Maximizing the tablet for movies

[redmage9]

So I recently got a used Acer A500 and was looking for some advice. I'm planning on using the device primarily for movie playback on a HDTV.

I've tried some file playback already and some stuff really chugs on both moboplayer and mxplayer.

As far as I can tell, everything is stock on it and there are no available system updates.

Can someone please suggest what might be the best OS/setup to install on this for what I'm looking for? (I'd also prefer to be able to use flash, but it's not a total dealbreaker)

I'm not familiar with the process of rooting the tablet, but I'm not opposed to trying it if there's a vastly better setup when it comes to processing video playback software side.

Thanks in advance.

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

Yoiu asked the wrong question. It isn't as much a matter of optimizing the tablet for movies as it is optimizing the movies for the tablet. Moves should optimal;ly be in MP4 format H264 coding. You may want to try re-encoding with a conversion program. The payers you are using should work just finer with a properly formatted movie.

 

[Frederuco]

Agreed. I rip my movies using DVD Catalyst to mp4 H264.

I have had good luck with 720p mkv files in MX player, but mp4 is much easier on the tablet to play.

 

[leeshor]

He meant HAD GOOD So have I.

 

[dvdcatalyst]

So I recently got a used Acer A500 and was looking for some advice. I'm planning on using the device primarily for movie playback on a HDTV.

I've tried some file playback already and some stuff really chugs on both moboplayer and mxplayer.

As Frederuco and Leeshor already suggested, it is more about optimizing your videos for your tablet.

Mobo Player, Dice Player, MX Player are all like swiss-army knives when it comes to playing different types of video, but in order to do so, they often use software-decoding.

Software decoding uses the CPU extensively, and especially with HD video files the processor (which is physically designed to have low battery-consumption) just isnt strong enough.

Android tablets such as your A500 have gpu-assisted (hardware) video decoding build-in for certain video formats, and this can handle a lot more than that the CPU can. It is even possible to play full HD (1080p) videos on your tablet if your videos are hardware-optimized (and if you use a video player that is set to use hardware decoding or the build-in Gallery for example).

For your conversions, I would suggest to give DVD Catalyst a try. Especially if you have a large collection of video files, there is nothing that works easier and quicker than DVD Catalyst.

Here is a link to an easy to follow guide:

https://www.tools4movies.com/dvd-catalyst-acer-a500-guide-2/

 

[redmage9]

Thanks everyone. I'm still learning the ropes with it. I will have to give that software a shot.

Generally most stuff does seem to run pretty well on either Mobo or MKV but I have had a few where it was definitely unwatchable.

On the OS side of things I should probably just leave it stock as it sounds like it's a negligible upgrade (if any) then?

 

[Frederuco]

Thanks everyone. I'm still learning the ropes with it. I will have to give that software a shot.

Generally most stuff does seem to run pretty well on either Mobo or MKV but I have had a few where it was definitely unwatchable.

On the OS side of things I should probably just leave it stock as it sounds like it's a negligible upgrade (if any) then?

Make sure you have the latest (should be a version of Ice Cream Sandwich, Android 4.0.4 or 4.0.3). But, upgrading beyond that is not easy.