Correct avi format to play on Panasonic DVD player

[kirkmc]

I have a Panasonic S48 DVD player which will play avi files from a flash drive.
But only some avi's and not mp4 or mkv.

I tried to convert those that won't to avi format with Wondershare Video Convertor. The resulting files play on the PC (with VLC) but won't on the Panasonic.
I don't know enough to identify what is stopping them.

Can anyone help?
Thanks.

[hech54]

The manual says it play DivX files but it is not very detailed.
ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/dvdplayer/om/dvd-s68_en_om.PDF

[theewizard]

you have files that do play ?
are you happy with the 'quality' the way they look and play ?

IF yes

then use media info to get the specs for those files

the use something like avidemux convert your files,
duplicating the values aka specs from media info
thingss like resolution, frame rate, BIT Rate, the encoding format (specific Dvix settings)
this should create files yo can play

[kirkmc]

Thanks for the replies. No, there's not much in the manual. Actually I had looked at avi files in MediaInfo (both ones that play and not play) but couldn't identify the differences.
I then tries (videotovideo) from here and made an mkv-avi conversion with that. I used all the default settings as I didn't know what to alter.. the resulting file went from just over 1GB to 2.5 GB. Like the previous conversion it would play on the PC, but not the Panasonic. ("Unsupported Video")
I do have 4 avi files that do play, and quality is fine. I'll try avidemux next, being careful to try and apply specs from mediainfo (if I can!)

[kirkmc]

Further to above, I cannot find (in avidemux) any settings for resolution, frame rate etc. I have loaded the file it and Output Format is AVI Muxer, Configure AUTO.
Now I see a need to choose a video output from the dropdown. Would that be mpeg4 ASP(xVid4) ?

In medainfo the data for an avi that plays on the Panasonic is shown as
2 016 Kbps, 720*320 (2.25:1), at 25.000 fps, MPEG-4 VisuaI (XviD) (Simple@L5)

Container and general information
AVI: 1.47 GiB, 1h 37mn
1 video stream: MPEG-4 VisuaI (XviD)
1 audio stream: MPEG Audio (MP3)

There seems to be no Start button for the conversion... or is is the Play button (which starts the video like it'll play the whole thing) and has not asked me for an output path or name.

[Cornucopia]

How 'bout not giving us just summarization but full details. Both working & nonworking.

Scott

[kirkmc]

Sure, but appreciate I don't know enough to distinguish or find full instead of summary. Please give me some instructions ?

[hech54]

If my memory serves me correctly.....DVD players coughing on "files" was just as much the audio's fault as the video's fault. They were picky about CBR vs. VBR etc etc.
Oh and Xvid(in your file above) was the free version of DivX. You had to pay for a Divx encoder way back when(that however lasted about a week?)....soon after XviD showed up(to put it in layman's terms).

[hello_hello]

Sure, but appreciate I don't know enough to distinguish or find full instead of summary. Please give me some instructions ?

Open the AVIs with MediaInfo and use the View/Text or View/HTML menu at the top to switch to a more detailed view and copy and paste the info here.

Does the player give you an error when it refuses to play the files?

The video can be encoded by different encoders and still be the same type of video, but the player might only recognise a particular codec ID. I have Bluray player that refuses to play anything with a DivX ID, but it'll play the same video if I change the ID to Xvid.
Your AVI that works was created using very simple encoder settings. When another type of frame is used (called B frames) the video can be stored in a different way (called packed bitstream). Some players won't play packed bitstreams, some only play them, some will play either and some don't support B frames at all.
Generally the maximum video width is 720.

Codec ID and packed bitstream problems can be fixed without re-encoding using MPEG4 Modifier so it's not time consuming. The details from MediaInfo will probably show if either are likely to be the cause but it might take a little trial and error to work out exactly what's required to keep your player happy.

Does the program you're using for converting to AVI give you a choice of encoder profiles? Many programs do (the Xvid encoder has profiles of it's own) in which case it will hopefully produce compatible files if you choose the correct profile when converting (something like simple profile or home theatre profile etc).

[johnmeyer]

Pretty much all of these hard-wired players have significant limitations on what they will play. I've tried playing media files on my son's XBox 360; on my Samsung TV, via the USB port; and on my Denon receiver. I've also encoded for all generations of iOS and Android smartphones.

