS which are simply the frame number divide by the frame rate

So one could now argue AVI doesnt support b frames as it doesnt store PTS and would if the application needs to know PTS (simpler players dont need to know the PTS…) to calculate the PTS based upon frame type and DTS, but that argument against AVI+b frames has a critical flaw, MPEG-PS and MPEG-TS dont store PTS for every frame either but only require it to be stored every 0.5 seconds or so. Which means that the same complicated calculate the PTS from DTS + frame types code is needed for the official MPEG format too

{

source: http://guru.multimedia.cx/avi-and-b-frames/

}

[ROBO731]

I'm going home today so I will have more info then.

[hello_hello]

So how do you get mpeg2 video into an AVI?

I already listed a program that can do it: AviDemux. You can also create AVI files with MPEG 2 audio using an old version of ffdshow (before they took out the MPEG 2 encoder) and VirtualDub. To play the file you'll need a MPEG2-in-AVI decoder. Again, ffdshow will work for that. Attached is an example from a DVD VOB file.

I tried doing it with ffcoder (I don't have AVIDemux installed) as it uses MenCoder and it appeared to work...... only I couldn't get any players to play it. MediaInfo seems to indicate it's because there's no codec ID written to the file, but I didn't bother messing around any more. Obviously it does work...... in theory......

[jagabo]

I tried doing it with ffcoder (I don't have AVIDemux installed) as it uses MenCoder and it appeared to work...... only I couldn't get any players to play it.

The sample I posted (made with AviDemux, fourcc MPEG) plays on my system with WMP, MPCHC, VLC, KMPlayer, Potplayer, and SMPlayer. In any case, there's generally no reason to mux MPEG 2 into AVI. It's just a curiosity.

[ROBO731]

I'm back home now. Here is the media info of the file it played.

Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 80.3 MiB
Duration : 21mn 35s
Overall bit rate : 520 Kbps
Writing library : VirtualDub build 15654/release

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Simple@L3
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : XVID
Codec ID/Hint : XviD
Duration : 21mn 35s
Bit rate : 452 Kbps
Width : 320 pixels
Height : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.196
Stream size : 69.8 MiB (87%)
Writing library : XviD 0.0.12 (UTC 2003-06-11)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Mode extension : Intensity Stereo + MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 21mn 35s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 56.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 22.05 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 8.61 MiB (11%)
Alignment : Split accross interleaves
Interleave, duration : 33 ms (1.00 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 463 ms

[jagabo]

Yes, it's Xvid and MP3 in an AVI file. The Xvid video was something like the Simple profile: low res, no B frames, no QPel and no GMC.

[ROBO731]

So, any ideas on what type of audio it would play if any?

[jagabo]

The MP3 audio in that file is pretty low bitrate (56 kbps) and sample rate (22.05 KHz). Did it not play?

[hello_hello]

You'd assume if audio can be found on a DVD, the player would support the same audio types inside an AVI, but anything's possible.

Maybe the player is fussy about the sample rate not being 44.1Khz or 48Khz for audio inside AVI files for some reason.

[El Heggunte]

22.050kHz means MPEG-2 Layer 3 Unlikely it's supported on most hardware players.

[jagabo]

You'd assume if audio can be found on a DVD, the player would support the same audio types inside an AVI, but anything's possible.

Maybe the player is fussy about the sample rate not being 44.1Khz or 48Khz for audio inside AVI files for some reason.

The DVD spec does not support MP3. NTSC DVD doesn't even support MP2 (though many will play it). In my experience, many players that do support MP3 (for playing music on data CD/DVD) don't support bitrates as low as 56 kbps.

[ROBO731]

You'd assume if audio can be found on a DVD, the player would support the same audio types inside an AVI, but anything's possible.

Maybe the player is fussy about the sample rate not being 44.1Khz or 48Khz for audio inside AVI files for some reason.

The DVD spec does not support MP3. NTSC DVD doesn't even support MP2 (though many will play it). In my experience, many players that do support MP3 (for playing music on data CD/DVD) don't support bitrates as low as 56 kbps.

So what format, if any do you think it will play?

[jagabo]

So what format, if any do you think it will play?

Most Divx/DVD players will play Divx/Xvid at Home Theater profiles (up to 720x576, about 4000 kbps) with MP3 audio (44.1 or 48 KHz, 128 to 256 kbps). Many support AC3 audio too.

[ROBO731]

So what format, if any do you think it will play?

Most Divx/DVD players will play Divx/Xvid at Home Theater profiles (up to 720x576, about 4000 kbps) with MP3 audio (44.1 or 48 KHz, 128 to 256 kbps). Many support AC3 audio too.

Thanks, I'll give it a try next time I get the chance. If I was to convert a video like the one below, to the above specifications would I have to do anything else?

Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 529 MiB
Duration : 23mn 9s
Overall bit rate : 3 196 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2013-01-10 11:14:11
Writing application : mkvmerge v5.2.0 ('I can't explain') built on Dec 18 2011 18:12:03
Writing library : libebml v1.2.3 + libmatroska v1.3.0
Attachment : Yes

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 23mn 9s
Nominal bit rate : 3 072 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.062
Writing library : x264 core 120 r2120 0c7dab9
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=8 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=3072 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=6144 / vbv_bufsize=15360 / nal_hrd=none / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 23mn 9s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes

Text
ID : 3
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes

[jagabo]

A Divx/DVD player probably won't play AAC audio. Convert to MP3.

[hello_hello]

22.050kHz means MPEG-2 Layer 3 Unlikely it's supported on most hardware players.

Isn't that just another name for MP3 audio, given there's no mpeg3 for video?
However, you may be on to something. I've had similar problems with audio AutoGK sees as mpeg2, layer 3 in the past. It says it's not a supported format while most other programs such as VirtualDub remain unphased. The solution I found was to extract the audio from the original file, open it using MP3DirectCut, resave it as a new MP3 and give the new version to AutoGK to play with, which keeps it happy.

So what format, if any do you think it will play?

Most Divx/DVD players will play Divx/Xvid at Home Theater profiles (up to 720x576, about 4000 kbps) with MP3 audio (44.1 or 48 KHz, 128 to 256 kbps). Many support AC3 audio too.

I've not used a standalone AVI capable DVD player which doesn't support MP3, AC3, PCM and DTS in AVIs. It doesn't mean it'll support them all, but it's likely to. AAC will no doubt be out.

I now suspect, as per my reply to El Heggunte above, you were just unlucky with that particular AVI. I don't know why sometimes audio is labelled as mpeg2, layer 3, but it might simply be the way it's labelled which causes the player to reject it.
If you use VirtualDubMod to demux the audio from the AVI (I'm certain it'll demux it as an MP3), open it and resave it using MP3DirectCut, then replace the old copy of the audio with the new one and get VirtualDubMod to resave that as a fresh AVI (direct stream copy for the video) I'd be interested to see if it then works okay.
Or simply try another AVI for which MediaInfo sees the audio as mpeg audio, version 1, layer 3 instead of mpeg2 layer 3 (which is fairly unusual anyway) and hopefully that'll work.

PS I just checked an AVI with "standard" MP3 audio and MediaInfo definitely describes it as mpeg audio, version 1, layer 3. The codec ID of 55 and the codec ID/hint of MP3 are the same as for your AVI.

[ROBO731]

I'll give it a try and test it out the next time I get the chance. I don't have to convert the video though right?