Sorry..but I find the Athena lacking...

[mackaby007]

􀂾 Video Playback format: H.263, MPEG4, & WMV
􀂾 5~8 fps @ VGA decoding for H.263 & MPEG4
􀂾 Min. 30 fps @ QVGA decoding for H.263 & MPEG4
􀂾 Combined Bit Rate: 64Kbps (playback)
􀂾 Video scaling up to full VGA display

This info was taken directly from the Service manual Mike Channon so kindly provided us with. Thanks again.

However, if this info is anything to go buy, we are in serious trouble. Can anyone see something between the lines that I'm missing here?

Apparently WMP supports the Imageon Hardware, right? But at what fps for VGA encoded vids? 5 ~ 8 fps?

Are they nuts!! Or am I?? No wonder the Athena can't handle VGA vids. :( thus re-emphasizing the absolute need for the hardware decoder (Imageon), to help or even better, take over the processing/decoding of the vids.

This is not good news!

Combined bit rate of 64 kbps!! OK that does it, they are nuts! :) Should have trusted my instincts from the beginning. If a device can only record with a limited bitrate and resolution for video, that's indicative of its decoding abilities too.

Like I said QVGA resolution of 320x240 or even slightly higher @ 480x320 will return satisfactory results, but anything above that will strain the Athena's resources.

And yes, whilst using TCPMP or even WMP10 are able to cope with more than what the service manual states, it doesn't look like it's supposed to.

Lastly, I think encoding AMR Audio and MPEG4 H.263 (ASP - NOT H.264 AVC) might yield better performance in higher resolution videos, as this is supposedly supported by the Imageon hardware decoder.

I'm seriously NOT impressed. Its about time that HTC the world leaders in PPC manufacturing started thinking about making devices with a dedicated 3D/Video accelerator to completely alleviate the strain of the main CPU when it comes to 3D Graphics rendering (whether for TomTom or Games) or Video playback.

The soon to be released HTC Kaiser is a step in the right direction with its Qualcomm 7200 dual-processor (one for phone and one exclusively for applications), but it's still not good enough.

The o2 Flame had the right idea with its Nvidia 3D Mobile CPU and 520 MHz CPU, but apparently it doesn't work as well as expected.

The Dell x51v still outperforms the Athena by an embarrassingly large margin for video playback and their 2700 3D processor still outperforms every other PDA ever made!! If only they had a Phone application to boot, I'd have one of them.

I get it now, the Athena and these new devices coming out every five minutes are very good, but being an all-in-one solution was never the goal of the manufacturers now was it?

It's always been about the money and always will be.

I'd love to get a group of developers, programers and hardware gurus together (with specialist knowledge) and improve on the Athena, because I think it is the best base model PPC to take things to another level, but even if I had the cash....the likes of HTC would bury us in a second and release something that would blow our efforts so far out of the water before we could manufacture the prototype.LoL

At least it would kick start these greedy companies to start giving us end users what is already available, but combine it into one device...as opposed to giving us snippets of new technology one device after another.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Moskus]

I still think that the biggest disappointment is that ATI won't tell "us" how to use the hardware decoder...

The figures in the service manual could just be a result of HTC not testing the video support fully...


And after all: Its main purpose is not to be a device for playing video. That's just a bonus... ;)

[spacecat]

the joke is that although the athena can be made to play decent xvids after lots of tweaking , my 2 year old PSP blows it away for reliabilty
(lip synch comes to mind) and the picture quality matches and often betters it esp at the higher PMP and AVC resolutions.

I Think THE only true Way forward is the UMPC route I.e. Shift type device. Sadly it appears the idiots have dropped VOICE and GPRS from this machine :(

[mackaby007]

the joke is that although the athena can be made to play decent xvids after lots of tweaking , my 2 year old PSP blows it away for reliabilty
(lip synch comes to mind) and the picture quality matches and often betters it esp at the higher PMP and AVC resolutions.

