Took delivery today of an iPod touch 16GB, after sending back an Archos 605 160GB (I thought the picture quality on the Archos was poor - at least for the VHS conversions I had made for it). I had been converting Mardi Gras Massacre to H.264 (it took a 2 pass encode at some 50 hours after all the filtering I used on TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress to clean up the old USA VHS and make it widescreen) and also Dr Jeckyll And His Women - and surprised to see PAL 25p work so well too. Both were cropped to a letterbox format (by my encode) and output as 640 x 352, via 2 pass variable bitrate at 1500kbs.

Now, I may be the only person in the world who wants to watch these particular old VHS films on a modern PMP, but I am actually astounded at how good the quality of the picture is on the 3.5 inch screen after cleaning up the source material (in comparison to, say, converting a DVD or buying a show from iTunes where the quality is already 'modern' digitally compatible).

Does anyone else plan to supplement their portable DVD player with a PMP? I mostly expect to dump comedy shows and Cult movies onto it (in high rotation), and watch stuff during breaks at work for example, as this fits into the pocket with ease.

It is still giving me a laugh just to see Mardi Gras Massacre disco scene playing on the iPod touch!

I have a 60 gig iPod and an 8 gig iPhone and I, too, use them a lot for movies. I have used many tools (Including TMPGENC) but i found that Nero Recode, in the new Nero v8, has a darn good encoder for AVC that works great for the iPod.

In Nero Recode, I select the following settings (after ripping a DVD):

Nero Digital Catagory: UNSORTED
Nero Digital Profile: iPod Video 5.5G - AVC

I crank up the video bitrate to 1.50 Mbps.

For the audio setting, I use:
- Custom Profile
- 128 kbit/sec
- 44100 Hz (I use this because, for SOME reason, the 48 Khz seems to drift out of sync after a while).
Boost Volume to HIGH VOLUME (good for using headphones in noisy places, like planes).

Keep DEINTERLACE, CROP and RESIZE as AUTO (This makes the video file encode in anamorphic mode on the iPhone).

Then, under NERO DIGITAL SETTINGS [Expert Mode]:

High Quality Encoding (2-Pass)
Decision Quality: HIGH QUALITY

This produces a high quality file at around a gig and a half for a standard movie length. It's large, I know, but it doesn't encode the video at the standard 320x240... rather... it makes them about 640x360 (anamorphic) which is larger, but better quality.

You may have MARDI GRAS MASSACRE on your iPod, but I have MEGA FORCE in anamorphic widescreen on mine! HAHA!

I dunno about anamorphic on the iTouch, I read everywhere that it can't horizontally de-squeeze the picture if encoded that way. Instead, the picture would always be squashed (people taller and thinner), as it does not recognise the anamorphic flag (if any) of the Pixel Aspect Ratio on an H264 encode. The 16/9 settings are available on the encoder, so...

I would love (the articles/guides) to be proved wrong, and when I have finished my widescreen letterbox encode of Joe D'Amato's Endgame from the (old Australian VHS) I will definitely want to do a short Full Height Anamorphic test which would be great if it worked. So far the Guides have only recommended anamorphic encoding if going to output to an Apple TV (whatever that is).

Meanwhile, what other cult films might you keep close to your chest on a PMP? They really are so small, yet able to deliver.

I have over 40 movies I've encoded anamorphic on the iPod/iPhone and they all decode properly on the widescreen iPhone as anamorphic. On my regular 4:3 screened iPod 60gig, these same files display properly with black bars at the top and bottom. Now, I do not have an iTouch, but it's my understanding that it's the exact same thing as the iPhone, without the phone capabilities. I wouldn't think the circuitry would be any different, or the display capabilities would be any different.

On my iPhone/iPod no one is big and tall... no one is squashed. Using the settings (and Nero), which I mentioned above, the movies are fine when ripped from DVDs. For a regular non-widescreen iPod, you have to select "Widescreen" mode on the iPod to get them to not be squashed, so they display properly with the black bars present, though.

