Darker On The Gp2x

[michaeljustman]

I'm currently planning on encoding my DivX movie collection (all movies I actually own of course) into 320x240 (obviously keeping the originals in a safe place) .

I've noticed that movies are darker on the screen than on my computer. Should I use filters and brighten it for the GP2X screen? Will this make a difference? Is thier a better way?

 

[reiboul]

you may use cpu_speed.gpe to brighten your screen B)

 

[gamefan999]

Proably not a good idea to do any filtering/adjusting of video unless you absolutely have to. Dark video gamma on LCD screens is an infamous problem, I have had LCD screens longer than most people and have been wrestling with it forever. It will be much better if you can find a solution that involves brightening the hardware (even if it is just for the time that you watch movies), since that is really where the problem lies, and unnecessarily tweaking encoded video can get very messy very quickly. Plus realize that if you ever did TV-out, you would then have to deal with the heightened gamma on the TV. Good luck.

BTW, how will you convert to DivX? Have you tried FairUse? It's my favorite! http://fairusewizard.com/

 

[LordFu]

If you use PocketDivX to do the re-encoding, and select the iRiver template, it will automatically brighten your videos. It's what I use for converting my DVDs and videos to 320*240. It works great.

 

[Dzz]

I'm currently planning on encoding my DivX movie collection (all movies I actually own of course) into 320x240 (obviously keeping the originals in a safe place) .

I've noticed that movies are darker on the screen than on my computer. Should I use filters and brighten it for the GP2X screen? Will this make a difference? Is thier a better way?

I just recently picked up a Mk2 and I was shocked by the difference in the screens. To me it looks like the "contrast" setting on the Mk2 screen is turned up ridiculously high. I think it looks terrible. I wonder if the new firmware will have a contrast adjustment?

 

[michaeljustman]

BTW at how will you convert to DivX? Have you tried FairUse? It's my favorite! http://fairusewizard.com/

I use Magic DVD Ripper and then use Virtual Dub if I need to re-encode. (Virtual Dub's great if you need to do a direct stream copy from another container format. Google adds some tags to thier Google video AVI files, so I use Virtual Dub to strip the unofficial meta-information from them without re-encoding.)

 

[TheMinder]

I'll echo that 1000% - i've been messing with my Mark 2 a lot over the past couple of days and the screen is an abortion compared to my old Mark 1, not only the contrast etc, the viewing angle is pitiful as well.

No wonder i never managed to source a replacement Mark 1 screen , as anyone with any sense will be clinging on to them for dear life.

 

[Dzz]

I'll echo that 1000% - i've been messing with my Mark 2 a lot over the past couple of days and the screen is an abortion compared to my old Mark 1, not only the contrast etc, the viewing angle is pitiful as well.

No wonder i never managed to source a replacement Mark 1 screen , as anyone with any sense will be clinging on to them for dear life.

Note: I know that there is a tweaker program that can improve this, which I should try... but I am a game developer and I want to make sure that my games look decent on the systems that people will be normally using. If the firmware has an adjustment to fix this I can assume that people might play with it, but if not I don't want to tell people to download another utility to make my game look good.

Edit: sorry if this is somwhat off-topic for this subject but I think it is also the cause of the video-too-dark thing that the topic is about, and tweaking the setting with the tweaker program and hopefully a new firmware could save a lot of video re-encoding time.

 

[michaeljustman]

I was unaware that the cpu-tweaker did gamma. Thanks a lot. I just finished watching Armageddon with the gamma at 1.6. I can see everything!!!

 

[nubie]

I'm currently planning on encoding my DivX movie collection (all movies I actually own of course) into 320x240 (obviously keeping the originals in a safe place) .

I've noticed that movies are darker on the screen than on my computer. Should I use filters and brighten it for the GP2X screen? Will this make a difference? Is thier a better way?

I just recently picked up a Mk2 and I was shocked by the difference in the screens. To me it looks like the "contrast" setting on the Mk2 screen is turned up ridiculously high. I think it looks terrible. I wonder if the new firmware will have a contrast adjustment?

