iPod Trouble with Video Playback on iPod

[dkichline]

I synched up a video, H.264, 320x240, 30 FPS, Data Rate: 726.28 kbits/sec.

It transfers okay, and I see the video on the iPod. I go to play, the screen goes black like it is about to play it, and then it stops and goes back to the menu.

I can play this video through iTunes with no problem. Any ideas what might be causing this problem?

Thanks,

Don Kichline

 

[mcomet]

You might try lowering the bitrate and such and seeing if it helps.

I've been having problems with my video 60 gig ipod also. Smaller clips are playing fine. A home movie about 1/2 hour long I converted plays fine too. Some DVD's I converted however do not.

Typically the video will play about 2.5 minutes in and then pause. At first I thought it was totally locked...but today I let it sit for a minute and to my suprise, it then started to continue...though without audio...sometimes then fast forwarding a bit will get the audio to restart. The mov's play fine on the computer...it's just the iPOD playback that locks.

In some cases it will play, freeze and then like you say, go back to the menu thereby totally stopping/killing video playback. I can hear the HD clicking while this happens.

Using both mp4 and h.264 with lower and lower bitrates etc doesn't seem to help much...although I have noticed smaller/lower bitrate files tend to work much better with fast forwarding. Often fast forward can induce freezes and pauses, while playing normally will work...

I'm not sure if this is an iPOD problem or what, but i'm starting to lean that way...maybe harddrive or buffer related or such.

 

[dkichline]

You might be onto something. It was a dvd rip roughly 2 hours long. I guess I will give apple a yell.

You might try lowering the bitrate and such and seeing if it helps.

I've been having problems with my video 60 gig ipod also. Smaller clips are playing fine. A home movie about 1/2 hour long I converted plays fine too. Some DVD's I converted however do not.

Typically the video will play about 2.5 minutes in and then pause. At first I thought it was totally locked...but today I let it sit for a minute and to my suprise, it then started to continue...though without audio...sometimes then fast forwarding a bit will get the audio to restart. The mov's play fine on the computer...it's just the iPOD playback that locks.

In some cases it will play, freeze and then like you say, go back to the menu thereby totally stopping/killing video playback. I can hear the HD clicking while this happens.

Using both mp4 and h.264 with lower and lower bitrates etc doesn't seem to help much...although I have noticed smaller/lower bitrate files tend to work much better with fast forwarding. Often fast forward can induce freezes and pauses, while playing normally will work...

I'm not sure if this is an iPOD problem or what, but i'm starting to lean that way...maybe harddrive or buffer related or such.

 

[mcomet]

Well you might try lowering the bitrate...I have recompressed the movie that was giving me probs to a vid bitrate of 512 and audio i dropped from 128 to 112 and did this all at 320x240 with H.264 and 24fps...and now it is apparently working, though it doesn't look as good...heh.

 

[freeny]

This has happened to me before. It turned out to be the audio codec. check your settings. Although mine happened on a video encoded using mp4, the audio was not ACC but also mp4 which apparently is uncompatable. when the pod checks your codecs before uploading it doesnt check the audio, so a video that passes the "I am compatable for upload" test is rejected when you actually go and play it because of the audio encoding.

 

[mcomet]

Well it is interesting...I had my iPod do the black then back to menu too for a movie that usually does play...Trying again it worked. I also still have the odd problem of video stopping/freezing around 2min38sec in...then sometimes it dies, usually it starts up again after several seconds...typically with audio gone.

I've dropped it back at best buy to see if they will replace it. The same video on a friends 30gig version played...so I'm thinking it's my unit. In addition I've found that playing the video, then pausing, going back to menu and then choosing the video again...causes it to restart at the beginning..very frustrating for a 2hr video. On my friends iPOD it actually starts back where it left off...more like you'd expect.

I figure if Best Buy doesn't replace it, I'll drop it at the Apple store next...sigh...

 

[ssdtchr]

I am having the same problem with my video ipod. Music, photos are fine but cannot play any video. I downloaded the free video offered through iTunes and it plays fine on the computer but when I hit play, the screen goes black sometimes or simply goes back to the Menu. I am planning on taking it back to the apple store.