Video playback issues

[blueeagle69]

Hi.
I seem to be having audio sync issues.
I've tried two videos so far. One mp4 and one avi(don't know what codec). And on both videos, the audio is out of sync. Tried moving them from my 16gb external to the internal storage, but each time the same result. When skipping
the video the video starts straight away and the audio kicks in around a second later. Same result when playing video from the start.
I have also tried 3 different media players.
If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it.
I was planning on using my scroll as a media player, but so far that isn't happening.
Also I know some people talk about it dropping wifi. Mine only seems to do it, when it's on standby which is probably normal.

[marcknuckle]

dont know if this will help but try mx player and there is an options to change the encoder between hardware (HW) and software (SW) encoder. see if this helps.

[blueeagle69]

Thanks I will.
It seems that BBC iplayer is out of sync too. Very odd. Especially with a 16mb connection.

[blueeagle69]

Hi.
Just installed mx player, but got the same result. It also seems as if my screen is on a go slow. Whatever video I try, Youtube, iplayer or encoded movies on my sd card, the audio is out of sync, and drives me insane

[moaxial]

I have the SAME issue in IPlayer, Flash, Moboplayer, (which switches from hardware to software decoding for most files) and Bubble UPNP all play slightly out of sync. The delay is enough to be annoying though.

My Samsung Galaxy S (MK1) phone plays all the same files/online without issue, and I know it is (or was) a premium smart phone with great file format support. I am comparing it to a budget tablet but I still feel the spec of Excel is similar and should be up to it, so I reckon this is most likely a software/firmware issue.

You and I aren't the only ones to have this issue, I've seen this mentioned in a few other posts, so I think we can say its a proper ISSUE rather than a one off/application issue.

Playing games, surfing, general use are all fine (except the odd flakey WIFI issue), but this is punted as a video player (1080P, 3D etc), so lets hope the next FW revison tackles this.

Does anyone know if Storage Options read this forum? I suppose you'd have to raise a proper ticket with them?

[blueeagle69]

No mate, I haven't as yet. But I'm going too.

I am glad I'm not on my own.
I'm surprised the lovely Suzie didn't. pick up on that one.
I do agree though its a great tablet. The games do fly on it.

But I will be raising this Storage Options tomorrow.
Thanks for heads up.
I'm glad I got the calendar working too.

[blueeagle69]

I was Googling earlier. And found a few Android users suffering from the same problem.

And then someone said, that they decided to try a video that hadn't been encoded to death (my words), and was encoded to Xvid.

So I decided to have a look at the movies on my PS3. And one of them, Toystory 3 that I converted from DVD ages ago (Yeah I know, it's for the kids. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) was encoded to 720x400 Xvid.

And what do you know, it seems to play fantastic. Looked good to on the screen.
I will still be raising an issue, but it's an interesting one.

If you haven't played Blood & Glory yet on the Excel, I highly recommend it. It shows what the tablet can do.
I found one weird game though that doesn't play ball.
The Race of Champions. The sound plays like it's in slow motion, but the FPS is fantastic and super smooth.
I suppose I could play with no volume.

[moaxial]

Thanks for that.

A lot of my stuff is xvid, but it may well be "encoded to death", so I will try some more films and formats...

Still rubbish though, YES, this happens on other Android devices to a lesser extent i.e. a few films/formats. On the Excel it's 99% of films, formats, inc IPlayer, Youtube etc, well just about everything!

I think I will raise an issue with them too, for this and random wifi/sleep reboots.

UPDATE: Tried over a dozen film/tv files I would say roughly 25% work great, 25% are bearable by switching players and HW/SW codecs, the rest are unwatchable. Oh, and I logged an official support call with them for this and the wifi issue today.

[Charlie]

As for the lip-sync and video playback issues, the same problem happens with the 1st gen scroll (that was released Dec, 2010) - And there has been NO fixes as of yet for it - so it looks unlikely there will be any for the Excel either.

Not great that the SO and The Gadget show promote it as a tablet with 3D, HDMI (output) - so you can connect it to your TV for video playback. (which it does) but they forgot to mention the poor quality and audio issues!

[moaxial]

Thanks for the heads up on that mate,

I was worried that was the case when I saw the original scrolls also suffer from wifi issues which affect these too!

Well if there's no response from them in the month or so, I'll probably return it. I bought it from a local shop so I'll take it back to them. I can connect my Samsung Galaxy S (1) to my TV via scart, the quality is not great but it stays in sync. I expect at least the same if not more from this.

Not fit for purpose if it cannot play video properly when its a key feature on the box and adverts.

Thanks again for the friendly warning!