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PowerPlayer review/report/feedback

H

hustmobile

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 25, 2010
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1080P MKV playback supported, new app PowerPlayer 1.0 released.
If you have review/report/feedback for PowerPlayer, please write it here.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/powerplayer/id520818788?ls=1&mt=8

The 1080P MKV can be played back smoothly on iOS device now. With the help of H.264 hardware acceleration decoding, PowerPlayer can play back 1080P/720P H.264 video-based MKV/TS/AVI/3GP/MP4 on some iOS devices.

Features:
✔ 1080P and 720P H.264/AVC video-based MKV/TS/AVI/3GP/MP4 supported on iPad 2, new iPad and iPhone 4S
✔ 720P H.264/AVC video-based MKV/TS/AVI/3GP/MP4 supported on iPad 1,iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4
✔ 3gp,aac,ac3,amr,asf,avi,dat,divx,dts,dv,eac3,f4v,flac,flv,gxf,hlv,m1v,m2p,m2t,m2ts,m2v,m4v,m4r,m4a,mka,mkv,mod,moov,mov,mp1,mp2,mp3,mp4,mpa,mpe,mpeg,mpeg1,mpeg2,mpeg4,mpg,mpv,mt2s,mts,mxf,oga,ogg,ogm,ogg,ps,qt,rm,rmvb,tp,ts,vob,webm,wm,wma,wav,wmv file formats supported
✔ 3 screen modes: "Crop on Fullscreen", "Fit on Fullscreen" and "1:1"
✔ srt,ass,ssa,mkv embedded subtitle supported
✔ No compromise in H.264 video quality by hardware decoding, generally hardware decoding has a better H.264 video quality than the software decoding
✔ Swipe fingers up/down on playing, to change the subtitle or turn off subtitle on the fly (for media files with subtitles)

Contacts information:
1. Support site: http://hustmobile.com/powerplayer/
2. Email: powerplayer@hustmobile.com
 
With Airplay, can this "air" the subtitles (SRT) as well?
AVPlayer (which is what I use) unfortunately seems to use like a video layer on top so only the video gets mirrored but the subtitles only show up on the iPhone (don't know tho' if this is a limitation imposed by what's available on the iOS SDK).
 
Last edited:
Now PowerPlayer does not support video AirPlay.

For the subtitle issue, unless you can embedded the subtitle to video, the issue will exist. For general AirPlay, it actually send the mp4 file/streaming to the Apple TV for playback, so it is hard to support subtitle in general AirPlay.

ipsychedelic said:
With Airplay, can this "air" the subtitles (SRT) as well?
AVPlayer (which is what I use) unfortunately seems to use like a video layer on top so only the video gets mirrored but the subtitles only show up on the iPhone (don't know tho' if this is a limitation imposed by what's available on the iOS SDK).
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

I have been championing GoodPlayer for a while now to prospective owners so wanted to ask what PowerPlayer brings us? From reading the description, it seems less featured than GoodPlayer as it doesn't appear to have things such as network streaming/copying for example?
I also see it says hardware decoding for 1080p MKV content. Has this been opened up by Apple or is there another way that this can be achieved? Is this the primary reason for the new application?
 
Menneisyys2 said:
It isn't - it indeed uses behind-the-scenes MKV demuxing into MP4's to use HW playback. I'll publish a review later today.
Click to expand...

I figured it was something like that - another app just recently updated with the same feature. I wish Apple would just open up the use of hardware decoding for 3rd party video apps.
 
The H.264 hardware decoding is something you discussed in the earlier thread. It is not a new API opened by Apple. In our testing, it is much powerful than the H.264 software decoding. Generally speak, this method is faster than software decoding way, and is slower than the private API that XBMC uses.

The H.264 hardware decoding is the main reason we developed the new PowerPlayer app, but it is not the only reason.
Besides this H.264 hardware decoding, the basic architecture is totally different than the GoodPlayer's architecture. So for some issues that cannot be fixed in the GoodPlayer, we can easily fix or implement it in the new app. And another important reason is that we cannot find a way to use this H.264 hardware decoding in GoodPlayer.

