Friday, January 9, 2015

High Quality Video Compression: Integrating an H.265/HEVC Solution for Android Platforms

This article introduces Strongene's H.265/HEVC solution on Intel Atom processor-based Android tablet. If you have any H.265 playback problem on Android or wanna an alternative, please refer.

For the HD videos are very popular today, most of us must have some HEVC files in Android Platforms. Here offers you some effective H.265/HEVC Solutions, we will provide you with information on products and services that we consider useful and of value to developers.
 


Abstract

According to the International Data Corporation, the total amount of global data for 2012 reached 2.7 zettabytes, an increase of 48% from 2011. Ninety percent of the global data was videos. Video apps consumed 66% of the total Internet data flow, and that number continues to increase rapidly. End users want to watch high quality videos but, for online video providers, costs of purchasing the network bandwidth and the storage devices grow increasingly expensive every year. How can video content providers meet the challenge of large data sources and their increasing storage requirements? Is it possible to achieve high quality videos with smaller bandwidth? The solution to these challenges is found in utilizing a video core compression technique known as High Efficiency Video Coding (H.265/HEVC).

Some open source communities such as FFmpeg are developing an H.265/HEVC decoder, but the performance has not yet reached commercial use capability. Strongene Ltd., a producer of video codec core technology, has developed advanced H.265/HEVC encoder/decoder solutions, including optimized H.265/HEVC encoder/decoder libraries and demonstration codes for Intel® Atom™ processor-based Android platforms. This article introduces Strongene's H.265/HEVC solution on Intel Atom processor-based Android tablet (condenamed Bay Trail).

Strongene's H.265/HEVC Solution

To evaluate a good video standard, we generally use efficiency and compatibility standards. The video standard evolution over the past 20 years is shown in the following graph:


video standard evolution

Figure1. Video standard history

H.265/HEVC is the successor codec to H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding), both were developed jointly by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group and ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG). The primary goal of the new codec is to provide 50% better compression efficiency than H.264 and support resolutions up to 8192 x 4320.

As shown in Figure 1, it took 9 years to evolve from MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC, so more challenges are expected to be encountered in moving from the H.264/AVC standard to the H.265/HEVC standard. Gaps between the technical concept and the actual quality of the product still exist for H.265/HEVC. However, H.265/HEVC does a good job of balancing the efficiency and compatibility requirements, which make up the next level of video standards.

Strongene's H.265/HEVC solutions were optimized using YASM assembler compiler, Intel® C++ Compiler, Intel® Streaming SIMD Extensions (Intel® SSE), and Intel® Threading Building Blocks (Intel® TBB), with OpenGL* used for rendering. By directly uploading the decoded YUV420 data to the GPU, it finishes the transcoding of YUV data to RGB data and renders the RGB data to LCD. This reduces the CPU's workload and improves performance. The data stream is shown in the following diagram:
CPU's workload

Figure2. Render method comparison

On an Intel Atom processor-based tablet (codenamed Bay Trail), after having been tested by Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers (Intel® GPA) tool, the optimized H.265/HEVC decoder refresh rate can reach 90 FPS (frames per second) when playing a 1080p HEVC video. If we set the refresh rate to 24 FPS on the Bay Trail tablet when playing the 1080p video, the CPU workload is less than 25%. Thus, Strongene's H.265/HEVC solution achieves commercial use capability.

Analysis of the APIs of Strongene's H.265/HEVC Solution

The APIs of Strongene's H.265/HEVC solution are easily used directly with or integrated into FFmpeg open source. Strongene defined five functions and one structure for the H.265/HEVC decoder, as listed below:

Structure:

lenthevcdec_ctx;

Description: It is the context of decoder for identifying different decoders.

Functions:

1. Unit32_t lenthevcdec_version(void);

Description: For getting API version of current library.

2. lenthevcdec_ctx lenthevcdec_create(int threads, int comoatibility, void* reserved);

Description: Create decoder with specified parameters.