I Think THE only true Way forward is the UMPC route I.e. Shift type device. Sadly it appears the idiots have dropped VOICE and GPRS from this machine :(

Agree with you totally on this spacecat. The PSP's 16million pixel screen is the nuts and it's hard to find any pixelation in movie playback even at QVGA encoded vids.

@ wgary. I hear you, but its not only business users they should aim these devices at. Internet and e-mail is now so commonplace as well as mobile phone technology, that they should be aiming at a wider audience.

It wouldn't surprise me if Sony made more sales with the PSP than HTC with their last 5 devices! Why? because Sony tries to give people what they want, whilst WM devices give us what we need. Just wish these tech giants would learn from each other and bring us true 'Ultimate' devices based on all these meta-technologies.

Blow the retail cost to the consumer. People will always buy what they want and there will always be those who can afford it and those that can't just at the minute. I'm happy enough to fall into the latter category as long as the tech develops into this area.

[fallenczar]

Agree with you totally on this spacecat. The PSP's 16million pixel screen is the nuts and it's hard to find any pixelation in movie playback even at QVGA encoded vids.

@ wgary. I hear you, but its not only business users they should aim these devices at. Internet and e-mail is now so commonplace as well as mobile phone technology, that they should be aiming at a wider audience.

It wouldn't surprise me if Sony made more sales with the PSP than HTC with their last 5 devices! Why? because Sony tries to give people what they want, whilst WM devices give us what we need. Just wish these tech giants would learn from each other and bring us true 'Ultimate' devices based on all these meta-technologies.

Blow the retail cost to the consumer. People will always buy what they want and there will always be those who can afford it and those that can't just at the minute. I'm happy enough to fall into the latter category as long as the tech develops into this area.

i wanted a cheaper PS3...sony never gave me that :(

[eaglesteve]

Mackaby007,

I find it difficult to comprehend your disappointment.

You're getting too technical into this. Just enjoy watching the excellent movie quality of this device instead of counting the fps, would you? This is not a home theatre system for goodness sake. Also, the service manual may be just talking about the minimum critieria, rather than the actual performance, which could differ from unit to unit, just like some unit is able to overclock better than the others but officially set at a lower rate.

Look at the video that you posted. It is absolutely amazing. It is still not good enough, I think you're being too picky. Look at the 90% full, not 10% empty in this glass! ;)

[spacecat]

Mackaby007,

I find it difficult to comprehend your disappointment.

You're getting too technical into this. Just enjoy watching the excellent movie quality of this device instead of counting the fps, would you? This is not a home theatre system for goodness sake. Also, the service manual may be just talking about the minimum critieria, rather than the actual performance, which could differ from unit to unit, just like some unit is able to overclock better than the others but officially set at a lower rate.

Look at the video that you posted. It is absolutely amazing. It is still not good enough, I think you're being too picky. Look at the 90% full, not 10% empty in this glass! ;)


for around £650 for what is basically a phone with extras expectations are justifiably HIGH!
you would think the machine could at least run movies at its OWN full resolution wouldnt you? I love my Athena in many ways but it still has some unjustifable issues, especially as it has a ATI chip that should be able to run movies decently an without lip synch errors

It shouldnt be such HARD work :(

[Moskus]

I still blame ATI for most of our video problems.

However, I am now (after mackaboy helped me out) more satisfied with my Athena as a video device than I am with my Archos AV420 (which is a dedicated video-playing device). The screen on the Athena is bigger, and it supports more formats. :)

[eaglesteve]

For me, size and shape of the screen and the fact that it is part of a all encompassing device, is far far more important than whether of not it drop a frame. In most cases, the source of my download is already very far from perfect, so it makes no sense to think about frame drop. I could not tell if there is any frame drop in most cases, as they look so perfect to me already.:D Being too concerned with that would only kill your enjoyment :-) If I am after real good quality video and sound, I would'nt be watching it on this device. I'll be using my home theatre system and treat my senses with real subwolfer, AC-3 sound effect, and real high definition pictures. This is not to say that I accept any quality movies on the device. I'm saying that it is more than adequate already.

