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Video Quality Technote & Video Conversions

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RokuLyndon
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The BrightSign "compact" models are capable of producing excellent high quality High Definition video output. However, video quality can be reduced if a system isn't configured properly. This document describes what affects video quality, and how to ensure you get the best results. Many topics are covered including:
  • Avoiding Scaling to improve quality
  • Using Progressive conttent vs Interlaced
  • Constant Bitrate vs Variable
  • Mpeg2 vs H.264 encoding
http://www.brightsign.biz/documents/HDCompact_VideoQualityTechnote.pdf 1
  • MOV/MP4 to h.264 Transport Stream h.264 encoded videos that use an mp4 or mov container are now supported under firmware 3.5.68 and BrightAuthor 2.2.0.39. If you have mp4 files that don't use th eh.264 codec, one great utility for converting it to h.264 is Quicktime Pro.
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    24 comments

    • 0
      Avatar
      fferrari


      TSMuxer may be free but Snow Leopard does not support it.
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      Ok, you can also try vlc media player which is also supported on the macintosh.
    • 0
      Avatar
      fhaye101


      "RokuLyndon" wrote:

      The BrightSign "compact" models are capable of producing excellent high quality High
      Definition video output. However, video quality can be reduced if a system isn't
      configured properly. This document describes what affects video quality, and how to
      ensure you get the best results. Many topics are covered including:

      • Avoiding Scaling to improve quality
      • Using Progressive conttent vs Interlaced
      • Constant Bitrate vs Variable
      • Mpeg2 vs H.264 encoding


      http://www.brightsign.biz/documents/HDCompact_VideoQualityTechnote.pdf


      Converting Videos
      I'll be updating this to add some utilities that customers have recommended for converting videos so for playback on the Brightsgn.
      • MOV/MP4 to h.264 Transport Stream
        [i]TS Muxer is a free utility that works both on Mac and PC[/i]
        While the Brightsign doesn't currently support h.264 encoded videos that use an mp4 or mov container (coming soon), you can easily convert these videos to h.264 transport streams. And, since all you'll be changing is the container that's used, and not re-encoding the conversion will be faster, and shouldn't affect video quality.


      Great one there will be noting this. Thanks my friend.

      ______________________
      Fhaye Jones
      Turning Winds
    • 0
      Avatar
      beck.moloney


      Hi there,

      I'm new to using BrightSign and I'd like to make sure my understanding of supported file types is correct.

      I have an h.264 .mp4 video file. According to the documentation, BrightAuthor and BrightSign so not support .mp4 or .mov containers, but they do support h.264 transport streams. This means that to publish my video to the BrightSign player via BrightAuthor, the video file must have the extension .ts.

      I cannot simply change the existing file extension from .mp4 to .ts, rather I need to use some kind of utility to convert the file to .ts -- is this correct?

      Thanks!
      Beck
    • 0
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      RokuLyndon


      ok, this is true prior to beta firwmare 3.5.42.

      You would need to use something like tsmuxer to convert your mov/mp4 file to a transport stream, while keeping the same h.264 codec.

      With the 3.5 firmware, BrightAuthor hasn't been updated yet to see the new extensions. But, you can simply rename the videos to .ts and they'll play so long as you update the firmware to 3.5.
    • 0
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      beck.moloney


      Thanks, my video file won't play even though I have updated the firmware and changed the file extension to .ts. So I gather this means there's an issue with how the h.264 file itself has been encoded.

      I'll investigate further...

      Cheers,
      Beck
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      You could upload a sample file for us to test. I would verify the files are actually h.264.
    • 0
      Avatar
      Chris


      Hi.

      I had a couple of questions regarding playback of MPEG4s. I have created some 1024x768 MPEG4 video files to be played on the HD1010 outputting to VGA 1024x768 using TSMuxer to turn them into transport streams.

      My first question is: how do I get the video to playback full screen? It seems to be playing in 16x9 aspect ratio rather that 4x3

      My second question is: should I be using 720x756 MPEG2 encodes and letting the box do the upscale. The documentation I have read seems to suggest that the less scaling that the player has to do the better the quality of the video displayed.

      Any help would be greatly appreciated!

      Chris
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      If you publish a project to the brightsign using brightauthor, you can choose a 4x3 resolution. what resolution do you have the unit set to?

      Yes, ideally, I would encode the video to the resolution you want and reduce the need to scale.
    • 0
      Avatar
      Chris


      Thanks for your help. I didn't have it set to fill screen but it's playing correctly now.

