Certain H.264/MP4 videos play without video on iPhone

Question

Level 1

65 points

Certain H.264/MP4 videos play without video on iPhone

I have a number of H.264 videos in MP4 containers that only show a black screen when played on the iPhone, while the audio is played back as expected.
Is there any way to get the video to play without having to re-encode all the videos? Below is some info about one of the files as reported by MediaInfo ( http://mediainfo.massanti.com/).

* MediaInfo Mac // Plain text file report
2009-05-27 20:29:00 +0200
Information for File: Macworld Encore_2008_US941_Best_of_Leopard_OS_XHints.mp4

General / Container Stream # 1
Total Video Streams for this File -> 1
Total Audio Streams for this File -> 1
Video Codecs Used -> AVC
Audio Codecs Used -> AAC LC
File Format -> MPEG-4
Play Time -> 1h 14mn
Total File Size -> 75.8 MiB
Total Stream BitRate -> 143 Kbps
Title (Tag) -> US941 - Best of Leopard OS X Hints

Video Stream # 1
Codec (Human Name) -> AVC
Codec (FourCC) -> avc1
Codec Profile -> Baseline@L3.0
Frame Width -> 640 pixels
Frame Height -> 480 pixels
Frame Rate -> 15.000 fps
Total Frames -> 66855
Display Aspect Ratio -> 4/3
Scan Type -> Progressive
Colorimetry -> 4:2:0
Codec Description -> AVC
Codec Settings (Summary) -> 2 Ref Frames
QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 0.020
Codec Settings (CABAC) -> No
Video Stream Length -> 1h 14mn 17s 0ms
Video Stream BitRate -> 91.6 Kbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode -> VBR
Bit Depth -> 24 bits
Video Stream Size -> 48.7 MiB (64%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2008-01-29 17:17:47

Audio Stream # 1
Codec -> AAC
Codec (FourCC) -> 40
Audio Stream Length -> 1h 14mn 2s 602ms
Audio Stream BitRate -> 48.0 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode -> VBR
Number of Audio Channels -> 1
Audio Channel's Positions -> C
Sampling Rate -> 48.0 KHz
Bit Depth -> 16 bits
Audio Stream Size -> 25.4 MiB (34%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2008-01-29 17:17:47

iPhone 3G 2.2.1, Mac OS X (10.5.7), iTunes 8.1.1

Posted on May 27, 2009 11:31 AM

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Answer 1

May 27, 2009 11:47 AM in response to mk14

Copied from this link.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

30 frames per second is supported.

Copied from the video stream info you provided:

Frame Rate -> 15.000 fps

15 fps may be the problem.

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Answer 2

Sboq

Level 2

430 points

May 27, 2009 11:56 AM in response to mk14

what kind of file is the original file? is this something you converted?

to answer your question, can you reencode without doing the whole file - yes, but it usually takes significantly longer then just redoing the conversion.

also, i use a program called 'videora iPhone 3g converter' available for free from www.videora.com to convert videos to play on my iPhone.

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Answer 3

mk14 Author

Level 1

65 points

May 27, 2009 12:17 PM in response to Allan Sampson

The frame rate is definitely not what's causing the problem - I found several videos with frame rates between 17 and 25 fps (which were actually created by iTunes' "Convert Selection for iPhone" feature) and they play back just fine on my iPhone.
I believe the video specs listed on Apple's web site are just the maximum the iPhone supports.

The videos were downloaded from the internet - they are recordings from sessions at MacWorld Expo San Francisco 2008, which used to be available at www.macworldencore.com .

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Answer 4

Jul 2, 2009 7:40 PM in response to mk14

I am having a similar problem. Every movie or TV show I've downloaded through iTunes works just fine on the 3G and 3Gs. All of my home DVDs (movies/tv shows purchased on DVD) that I ripped and converted to mp4 for use on my 3G no longer work on 3Gs. On the 3Gs, I will get a green screen and audio or a black screen and audio, no picture. The videos were converted to mp4 format using Wondershare. They play on Apple TV, my Macbook Pro, just not on the 3Gs.

I have not tried an new rip and convert from the DVD due to the time involved. HOping someone has a fix so I can avoid that.

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Answer 5

Jul 5, 2009 11:28 AM in response to William Ferguson

William Ferguson wrote:
I am having a similar problem. Every movie or TV show I've downloaded through iTunes works just fine on the 3G and 3Gs. All of my home DVDs (movies/tv shows purchased on DVD) that I ripped and converted to mp4 for use on my 3G no longer work on 3Gs. On the 3Gs, I will get a green screen and audio or a black screen and audio, no picture. The videos were converted to mp4 format using Wondershare. They play on Apple TV, my Macbook Pro, just not on the 3Gs.

I have not tried an new rip and convert from the DVD due to the time involved. HOping someone has a fix so I can avoid that.

I'm having the exact same issues and do not want to return the phone and deal with the awesome genius bar again.......

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Answer 6

Sboq

Level 2

430 points

Jul 7, 2009 5:59 AM in response to ihopeitworks

from what i've seen in other posts, you will have to reencode the videos in order to play them on the GS without the after effects.

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Answer 7

Jul 7, 2009 4:01 PM in response to Sboq

Any idea from other posts what Apple changed to make the videos unreadable? I've checked with the software manufacturer for the conversion program and there is no update.

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