[spacecat]

For me, size and shape of the screen and the fact that it is part of a all encompassing device, is far far more important than whether of not it drop a frame. In most cases, the source of my download is already very far from perfect, so it makes no sense to think about frame drop. I could not tell if there is any frame drop in most cases, as they look so perfect to me already.:D Being too concerned with that would only kill your enjoyment :-) If I am after real good quality video and sound, I would'nt be watching it on this device. I'll be using my home theatre system and treat my senses with real subwolfer, AC-3 sound effect, and real high definition pictures. This is not to say that I accept any quality movies on the device. I'm saying that it is more than adequate already.
as I said my psp can blow it away for quality and reliabilty and it costs
only 100 pounds and is over 2 years old. its not good enough

[mackaby007]

OK guys let's not get into an argument, we are all just expressing our opinions and in some cases, venting as I didn't get what was advertised on the box and I paid heavily to have this unit. Thanks spacecat, you summed it up perfectly.

Moskus, your right too.:) It is down to the ATI chip, but the Hermes got fixed through the AKU 3.5 ROM etc with some tweaks, I think we'll get there in the end.;)

@eaglesteve. Whilst I respect your right to express your views and sometimes agree with them too, I simply disagree with you on this. Spacecat really hit the nail on the head in his post about cost of device vs incapability to play vis at its own resolution.

Let's not get it twisted either, just because these devices were aimed at mostly business people on the move etc.....the software certainly isn't.

Personally, my Athena is my personal all-in-one Mobile-communication/GPS entertainment System. That is why I bought it, because the specs and HTC's own write up advertised it as such. As it's not performing to expectation (only in this video department), I am disappointed eaglesteve. It is a main part of why I bought it and relates to what I do for a living. Not being picky mate.:)

Anyway, no offense taken. Just want to clarify why I'm always on about video playback. I'm hoping to hear back from Betaboy about what is really needed from ATI/AMD so maybe us paying customers can put a petition together or use whatever resources we have as a community to put pressure on either HTC or ATI/AMD to give us the needed info so Corecodec or another developer can solve this once and for all.

As Moskus always says, it is down to the Imageon Chip.

Peace my friends.

[Pantaloonie]

I don't really understand what all the fuss is about re video playback on the Athena. I have a very large collection of divx and xvid movies and TV series, mostly downloaded from torrents. I simply download them, copy to the microdrive, and watch them (using tcpmp) with no problems. The picture is crystal clear, no stuttering, and I have no problems with the audio lagging.
I can't tell you about framerates or benchmarks as I've never needed to tweak TCPMP, it always looks fine.
So there is at least one satisfied customer re videos on the Athena - me!

[mackaby007]

I don't really understand what all the fuss is about re video playback on the Athena. I have a very large collection of divx and xvid movies and TV series, mostly downloaded from torrents. I simply download them, copy to the microdrive, and watch them (using tcpmp) with no problems. The picture is crystal clear, no stuttering, and I have no problems with the audio lagging.
I can't tell you about framerates or benchmarks as I've never needed to tweak TCPMP, it always looks fine.
So there is at least one satisfied customer re videos on the Athena - me!

Happy for you;) Some of us are perfectionists though, and I've seen 640x480 VGA encoded vids from High def sources and believe me its as good to look at as High Def on a top end PC screen. The detail you see changes your viewing pleasure...it's like the difference between DVD's and Ultra High def in a mobile screen.

All those who have not experienced this quality wouldn't really appreciate what I'm talking about.

Nothing in life is perfect, but striving for perfection and falling short of it is still better than accepting what we already have.

Isn't that how progress works? It certainly does for me and I've never been displeased with my results after I've giving it my best.

