Video Preview of VLC for iPad

[Snowy_River]

De-de-de-de-de-de-DEAL breaker.

Half of my library is in WMV format. For anyone who wants a good quality picture at a reasonable file size, you've got two choices: MOV and WMV.

MKV is the best res, H.264 and all that, but the file size is prohibitive. DivX/XviD is nice and all, but the picture quality isn't great, and depending on how they encoded the file, doesn't always seek properly. WMV and MOV are the only two formats I can really depend on, followed up by MPEG, which is prohibitively large.

WMV HD is half the size of the same MKV file yet looks identical in terms of picture quality.

Oh well...

FYI, MOV is not a codec, it's a container file. You can have almost any type of video codec contained in a MOV file, including, but not limited to, AVI, DIVX and . . . even WMV. "Native" MOV files (as in those produced by Apple apps like iChat, or QuickTime Player Pro 7) use the H.264 codec for the video stream in the MOV container file. However, saying that you're using MOV file format for your videos really doesn't say anything about how they are encoded.

 

[revelated]

FYI, MOV is not a codec, it's a container file. You can have almost any type of video codec contained in a MOV file, including, but not limited to, AVI, DIVX and . . . even WMV. "Native" MOV files (as in those produced by Apple apps like iChat, or QuickTime Player Pro 7) use the H.264 codec for the video stream in the MOV container file. However, saying that you're using MOV file format for your videos really doesn't say anything about how they are encoded.

The point is, lack of WMV is a dealbreaker.

 

[andy721]

What a disappointment, the ipad should've played HD video but VLC didn't do much tweaking. Of course the iPhone 4 could do it. It's been done. Anywho I guess wait for the next iPad with the two cameras and retina display blah blah.

 

[SeaFox]

Am I the only person that thinks there are far better choices out there (freeware) than VLC? Such as Media Player Classic.

Nope. I think the same. Not so much that VLC "stinks" but other players have far superior performance.

On a PC, VLC avoids you the hassle of selecting and installing the right, spyware free codecs, which also saves you some RAM and various video issues.

Wow, what a hassle. The only thing missing is Real Alternative to handle Real Media files without installing the steaming pile that is RealPlayer.

I don't (and especially Direct Show doesn't) like very much having 2 or 3 different Divx codecs installed at the same time

I don't know why you'd need more than one DivX decoder when divx/xvid is so low-processor use by today's standards anything can play it back. It's h264 that takes more muscle, and CCCP's preference app lets you switch decoders easily for h264 video (except the DXVA hardware accelerated one in Media Player Classic, since that's an internal application setting).

 

[twoodcc]

well i hope that is supports hi-def videos, and if not, supports them in the future. i will not be happy if apple rejects this app

 

[Snowy_River]

I find myself wondering if there is a version out there for JB iPads...

 

[Liam8]

Free?

 

[ImperialX]

The guy in the video is an idiot. The iPhone 4 may be better? Ridiculous. If anything, the iPhone 4 will do worse. RAM has nothing to do with video decoding, and it has an underclocked processor.

 

[macintoshtoffy]

The CPU is probably also too slow to play back H.264, except that there is hardware decoding support. The problem is that VLC doesn't have access to that hardware decoding support.

I don't think the CPU is the problem, I'd say it has to do with the lack of optimisation for ARM CPU/Neo extensions than the CPU speed itself - after all you'll find that most of the focus for the backends that make up VLC probably for Intel x32/x64 CPU's with any other CPU being given the bare basic unoptimised experience. Hopefully with the move to provide VLC for iPad we'll see ARM optimisations in the various components that provide codec support for it.

 

[s1m]

The more the merrier - I am currently using OPlayer HD for Xvid files to great effect.

I would prefer to use the Apple video player and can easily get Xvids into the video player - they just double in size and on a long business trip that can eat into the HDD space considerably...

 

[p-rice]

What happened to the CorePlayer? I remember it being announced for the iPhone in 2008 but never came out.

 

[err404]

The point is, lack of WMV is a dealbreaker.

While I don't agree that WMV is notably better than a properly encoded High Profile h.264, I understand your issue. Hopefully it's in the works, but it could take a while since the format is more closed than most.

 

[totoum]

The point is, lack of WMV is a dealbreaker.

The point is,use mkvmerge to convert your wmv files in mkv,it'll take 5 minutes and you'll have the same picture quality

Picture quality is not based on the container

edit: looks like the point is that what I said above is wrong

 

[err404]

The point is,use mkvmerge to convert your wmv files in mkv,it'll take 5 minutes and you'll have the same picture quality

Picture quality is not based on the container

I may be wrong, but isn't the primary video format used in a WMV container the WMV codec? I doubt that merging this format into an MKV container wold allow iPad VLC to play it. Also you would likely have issues decoding the WMA 5.1 audio.