Example: 

int32_t got_frame, width, height, stride[3], ret, i;
uint8_t* pixels[3];
int64_tpts, got_pts;
for ( i = 0; i <au_count; i++ ) {
pts = i * 40;
got_frame = 0;
ret = lenthevcdec_decode_frame(ctx, au_buf + au_pos[i], au_pos[i + 1] -
au_pos[i], pts,&got_frame, &width, &height, stride, (void**)pixels,
&got_pts);
if ( ret < 0 ) {
fprintf(stderr, 
"calllenthevcdec_decode_frame failed! ret=%dn", ret);
exit(1);
}
if ( got_frame> 0 ) {
printf("decode frame, %dx%d, pts is %" PRId64 "n", 
width, height, got_pts);
/* got frame, do something ... */
}


How to Integrate Strongene's H.265/HEVC Solution

Developers can easily integrate these five functions when developing HEVC video players. The documentation and sample code are available from Strongene's download web site.

Developers can directly call the Strongene's H.265/HEVC APIs to develop their video players, or they can merge Strongene's H.265/HEVC patch for FFmpeg, and then use the merged FFmpeg APIs to develop their video players. The following paragraph introduces the two methods separately.

Directly Use Strongene's APIs to Develop Video Players
On Strongene's web site, developers can download the:
  • sample code testdec.c/lenthevcdec.h 
  • decoder: liblenthevcdec.so 
  • documents: lenthevcdec_en.pdf, the Makefile 

Copy the sample code to Ubuntu* build machine into separate folders: 

wangsy@ubuntu:~/Desktop cp testdec.c Makefille ~/hevc/src
wangsy@ubuntu:~/Desktop cp lenthevcdec.h  ~/hevc/include
wangsy@ubuntu:~/Desktop cp liblenthevcdec.so ~/hevc/lib/Android_x86 

Set up ANDROID_NDK_HOME environment with the "export" command:

export ANDROID_NDK_HOME= $ ANDROID_NDK_HOME :/~/android-ndk-r9c 

Then you can run the demo on the Android devices directly.

Use the H.265/HEVC Patch for FFmpeg to Develop the Video Players
In fact, most developers will use the open source FFmpeg to develop their video players. Strongene's web site also provides the patch for FFmpeg, which can be downloaded from:lentoid_ffmpeg2.0_patch_2014_01_23_new_encoder_interface.patch

To merge this patch, you should also download and decompress the FFmpeg 2.0.4 version. Then add the patch:

wangsy@ubuntu:~/ffmpeg-2.0.4
patch &ndash;p1 < ./lentoid_ffmpeg2.0_patch_2014_01_23_new_encoder_interface.patch

Copy the downloaded headfile and the libs code to ~/ffmpeg-2.0.4/thirdparty 

cp lenthevcdec.h lenthevcenc.h liblenthevcdec.so liblenthevcenc.so ~/ffmpeg-2.0.4/thirdparty 

Copy the following configure file to ~/ffmpeg-2.0.4 and add the "run" permissions: 

wangsy@ubuntu: cp build_x86.sh ~/ffmpeg-2.0.4
wangsy@ubuntu: sudo chmod a+x ~/ffmpeg-2.0.4/build_x86.sh 

Download build_x86.txt

Run the configure file "build_x86.sh" (embedded above), then run the "make" and "make install" commands. The merged FFmpeg with Strongene's H.265/HEVC patch should now be built successfully. The output libs will be under ~/FFmpeg2.0.4/android/x86/lib. You can use these output libs in your video players.

Summary

The H.265/HEVC standard is becoming more and more popular in the mobile market. Online video providers, mobile Internet users, and broadcast/TV operators are the beneficiaries of this new video revolution, along with users. To produce the results described in this article, Strongene's H.265/HEVC solutions were fully optimized for Intel® Atom™ processor-based Android platforms, so don't hesitate to adopt their solutions to develop HEVC players. 

via codeproject.com 

Editor's Note:

Didn't understand? Never mind! Due to the complex process, you may meet unexpected problems. Please comment below.

If you need an easy-to-use yet powerful H.265 encoder, decoder and converter, the upgraded Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate will be the perfect solution. It is clean and safe to install and use. With it, you can not only effortlessly transcode Blu-ray, DVD and non-H.265 video to H.265/HEVC MP4 for Android, but also decode H.265 video to any video format for playback on media player, Android devices and game consoles without problems. It works well and converts flawlessly. 