As for features, since PowerPlayer is only 1.0, so we will add lots of feature in the future. As said earlier, PowerPlayer is totally new app under the hood. So it does not come with all the GoodPlayer's features.

We will maintain and update both apps at the same time. PowerPlayer is meant to be GoodPlayer's brother,not successor.

For network support, now we basically made HTTP streaming working on PowerPlayer development, however it needs lots of work to make it in product. And the good news is that for HTTP streaming, H.264 hardware decoding can be supported too.
Once again, we need to write something totally new in PowerPlayer. So some GoodPlayer features cannot be supported in PowerPlayer in the future.

We will write these in PowerPlayer online FAQ soon.

Donka said:
Hi,

I have been championing GoodPlayer for a while now to prospective owners so wanted to ask what PowerPlayer brings us? From reading the description, it seems less featured than GoodPlayer as it doesn't appear to have things such as network streaming/copying for example?
I also see it says hardware decoding for 1080p MKV content. Has this been opened up by Apple or is there another way that this can be achieved? Is this the primary reason for the new application?
Click to expand...
 
What to be expected in next PowerPlayer 1.1 update:

1 Audio track selection support added, swipe fingers left/right on
playing, to change the audio track on the fly (for media files with
multiple audio tracks)
2 "Open In" feature supported: open video and audio files from Mail
email attachments , Safari web browser ,and other 3rd party apps
3 FTP server for WiFi file sharing added
4 Folder support added
 
PowerPlayer online help site: http://www.hustmobile.com/powerplayer/

Just updated the FAQ on it.

PowerPlayer FAQ

FAQ #1: What is the relationship between the PowerPlayer and the GoodPlayer?

PowerPlayer is meant to be GoodPlayer's brother,not successor. We will maintain and update both GoodPlayer app and PowerPlayer app at the same time.

FAQ #2: Why to developer another media player app?

There are 2 reasons:

The first reason is that the new H.264 hardware decoding. We find a new way to decode H.264/AVC video. However, since this decoding method is very complicated, we cannot find a way to use this H.264 hardware decoding in GoodPlayer.

The second reason is that there are some issues and feature requests cannot be fulfilled in GoodPlayer app because of the architecture issue. PowerPlayer uses a total new architecture under the hood. So for some issues that cannot be fixed in the GoodPlayer, we can easily fix or implement it in the new PowerPlayer app.

FAQ #3: Will the GoodPlayer be updated and maintained in the future?

Yes. GoodPlayer is still a very important product to us. We will maintain and update both GoodPlayer app and PowerPlayer app at the same time.

FAQ #4: Will all the GoodPlayer's existed features be available in PowerPlayer in the future?

No. PowerPlayer is just a totally new app. Please just treat it as a new app. We will add lots of features to it. But it is impossible to have all the GoodPlayer features because of the different architecture.

FAQ #5: Will the new H.264 hardware decoding be used in GoodPlayer in the future?

We will try. But we make no promise we can make this happen.
 
ISO playback

Do PowerPlayer have the same support for playing ISO files as the GoodPlayer has?
 
PowerPlayer 1.1 released, PowerPlayer - Powerful iOS Media Player for 1080P MKV Playback,

What's New in Version 1.1
1 Audio track selection support added, swipe fingers left/right on playing, to change the audio track on the fly (for media files with multiple audio tracks)
2 "Open In" feature supported: open video and audio files from Mail email attachments , Safari web browser ,and other 3rd party apps
3 FTP server for Wi-Fi file sharing added
4 Folder support added

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/powerplayer/id520818788?mt=8
 
