Media player for mobile devices

[GrimmReaperNL]

Not really asking for anybody to fix something, just honestly looking for some help.

I'm currently using this player plug-in to display video's (flv) in my gallery.
Works prefectly fine on windows, but it gets weird (basicly because of my not-understanding) on android.
On my phone (only device i have to test mobile platform) i have flash and air installed (don't know if that helps or worsens my case).

Using the default android browser, it shows the player and plays the file, but stutters immensly.
Using chrome, it shows a thumbnail with a playbutton. clicking this opens a link in the default browser which then polls me to use a video player (currently have MX player (which plays the file just fine) and the default (which doesn't play the file)).
It doesn't seem to matter if i turn 'request desktop version' on or off.

Who can help me get a smooth picture on mobile devices?

Here's a link to a video in said gallery, in case you need one for testing or whatever.
http://www.avantcourir.nl/cpg/displayimage.php?album=157&pid=15117

[phill104]

All coppermine does here is act as a repositry for your files. Sadly, flash has all sorts of problems especially on mobile devices. To get it to work on mobile at a decent speed all depends on the quality that you encoded your video at in the first place. If you encoded it at a high bit rate then it will always have trouble streaming.

Maybe this link will help - http://www.tested.com/tech/android/1966-how-to-properly-encode-video-for-android-devices/

Personally I would encode them in one of the HTML5 compatible formats though I have not tested this with CPG yet. Maybe Andre has some ideas on that.

[GrimmReaperNL]

All coppermine does here is act as a repositry for your files. Sadly, flash has all sorts of problems especially on mobile devices. To get it to work on mobile at a decent speed all depends on the quality that you encoded your video at in the first place. If you encoded it at a high bit rate then it will always have trouble streaming.

That makes sense

Maybe this link will help - http://www.tested.com/tech/android/1966-how-to-properly-encode-video-for-android-devices/

I'll have a stab at their general suggestion. Encode a file a couple of times differently and see what works.

Personally I would encode them in one of the HTML5 compatible formats though I have not tested this with CPG yet. Maybe Andre has some ideas on that.

HTML5 does seem to work on all platforms (with current browsers, obviously). Seeing you said you haven't tried with CPG yet. I'm guessing there's no plug-in for it yet.
I've tried using the new JW player 6 with the CPG plug-in I linked, but I'm not good at it. Got a player showing up, but it told me it couldn't find the source file.

Thanks for the quick reply Phill

[Αndré]

JW Player 6 automatically selects the best playback for your viewer's device and browser, so you deliver unparalleled video experience on iPhone, iPad, Android, and the Desktop.

I'll check that in detail.

[Αndré]

Please try the flash media player plugin version 2.1. Here you can find the supported media formats of the player: http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player/28836/media-format-support

[phill104]

Great work Andre.

Just of note from the longtail site

Removed: Flash mode on AndroidFlash support and availability on Android is lackluster. JW6 therefore does not support Flash on Android. Please make your media compatible with HTML5 when targeting Android devices.

[Αndré]

To make it even more concrete, it's recommended to use the mp4 format if your video files should be played on all devices:

MP4 videos using the H.264 video codec and the AAC audio codec. MP4 is of high quality and can be played in all browsers and devices. It is today's video format of choice.

For audio files it's fine to use aac or mp3.

[GrimmReaperNL]

Thanks for the update André! I'll make sure to check it out and let you know.
And thanks for the pointer Phill. I'll make sure to encode to mp4.

[GrimmReaperNL]

So I converted a video 3 times. 1080p, 720p HBR and 720p [link]
These now work find on android. It loads the HTML5 player.

However, on windows it now tells me it can't load the video file.

[Αndré]

Works almost for me with Firefox 18.0.1 on Windows 7, though it loads the whole video before it starts to play. Almost, as I just get the sound but no video. Haven't checked the video file in detail yet.

[phill104]

The test videos work fine for me on both my iPad and on win7 with ie9 and on win8 with ie10.

[GrimmReaperNL]

Works almost for me with Firefox 18.0.1 on Windows 7, though it loads the whole video before it starts to play. Almost, as I just get the sound but no video. Haven't checked the video file in detail yet.

The test videos work fine for me on both my iPad and on win7 with ie9 and on win8 with ie10.

That is so weird. I've tried with:

• ie9 - 'error loading file' on 2 different computers
  
• Chrome - 'error loading file' on 2 different computers
  
• Slimbrowser - 'error loading file' on 2 different computers
  
• Firefox - loads full file, only gives audio.
  
• Android browser - works
  
• Android chrome - works
  

These were all with the mp4 file.

The previously uploaded videos (flv) all still play fine on windows, but not on android. Do I have to readd them to the gallery?

[Jeff Bailey]

Also works for me in Chrome on Vista.
Is error loading file the only error text you see?
Maybe use the developer tools in the browser to see exactly what is trying to be loaded.

[Αndré]

This is what I get on Windows XP using Chrome (see attachment). Chrome is using the HTML5 player. I'm currently not able to check your encoded video file, but maybe this guide helps: http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player/28838/mp4-video-encoding

[GrimmReaperNL]

This is what I get on Windows XP using Chrome (see attachment). Chrome is using the HTML5 player. I'm currently not able to check your encoded video file, but maybe this guide helps: http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player/28838/mp4-video-encoding

yes, i'm getting that same error.

the exact specs for the encoded videos are:

• 1080 - 1920x1080, 7Mbit/s, AAC 320Kbit/s, 48 kHz
  
• 720 HBR - 1280x720, 4Mbit/s, AAC 256 Kbit/s, 48 kHz
  
• 720 - 1280x720, 2.5Mbit/s, AAC 192 Kbit/s, 48 kHz
  

All 3 of these work on android, but gives me that error in aformentioned browsers.

Also works for me in Chrome on Vista.
Is error loading file the only error text you see?
Maybe use the developer tools in the browser to see exactly what is trying to be loaded.

I've attached the <td> the video is in .

[phill104]

Can you upload the original file somewhere so that I can download it and try encoding it myself.

[Veronica]

Current video versions works ok for me on: Opera, Chrome, FireFox, IE8 and Safari on XP

[GrimmReaperNL]

Can you upload the original file somewhere so that I can download it and try encoding it myself.

http://avantcourir.nl/cpg/albums/gallery/2013/Drachten1/AC_Juniorclass2013_Drachten1.mpg is my source file.

Current video versions works ok for me on: Opera, Chrome, FireFox, IE8 and Safari on XP

Thanks for trying. I've had a couple of guy I know try on their desktops and mobile devices (android and ios) too. mobile devices work, desktops it doesn't.. isn't webdev fun?! >.<

[Αndré]

I wonder why it worked for Veronica. Veronica, can you please check if the flash player or the HTML5 player has been used on each browser? Thanks!

[phill104]

It worked for me on my work laptop yesterday but today at home it does not (fine on ios though). I am experimenting with different encoding methods as we speak. What software are you using to convert the videos?