I'll put up some screencaps later, if possible, and show you the actual size, and shape, of some of my encodes using the above settings with Nero. Rip a DVD and give it a try anyway, if you have Nero... it works for me.

Here are two screengrabs from two of the movies I've encoded. These are direct from the actual .MP4 file and I got the screengrabs using PowerDVD in file playback mode. These are actual size, but compressed to JPG. As you can see, they are anamorphic and are large and very good picture quality. These all play as anamorphic (and properly proportioned) on my iPhone. The image isn't reformatted (squished/pulled) in any way.

My only guess as to why others are having the playback problem is that they are either using other tools and the incorrect settings, or they are using Nero Recode improperly. I've had no issues with playback on any device. These files even play as anamorphic using PowerDVD, VLC Media Player, Quicktime Player and Nero Showtime with no dimension/squeezing issues.


DAWN OF THE DEAD AVC Screencap
Nero V8 - Nero Recode / iPod 5.5G Setting / Anamorphic / 128kbps Audio
Total Movie File Size [.MP4] = 1.52 gig


DEMONS AVC Screencap
Nero V8 - Nero Recode / iPod 5.5G Setting / Anamorphic / 128kbps Audio
Total Movie File Size [.MP4] = 1.02 gig

That's DAWN OF THE DEAD? I looked at the screengrab and wondered what Hugh Laurie movie that was. The actor is a dead ringer.

So *that's* what HOUSE OF THE DEAD's about! :lol:

I have an iPhone. I use public transit a lot, and have been travelling by air more lately. If I've got a solid hour or more to kill, I'll read a book. But for the slaughter of smaller increments of time where distractions are likely, there's nothing like vintage TV shows on a handheld. I flew down to L.A. recently, the iPhone loaded with America 2Night episodes. Ten minutes in line, twenty at the gate, forty on the plane... by the time I got to L.A., I'd watched four episodes. In the past I've watched a bunch of 77 Sunset Strip, Honey West, Dark Shadows, and other vintage series on it. I was concerned at first that having the thing would cut into my reading time, but it hasn't really - I like to read in long sessions, measured in hours, and it bugs me to be distracted while reading. I have no problem watching TV in broken-up chunks of viewing.

For anyone considering a purchase, the video quality on the iPhone and iPod Touch are superb. I've looked at a fair number of other players, and none even come close to matching.

(Groan)

:P

Hi al:

>>(it took a 2 pass encode at some 50 hours after all the filtering I used on TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress to clean up the old USA VHS and make it widescreen)<<

I feel your pain! ;)

Best and fastest MPEG-4 encoder I've found is 3ivx by a long shot.

Encoding a file at single pass, constant quality of 100% will yeild a final result that looks at least as good as h.264, but in approximately 1/4th the time.

Mac or Windoze.

No, I do not work for them, nor hold any type of financial stake. I just think they kick major booty, that's all.

Happy scrunching!

best,
FBC

Well I am in full agreement with Lon on the classic TV shows, flavour me with Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes, Gilligan's Island, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Munsters and The Addams Family currently in rotation.

I am kind of locked in to TMPEG for the old VHS material, as it lets me break the film up and color/brite/grade each 'portion' and seamlessly put it all back together. Don - I am trying the 16/9 setting now on a TMPEG re-encode of Mardi Gras Massacre (it is my #1 test film as the original VHS needs sooo much work but can look a whole lot better) - thanks for all the advice and impressive screenshots to entice me to try again!

For general quick MPG4 encode straight off a DVD (not needing the special love, care and attention that I lavish on the old VHS stuff) I definitely want to try something a lot faster, and will give Frank's tip a go when the current batch of three films has finished their H264 anamorphic encodes (probably next week - oh dear!).

If you are thinking of a PMP they really can be a great toy/amusment for watching whilst out and about. That iPod Touch 3.5 inch screen is the best of what I have seen, and I believe that flash memory (as opposed to a mini hard disc) gives no spluttering/lag during playback or noise - if that really is a problem out there (which I have only read about).