Here are some differences between GoodPlayer and PowerPlayer:
1 the MKV/avi/ts/flv/f4v H.264 Hardware decoding is only for PowerPlayer, if your main purpose is high definition H.264 playback, PowerPlayer should be better.
2 mov/mp4/m4v is special, GoodPlayer can use MP4 hardware decoding to play them. And PowerPlayer will add mp4 hardware decoding mode in the future. In the long run, mov/mp4/m4v support is the same for both apps.
3 GoodPlayer is good at the streaming features, if your main purpose is all kinds of streaming features, GoodPlayer is better.
4 In the next 1.2 version, PowerPlayer can support HTTP/RTSP/MMSH streaming, it also will support DLNA/UPnP client in 1.2 version.
5 For other streaming such as SMB/FTP/SFTP , PowerPlayer cannot support them. PowerPlayer also cannot support WebDAV streaming, although it is HTTP streaming, but the auth part of WebDAV gives PowerPlayer trouble.
6 PowerPlayer will support Hi10P 10-bit H.264 in 1.2 version. GoodPlayer cannot support Hi10P correctly now.
7 For HTTP streaming, PowerPlayer supports H.264 hardware decoding too.
8 For Hight Quality Mode, PowerPlayer supports high quality RMVB/RealVideo too. GoodPlayer cannot support high quality RMVB/RealVideo
9 In 1.2 version, PowerPlayer supports multi core decoding for RMVB/RealVideo. GoodPlayer can only use single core decoding for RMVB/RealVideo

In short, PowerPlayer is good at H.264 related video playback,especially mkv/avi/flv/f4v/ts/tp. GoodPlayer is good at streaming. If you are happy at GoodPlayer now, just stay with it. If you want better mkv/avi/flv/f4v/ts/tp H.264 video playback, you can try PowerPlayer.


Here are PowerPlayer 1.2 update logs


1. Retina Display support for video output added, this improved the
video quality for iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and new iPad
2. Performance improved
3. High Quality Mode added for software decoding, please note that
H.264 Hardware Decoding does not use this setting, H.264 Hardware
Decoding will only use high quality mode. The default is off. Please
only turn on it when the iOS device has enough processing power, such
as iPad 2/new iPad playing a standard definition media file
4. "H.264 Hardware Decoding" setting added, the default is on. When it
is off, the app will use software H.264 decoding instead.
5. Hi10P(High 10 Profile, 10-bit H.264/AVC) supported, please note
H.264 Hardware Decoding does not support Hi10P. So the "H.264 Hardware
Decoding" setting needs to be turn off for Hi10P playback. Only
software H.264 decoder supports Hi10P.
6. The .gsm file format supported
7. File manger added. In main view or file listing view, in the right
of search input field, click the "Edit", it will go into file manager
mode. File manger supports folder creation/password
protection/delete, files copy/move/delete, and "Open in" by other
apps from PowerPlayer
8. HTTP streaming supported. HTTP streaming supports H.264 Hardware Decoding
9. Built-in Downloader & Browser added
10. UPnP/DLNA Client added, since UPnP/DLNA Client uses HTTP
streaming, so it supports H.264 Hardware Decoding too
11. Music playback improved
12. TV out/VGA out supported , HDMI TV-out and Video Mirroring
supported, it is for iPad & iPhone 4 & iPod Touch 4 only.
13. TV-Out resolution setting added, from 640*480 to 1920*1080
14. Multi Core Decoding for software decoder added, such as MPEG4,
RealVideo(RM/RMVB) and software H.264 decoder. This setting will only
be available for iPad 2/new iPad/iPhone 4S and future multi core iOS
devices. The default is on. When it is on, some video decoding will
use multi core concurrently to improve the performance greatly. When
it is off, all the decoding only uses single core to get more
stability. Please note that it is recommended to set it to on. Only
for those media files that have issue with multi core decoding, set it
to off.
 
PowerPlayer 1.2 released, DLNA client added, Hi10P supported,
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/powerplayer/id520818788?mt=8

