1.2.00/1.1.01 firmware: Tests of real MKV "Scene Releases"

[Charbax]

Using Firmware 1.2.00: Family.Guy.S08E01.720p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.AVC-CtrlHD.mkv

Basically works fine and smoothly the whole time. Audio probably 50-100ms out of synch (like currently with all 720p HP MKVs) but not a problem for this kind of cartoon. Archos should fix audio synch though. Fast forwarding is fine as well but still the same audio synch issue.

Overall this episode was very watchable (really awesomely funny too) both on the Archos screen and it looks beautiful on my 42" HDTV using the DVR Station HDMI output.

General
Complete name : Family.Guy.S08E01.720p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.AVC-CtrlHD.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 453 MiB
Duration : 21mn 52s
Overall bit rate : 2 894 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-10-07 05:15:27
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.9.8 ('C'est le bon') built on Aug 13 2009 12:49:06
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 21mn 51s
Bit rate : 2 452 Kbps
Width : 960 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.148
Stream size : 383 MiB (85%)
Language : English
colour_primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
transfer_characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
matrix_coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 21mn 52s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 60.1 MiB (13%)
Language : English

Text
ID : 3
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : English

Using Firmware 1.2.00: Californication.S03E02.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION.mkv

Works fine for about 98% of the episode. Again, only with the slight 100ms or so out of synch (I can't figure out if audio plays before video or after, I think very slightly before. Same synch delay for the whole video, the synch delay does not increase or decrease. In those 2% of the episode where there are problems, maybe at around 4 or 5 times during the whole episode, during interval quick-edit shaky camera intro/outro edits that they have in this series, the small parts with the music each time it goes to commercials and comes back, what happens is the video screen freezes for about 3 seconds on that first frame when the bitrate peaks up, but it always resumes fine about 3 seconds later, unless the shaky-camera fast edit sharp bit is still going then it might freeze another time, but the normal playback of the episode then continues 2-3 seconds later. During the normal whole episode, very well filmed and no handheld, no shakes, only very sharp scenes, there is I think no problem at all other than the slight synch issue. I have a feeling that synch issue can "easily" be fixed by Archos, and also the high bandwidth peaks should somehow be handled more smoothly and playback resumed quicker than 2-3 seconds later (maybe at the next keyframe or whatever it does) or something.

Overall this episode was very watchable (really awesomely funny too) both on the Archos screen and it looks beautiful on my 42" HDTV using the DVR Station HDMI output, although I look forward to perfect synch and better handling of peak bitrate drop-outs.

General
Complete name : Californication.S03E02.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 745 MiB
Duration : 27mn 37s
Overall bit rate : 3 769 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-10-05 03:21:59
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.4.0 ('Fumbling Towards Ecstasy') built on Nov 7 2008 17:24:23
Writing library : libebml v0.7.8 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 27mn 36s
Bit rate : 3 310 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 3 381 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.150
Stream size : 653 MiB (88%)
Writing library : x264 core 75 r1259 dd026f2
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=0 / bitrate=3381 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 27mn 37s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 75.9 MiB (10%)

[BXbomber]

thanks for the detailed test.


so far it's looking good for tv epsiodes.

[podizzle]

try a scene movie!

[perrin21]

I still have no joy with any of mine, main difference from what I can see is the framerate. Mine are all 25fps

[CruNcher]