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Convert FLV MKV MTS MP4 WMV AVI to Blackberry Z10/Z30 in a Simplest Way

This tutorial shares best Blackberry Video Converter and guide on how to convert video to Blackberry Z10/Z30 for you to play whatever video freely.

Blackberry delivers an incredible multimedia experience on the go, so I am thinking of buying the new Blackberry Z10 or Z30 for movie enjoyment. I have never bought any Blackberry product before. Can someone tell me if I can play videos on Blackberry Z10/Z30 directly or if not? Any restrictions? Is there any neat Blackberry Z10/Z30 video converter to help with this?
Convert FLV MKV MTS MP4 WMV AVI to Blackberry Z10/Z30

In this article, we will bring an easy solution to convert FLV MKV MTS MP4 WMV AVI videos to Blackberry Z10/Z30 with a reliable Blackberry video converter.

Supported Video Formats for Blackberry Z10/Z30

Before you transfer movies onto BlackBerry Z10 or Z30 you need to know BlackBerry supported format and best compatible format below:

Video codec support

Blackberry Z10/Z30 Video codec support

Audio codec support

Blackberry Z10/Z30 Audio codec support

Best Video Converter for Blackberry Z10/Z30

The above Blackberry Z10/Z30 video formats are obviously not sufficient to cover all the videos as they exist in hundreds of different formats like MKV, AVI, MTS etc and various codecs turn that number into the thousands.

Feel confused? Don't worry, there is a professional Blackberry Video Converter named Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate, which is specially designed for BlackBerry users (including BlackBerry Tour, BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl, and so on.) to convert WMV, FLV, VOB, MTS, MPEG, AVI to Blackberry Z10/Z30 playable format. It is known as best Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate Alternative and top Ultimate Converter.

How to Convert FLV MKV MTS MP4 WMV AVI to Blackberry Z10/Z30 

Step 1. Download and install Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate, then lanuch it.

Step 2. Import video files.

Load your video files like MKV, AVI, VOB, Tivo, WMV, MTS, MXF, MOV, TOD, MOD, 3GP, FLV, F4V, M4V, etc. to this Blackberry Video Converter by clicking the second icon “Add video”.

Blackberry Video Converter

Step 3. Choose output format.

MP4 format is the best format for BlackBerry Z10/Z30. Click "Format" menu and go through the dropdown list, you are recommended to choose the "H.264 Video(*.mp4)" under "Common Video" which fits for BlackBerry Z10/Z30.

best format for BlackBerry Z10/Z30

Tips: Click "Settings" button to adjust video and audio parameters like bitrate, size, audio channels, etc to meet your requirement.

Step 4. Convert Various Videos to BlackBerry Z10/Z30.

Hit the big "Convert" button to start converting videos for BlackBerry phone and if you do not remember the location of generated files, click "Open" button to find it quickly. Now start transferring converted video to BlackBerry Z10/Z30 for playback. 

With this powerful Blackberry video converter, all movies including Blu-rayDVD and videos downloaded from the Internet, shot with digital cameras, camcorders, cell phones, tablets, and output from screen recording program, video editing software etc can be easily converted to Blackberry Z10/Z30 with faster speed and no quality loss. Take action to have a try!

Also you can use 
Skype app or play top 5+ Free BlackBerry 10 games on your Blackberry Z10. 

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Is it possible to edit Sony PMW-200 XDCAM footage on Mac FCP without XDCAM Transfer?

This post explains how to re wrap video files taken with a Sony PMW-200 to ProRes 422 .mov for editing in Final Cut Pro fluidly with best quality.

Sony is unveiling the newest addition to its XDCAM HD4:2:2 line – the PMW-200 camcorder. This new model boasts three 1/2 -inch Exmor CMOS sensors and full HD 4:2:2 50 Mbps recording. Is it possible to edit Sony PMW-200 XDCAM footage on Mac FCP? If you have preordered a PMW-200 Camera, you may want to know the answer to this question.

edit Sony PMW-200 XDCAM footage on Mac FCP

There're lots of headaches with workflow of Sony PMW-200 XDCAM media into Final Cut Pro even with the XDCAM Transfer Sony providing, as far as I know, the best workaround to make PMW-200 XDCAM footage well compatible with FCP 6/7 and FCP X is converting PMW-200 video files to Apple ProRes for FCP.

