Alternatives to AVPlayerHD

[OMGwtfBBQwings]

has anyone tried avplayerhd on an ipad 4? how dow does it handle 1080p mkv films? the really high def/uncompressed videos? thanks

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by OMGwtfBBQwings

has anyone tried avplayerhd on an ipad 4? how dow does it handle 1080p mkv films? the really high def/uncompressed videos? thanks

The answer can be found in several of my articles (you might want to read them):

1, MKV playback is flawless in AVPlayer as it uses hardware decoding

2, however, not even the iPad 4 is capable of decoding 1080p H.264 at sensible bitrates (not the <3 Mbps joke Apple is using) without stuttering. This means 1080p30 camera MTS videos won't be played back properly.

[wake1]

what player is best for playing 720p mp4's?

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by wake1

what player is best for playing 720p mp4's?

Several of them.

EDIT: now that I'm on a desktop (as opposed to a keyboard-less iPad), let me elaborate: 720p mp4 can be played back in hardware by about half of the currently available AppStore players.

You absolutely WON'T want to use players that can't; they include VLC (endorsed - which in no way should be done - by a lot of forum members BTW - don't believe them, the iOS version of VLC is one of the worst players), QQPLayerHD (an otherwise excellent, free player) etc.

Some players that do offer hardware playback and are highly recommended:

It's Playing: this is superior to almost all other players at MP4 playback because it has runtime DSP's letting for boosting audio / brightness / contrast / whatever. This should be the first you check out.

If you absolutely don't need DSP's, there are a lot of excellent players, AVPlayerHD (the subject of this thread) and GoodPlayer being the two most recommended.

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by Menneisyys2

EDIT: now that I'm on a desktop (as opposed to a keyboard-less iPad), let me elaborate: 720p mp4 can be played back in hardware by about half of the player.
<snip>

Just a quick bump: I've edited my prev post, posting a much more detailed answer.

[wake1]

Ok cool. Thanks. Any update on when its playing is meant to update as you said before. Allowing fit to screen etc?

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by wake1

Ok cool. Thanks. Any update on when its playing is meant to update as you said before. Allowing fit to screen etc?

Dunno. It'll be in the next version - but I don't know whet it hits the AppStore.

[kthxbainao]

Been following this thread for a while now and I have a couple of questions.

Apparently 8player was updated on the 4th of January because of issues with Dolby. Does this mean they lost the AC-3 codec as well or any other codecs for that matter? Not updating until I'm sure..

Also, does anyone know if the camera connection kits work with any of the in this thread aforementioned players?

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by kthxbainao

Been following this thread for a while now and I have a couple of questions.

Apparently 8player was updated on the 4th of January because of issues with Dolby. Does this mean they lost the AC-3 codec as well or any other codecs for that matter? Not updating until I'm sure..

Do NOT update - they were forced to remove AC3 support.

Originally Posted by kthxbainao

Also, does anyone know if the camera connection kits work with any of the in this thread aforementioned players?

Only if you jailbreak. Please read my full(!!!) tutorial for more info: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1464236

[pandabunny]

There's an update out for AVPlayerHD (1.51). Does it have something to do with the AC-3 problem?
Don't want to update before I'm sure that I won't have any problems afterwards.

[007p]

Originally Posted by pandabunny

There's an update out for AVPlayerHD (1.51). Does it have something to do with the AC-3 problem?
Don't want to update before I'm sure that I won't have any problems afterwards.

Was gonna say back up the app and then update if your worried, its pretty easy to restore.

But...

Version 1.51 was released on 6th of August, I already have it and theres no update for me currently.

Also if you read the app store page it says;

*** Important***
AVPlayerHD is officially support for AC-3, E-AC3, TrueHD codec.

I would presume that, at least for now, it is safe to get any new upgrades that come out (1.51 is old :P). I would also guess that 'officially' would hint that they do in fact have the licence

[kthxbainao]

Originally Posted by Menneisyys2

Do NOT update - they were forced to remove AC3 support.
Only if you jailbreak. Please read my full(!!!) tutorial for more info: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1464236

Sadly I only got the lite version. So I'm too late to get the full one.

Also, I can't jailbreak it. Great tutorial though!
Would you perhaps know of any other apps that let you stream avi files with AC-3 codec from any shares, like a NAS? (So, basically 8player with AC-3 support.)

[wake1]

Can the iphone 4 play 720p mkv files ok. And what apps are the best for this? I tried av player and it seems to stutter a bit.

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by wake1

Can the iphone 4 play 720p mkv files ok. And what apps are the best for this? I tried av player and it seems to stutter a bit.

Your only choice is (unless you're ready to remux your MKV to iOS-native containers like mov / mp4 / m4v) jailbreaking and getting RushPlayer+.

Fortunately,

1, the iPhone 4 can be jailbroken even under iOS 6 and

2, RushPlayer+ is free for generic video playback so you can test it without paying anything. (The IAP is only needed to enable advanced menu options)

[wake1]

I know this is mac forums but I'm stuck. What is best way to remux 720p mkv files to mp4 on windows?

[pollenised]

I use subler. Open source and quick.

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by pollenised

I use subler. Open source and quick.

Unfortunately, it has no Windows port.

I'll some time check out and report on the Windows remuxers. Not in the near future though.

[pollenised]

Sorry, didn't read properly .

@wake1: It seems xmedia recode could work. Not used myself.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1345771

[pandabunny]

There's a new update for AVPlayer (1.60) - is it safe to update, or are there any problems with it (AC-3 still supported?)?

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by pandabunny

There's a new update for AVPlayer (1.60) - is it safe to update, or are there any problems with it (ac-3 still supported?)?

No problems, see my review: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1547658

[pandabunny]

Originally Posted by Menneisyys2

No problems, see my review: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1547658

Thanks, as always you help us out a lot with your reviews.

I'm kind of paranoid since the AC-3 problem started and AVPlayer dissapeared from the AppStore. Every time an update is available now for AVPlayer I'm kind of expecting it to drop their AC-3 support...

[taz79]

I update to AVPlayer 1.6.2.0 .... there is a bug in the iPhone version .... cannot play resume on video ....

Do you know any apps that can play stream to afp:// ? I want to be able to access my Airport Extreme from my iOS devices directly ... stream the movie from my storage there ....

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by taz79

I update to AVPlayer 1.6.2.0 .... there is a bug in the iPhone version .... cannot play resume on video ....

This has always been a problem with AVPlayer (both versions), see http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=16900299 .

Originally Posted by taz79

Do you know any apps that can play stream to afp:// ?

Nothing supports it, it being pretty scarcely used. Why don't you just use more standard networking protocols (FTP, SMB, UPnP) instead? FTP streaming is even supported by AVPlayer (the other two arent').

[cooa99]

Originally Posted by Menneisyys2

Nothing supports it, it being pretty scarcely used. Why don't you just use more standard networking protocols (FTP, SMB, UPnP) instead? FTP streaming is even supported by AVPlayer (the other two arent').

Since when has AVplayer allowed streaming over network shares?, i thought that was not possible hence the reason I kept Buzz player around.

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by cooa99

Since when has AVplayer allowed streaming over network shares?, i thought that was not possible hence the reason I kept Buzz player around.

This is exactly what I meant by adding "(the other two arent')", referring to the lack of SMB / UPnP support.

Decent FTP streaming has just been added in the new version.