http://mirror05.x264.nl/CruNcher/force. ... -Grain.mkv (this is the minimal complexity that could be expected to work though first user reports showed it doesn't, most probably because of either Parser or Decoder bugs)
http://showcase7.divx.com/StarTrekTrailer[DivX7].mkv (this is more for future compatibility it wont playback on the Archos 5 fluid most probably never will without 3rd party support, though it will play on the new Chinese PMPs that coming out now, and who knows maybe even on Tegra APX 2500/2600 if the firmware allows the stream to reach the Video processing Engine but how it will playback is still uknown but im quiet sure it would and take only more power from the Zune HD or Samsung Yepp-M1 battery, but i could be wrong and the current Tegra isn't Powerfull enough to playback it)
http://mirror05.x264.nl/CruNcher/force. ... /test3.mp4 (this works very fluid though bitstream complexity isn't much higher then my first stream above, this sample also should playback on any Tegra 2500/2600 based PMP (though only if the firmware allows it to reach the Video processing core @ all))
http://mirror05.x264.nl/CruNcher/force. ... /test5.mov (complexity is even higher then my own bitstream @ the top but Nvidia actually Demoed this on a Tegra Device @ the Adobe conference it wasn't playing back fully smooth @ the first seconds though, it's also unknown what for a Device or Tegra Chip this was Demoed on, no cabac here but bitrate is high enough to make it more complex to decode encoded with Quicktime H.264)

PS: Though i can only make raw estimates what is going on on the Archos 5 based on the user input ive got as i actually don't own one but i can very well estimate where the problems need to be searched

[Charbax]

Firmware 1.2.00: the.big.bang.theory.s03e04.720p.hdtv.x264-ctu.mkv

Works fine and smooth the whole episode appart from the fast-action animated flashing intro sequence and the 2-3 of those same animated transition theme for the commercial breaks. Anyways, smooth playback resumes at the next keyframe within 3 seconds after any of these fast action animations. Including the intro, I think there was about 4-5 of those 3 second frame-freeze drop-offs but each time smooth normal playback resume. There is a very slight synch issue, it seems to actually be a smaller synch issue compared to the Californication episode, though still very slightly noticeable. Archos should definitely fix the slight synch issue and the 3second wait thing for high peak fast action scenes, or support higher bitrates in anyways which would remove the problem for the few high bitrate peaks in this type of tv show episodes.

It looked fantastic on my 42" HDTV using the DVR Station Gen6 HDMI output. It plays much better than on my AMD64 Athlon 3500+ desktop computer with 1GB RAM.

General
Complete name : the.big.bang.theory.s03e04.720p.hdtv.x264-ctu.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 559 MiB
Duration : 20mn 53s
Overall bit rate : 3 744 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-10-13 02:23:53
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.3.0 ('Freak U') built on Oct 7 2008 20:39:59
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 2
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 20mn 51s
Bit rate : 3 285 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 3 357 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.149
Stream size : 490 MiB (88%)
Writing library : x264 core 68 r1184tw
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / bitrate=3357 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 1
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 20mn 53s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 57.4 MiB (10%)

Firmware 1.2.00: South.Park.S13E08.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION.mkv

Works fine for the whole episode apart from the 20 second fast action animated South Park introduction, which probably has the high bitrate peaks. So at the current state of the firmware, if you don't mind not watching the 20 seond South Park intro with music thing, the whole rest of the episode plays totally fine. Audio is very slightly out of synch, but it's perfectly watchable since this is cartoon.

It looked fantastic on my 42" HDTV using the DVR Station Gen6 HDMI output. It plays much better than on my AMD64 Athlon 3500+ desktop computer with 1GB RAM.

General
Complete name : South.Park.S13E08.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 559 MiB
Duration : 21mn 45s
Overall bit rate : 3 591 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-10-08 03:07:21
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.4.0 ('Fumbling Towards Ecstasy') built on Nov 7 2008 17:24:23
Writing library : libebml v0.7.8 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 21mn 44s
Bit rate : 3 135 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 3 203 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.142
Stream size : 488 MiB (87%)
Writing library : x264 core 75 r1259 dd026f2
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=0 / bitrate=3203 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 21mn 45s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 59.8 MiB (11%)

[Crlrhxphn]

Charbax you should try something that uses subtitles. I have some mkv files that has them and it says it does but it does not display anything

[CruNcher]

Here is a Showcase i did back then for Matroska and to show off the XviD (Ciao) capabilities back then, but im not sure if the Archos 5 is gonna actually play it because it uses 3 GMC and Qpel
http://samples.matroska.org/matrix/Matr ... titled.mkv

[Charbax]

Firmware 1.2.00: 30.Rock.S04E01.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION.mkv

Works the best so far (of the non-cartoon episodes I have watched). Weirdly, there seems to be no out-of-synch in this one. There was only 2-3 places in the whole episode where there was a 1 second jump in the video, looked like at places with slightly high action sequences. So in this one, no 3 second wait, but it seemed less than 1 second, and only about 2-3 times in the whole episode.

