Motion JPEG for TV

[Serihon]

Good morning!

The middle school in our area recently purchased an Emmerson TV in hopes of displaying book trailers in the media center. The video format usable on the tv is a Motion JPEG 320x240 30fps. We have tried multiple file conversions using Avidemux 2.6 but none of the videos seem to work. Can anyone suggest another piece of software or method of conversion to get our videos working with this tv? The manufacturer has been very unsupportive.

The main reason for wanting to use this method with the tv is the ease of use of loading videos onto the thumb drive and plugging it into the tv. If anyone has an alternate method/item/box to hook into the tv to do this easier I would be all ears. My thoughts would be a hard drive video box that you load videos onto and hook into the HDMI port of the tv, but I can't think of what to search for such an item.

Thanks for your help!

TV: http://www.emersonaudiovideo.com/product/product.php?id=69
AVI files tried: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g5gtvkjn8lkekz7/AAAUq3Ve5Z39HZYFsjio_MQRa?dl=0

[jagabo]

Try setting the fourcc to mjpg instead of jpeg. Attached is your test2.avi with the fourcc changed.

[Serihon]

Hey Jagabo,

Thanks for replying! I sent the file on to them to test out. Can you recommend a video converter to encode with the proper settings? As I stated before we are using Avidemux and I can't find any option to set the fourcc to mjpg. Inside of the tool we use I set the Video output to Mjpeg encoder and format to avi.

[jagabo]

I used a hex editor to change the fourcc in your file:



The marked locations previous read "jpeg". The exactly location may vary a little depending on the program used. But it will always be near the start of the video in AVI files.

You can try using VirtualDub with the ffdshow encoder in MJPG mode to create new files. VirtualDub also has a built in hex editor you can use to modify files you've made already -- or to test different fourcc codes. Some players are case sensitive so you might need to use "MJPG" instead of "mjpg". Some other possible fourcc codes for motion jpeg: LJPG, MJLS, AVRN, MJPA, SP5X, AMVV.

[Serihon]

I will be 100% honest and I have no idea what to do with what you said so the teachers at the school are going to be 500% more clueless. Is there a simple app that is all inclusive to handle this?

By the way the video file you sent didn't work for us on the TV.

[Cornucopia]

Instead of giving us samples of questionable test files, please post a known working file (for instance, a sample file from Emerson site). MediaInfo readout at least. Or are you working completely in the dark with no demo samples?...

Scott

[Serihon]

Cornucopia, thanks for your reply. I am shooting in the dark right now. I did email Emerson and they were extremely unhelpful and basically just said "Motion JPG and we are not responsible if your files/usb drive doesn't work!" I will try and ask again for a sample video file that works.

[Cornucopia]

If video file playback is an important feature for you, I would suggest:

1 If these are recent purchases, take them back and exchange for a model that has better playback characteristics (most do, that model is lame in comparison).

2 Get an outboard general media player box and use ITS playback features.

3 If you cannot do 1 or 2, threaten to do #1 so that Emerson's support folks get off their butts and help you. A few second long sample would do.

Scott

[theewizard]

IIRC
Super
Will output mjpeg, aka motion jpeg
Jpeg is an early format not used any more
My first digital camera recorded jpeg
I think it's closest analog comparison would be 8mm film
Mjpeg has every frame as a picture just like film
And 320*240 is 1/4 VGA aka QVga
8mm being less than 1/4 of 35mm

[usually_quiet]

Given some of the results Google found, the TV appears to be a Walmart exclusive which was offered for ~$216 on Black Friday 2014. Walmart no longer has it in stock. I guess if someone needs a very cheap 50" TV for short-term use it would do, but the USB media player is nearly useless. A small, inexpensive media player that plays nearly anything like this http://www.amazon.com/Micca-Full-HD-Portable-Digital-Player/dp/B008NO9RRM would be a great help to the school A/V dept, if something can be done to prevent it from walking away.

[jagabo]

What exactly does "none of the videos seem to work" mean? Assuming it has a file browser where you can see the file names and select them:

Does the TV see the drive at all? Do you see the files in the browser? If you select one does it give an error message? Does it play the audio but not the video? Vice versa? Does it play video but it's distorted?

If the browser isn't showing files at all: What size thumb drive have you tried? Some devices have 32 GB limit. What file system are you using? NTFS? FAT32? exFAT?

Are you sure it supports AVI files? MJPEG can be used in other containers.

Attached is a MJPG AVI made with VirtualDub (and the ffdshow encoder). I didn't include the audio hoping to remove one variable.

[Cornucopia]

The manual stated mjpeg, avi container, 320x240, 30fps max (progressive I would assume).
Fat16/32 fs, some name length & folder depth limitations. Errors in any of these req. Should show as "error..."

No other valuable info.

Scott

[budwzr]

The main reason for wanting to use this method with the tv is the ease of use of loading videos onto the thumb drive and plugging it into the tv.

You guys fell for the "rope-a-dope". And most of us here have fallen for it too. Best hope is to get a media player into HDMI port. Then set the playback for looping.

When dealing with tech, rule #1 is don't make any assumptions. My Sony camcorder has a USB port, but only connects with a Sony adapter. And it will not recognize or play ANY file not recorded by the camera.

[Serihon]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone. jagabo, that new video you sent doesn't work either. To be clear the TV does recognize the USB device and shows the files on the device. When we go to play the .avi files it says "format not supported. Please ensure mjpeg, 320x240 and 30fps" or something like that.

I think we will plan on ordering the device that usually_quiet was so kind to share. It looks perfect and looks like it has a ton of format support and functionality to it. The real problem now is making sure it doesn't "walk away" randomly. We will figure something out though.

Thanks everyone!

[jagabo]

Yes, you will be much better off with a set-top media player.

[theewizard]

Will the tv stay in one room or be mobile
Mount the the media player inside one of those ventilated lock boxes used for a/c thermostat controls in schools and buildings, where they want to keep people from adjusting them

And for the remote, get one of those tether cables, like is used for the cellphones and other electronics on sales floors