Software requirement – Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac.

This program is better than Sony XDCAM Transfer. XDCAM Transfer will turn XDCAM files into QT MOV when it copies source files from the camera media to the computer. Well, this XDCAM Converter allows you to convert Sony XDCAM to Prores .mov for FCP editing with zero quality loss. Plus, it also supporting transcoding Sony XDCAM, XDCAM HD, XDCAM EX to AIC for iMovie/FCE, DNxHD for Avid Media Composer, MPEG-2 for Adobe Premiere Pro.

Wanna output Multi-track ProRes for FCP? Here are steps.

Convert and Import Sony PMW-200 XDCAM footage to FCP on Mac

Step 1: Import PMW-200 XDCAM video clips

Install and run the Sony XDCAM to FCP Converter on Mac, and then click "Add Video" icon to import your PMW-200 recordings directly from your camcorder or the copied folder on the desktop.

Sony XDCAM to FCP Converter

Step 2: Choose Final Cut Pro video format

Hit the Format box to select the specially designed video codec for editing in FCP: Final Cut Pro > Apple ProRes Codec 422(*.mov). Learn types of Apple ProRes Codecs.

video codec for editing in FCP

Step 3: Advanced video/audio settings (Optional)

Adjust the video and parameters, including the Bitrate of Video and Audio, Audio, Video Size, Sample Rate, Frame Rate, Audio Channels, etc., by clicking the Settings buttion on the main interface.

Step 4: Start Sony PMW-200 XDCAM to FCP conversion

Click the arrow button to start transcoding Sony PMW-200 XDCAM footage to Prores for FCP immediately. After the conversion finished, you can directly transfer the Prores .MOV video to FCP for further editing without any problem (Just launch Final Cut Pro, click Import File > Import > Movies to add your videos).

P.S. Besides transcoding Sony XDCAM to FCP, Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac can also convert Sony XDCAM, XDCAM HD, XDCAM EX files (from PMW-100, PMW-EX3, PMW-EX1R, PMW-EX1, PMW-320K, PMW-200, PDW-F800… ) to iMovie, FCE, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro, etc NLE systems on Mac(Mavericks and Yosemite included). Choose a proper format in the second step.

Also read how to edit Sony XDCAM files in After Effects and Magix Movie Edit Pro 2015 Plus.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Convert 4K H.265 Video from Samsung NX1 to H.265/HEVC MP4 on Windows 8.1/8

This post explains how to rewrap H.265 video files taken with Samsung NX1 to H.265/HEVC MP4 for playback on Windows 8.1/8 with high quality and smaller size.

One of the key features of the recently announced Samsung NX1 Smart Camera is its 4K video recording capability. Samsung uses a new codec, H.265 (HEVC) and 40Mbps for its 4K video. This is claimed to have the same image quality, but half the size of 100Mbps H.264 footage.

Convert 4K H.265 Video from Samsung NX1 to H.265/HEVC MP4

If you have preordered a Samsung’s NX1 Smart Camera, you may want to know if it is possible to convert your H.265 footage from NX1 into MP4 format for playback with keeping H.265 codec on Windows 8.1/8.

To get it done, all you need is a reliable H.265 converter. Just like the way it is dealing with 1080p HD and 4K videos, the upgraded Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate is surely in the support of converting 4K H.265 Video in any formats and creating H.265/HEVC MP4 video faultlessly. (Here is review)

Overall, this program is a completely professional H.265/HEVC encoder, decoder, player and editor. It provides three new output format presets for H.264, and one for H.265 in Common Video Option for better playback. In addition, this H.265 Converter is also available to customize the output resolutions to any size the users want. For Mac users, turn to iMedia Converter for Mac.

Guide: How to convert Samsung NX1 H.265 recordings to H.265/HEVC MP4 on Windows 8.1/8

Step 1. Load Source Video

Launch the H.265 Converter; click "Add Video" and load your NX1 4K video files. This program supports batch conversion, so you can add multiple files into it at a time.

H.265 Converter

Step 2. Decide Output Format

Click the "Format" drop down list to select "H.265 Video(*.mp4)" format from "Common Video" as you want. Since this video converter also provides optimal profiles for kinds of editing programs and media devices, you can also select a proper format that best meets your needs.