If you're happy with what you have, then really, that is great and you are a lucky man/woman, but I always like to push the boat out that little bit more.

Can't remember who just posted to this effect about prefering the Athena to their dedicated Archos, but that is very pleasing to hear and quite encouraging.

P.S. I had perfect HQ vids on a 200 MHz Omap based WM5 QVGA device with no issues at all! Why is it so unreasonable for me to want the same from a 624 MHz CPU with a Video accelerator on a VGA screen? hmmm?

[lpsi2000]

mackaby007,

You are like an ungrateful mad scientist:D:D:D Just kidding, but I am with you on this and I do understand what you are saying. Let me try to keep it short and sweet.

You also made an excellent point that a lot people might have missed. We can't all be experts and our development cycles are different. Some of us set higher expectations and achieve greater goals which is the reason why there are not too many Bill Gates in the world.

Nonetheless, I would like to see better picture too because this device was more expensive than my PS3 which I enjoy watching BD-DVD movies on a 70'' 1080P TV.:)

[spzero]

yep i agree my universal was far superior for playing vids and the keyboard was better but ths device is amazing and untill the htc x9500 is released im happy in general. seams strange to take a step back instead of forward for improvements but its all down to money and marketing the upcoming shift and x9500 are basicly the same device under the hood just a different exterior shell but they disable the voice on the shift and enable it on the x9500 just so they can sell the same device twice but repackaged.

[mackaby007]

yep i agree my universal was far superior for playing vids and the keyboard was better but ths device is amazing and untill the htc x9500 is released im happy in general. seams strange to take a step back instead of forward for improvements but its all down to money and marketing the upcoming shift and x9500 are basicly the same device under the hood just a different exterior shell but they disable the voice on the shift and enable it on the x9500 just so they can sell the same device twice but repackaged.

Interesting....never heard of the x9500.:)

[mackaby007]

mackaby007,

You are like an ungrateful mad scientist:D:D Just kidding, but I am with you on this and I do understand what you are saying. Let me try to keep it short and sweet.

You also made an excellent point that a lot people might have missed. We can't all be experts and our development cycles are different. Some of us set higher expectations and achieve greater goals which is the reason why there are not too many Bill Gates in the world.

Nonetheless, I would like to see better picture too because this device was more expensive than my PS3 which I enjoy watching BD-DVD movies on a 70'' 1080P TV.:)

Well said and it was short and to the point. ;)

[spacecat]

basically it comes down to bang for buck.

A £650 machine that is outclassed by a 2 year old machine at £100 does not offer bang for buck in terms of Video playback.

I really enjoy my Ameo esp the big screen for HSDPA surfing, streaming my live TV and videos from my home PC via Orb, reading books via pdf,music, etc etc

but you would think if it has a 640x480 screen and they promote this fact bigstyle then it should be able to display video at this resolution

I would be very interested in a shift type device as long as it also has Phone functionality, .............................

hmmm will it suppport 800x600 resolution video ..oh dear :)

[eaglesteve]

yep i agree my universal was far superior for playing vids and the keyboard was better but ths device is amazing and untill the htc x9500 is released im happy in general. seams strange to take a step back instead of forward for improvements but its all down to money and marketing the upcoming shift and x9500 are basicly the same device under the hood just a different exterior shell but they disable the voice on the shift and enable it on the x9500 just so they can sell the same device twice but repackaged.

Hi spzero,

So you mean that shift and shangrila are slightly different machine? There are conflicting news on this it seems. Some says they are the same, some say they are different. Do you have a link to your source of info please?

Thanks and cheers.

[eaglesteve]

How do we delete duplicate post (by mistake)?

[eaglesteve]

Hi all,

If my previous comment offend anyone, I apologise.

I have tried using my previous PDA to watch movies before. Those screens were too small. I have also tried watching movies on my PSP. I did'nt like it either. I simply would not carry my PSP around and watch movies on it.

