Video problem for Omnia

[Guest sodenoshirayuki]

I just recently put some movies onto my omnia, hoping to watch them when i get bored when Im on the plane. I tried it once to make sure it works. The problem is, It will play but only sound comes out and it says video format is not supported. And all the movies are in avi. format. Is there a specific format i need to use? Is there anyway to fix this? Thanks.

[Guest dwallersv]

I just recently put some movies onto my omnia, hoping to watch them when i get bored when Im on the plane. I tried it once to make sure it works. The problem is, It will play but only sound comes out and it says video format is not supported. And all the movies are in avi. format. Is there a specific format i need to use? Is there anyway to fix this? Thanks.

The codecs supported by the native TouchPlayer or WMP is limited. AVI is simply a container (contains multiple media streams in a single file, in this case audio and video streams). The means used to encode those streams is not specified simply by it being in an AVI container, so I can't speak in more detail as to what the problem is, other than the video is encoded with a codec is not supported by the native codecs.

My guess is that it was probably encoded using DiVX/Xvid, with an AVC profile that's not supported. That's a lot of fancy detail that, unless you really want to get in to this stuff (in which case go join the doom9 forums and start studying and learning -- I'd highly recommend it for anyone that plans to use their Omnia for watching video downloaded to their device).

Your options are either install a better media player, or transcode the media to be compatible with the omnia built-in media apps.

The easiest is the first option. I'd recommend CorePlayer 1.3, which is IMO the best media player available for WM phones. Costs $30, and is worth every penny. Has nice, built-in integration with YouTube, which is a plus. Also will play media from pretty much all containers, codecs.

A bit more involved but still pretty easy is to grab MeGUI from doom9, install on your PC, and learn how to use it. Onthe scale of difficulty, it's pretty straightforward. You'll need to do some learning on the forum by reading through threads on MeGUI, but the interface is pretty easy. Use this application to transcode your AVI media suitable for your Omnia target (this will give you the opportunity to scale the video to fit Omnia resolution as well as encode with a compatible video profile, cutting WAY down on the file size, and improving the playback performance as well -- remember, if you play video higher resolution than the Omnia screen, all you're doing is taxing the CPU with scaling on the fly; you're not getting a sharper picture).

My recommendation is do both: Get CorePlayer, and learn how to use MeGUI to transcode media before loading it on your Omnia. In my (arrogant :( ) opinion, anyone that can afford an Omnia can afford $30 for a real media player.

Finally, if you're a technogeek like me, and get into this stuff just for the sake of hobby interest, spend a lot of time on doom9 and learn about avisynth, xvid, x264, besweet, lame, and on and on -- all the video manipulation details and freeware that allows you to do incredible stuff with audio and video.

Oh, one more thing... forgot what is, in my view, the best solution of all: Don't bother putting video files on your omnia at all. Install a streaming media server, like Orb (www.orb.com) on your PC, and simply access your media that way. The server transcodes on the fly for the target device, makes your media (music, video, pictures, etc.) available anywhere you have an internet connection (so a friend's PC, your laptop in a hotel when traveling, etc.). Further, for a modest investment in a TV capture card, you can watch your TV feed (cable, satellite, antenna) through Orb. I have DISHTV and watch it almost every day when i'm waiting, like at the doctor, getting new tires, picking up the kids from school, etc.

All through my Omnia.