Again, this one looked pretty much fantastic on my 42" HDTV.

General
Complete name : 30.Rock.S04E01.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 559 MiB
Duration : 21mn 15s
Overall bit rate : 3 674 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-10-16 01:33:54
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.0.2 ('You're My Flame') built on Feb 21 2007 23:40:55
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 21mn 14s
Bit rate : 3 217 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 3 287 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.146
Stream size : 489 MiB (87%)
Writing library : x264 core 77 r1287 287641a
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=0 / bitrate=3287 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 21mn 15s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 58.4 MiB (10%)

Firmware 1.2.00: The.Office.US.S06E05.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION.mkv

This one seems to have the same 50-100ms out of synch issue as the Californication episode. Very slight out of synch though, stays the same during the whole episode, still watchable cause the synch delay is very minor.

General
Complete name : The.Office.US.S06E05.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 559 MiB
Duration : 21mn 32s
Overall bit rate : 3 626 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-10-16 00:27:25
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.0.2 ('You're My Flame') built on Feb 21 2007 23:40:55
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 21mn 31s
Bit rate : 3 170 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 3 240 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.143
Stream size : 488 MiB (87%)
Writing library : x264 core 77 r1287 287641a
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=0 / bitrate=3240 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 21mn 32s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 59.2 MiB (11%)

Firmware 1.2.00: South Park S13E01 720p h264-CtrlHD.mkv

Here's a slightly lower bitrate version of the South Park 720p episodes. This one plays the whole intro sequence perfectly smooth as well, I don't think it had any frame drop issues at all. Not sure if it had audio synch issue or not, the whole episode was perfectly watchable on HDTV output.

General
Complete name : South Park S13E01 720p h264-CtrlHD.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 489 MiB
Duration : 22mn 10s
Overall bit rate : 3 084 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-04-05 17:43:20
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.4.0 ('Fumbling Towards Ecstasy') built on Oct 11 2008 20:13:15
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 2
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 22mn 9s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
colour_primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
transfer_characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
matrix_coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177

Audio
ID : 1
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version : Version 4
Format profile : LC
Format settings, SBR : No
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 22mn 10s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits

[eagle1]

Only TV Series?
No movies yet?!?
Or you just don't want your A5A to look bad trying to play movies 720p and skipping all over the place!?!?

[Charbax]

TV series are probably about 50% of the 720p MKV "Scene Releases" that people download. So it's a good start if Archos can support most of them.

I currently need to fix my WiFi/Samba filesharing so I can't stream all my HD movies easily over my local network right now, and it's not super fast to transfer 4-8GB movies over USB to computer to USB, also given my computer is kind of old. Some of my 720p MKV movies, maybe half, have this DTS audio codec so not going to work, at least not for now. Hopefully Archos can add DTS audio support free or by a DTS plugin, or included for free in the Cinema HD plugin..

Also, for all my tests so far I watch the whole videos from start to the end to notice if anything happens that makes it unwatchable and try to count eventually approximately how many there might have been of those slight frame-drop keyframes and for how long they were, so if with the current firmware if that makes the experience still watchable or if it might make the experience disturbing.

Obviously consumers will want to have a flawless video playback experience, so hopefully Archos fixes this slight audio synch issue and improves the way it handles bitrate peaks for all those TV series.

