Help Can't play video files on EVO

[Denny33142]

I heard that you can play Mp4 video's on the EVO so i transferred some videos from my PC and non of them play on the EVO, the most i have been able to get is sound but the screen is black, some of them won't even play the sound.

I also tried a DivX file but that one doesn't even show up on the phone at all.

So which files actually play on the phone? this is my first Android phone i have always had Windows Mobile or iphone and have never had so much problems trying to playback a video on a smartphone.

 

[cooper1010]

i've been hit and miss so far. i think some of it depends on your settings. i have a 2.73 gb movie ripped from a dvd that was too big (i assume it was too big and that's why it wouldn't play). i've trimmed it down via settings/size, and it works now. i'm slowly upping the size to see if i can maximize the file/quality.

 

[Deleted User]

Did you try Act Video 1? It is a buck and plays Mp4 on my hero just fine.

I heard that you can play Mp4 video's on the EVO so i transferred some videos from my PC and non of them play on the EVO, the most i have been able to get is sound but the screen is black, some of them won't even play the sound.

I also tried a DivX file but that one doesn't even show up on the phone at all.

So which files actually play on the phone? this is my first Android phone i have always had Windows Mobile or iphone and have never had so much problems trying to playback a video on a smartphone.

 

[drksilenc]

hq264 video... and a few others. it plays mp4 audio

 

[Deleted User]

I've played 2 gig movies with Act Video 1. I have played movies encoded for my old Iphone etc... Perhaps it is is the Audio encoding. Sometimes there are issues there or too high of a frame rate. Try 720P.

i've been hit and miss so far. i think some of it depends on your settings. i have a 2.73 gb movie ripped from a dvd that was too big (i assume it was too big and that's why it wouldn't play). i've trimmed it down via settings/size, and it works now. i'm slowly upping the size to see if i can maximize the file/quality.

 

[cooper1010]

i'm using amerisoft video converter pro. someone suggested using the ipad settings. i dl'd the iron man 720p trailer, used ipad HD settings, and it played great.

next, i tried a dvd (daybreakers). ripped and converted, but used ipad regular settings. "file will not play." it will, however, play from the sd card on my computer. next, i used iphone 3gs settings, and it ripped and worked fine, but it's a little small for the phone. i'm using custom settings now and bumped the size up a bit. tell you how it goes.

edit: finished, 640x480 looks better than iphone settings, but not terribly noticeable. i think i'll leave my settings be for now; this looks good.

 

[Deleted User]

I had a hellava time encoding for xbox streaming until I saw that 1080P was not supported and 5.1 was only available with HDWMV.

Act 1 tips:

The tricky part here is converting the videos so that Android understands them. Fortunately, there's a lot of desktop software out there that will do the trick. Since Android phones play the same video format as iPod (mp4/h264), you could just use anything that converts for iPod. But the iPod screen is much smaller than most Android devices, so the quality won't be as great. What you really want is something that will convert for your screen size. Most Android devices right now have a 320x480 screen. The new Droid has a 480x854 screen. Whatever your screen size, it's good to convert your video to be within the bounds of your screen, and optimally exactly matching one of the dimensions to prevent Android from having to scale the video.
Remember one important thing: converting videos with a lower bitrate makes for smaller files, smoother playback, and less battery consumption during playback. If you want to optimize your video playing experience, try tuning the video conversion to the lowest tolerable bitrate. I usually end up with videos using ~300kbps. Some applications like Videoa default to twice that rate, which I think is excessive. I mean, it's a small screen, and how much quality do you think you can expect from it?


Act 1 Video Player: Encoding Videos for Android: Quick Start

 

[Deleted User]

Also sometimes HD Audio can mess with you so you have to down convert to SD. I have seen this before with newer DVDS. I bet it is all Audio honestly.

i'm using amerisoft video converter pro. someone suggested using the ipad settings. i dl'd the iron man 720p trailer, used ipad HD settings, and it played great.

next, i tried a dvd (daybreakers). ripped and converted, but used ipad regular settings. "file will not play." it will, however, play from the sd card on my computer. next, i used iphone 3gs settings, and it ripped and worked fine, but it's a little small for the phone. i'm using custom settings now and bumped the size up a bit. tell you how it goes.

edit: finished, 640x480 looks better than iphone settings, but not terribly noticeable. i think i'll leave my settings be for now; this looks good.

 

[cooper1010]

Also sometimes HD Audio can mess with you so you have to down convert to SD. I have seen this before with newer DVDS. I bet it is all Audio honestly.

yeah, i'm going with size. but, the 720p trailer played great. no hiccups at all. the dvd (480p) didn't play at first. i scaled it down, now it's good. maybe it took up too much room on the card? maybe a bigger card would help? i don't know.

this program is pretty easy to use, and i bought it when i got me pre, so...