They all have very significant limitations compared to a computer which, when properly set up, will play almost everything.

In your situation, the first thing to look at is the codec. As has been posted thousands of times in this forum, AVI is a "container" for the video, but the actual video can be encoded with a number of different codecs. The hard-wired players only understand certain codecs. So, even thought the file extension is AVI, the player may still not be able to play those encoded with a codec it doesn't understand.

The second limitation is resolution. Early generation smartphones could not play videos that were much more than 640x480. Today, many of them can play full HD (1920x1080) video. Many devices choke on 4K.

I wouldn't have thought of audio, but hech54 is absolutely correct about that, although in my experience if the video is something the player can handle, it will play the video sans audio.

Finally, the bits per second can be an issue. Some players simply cannot unpack and decode a really high bitrate file.

There are other, more subtle issues as well, such as the Profile used (for h.264, and possibly other codecs). Baseline, medium, and high each require far more processing power to decode, as you go up that ladder. The processors in some players simply can't handle the computational demands. This is especially true for players that are built into a device somewhat as an afterthought. Thus, in my experience, the player built into a TV, whose main purpose is to play video coming in through the HDMI port, are less capable than what you'll get in a Blu-Ray player which, at its core, is a full-fledged computer, and whose main purpose is to decode and play video.

[johnmeyer]

P.S. The best place to go for information about A/V equipment is the AVS Forum. Here is a thread about your particular model and the problem you are having:

Panasonic DVD-S48, s68 DivX playback?

[october262]

I have a Panasonic S48 DVD player which will play avi files from a flash drive.
But only some avi's and not mp4 or mkv.

I tried to convert those that won't to avi format with Wondershare Video Convertor. The resulting files play on the PC (with VLC) but won't on the Panasonic.
I don't know enough to identify what is stopping them.

Can anyone help?
Thanks.

what do you have the flash drive formatted as ?? NTFS OR FAT32

[jagabo]

AutoGK -- "ESS" hardware compatibility option

[johnmeyer]

I didn't carefully read your post where you gave the parameters of the video. They look pretty benign. However, one thing stood out, namely that you are using Xvid, not DivX.

Xvid is just an anagram of Divx and it pretty much the same thing. However, a lot of media players look at the header and when they see Xvid instead of Divx, they refuse to play. This has been an issue for more than a decade. Perhaps someone has better advice, but when I first encountered this a decade ago, I downloaded the fourcc utility which patches the header. The file then plays just fine.

You will find information on this, along with other interesting DivX problems and solutions in this thread:

Common DivX DVD Players AVI Playback problems!

[hello_hello]

AutoGK -- "ESS" hardware compatibility option

You can re-encode AVIs with AutoGK, but unfortunately not MP4 or MKV, which are amongst the types the OP appears to be converting. AutoGK decodes AVIs via DirectShow too, so you'd need an appropriate codec installed to decode them.

[kirkmc]

First up, thanks very much for all the info and advice. Very welcome. I've just finished reading and now have lots to check out. But to answer a couple of questions, the flash drive is FAT32 formatted. A >2GB file (made in VideoToVideo) on it played ok on the PC.
The Panasonic does give various errors, it usually first says "Initialising", but my then show "File Error" or "Unsupported Format".

I think I understand the codec requirement, and that older ones won't work with newer files; and whatever the Panasonic has isn't updateable. When something is converted to avi, does it "keep" the same codec requirement? Or is that changed by the conversion?

I've made mkv/mp4-avi conversions now with Wondershare, VideoToVideo and Avidemux and none have worked, but all using default or "best guess' settings.

I have four avi files that do play, one on a Flash Drive and 3 on a DVDRW. I expect, but will confirm, all 4 play on both media. Then get the "detailview" from mediainfo as Hello advised (and copy it here). Is one enough or should I do all 4?

If the source file is mkv, would that need different conversion settings to an mp4 file? Bearing in mind (I think) that containers hold a mix of formats and it's almost like the extension is meaningless. But are mkv files more "Hi Def" ?

Thanks again for links and other sites you folk provided... may be a busy day. I'm really keen to nail this though...