Then, if they increase the bitrate support enough to also support all 720p movies or not, that is to be seen. I'll try to ask my Archos contact again if they have any specific details from Texas Instruments or otherwise for exactly what bitrate is expected to be supported at the maximum with the best optimizations.

I would expect, that if they use ext3 to support 4GB+ files, then that should mean that they expect all even higher bitrate MKV movies to be supported.

Anyways, instead of this discussion, I will do a few more tests and post my first extensive HD video review later today as well. Maybe I'll post it as a HD MKV download as well.

[perrin21]

Most of them have just 2 channel audio. Does your contact at archos have any time to talk to someone less accepting of it's faults?

[Charbax]

Most of them have just 2 channel audio. Does your contact at archos have any time to talk to someone less accepting of it's faults?

5 out of the 7 I tested here are 6 channel audio.

perrin, you won't get them to prioritize supporting your mod2 encodes. It's just wrong way to encode video the way you did it. This thread is about popular MKV files that are encoded by pros and are the types of MKV files that most people have. Very few people actually encode their own MKV files.

[v_c]

perrin, you won't get them to prioritize supporting your mod2 encodes. It's just wrong way to encode video the way you did it. This thread is about popular MKV files that are encoded by pros and are the types of MKV files that most people have. Very few people actually encode their own MKV files.

Please drop this ill-informed opinion you have of perrins encodes. You know nothing about x264 and are just repeating information you have read elsewhere.

mod2 is not considered an issue in the x264 community. Some use it, some don't. It is a tiny bit less efficient than mod16, but very negligible depending on whether it is mod2+ or mod2-.

Pretty much every software decoder supports it, and most hardware decoders. There is nothing 'off spec' about it. There is no extra processing power required, so instead of complaining about it, you should just encourage Archos to fix it. It should be a very simple fix.

[Charbax]

You know nothing about x264

What do you know about it that I don't.

I know that none of these "Scene Releases" in this thread use resolutions that are not divisible by 16. It's always been like that for all video codecs that have advanced compression technologies. They encode pixels based on the set of pixels around it. And if you add some random non-compliant amount of pixels at one of the sides of the video, it just screws up the whole efficiency of the encoding algorithm.

you should just encourage Archos to fix it. It should be a very simple fix.

I'd much rather Archos focus on making sure all the "Scene Releases" work perfectly smooth before them taking care of perrin's random resolution home made encoded on macintosh files that he keeps complaining about.

[v_c]

I'll say it again Charbax: mod2 is not an issue in the x264 community. It was in the old days of Xvid etc, but not anymore. Some people use it, some don't. It is a little less efficient than mod16, but then so is mod8 which is allowable in the height of scene release. In the case of mod2-, it is more efficient than mod8.

But the fact is that the x264 encoder fully supports mod2 resolutions, all software decoders support it, and most hardware decoders support it. So it is up to Archos if they want to be in the category of normal hardware devices that support it, of it they want to be grouped in with the rest of the 'screwy' devices that can't manage it.

I think it is great that Archos are taking the step towards MKV support; they are the first major PMP manufacturer to do so (better than Apple, Microsoft etc). But it is important to keep an open attitude and accept that it will take time to get things right - anamorphic aspects, multiple audio/sub streams, non mod16 resolutions etc. Instead of simply dismissing what people are saying, you should be listening to them, and maybe passing on the complaints to Archos so they can make a better device.

[eagle1]

Anyways, instead of this discussion, I will do a few more tests and post my first extensive HD video review later today as well. Maybe I'll post it as a HD MKV download as well.

Much Thanks!!

[Crlrhxphn]

I have been noticing aac 5.1 lately and when the archos tries to play it the video plays but no audio.

[kramer28]

Great mini-reviews with the episode shows but waiting anxiously for the high resolutions films....

(ie. 1280 X 720, 4000-6000 kbps, etc.)

[eagle1]

I don't think they work well... (Charbax would have posted this long ago if they did!)