When I got my Dopod U1000, I was absolutely amazed with the size, brightness, resolution, and the shape of the screen. Now I regularly use it to watch videos and am very happy with it. This is the first device that I would carry around watch videos on it.

I'm not totally happy with all aspects of this device (rendering in internet surfing could be faster, MD and SD can be more reliable, just to name the top few complaints), but video playback is not one of them. If anything, it is an area that I'm extremely happy with. I still am.:)

But I take your point that all of us have different expectation, or may not I have'nt seen what is possible yet.

Dissatisfaction can only come if there is a better benchmark for comparison. So what device is out there that causes me to be dissatisfied at this moment? None yet. Not Shangrila or shift. These are not pocketable. However, I recognise there are people who think differently, just like many people think I'm crazy to own such a big phone ;-)

[spzero]

very similar specs to shift b ut i-pod white and gsm phone support :D http://laptoping.com/htc-x9500-shangri-la.html check it out ......................

[Pantaloonie]

My credit card is eagerly awaiting the release of the Shift.
According to what I've read, the Shift and the x9500 shangri-la are one and the same - shangri-la was it's name whilst under development, but it will be sold as the Shift - without phone support.
HTCs own product page - http://www.htc.com/product/03-products.htm - seems to confirm this, the Shift is shown, but no mention of a seperate device called X9500.

[spacecat]

My credit card is eagerly awaiting the release of the Shift.
According to what I've read, the Shift and the x9500 shangri-la are one and the same - shangri-la was it's name whilst under development, but it will be sold as the Shift - without phone support.
HTCs own product page - http://www.htc.com/product/03-products.htm - seems to confirm this, the Shift is shown, but no mention of a seperate device called X9500.

No phone/voice is a HUGE mistake, why not just buy a sim enabled laptop?

[spzero]

i read somewhere the X9500 was the followup to the shift it may have been a mistake but im hopeful at least that they do release a device like the shift with voice support or at least someone can hack the rom to enable voice over blutooth on the shift im sure that it wont be too hard will it ?????????

[spacecat]

i read somewhere the X9500 was the followup to the shift it may have been a mistake but im hopeful at least that they do release a device like the shift with voice support or at least someone can hack the rom to enable voice over blutooth on the shift im sure that it wont be too hard will it ?????????

You dont wanna spend £850 and then be relying on a HACK!

[Sogarth]

i read somewhere the X9500 was the followup to the shift it may have been a mistake but im hopeful at least that they do release a device like the shift with voice support or at least someone can hack the rom to enable voice over blutooth on the shift im sure that it wont be too hard will it ?????????
That's also not going to happen because the HTC Shift + successors are targeting a different market. This is HTC moving into the UMPC market, and as such, I expect that they'll never have audio capabilities. It wouldn't surprise me if some necessary hardware to manage that is completely missing. Mind you, nothing's stopping you from using something like Skype or so....

[nuclear]

The HTC's first UMPC is amazing. It beats whatever I have seen. Unless you guys know something better.
Talking of pocket pc's and our HTC Athena the only thing i hate is the huge size and that is why I am buying a HTC Kaiser.
Regarding the video viewing problems on the Athena posted by mackaby007. Well I cant view MPEG videos. AVI's work fine. The AVI's I tried so far in TCPMP.

TCPMP 0.72RC1
Video -
Lenght - 0:22:49
Frame Width - 704
Frame Height - 396
Data Rate - 185kbps
Total Bitrate - 192kbps
Frame Rate - 119 frames/second

Audio -
Bit Rate - 192kbps

File -
Type - Video Clip
Size - 241MB
Attiribute - .avi

Solution -
Go to Options -> Make sure Smooth Zoom (Always) is checked.
Go to Options -> Video Driver -> Make sure ATI IMAGEON is checked.