      We're going to compare the quality between the 1024 MPEG4s and the 720x576 MPEG2s

      Thanks

      Chris
    • 0
      Avatar
      Kdippel


      With the newest release of BrightAuthor 2.2.0.39 and the BrightSign firmware 3.5.68, I am now able to publish .mov files.  Yay!  I would love to have an update of your document "Optimizing BrightSign Video Quality".  In the meantime, I have a client who wants to know the optimum DATA RATE that should be used for the H.264 videos they are encoding.  I want to tell them the resolution = 1920 x 1080, because that is our native display resolution.  Frames per sec = 29.97.  Do you agree?  But I don't know what DATA RATE to suggest.
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      Most of the specs are the same regarding bitrate. So, the same max data rate, of 25Mbps applies. As far as details for mov files, if you search the faq for codec or mov, you'll find requirements for mov files, but the rest of the video technote applies.
    • 0
      Avatar
      Rbyler


      I'm having a very similar problem.  I'm using a HD1010 with 3.7.44 firmware.  I have 16 MPG videos (We received as part of a traveling exhibit), which all but 1 look like they are MPEG2 format (25fps, 720x576).  The last one we received is 720x480 29.97fps).  The issue I'm having is the 29.97fps video plays audio and video fine on the HD1010.  However the rest only play the video with no audio.  All video's audio is 48hz audio.  This is setup as an interactive with 16 photos as 1 jpg, each photo is a touch button to play each video.

         I've tried tsmuxer and the 29.97fps video still works great.  The others still have no audio.  I can play all of the videos on a PC without any problems whatsoever so I'm not exactly sure what else to try.  Below is what I've tried so far:

      1.  Using Adobe Premier Pro I converted the files to MP4 format.  All videos played with audio but the videos were shaky.
      2.  Using Adobe Premier Pro I reconverted the files to MPEG2 format.  All videos played with audio but the videos were shaky.
      3.  Using tsmuxer I converted them all to ts format.  Only video with 29.97fps plays audio and the other 15 only play video but without shakiness.
      4.  I'm using a class 6 SDHC but also tried the videos on a SDHC I (45mb/s) with same result.  I thought with the shakiness it was a speed issue.

      This exhibit has to be up and running by friday Nov 18th.  ANY help would be appreciated.  Thanks Alan
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      Did you send this in to support?

      If your files have no audio, most likely the audio type is wrong. I didn't see that in your post. Is the audio format ac3 or pcm? The brightsign won't decode either. If they're mpeg2s, the simplest thing to do is use womble's mpeg-vcr to change the audio type to mpeg. It won't reencode your videos so there should be no quality loss.
    • 0
      Avatar
      Rbyler


      Lyndon,
        I was just going to put in a ticket when I tried an app that I have had for a while now.  It's call Abcc Free All Video Converter.  Converted a file to MP4 with the exact same size of original file with excellent quality and it works great.  Audio / Video and no shaking.  Just thought I would post in case someone else might have similar issue.
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      That's for the update. I'll check it out.
    • 0
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      sarahprinze20


      nice information thanks for sharing it with us..
    • 0
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      Hochleichter


      Hello

      I want to share my experience with the HD210 and h.264/MPEG4/MOV.

      I used 3 HD210-player to play in synch identical video. The synching between the devices worked well, but audio and video  within one device would get out of sync pretty fast. You could tell it after a playtime of about 5 minutes, and the delay would increase over time, the video being behind the audio.

      I tried several combinations of video codec / audio codec and container, and made sure I'm on the latest firmware, without success. Even breaking down the streams into several pieces, each in length around 20min, would not solve the problem. The bottom-line of my experience is that the HD210s are just a little to slow to play a longer video-stream with audio properly in sync when encoded in h.264.

      My next step will be going back to MPEG-2 TS encoding.

      Regards,
      Philipp Hochleichter
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      Can you send a sample of the video you were trying to sync? I know customers have synchronized videos over 30 minutes in length. The problem with h.264 is it's easier to get a file that's out of spec that we don't support.

      Also, with sync, transport streams work best. So, instead of generating an h.264 mov file, I'd recommend an h.264 ts file. You can use a free program like ts muxer to change the container type on your  mov to transport stream.

      But, if you send us your sample files, we can take a look at them.

      Either mpeg2 transport streams or h.264 transport streams should work well for sync.
    • 0
      Avatar
      Hochleichter


      Hi Lyndon,

      thanks for the reply. In the meantime I have performed a test where converting my movie to MPEG-2 TS, with the same results: Audio and Video loose sync, with the Audio being faster.

      I used the compression settings provided under this link, only changing it to 25fps as I'm in Germany, and the source material is 25p.

      As it's a 3h movie sending the file wouldn't be so easy (it's a good 10GB as a h.264 and nearly 30GB as MPEG-2). Maybe you could provide a working Encoder/settings that result in a file where Audio & Video play in sync?
      I'm on OS X Lion, have FCS and Adobe CS5.5. The source material is EX/720p25.

      Many thanks,
      Philipp
    • 0
      Avatar
      Hochleichter


      Hi Lyndon,

      any response would be very much appreciated.
      In general I like the players.

      Regards,
      Philipp
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      I need a sample clip sent to support so we can test it.
    • 0
      Avatar
      Hochleichter


      anytime

      just let me know where to send it to.
    • 0
      Avatar
      RokuLyndon


      send to support @ brightsign . biz.
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