What's New in Version 1.2
1. Retina Display support for video output added, this improved the video quality for iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and new iPad
2. Performance improved
3. High Quality Mode added for software decoding, please note that H.264 Hardware Decoding does not use this setting, H.264 Hardware Decoding will only use high quality mode. The default is off. Please only turn on it when the iOS device has enough processing power, such as iPad 2/new iPad playing a standard definition media file
4. "H.264 Hardware Decoding" setting added, the default is on. When it is off, the app will use software H.264 decoding instead.
5. Hi10P(High 10 Profile, 10-bit H.264/AVC) supported, please note H.264 Hardware Decoding does not support Hi10P. So the "H.264 Hardware Decoding" setting needs to be turn off for Hi10P playback. Only software H.264 decoder supports Hi10P.
6. The .gsm file format supported
7. File manger added. In main view or file listing view, in the right of search input field, click the "Edit", it will go into file manager mode. File manger supports folder creation/password protection/delete, files copy/move/delete, and "Open in" by other apps from PowerPlayer
8. HTTP streaming supported. HTTP streaming supports H.264 Hardware Decoding
9. Built-in Downloader & Browser added
10. UPnP/DLNA Client added, since UPnP/DLNA Client uses HTTP streaming, so it supports H.264 Hardware Decoding too
11. Music playback improved
12. TV out/VGA out supported , HDMI TV-out and Video Mirroring supported, it is for iPad & iPhone 4 & iPod Touch 4 only.
13. TV-Out resolution setting added, from 640*480 to 1920*1080
14. Multi Core Decoding for software decoder added, such as MPEG4, RealVideo(RM/RMVB) and software H.264 decoder. This setting will only be available for iPad 2/new iPad/iPhone 4S and future multi core iOS devices. The default is on. When it is on, some video decoding will use multi core concurrently to improve the performance greatly. When it is off, all the decoding only uses single core to get more stability. Please note that it is recommended to set it to on. Only for those media files that have issue with multi core decoding, set it to off.
 
It always freezes when I try to edit some downloaded file, therefore the file is sometimes impossible to delete. Also the search function disappears sometimes when switching the file system structure in download folder leading to another freeze.

Some file sharing services dont work -> after the captcha code is typed power player downloads just some 10kb file, not an issue in for example "filer".

Thanks
 
For the downloaded file deletion, can you delete it at last? Or cannot delete it always?

For 10KB file downloading issue, it should be related to the specific server, for some server status, the app maybe does not handle it correctly.

SteneDave said:
It always freezes when I try to edit some downloaded file, therefore the file is sometimes impossible to delete. Also the search function disappears sometimes when switching the file system structure in download folder leading to another freeze.

Some file sharing services dont work -> after the captcha code is typed power player downloads just some 10kb file, not an issue in for example "filer".

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
For the freeze issue, we tested a lot and could not reproduce it here. We fixes another freeze issue in the next 1.3 version. We do not know if that fix will help on your case.

For the file download link, we will check it. Thanks.

SteneDave said:
Once I managed to delete it, now it freezes so often that I cannot at all, it freezes when I try to search in Download folder, edit or whatever.

I also managed to start the download of my file that I mentioned previously, but it froze when I went to the Download folder while downloading.

This is my file: http://m.ulozto.net/xGXnDKd/pixar-short-06-luxo-jr-1986-1080p-mkv.
Click to expand...
 
I found the issue, it always happens when there's a lot of apps running in the background. I had like 30 apps in my multitasking bar and it always froze, now I got 4 of them there and its running OK, but fix it, please.
 
Thanks a lot for the feedback, we will check it.

SteneDave said:
I found the issue, it always happens when there's a lot of apps running in the background. I had like 30 apps in my multitasking bar and it always froze, now I got 4 of them there and its running OK, but fix it, please.
Click to expand...
 
PowerPlayer 1.3 released,
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/powerplayer/id520818788?mt=8

What's New in Version 1.3
1 MKV embedded subtitle support improved
2 Background Audio supported
3 SMB/CIFS client added, no SMB streaming support
4 WebDAV client added, no WebDAV streaming support
5 FTP client added, no FTP streaming support
6 SFTP client added, no SFTP streaming support
7 "Direct Streaming URL" feature added, supports HTTP, RTSP, MMSH,
RTMP streaming
8 "Home Page" setting to set up the default page of built-in browser
9 Adds a "Maximum Resolution" option for "TV-Out Resolution" setting,
this item will use the maximum available device resolution. For
"TV-Out Resolution", the "Default" setting will use the minimum
available device resolution
10 Lots of localization added, thanks again to all the help on localization
 
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