[mackaby007]

The HTC's first UMPC is amazing. It beats whatever I have seen. Unless you guys know something better.
Talking of pocket pc's and our HTC Athena the only thing i hate is the huge size and that is why I am buying a HTC Kaiser.
Regarding the video viewing problems on the Athena posted by mackaby007. Well I cant view MPEG videos. AVI's work fine. The AVI's I tried so far in TCPMP.

TCPMP 0.72RC1
Video -
Lenght - 0:22:49
Frame Width - 704
Frame Height - 396
Data Rate - 185kbps
Total Bitrate - 192kbps
Frame Rate - 119 frames/second

Audio -
Bit Rate - 192kbps

File -
Type - Video Clip
Size - 241MB
Attiribute - .avi

Solution -
Go to Options -> Make sure Smooth Zoom (Always) is checked.
Go to Options -> Video Driver -> Make sure ATI IMAGEON is checked.

More details sre needed to try and reproduce your results nuclear. Look forward to that info.:)

[johnwalk]

The HTC's first UMPC is amazing. It beats whatever I have seen. Unless you guys know something better.
Talking of pocket pc's and our HTC Athena the only thing i hate is the huge size and that is why I am buying a HTC Kaiser.
Regarding the video viewing problems on the Athena posted by mackaby007. Well I cant view MPEG videos. AVI's work fine. The AVI's I tried so far in TCPMP.

TCPMP 0.72RC1
Video -
Lenght - 0:22:49
Frame Width - 704
Frame Height - 396
Data Rate - 185kbps
Total Bitrate - 192kbps
Frame Rate - 119 frames/second

Audio -
Bit Rate - 192kbps

File -
Type - Video Clip
Size - 241MB
Attiribute - .avi

Solution -
Go to Options -> Make sure Smooth Zoom (Always) is checked.
Go to Options -> Video Driver -> Make sure ATI IMAGEON is checked.

I dont want to sound cheaky, but at that data rate, and that file size it must be like having vasoline smeared over the screen. Your audio is higher than your video. that sort of setting would be ok for 177*144 @ 15 fps. but must be unwatchable at 704*396. are you sure thats right.
Are you trying to watch mpg2. mpg1 plays well on wmp and tcpmp

[nuclear]

I dont want to sound cheaky, but at that data rate, and that file size it must be like having vasoline smeared over the screen. Your audio is higher than your video. that sort of setting would be ok for 177*144 @ 15 fps. but must be unwatchable at 704*396. are you sure thats right.
Are you trying to watch mpg2. mpg1 plays well on wmp and tcpmp
Attiribute - .avi - I am watching a .AVI file. Its not .MPG or .MP4 .
I didnt have success trying to watch a .MPG file. It would open but there was pixel distortion.
I failed trying to open a .mkv file as well. AAC h264.

The .AVI's all work fine. XVID or DIVX w/e. with subs or what not.
try downloading and testing any file from http://bt.saiyaman.info - They all work fine. Now i am going to test a movie. 1 hour .AVI DivX or Xvid w/e. Oh ya i am watching it in full screen ^^

[nuclear]

Its a bit laggy to play SPB Arkball and other SPB games on the Athena. Kind of said unplayable. Looks like SPB gonna have to make something that the Athena can handle. If you want to make something of 640x480 res make sure its not heavy. Umm how should i put it. Make sure its not dense and doesnt require really good graphics. ^^

[johnwalk]

.AVI is only a container. the audio video within that container can be any combination. have you ever tried watching a vcd. which is mpg1 at 1150 kbs. audio 224 kbs. 352x288. they actually arnt that bad on the ameo. and play very well even at full screen. I watch my dvd rips on the ameo at full screen they are good. ok not running at 100% but look very good even outputing to tv. the only issue I have is audio video sync. but my rips are about 1.5 gigs for 2 hours of video. which I think this post was about. cutting down the specs of the video to try and get better speed while still keeping a good quality of video. until a fix is found for the ati chip set. good luck and let us know the outcome.