 

[katmandoo122]

Try this guide: It works well. Movie shouldn't be over 2GB due to structure of the phone's program. Handbrake is a free PC download.

How to convert videos and transfer them to the HTC EVO 4G - Know Your Cell

 

[Deleted User]

Oh one other tidbit that may or may not apply. My camcorder will not record on 720p with a card rated lower then a level 6. Knowing this I had level 6 sd cards since jump street. You may need a faster SD card as well.

 

[Vincent Law]

Guys, the problem is, not all mp4s are alike. They have to have h264 encoded video, and infact have to have a special form of h264, called baseline encoding. This is basically a specific standard of encoding that is easier for mobile devices to decode. h264 video encoded for your average PC will often use more complex standards that the Evo and other mobile devices can't handle.

 

[Denny33142]

Thank you guys i will try some of the suggestions here

Kind of a shame though that it only supports MP4 and a very specific kind of MP4 at that, i also tried a file that was H.264 and it did not work eather.

 

[whatsitsname]

Guys, the problem is, not all mp4s are alike. They have to have h264 encoded video, and infact have to have a special form of h264, called baseline encoding. This is basically a specific standard of encoding that is easier for mobile devices to decode. h264 video encoded for your average PC will often use more complex standards that the Evo and other mobile devices can't handle.

Somebody listen to this guy.
All of you having problem should download a program called mediainfo. This program will tell what kind of codec is actually wrapped inside the mp4 container.

 

[cooper1010]

Try this guide: It works well. Movie shouldn't be over 2GB due to structure of the phone's program. Handbrake is a free PC download.

How to convert videos and transfer them to the HTC EVO 4G - Know Your Cell

yeah, i was surprised that my program didn't compress a 2 gig movie down more than it did. tweaking the settings, it got down to i.4 and 1.5, and both of those work and look great.

i've tried handbrake. it's a little more complicated than i'd like, and i've already paid for the aimersoft program, so i'm sticking with that. looks like i got it to work. i can rip and dl to the evo in one step, so overnight movie transfers are a go.

 

[Rose4uKy]

I transferred a TIVO recorded show to my desktop. It automatically has some Tivo Wrapping on itm aking it like .TIVO. I have a program I use to strip that Tivo wrapper off of the show which takes about a minute. Than it is automatically an MPEG bu my phone wouldn't play it. Does it need to be something else like AVI. I'll read the link above. I have Roxio Easy Media Creator 10 Suite. My options to convert say DVD, DIVX, I have a WMV HD 720P should I try that? Or will it be too big? I have an MPEG 2 and a 3GP option then Mp3g 4 and Ipod and H264 AVC. I don't know what to pick. And then it has output resolution options also and 640 vy 480 is the highest and the it has the 720p 1280 by 720. No resolution size matching the phone. I just didn't know what to choose sorry!

Edit:My Roxio gives me an error about how it stopped working. Then I downloaded Handbrake and it gave me some error message about the file.. Its an mpeg do I need to download a special media player for my phone or is one on there? I went to Roxio tech support and it said a registry key must of been removed and I have to do this full uninstall run windows cleaner reinstall and I don't have time for all that now. i"m trying Handbrake again and converting the movie. It said once the file is done plug in phone but my phone was already plugged in so will see if it works.

 

[ryyinshouda]

I thought Android was supposed to be less stress than winmo. i love my evo, but not being able to watch my movies without jumping through hoops is a bit of a downer. there was a winmo program called core player that you put on your phone and it would just play anything in excellent quality. i dont miss my touch pro2, but a vlc type player is what android really needs. that being said, my evo is by far the best phone ive ever had.

 

[misterzeno]

I thought Android was supposed to be less stress than winmo. i love my evo, but not being able to watch my movies without jumping through hoops is a bit of a downer. there was a winmo program called core player that you put on your phone and it would just play anything in excellent quality. i dont miss my touch pro2, but a vlc type player is what android really needs. that being said, my evo is by far the best phone ive ever had.

OOOOOOO VLC mobile, o man that would be great. I use the handbrake with the settings but I only did a few movies that were mkv 720p files and they worked. And it does seem like the player does not like files over 2gb. I will have to play with more files to find out more info

 

[seigex]

Try this guide: It works well. Movie shouldn't be over 2GB due to structure of the phone's program. Handbrake is a free PC download.

How to convert videos and transfer them to the HTC EVO 4G - Know Your Cell

Worked perfect on my Bleach anime from Dattebayo (lived in Japan for years, gotta have my anime with me )