You can also rip Blu-ray to H.264 MP4, H.265 MP4 or convert DVD to H.265 MP4.



And by clicking Edit, you can trim, crop videos, adjust video effects, add watermarks, etc.

Step 3. Set Video Resolution

Click "Settings" button; you can adjust video and audio settings, including codec, aspect ratio, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate, and audio channel.



Step 4. Start 4K H.265 Conversion

Hit "Convert" button to let the 4K to H.265/HEVC conversion on Windows 8.1/8 begin. When the conversion finished, check the generated H.265/HEVC video, you will certainly be satisfied with its final video quality. It would be easier for you to playback on H.265 supported media player and devices. This upgraded Ultimate Converter will give much more surprise for you, pls feel free to have a try!

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Upgrade! Pavtube Supports H.265/HEVC, XAVC and Latest Blu-ray!

Pavtube has released the latest products of Windows Platforms, Support H.265/HEVC Encode & Decode, XAVC codec! Detailed information is in this article.

Marry Christmas 2014! On December 25, Pavtube Studio has announced this new update version. All Win versions have been updated to 4.8.2, which add XAVC, H.265/HEVC decode and encode, latest Blu-ray discs ripping features and work more powerful. What new features have they got?
  • Support MXF in XAVC video codec 
  • Add H.264 baseline/main/high output profiles 
  • Support H.265/HEVC decode 
  • Support H.265/HEVC encode 
  • Support latest Blu-ray movies, like The Expendables 3, Le Chef, Sin City A Dame to Kill For, Sands of Iwo Jima, When The Game Stands Tall, Love in Venice, Mystery Road, Pink Floyd Endless rive,etc. are all supported.  
Pavtube upgrade


Updated software

XAVC support:


For the first outstanding feature, many powerful camcorders can shoot under this XAVC mode, like Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Canon all have many series HD Camcorder which can such job.

Most XAVC codec will shot in MXF format, this may be good for importing quality ,but may be a big problem for their users. Although Sony has offered their XAVC plug-in to help customer to solve this problem, but many users still replay that they can’t do anything about their videos. How to tackle that? New Pavtube relevant Video converter software can handle this highest level video standard. XAVC can support 4K (4.96×2160 and 3840×2160), which just cater the trend of 4K.Add H.265/HEVC Decode and Encode:

All Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate products have added the H.265/HEVC decode/encode. You may very family about H.264/MPEG-4, but may not know about this H.265/HEVC. Actually, those two codec are said to double the date compression at the same level of video quality. This H.265 can be said as the Intro Time of 4K Generation. This H.265/HEVC is considered not only play a remarkable role on improving the image quality but also can support 4K resolution to UHDTV, the highest level can up to 8192×4320 (8k).

Like the hottest Samsung NX1 has already explore this brand new market. The 205-point phase-detection AF, 4K film resolution, H.265 compression coding, 15fps high-speed continuous shooting, etc., Samsung NX1 seems has already won the game.

But with this fast update of the H.265 camera, the related peripheral support software seems not get enjoy strength. Many media player and NELs still stick on the H.264, so how to get your H.265/HEVC video into compatible while quality maintained? The brand new Pavtube relevant Video software will be the best solution to deal with the H.265/HEVC. No quality drop, fast conversion, smooth playback, all you need is in this new Pavtube.

The Mac version is in full update, do please look forward to those brand new Pavtube relevant iMedia Converter for Mac!

Merry Christmas^^About Pavtube Studio

Founded in 2007, Pavtube creates expert multimedia software applications that help consumers access, transfer and share their digital content across different devices that range from PC, Mac, NLE softwares, tablets, smartphones, to HD media players, game consoles, and home theatre systems.

On the basis of computer OS, Pavtube products are divided into two categories – Windows solutions and Mac solutions, spanning across BD/DVD saving, video transcoding, camera/camcorder footage, and DVR recordings (e.g. TiVo) conversion.

With creativity, expert knowledge as well as cutting-edge technology, Pavtube helps consumers throughout the world enjoy more in a digitally connected audio-visual world.

See http://www.multipelife.com and http://www.pavtube.com for more information.

More info can be found here.