1. prepare your video files for Ben:
Use ffmpeg2theora or ffmpeg with vp8, vorbis, mkv.
When using theora, try to use a video width and height that are a multiple of
16. Currently theora decoding displays strange borders, if size is not a
multiple of 16.
Try to use an audio sampling rate of 44100 for the vorbis audio. If the
automatic resampling of the alsa OSS emulation is triggered, quality degrades
a lot. Alternatively use 'mplayer -af resample=44100:1:1' on playback.
For encoding try to use libtheora 1.2 ("ptalarbvorm") which improves visual
qality a lot compared to previous versions. Always encode with
constant-quality *not* giving a bitrate target.
Here's an example encoding command:
ffmpeg2theora -o output.ogv input.avi \
-v8 -x320 -y176 \
-a0 --channels 2 --samplerate 44100
Yielding a pretty high visual quality (-v8 i.e. "80%"). Use -v6 for
approximately half the bitrate with moderate quality.
2. play your files with Ben:
mplayer output.ogv
In case sample rate doesn't match 48000 the default will be to perform quick
resampling, introducing noticeable quality degradation. Add -af
resample=44100:0:1 to improve audio quality at the cost of a few percent of
CPU usage.
(Assumptions:
the following options should be set in your ~/.mplayer/config:
volume=10
vo=cvidix
screenw=320
screenh=240
fs=1
ac=tremor
quiet=1
)
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