Playing videos in Nook Color

avi

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 27, 2011
425
65
Hi all !

I have read in a review that nook has some issues playing videos in it. Is it true ?

can anyone confirm that does it plays videos flawlessly from a SD card ?

TIA ;)
 

markiej

Member
Dec 22, 2010
87
7
Not issues per se, just format limitations. Needs to a ".mp4" file encoded with either mpeg4 or h.264 video, and less than 854 pixels wide. Anything besides that will not play at all on the built in media player.

You can install a 3rd party media player on a rooted NC that will expand compatibility (such as Rockplayer), but there are performance issues files encoded with other codecs (divx/xvid etc).
 

RaVenJ

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
493
31
Handbrake is said to be able to convert files from unusable formats to one that the NC can read. I've tried it, but had no luck so far. Others do it daily and it works great. I'd say it's an IO (idiot operator) error.
 

markiej

Member
Dec 22, 2010
87
7
Handbrake is said to be able to convert files from unusable formats to one that the NC can read. I've tried it, but had no luck so far. Others do it daily and it works great. I'd say it's an IO (idiot operator) error.

No worries - it is not the most user friendly app of all time. Though I think, what people is say is "when it doubt, choose standard iphone defaults"
 

AnimaTechnica

Senior Member
Nov 4, 2010
789
63
been using handbrake for my nook - excellent video quality for me - my settings are 480x256 resolution, mp4 container, h.264 codec, bitrate 800 to 1000 kbps depending on my storage space (higher bitrate = more space ) - so at 800 kbps, i have 2.5 hours movie at 680MB, plays really smooth, looks really good
 

RaVenJ

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
493
31
That's where I got the nook profiles. It took my 500mb avi and made a 1.7gb mp4 out of bit. Dang thing still wouldn't play. I'll try the iphone defaults tonight.
 
Last edited:

AnimaTechnica

Senior Member
Nov 4, 2010
789
63
hmm, that seems a lot (1.7GB from a 500mb file) - make sure you are at avg bitrate of 700 not constant quality, check picture tab and make sure video res is 480 width - also try using mVideoplayer from the market to playback


That's where I got the nook profiles. It took my 500mb avi and made a 1.7gb mp4 out of bit. Dang thing still wouldn't play. I'll try the iphone defaults tonight.
 

gadgetrants

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 22, 2010
1,256
81
That's where I got the nook profiles. It took my 500mb avi and made a 1.7gb mp4 out of bit. Dang thing still wouldn't play. I'll try the iphone defaults tonight.
Did you use the constant quality setting? What movie/video did you try to transcode? As I mentioned in the how-to, Transformers 2 had so much high-speed action that it came out at 2GB and a much higher bitrate than other non-action movies. So trying again with a fixed bitrate (like AnimaTechnica suggested) may be the best option.

-Matt
 

RaVenJ

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
493
31
I tried again (Avatar, extended..) using the suggested settings and it works just fine. I set my bitrate to 800 and it looks really good. Before I left for work I restarted it using a bitrate of 900.. I want to see how much difference it makes to the filesize. Once I'm happy with the output, I'll do the rest of my movie collection.. That'll take a while!
 

avi

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 27, 2011
425
65
@all - thank you for replies guys !

please post your encoding profile settings :)
 

RaVenJ

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
493
31
I'll post screen shots of all the Handbrake tabs when I get home tonight. I know they work, but I bet they could be better.. Maybe some bigger brained person can look at them for me at the same time and help me tweak my settings.. Everyone wins!
 

AnimaTechnica

Senior Member
Nov 4, 2010
789
63
Hey we can collectively figure this out - we each test a specific bit rate
Based on converting a common file

That way we quickly narrow down ideal file size n quality settings


I'll post screen shots of all the Handbrake tabs when I get home tonight. I know they work, but I bet they could be better.. Maybe some bigger brained person can look at them for me at the same time and help me tweak my settings.. Everyone wins!
 

RaVenJ

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
493
31
Ok, here are all my tabs.. If there are more settings, just tell me and I'll post them..

$1.jpg$2.jpg$3.jpg$4.jpg$5.jpgTo be continued..
 
Top