Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

I used it last night, but have yet to check out the video size/quality and all that stuff. I had some initial setup issues with the thing not being able to figure out where my DVD was, but after a few file edits, it rocked straight on through.

On a side note, the Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter, which I tried with the first version and then dumped completely, has come a long way. I'm impressed. I'll report more when I've checked out the file.

But it does indeed work. All you do (after installation) is launch ITVC and then open My Computer, and drag-n-drop the DVD into ITVC. A perl window pops up and you answer a few questions as to which parts fo the DVD you're wanting, and then boom. REAL easy.

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

Can you file a Bugzilla bug about this along with some details (source and maybe a sample of the original file)?

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

Just checked it out. From the original Gone in 60 Seconds DVD, I ended up with a ~650MB MP4, and unfortunately I have no idea how long it took it to rip+convert (I fell asleep last night).

Loaded onto my tablet, looks REAL good, playing with the default media player. No skips or stutters or anything at all, and the sound is crisp. I normally use Urho's media converter to convert AVIs, but this seems to be higher quality and better on-tablet performance. I'll try to compare the same video converted with both, but in the meantime, I'm a fan of this for DVD converting in one stop.

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

If you mean tablet-encode, it should handle VOB files - either with the appropriate `-m' option already - or with a small enhancement.

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

or do you mean the ITVC plugin that Thoughtfix mentioned? If so, it seems to want you to drag/drop your DVD drive icon and it works from there. I am guessing that it won't work just with the raw VOB file as the target.

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

Sorry about not responding to this sooner, Vbrilon. This thread kind of got away from me.

Regarding filing a bug on Bugzilla, I would be happy to do so, but I'm a bit hesitant for a couple of reasons:

1. Not having seen a lot of discussion about the output quality of the Internet Tablet Video Converter I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is common performance or if I'm actually witnessing a bug. Basically, about once every second, the image has a subtle blur as if the file is going out of focus for a moment. It's pretty subtle and not noticeable in fast cut scenes or in things in motion, but when there is a static image or long shot, you can see it.

At first I thought it was an effect caused by dropping frames, so I bumped the quality up to Best to keep it at 30 fps. It seems to help, but I can still see the "blips."

I'm sure most people wouldn't have an issue with it, but I'm pretty sensitive to light and that pulsating, regular glitch is really bothersome.

2. My ISP doesn't give me much online space to post a sample movie. I'll try to get some screen grabs to illustrate the problem and report back.

Is this glitching I'm seeing common? For what it's worth, I only see it with files I convert using the Internet Tablet Video Converter. The steady glitching is visible on my computer using Quicktime and on the Nokia n800 using the Media Player. I've tried several "sources" of files, including DVDs I've ripped using the settings I posted earlier in this thread and files I've downloaded from the internet.

Robb

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

I took a couple of screenshots from an internet video to illustrate what I'm seeing. The quality of the video isn't the greatest to start with, but you should still be able to see what I'm talking about.

The first image is "normal" quality.
http://home.earthlink.net/~robbneu/images/image1.JPEG

The second image, a frame or two later, shows the glitch that I'm talking about:
http://home.earthlink.net/~robbneu/images/image2.JPEG

It seems to repeat every second, on the second.

Is this normal? Or, should I report this as a bug?

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

It probably repeats every second or so because that's the keyframe interval. A keyframe (also called a I-frame) is similar to a standalone JPEG image, it doesn't depend on other frames.

So, you're seeing crisp and clear keyframes followed by progressively blurrier predicted frames, until you get to a new keyframe, and then it starts again. Boosting the quality of the predicted frames is probably what needs to be done.

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

Well, not exactly. I may not have described the issue very well. The image is fine for 29 frames, then on the 30th frame (or 1st) it glitches out. So, every second, you get the quality shown in my second image above, and the other 29 frames are the quality of the top image. The timing of these single frame quality dips is consistent, so every second, on the second, it blurs as shown in the example frame.

Unfortunately, there's no way to increase the quality of the frames using the Internet Tablet Video Converter. This is already set at "best" quality.

Re: Transcoding problems with DVDs
 

As Ace said, it definitely sounds like a keyframe issue. I am not sure what we can do about this if you're already using the "best" quality. On OS X we're relying on the underlying QT codecs to manage this kind of stuff, whereas on Windows we actually ship very high quality commercial codecs that seems to be better quality wise for certain types of videos.

I think you definitely have a more sensitive eye for this than most people (and I mean that as a compliment). Would it be possible for you to try the Windows version of ITVC and see if the results are better to your eyes? Also, can you reproduce this problem with all types of video sources (i.e., high quality and with different codecs)?