[kirkmc]

Lots of reading. The s48 I have is not Canada only for Divx.
Part of my problem may be filesize (> 2GB) but not sure how to reduce that yet. (John, I could go to AVS Forum but may i try here firsdt ?)

Hope this isn't overkill, I have mediainfo for 6 files.

anzac.mp4 - Does not play
avidemuxtest.avi - Does not play
brides.avi - plays ok
gtest.avi - plays ok
itest.avi - plays ok
ptest.avi - plays ok

General
Complete name : I:\avidemuxtest.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 2.25 GiB
Duration : 241h 19mn
Overall bit rate : 22.2 Kbps

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Advanced Simple@L4
Format settings, BVOP : 2
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : DIVX
Codec ID/Info : Project Mayo
Codec ID/Hint : DivX 4
Duration : 58mn 5s
Bit rate : 5 436 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.236
Stream size : 2.21 GiB (98%)
Writing library : XviD 64

Audio
ID : 1
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : FF
Duration : 241h 19mn
Source duration : 42mn 25s
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 38.8 MiB (2%)
Alignment : Split accross interleaves
Interleave, duration : 21 ms (0.53 video frame)

General
Complete name : I:\gtest.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 1.47 GiB
Duration : 1h 37mn
Overall bit rate : 2 153 Kbps
Writing library : VirtualDub build 35491/release

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Simple@L5
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 : 1h 37mn
Source duration : 1h 37mn
Bit rate : 4 944 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 320 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.25:1
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.858
Stream size : 3.36 GiB
Writing library : Lavc55.61.100

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Mode extension : MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 1h 37mn
Source duration : 1h 37mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 88.9 MiB (6%)
Alignment : Split accross interleaves
Interleave, duration : 40 ms (1.00 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 500 ms

General
Complete name : I:\itest.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 1.41 GiB
Duration : 1h 52mn
Overall bit rate : 1 803 Kbps
Writing library : VirtualDub build 35491/release

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Simple@L5
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 : 1h 52mn
Bit rate : 1 598 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 304 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.305
Stream size : 1.25 GiB (89%)
Writing library : Lavc56.13.100

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Mode extension : MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 1h 52mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 154 MiB (11%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 26 ms (0.63 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 522 ms
Writing library : LAME3.99.5

General
Complete name : I:\ptest.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 699 MiB
Duration : 2h 9mn
Overall bit rate : 753 Kbps
Writing library : VirtualDub build 32618/release
Copyright : SaM

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Advanced Simple@L5
Format settings, BVOP : 4
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Muxing mode : Packed bitstream
Codec ID : XVID
Codec ID/Hint : XviD
Duration : 2h 9mn
Bit rate : 647 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 346 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.85:1
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.122
Stream size : 601 MiB (86%)
Writing library : XviD 65

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Mode extension : MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 2h 9mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 96.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 89.2 MiB (13%)
Alignment : Split accross interleaves
Interleave, duration : 42 ms (1.00 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 500 ms
Writing library : LAME3.99r
Encoding settings : -m j -V 4 -q 3 -lowpass 15.1 -b 96

General
Complete name : I:\anzac.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 397 MiB
Duration : 58mn 17s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 953 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2014-08-31 11:50:58
Tagged date : UTC 2014-08-31 11:50:58

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 58mn 17s
Bit rate : 802 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 5 289 Kbps
Width : 716 pixels
Height : 404 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.111
Stream size : 334 MiB (84%)
Writing library : x264 core 142 r2453 ea0ca51
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / 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=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / 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=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2014-08-31 11:50:53
Tagged date : UTC 2014-08-31 11:50:59

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 58mn 17s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 147 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 174 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -3s 333ms
Stream size : 61.3 MiB (15%)
Encoded date : UTC 2014-08-31 11:50:58
Tagged date : UTC 2014-08-31 11:50:59

General
Complete name : I:\brides.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 550 MiB
Duration : 55mn 2s
Overall bit rate : 1 397 Kbps
Writing application : VirtualDubMod 1.5.10.2 (build 2542/release)
Writing library : VirtualDubMod build 2542/release

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Advanced Simple@L5
Format settings, BVOP : 1
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : XVID
Codec ID/Hint : XviD
Duration : 55mn 2s
Bit rate : 1 259 Kbps
Width : 608 pixels
Height : 464 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.179
Stream size : 496 MiB (90%)
Writing library : XviD 1.2.0.dev49