[nuclear]

.AVI is only a container. the audio video within that container can be any combination. have you ever tried watching a vcd. which is mpg1 at 1150 kbs. audio 224 kbs. 352x288. they actually arnt that bad on the ameo. and play very well even at full screen. I watch my dvd rips on the ameo at full screen they are good. ok not running at 100% but look very good even outputing to tv. the only issue I have is audio video sync. but my rips are about 1.5 gigs for 2 hours of video. which I think this post was about. cutting down the specs of the video to try and get better speed while still keeping a good quality of video. until a fix is found for the ati chip set. good luck and let us know the outcome.
Thanks. So far my AVI's are going good and I know AVI is too general and is very diverse, But i am restricted to speak to that much since I dont have too much knowledge either. MPEG, MKV I am having no luck with.

[fallenczar]

Its a bit laggy to play SPB Arkball and other SPB games on the Athena. Kind of said unplayable. Looks like SPB gonna have to make something that the Athena can handle. If you want to make something of 640x480 res make sure its not heavy. Umm how should i put it. Make sure its not dense and doesnt require really good graphics. ^^

they run very well on the uni...you should know...you had one before

[nuclear]

they run very well on the uni...you should know...you had one before
Yes, Uni is very good for those games, no lag at all. its just i never had success playing those avi's in the Uni. Maybe I will try that trick in my Uni hopefully i can play those avi's lagless.

[mackaby007]

Attiribute - .avi - I am watching a .AVI file. Its not .MPG or .MP4 .
I didnt have success trying to watch a .MPG file. It would open but there was pixel distortion.
I failed trying to open a .mkv file as well. AAC h264.

The .AVI's all work fine. XVID or DIVX w/e. with subs or what not.
try downloading and testing any file from http://bt.saiyaman.info - They all work fine. Now i am going to test a movie. 1 hour .AVI DivX or Xvid w/e. Oh ya i am watching it in full screen ^^

Hi again Nuclear.

I downloaded one of those 200+ MB clips and yes they do look really good, but then they are animations and aren't that hard to get looking like that. You can get the same effect with much smaller resolution using H264 AVC codec, but movies are a different ballgame alltogether and need substantially more tweaking in encoding settings than animations. But thanks for your tips all the same.

On the subject of playing back AVI, mkv, ogg, mpg, mpeg1 and mp4 ASP or AVC etc etc...TCPMP will play all of them back, especially Coreplayer, but I think its restricted to a max resolution of 1024x 1200 or something absurd like that. Hell I just want VGA 640x480 Lol.

The reason why benchmarking is so important me is because it shows you how fluid the playback of the video will be and is indicative of how few frames will be dropped....thus no jerky playback.

I'm used to benchmarks in excess of 300 - 500 kbps, but that was at QVGA resolutions on a QVGA device with a beefy CPU. Hence my expectations have changed now with the Athena, but I'm confident the answer is around the corner and Betaboy from Corecodec has siad that they have only managed to get partial support for the Imageon chip since version 1.1 but that by v1.3 there will be much more compatibility and support for our chips in various devices.

When I get more time I will again upload a clip of what I'm really talking about in terms of quality and you will all see why I won't let this issue go. ;)

[nuclear]

I was just watching a movie. HellBoy.avi. Off the micro drive. Full screen on the Athena. I am going to try to watch it in VGA out. I would love to watch it on my projector or HDTV 1080p XD

[mackaby007]

I was just watching a movie. HellBoy.avi. Off the micro drive. Full screen on the Athena. I am going to try to watch it in VGA out. I would love to watch it on my projector or HDTV 1080p XD

It works well on any set but only at VGA res. As for full screen on the Athena...that's never been an issue.;) It's all about the quality, but I got something to share real soon.;)

[Pantaloonie]

It's all about the quality, but I got something to share real soon.;)

Ati hardware acceleration on the Athena?

[nuclear]

Hardware acceleration is too general
Specifically speaking its video/graphics accelerator. XD