As I see it the LED backlight was changed from battery dependant (would flicker as load on the batteries changed) to a power source provided by the DC-DC convertor chip at about 17 volts.

They compensate by turning the gamma and contrast down. Lame, I wish they would put in a voltage changing circuit or software for the LED backlights, that way we can dim and brighten properly.

I must say that with the new LEDs it is more visible in daylight and at night it lights up my whole room (I even projected that 3D silver cow demo onto my roof with a magnifying glass, very bright).

Just some info on the hardware side of why it is like this. I also like the pixel die-off time of the MK2 screen, it leaves less flicker than the MK1 because it stays luminescent longer.

If you want to make the all-around experience better try finding out how the DC-DC convertor sets the LED voltage and look into putting a POT (variable resistor) into the resistor pair circuit. I doubt it is software set, but if it is, then it would be even simpler.

 

[gamefan999]

BTW at how will you convert to DivX? Have you tried FairUse? It's my favorite! http://fairusewizard.com/

I use Magic DVD Ripper and then use Virtual Dub if I need to re-encode. (Virtual Dub's great if you need to do a direct stream copy from another container format. Google adds some tags to thier Google video AVI files, so I use Virtual Dub to strip the unofficial meta-information from them without re-encoding.)

Magic Ripper does a one-pass encode? And the only way to control filesize is by manually adjusting the DivX codec using a bitrate calculator? That is really oldschool, plus a lot of manual work, and the one-pass encode is simply unacceptable and totally undesireable. You really want your conversion software to do at least a two-pass encode.

Then you *re-encode* with VirtualDub using filters? So you're reeencoding your reencoded movie? You are losing a lot of bits this way, not to mention adding a lot of encoding time. There are apps that will add gamma/contrast adjustment filters to the initial encode, plus do two-pass encoding, and doing things like automatically adjusting the resizing, too.

FairUse can't adjust gamma/brightness, but here's a list of tools from videohelp.com, a very good video metasite that emphasizes lots of freeware options, and has tons of links to software, guides, reviews, tutorials, etc.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?s=30#30

 

[LordFu]

My only complaint on the Mk2 screen is the viewing angle. The contrast and brightness don't bother me, but I've never seen a Mk1, either.

Hey Dzz, couldn't a game offer a brightness adjustment in the settings, ala duke nukem' and DrMDx? There's no accounting for personal taste, so options are always good.

 

[Claym99]

If you had an MK1 and an MK2 could you put the screen from the 1 into the 2?

 

[michaeljustman]

BTW at how will you convert to DivX? Have you tried FairUse? It's my favorite! http://fairusewizard.com/

I use Magic DVD Ripper and then use Virtual Dub if I need to re-encode. (Virtual Dub's great if you need to do a direct stream copy from another container format. Google adds some tags to thier Google video AVI files, so I use Virtual Dub to strip the unofficial meta-information from them without re-encoding.)

Magic Ripper does a one-pass encode? And the only way to control filesize is by manually adjusting the DivX codec using a bitrate calculator? That is really oldschool, plus a lot of manual work, and the one-pass encode is simply unacceptable and totally undesireable. You really want your conversion software to do at least a two-pass encode.

Then you *re-encode* with VirtualDub using filters? So you're reeencoding your reencoded movie? You are losing a lot of bits this way, not to mention adding a lot of encoding time. There are apps that will add gamma/contrast adjustment filters to the initial encode, plus do two-pass encoding, and doing things like automatically adjusting the resizing, too.

FairUse can't adjust gamma/brightness, but here's a list of tools from videohelp.com, a very good video metasite that emphasizes lots of freeware options, and has tons of links to software, guides, reviews, tutorials, etc.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?s=30#30

I know. It's not perfect, but is sufficient for playing my movies on my computer or on my GP2X...

I'm not making archival copies of my DVD collection or anything, so it needn't be perfect.


----Ignore after, found FairUse FAQ--->
I tried out FairUse and I like it... I know what an .IFO and a .VOB file are... this is so I can burn these to a DVD with the .AVI file??

And what are the .fud files? (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt? ) Huh?