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 55mn 2s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 50.4 MiB (9%)
Alignment : Split accross interleaves
Interleave, duration : 40 ms (1.00 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 500 ms
Writing library : LAME3.97

[kirkmc]

Sorry sent msg twice

[jagabo]

anzac.mp4: Your player doesn't play mp4 files. Even if it did it probably doesn't support AVC (h.264) video and AAC audio.

avidemuxtest.avi: Your player doesn't play HD video (frame sizes larger than 720x576) and probably doesn't support AAC audio

brides.avi, gtest.avi, itest.avi, ptest.avi: Pretty standard for Divx/DVD players. Divx/Xvid video, no GMC, no QPEL, frame size less than 720x576, mp3 or AC3 audio.

If you want to play lots of videos like the first two spend US$30 to US$40 on a set-top media player. It will save you tons of time and headaches.

[davexnet]

I would guess that it's the same as most of similar players of that era.
File extension -
avi or divx

Video -
format - mpeg-4 visual
width/height - 720/576 max

Audio -
Audio - mpeg audio
format profile - layer 3

(Audio Format ac-3 may also work),
files greater than 2GB may also be an issue

[kirkmc]

Ok will attempt to set these specs for the conversion. But which program?
Thanks.

[hech54]

xvid4psp looks to be the easiest in my opinion.

[theewizard]

If all else fails you can try SUPER it has all kinds of presets and does almost every format
Some here don't like it
The current version does come with some bloat ware, and you have to jump thru hoops on the website to get it
Back when I used it, I found it very good at doing xvid and 3g video formats for mobile phones, before Android came around

[kirkmc]

Thanks for the suggestions but I'm not making much headway. The only thing I've been able to get working is Wondershare, whi gave soem good advise -

1. Find one file which can be played normally on your DVD player, load it to the program, right click the video, choose Source File Information, copy the information to a document.

2. Load the file you want to convert to the program, choose output format, click Setting at the bottom of program, change settings the same as those you have copied, and then convert.

This was quite simple to follow and there were only a few settings involved. Some of those suggested here have so many settings it's very daunting especially with no idea what most of them do. With XVid4psp I could neither see what it did, or how.

I've found the resolution is somehow related to the bit rate. My WShare sample was 720*320, 2015 kbps and 25 FR , but the size on the TV (16:9 aspect) was too small with black border on all 4 sides. Is there some kind of formula for that?

Audio seems much easier and no issues there. MP3 CBR 44100, + 128 or 192 all ok..

I still don't know which way to go.. WS would cost about $60. Is it well spent ?

[videobruger]

You could try Xmedia Recode.

On the "Format" tab select "DVD Player (Stand alone)/AVI



On the "Video" tab select 2-pass average bitrate and try with a bitrate of 4000



On the "Filters/Preview" tab select a width of 720



and use the slider to select Start/end time to make a short clip for testing.

[kirkmc]

Thanks for the screenshot of SUPER. May give that a go, after I learn a bit more.

Videobruger, that's *just* what I needed, thank you for all the screen dumps..

And - after making the conversion - results were spectacular! Perfect, size, picture - everything.

Many thanks indeed

[theewizard]

Good news
And if xmediarecode does what you need, then you don't need to worry about SUPER
But as anyone here can attest, the more tools you have and know how to use
The better your chances at good results

[kirkmc]

Yes, I can imagine.. there's a fair bit to learn.
On one TV (an older 42" Plasma) the picture is just a fraction too big. (It's ok on another TV though). Can I tweak that size anywhere ?

Also the second wee slider underneath the larger one in (videobrugers last screen shot) - what does that do ?

[theewizard]

that might be a control for increasing volume
i've only used xmedia twice, and have Not learned all the ins and outs

[jagabo]

On one TV (an older 42" Plasma) the picture is just a fraction too big.

You mean the edges of the picture are cut off? That's the TV's fault. It's called overscan (look it up). Everything you've ever watched on that TV has had the same problem. You just never noticed before because you didn't have an external reference to compare it to. Look for a non-overscan option in the TV's setup menus. Every manufacturer has a different name for it. Just Scan, Pixel-for-pixel, Perfect Scan, etc.