WMV is the name for a container and a codec

 

[PerfSeeker]

I'm a Windows and Mac user...and have tried VLC numerous times on XP for different tasks....and VLC stunk each time.

Am I the only person that thinks there are far better choices out there (freeware) than VLC? Such as Media Player Classic.

The interesting thing is that VLC on Mac works better for decoding subtitle tracks ripped from DVD then Plex Media Server.

 

[totoum]

I may be wrong, but isn't the primary video format used in a WMV container the WMV codec? I doubt that merging this format into an MKV container wold allow iPad VLC to play it. Also you would likely have issues decoding the WMA 5.1 audio.

WMV is the name for a container and a codec

lol I guess in fact I was completely wrong,I could swear I had done it before but you're right it won't work

(that's what I get for acting so sure of myself)

still though,comparing picture quality based on the container makes me cringe

 

[err404]

lol I guess in fact I was completely wrong,I could swear I had done it before but you're right it won't work

(that's what I get for acting so sure of myself)

still though,comparing picture quality based on the container makes me cringe

MS really confuses things by using the same name for both.
The fact is that you are right. WMV can be put in an MKV container and h.264 could be put in an WMV container. In either case what you did would work for creating an MKV out of an WMV, and in some cases the MKV would be playable by VLC iPad. The desktop version would be able to play it fine in either case.

Video format terminology is far to complex for most casual users. That's why I like the desktop VLC. By and large most videos just play with it w/o needing to worry about codecs and containers. The only big exception is WMA audio streams...

 

[catmistake]

This isn't the same as having the files in your library. The files won't be in your Movies or TV Shows sections of iTunes. They'll only be available to that particular app on the iPad. And they'll only be visible under the App tab in the iPad section of iTunes when you have it connected to your computer.

Also, you don't need to sync movies to watch them.
Use a web server... like the apache2 built into OS X... put all your movies in a folder and make it visible to your LAN. Then you can watch movies by navigating to that address without syncing. No jailbreak required.

 

[revelated]

lol I guess in fact I was completely wrong,I could swear I had done it before but you're right it won't work

(that's what I get for acting so sure of myself)

still though,comparing picture quality based on the container makes me cringe

When I am comparing formats I do not just look at how "clear" the image is. I look at:

• How quickly it loads
• Its filesize compared to others (This is huge. If it looks pristine yet is a fraction of the others it's impressive. That's why XviD got so popular)
• Sync of the audio

For me a plain WMV HD file encoded with WMV meets all three of those criteria better than most other codecs. The H.264 looks nicer, but the file size is often larger, which cuts into dealbreaker territory.

 

[Nausicaa]

I'm a Windows and Mac user...and have tried VLC numerous times on XP for different tasks....and VLC stunk each time.

Am I the only person that thinks there are far better choices out there (freeware) than VLC? Such as Media Player Classic.

I use it on MacOSX and despite the dated 'playlist' interface, I think it is an outstanding video player. I download many video torrents and often they don't play in the standard Quicktime or DIVx player. 50% of the time there is some odd video or audio codec absent from the player. VLC plays everything. I haven't encountered a single error ever. I don't expect this sort of crazy compatibility on the iPad, but it should at least be better than the other options out there like cinexplayer, which I found didn't support many of the codecs I wanted to use.

 

[err404]

When I am comparing formats I do not just look at how "clear" the image is. I look at:

• How quickly it loads
• Its filesize compared to others (This is huge. If it looks pristine yet is a fraction of the others it's impressive. That's why XviD got so popular)
• Sync of the audio

For me a plain WMV HD file encoded with WMV meets all three of those criteria better than most other codecs. The H.264 looks nicer, but the file size is often larger, which cuts into dealbreaker territory.

WMV is nice and a generally consistent format, but has the worst compatibility for play back. For example, I'm not aware of any non-MS affiliated player that supports 5.1 audio streams from a WMV HD file.
H.264 has it own issues with format fragmentation, but it is fully supported by several open source projects. Restrictions in playback tend to be a result of device limitations.
As far as compression quality they are theoretically about equal, but I understand your point. There are a lot of people who don't know how to get good results from H.264 and balloon the file size by selection the wrong options.
WMV wins with better tools (hard to mess up an encoding)
H.264 wins with better compatibility