The document discusses Android media player development. It covers characteristics of video streams like frame rate, interlacing vs progressive, aspect ratio, color depth and video compression methods. It then discusses the Android media player API, limitations and advanced development using FFmpeg library. Key points covered include supported video formats, media player class methods, state changes and errors that can occur. Customizing the player is described as providing benefits like security and real-time ads but also drawbacks like increased errors.

1. Android Media Player Development
Suyash Gupta
Android Developer
Talentica Software

2. Agenda
1.Introduction
2.Characteristics of Video streams
3.Android Media Player Development
4.Advanced Media Player Development

3. • Video - Most Popular and common way of entertainment.
• Boom in mobile market in past 5 years.
• 3g services revolutionized the telecommunication industry.
1. Introduction

4. 1) Video - Journey So Far
● Video technology was first developed for (CRT) televisions.
● Video recorders were sold for $50,000 in 1956, and videotapes
cost $300 per one-hour reel.
● Sony introduced VCR in 1971.
● Then came CD's in 1997.
● Followed by blue ray disc in 2006.
● Computers to capture, store, edit and transmit video clips.
● Smartphones users grew to a increase to a limit of 80%.
● Video watching became very user friendly.

5. Note: In Real-time entertainment the major share is made by YouTube, Netflix and Pandora.

6. 2. Characteristics of Video Streams
a) Frame rate
b) Interlaced VS progressive
c) Aspect ratio
d) Color depth
e) Digital video
f) Video compression method (digital only)
g) Containers for Codecs

7. a) Frame Rate
The number of still pictures per unit of time of video.

8. a) Frame Rate
• To identify each frame individually min 10-12 FPS.
• Early silent films had a frame rate from 14 to 24 FPS but it
was perceived as jerky motion.
• There are three main frame rate standards in
the TV and digital cinema business: 24p, 25p, and 30p.
• 48p is a progressive format and is currently being trailed in
the film industry.(The Hobbit)

9. b) Video Can Be Interlaced/Progressive
Interlaced video:
● Every frame has horizontal lines.
● Each frame is divided into 2 fields.
● Odd field and even field.
● Interlacing is a technique of doubling the FR within the
limitations of a narrow bandwidth.
● Image Detail is sacrificed.

10. b) Interlaced & Progressive Frames
Odd Field Even Field

11. b) Interlaced Video Fields

12. b) Interlaced Video Frame

13. ● Progressive is a method for displaying, storing or transmitting
moving images.
● Each Frame resembles an image.
● Progressive scan is used in most CRTs used as computer
Monitors.
● It is also becoming increasingly common in high-end Television
equipment, which is often capable of performing de-interlacing
so that Interlaced video can still be viewed.
b) Progressive Video

14. b) Progressive Video Frame

15. Advantages of progressive scan include:
1. Better quality of video.
2. No flickering of narrow horizontal patterns.
3. Simpler video processing equipment.
4. Easier compression than interlaced.
b) Progressive Video

16. c) Aspect ratio
●
Aspect ratio describes the dimensions of video screens.
●
Traditional television screen is 4:3.
●
High definition televisions(720p and 1080p) 16:9.
●
AR 1.85:1 and 35 mm US and UK widescreen standard for
theatrical film.

17. c) Some Common Aspect Ratios

18. d) Color Depth
The number of bits used to indicate the color of a single pixel, in a
video frame buffer.
Bit is a storage value of a pixel.
1-bit color (2^1 = 2 colors): monochrome, black and white
2-bit color (2^2 = 4 colors): CGA, gray-scale early NeXTstation,
color Macintoshes ect.
3-bit color (2^3 = 8 colors)
4-bit color (2^4 = 16 colors):

19. d) Color Depth
6-bit color (2^6 = 64 colors):
8-bit color (2^8 = 256 colors): most early color Unix workstations,
VGA at low resolution, video games.
16-bit color (2^16 = 32768 colors): some Silicon Graphics systems
True color supports 24-bit for three RGB colors.

20. d) Color Depths Examples
2 bits (4 colors)
4 bits (16 colors)
1 bit (2 colors)

21. d) Color Depths
24 bits (16,777,216
colors, "truecolor")
8 bits (256 colors)

22. e) Digital Video
● Analog video stores video signal on magnetic tape.
● When copies are made of an Analog signal, degradation is
introduced due to loss of video signal in the copying.
● Whereas in digital data every bit has a binary value.
● So copying is 100% precise.
Analog Solution to Video Recording Digital Video Storage Medium

23. e) Size of Raw Digital Video
Digital Video in its raw form can be huge.
An example video can have a duration of (3600sec), a frame size
of 640x480 (WxH) at a color depth of 24bits and a frame rate of
25fps.
● pixels per frame = 640 * 480 = 307,200
● bits per frame = 307,200 * 24 = 7,372,800 = 7.37Mbits
● bit rate (BR) = 7.37 * 25 = 184.25Mbits/sec
● video size (VS) = 184Mbits/sec * 3600sec = 662,400Mbits =
82,800Mbytes = 82.8Gbytes

24. e) Issues
Leads to two interrelated problems:
1) Large storage requirements.
2) High Bandwidth requirement during playback and recording.

25. f) Video Compression
1. Conversion of data to a format that requires fewer bits.
2. The inverse process is known as decompression.
3. Decompression may or may not yield an exact copy of the
original data.

26. f) Video Codec
A codec is a compression algorithm, used to reduce the size of a
stream. The compression is usually lossy.
•
Lossless compression: It is a class of data compression algorithms
that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from
the compressed data.
•
“Lossy" compression is a data encoding method that compresses
data by discarding (losing) some of it.

27. 80%
compression
90%
compression
96%
compression
f) Comparison of Lossy Compression

28. MPEG-1(1993)(Moving Pictures Expert Group)
[Old, supported by everything (at least up to 352x240)]
MPEG-2 codecs
A good quality of compression. This is what is used for DVD.
MPEG-4 (1998)AVC (DivX codec)
A good quality compression with maintaining the quality of
video.
H.263/MPEG-4 Part 2 codecs
DivX Pro Codec: Compresses video down to very small file sizes-
excellent for web use but loses quality.
f) Different Codecs

29. That's why not used for the television purpose
Xvid: Free/open-source implementation of MPEG-4 ASP,
originally based on the OpenDivX project. Similar as DivX Pro
Codec.
FFmpeg MPEG-4: Open-source libavcodec codec library
Used by default for decoding or encoding in many open-source
video players such as MXPlayer, VLC, MPlayer and GStreamer.

30. WMV (Windows Media Video): Microsoft's family of proprietary
video codec designs including WMV 7, WMV 8, and WMV 9.
Google (On2) codecs:
VP6, VP6-E, VP6-S, VP7, VP8 VP9 : Proprietary high definition
video compression formats and codecs developed
by On2 Technologies

31. g) Containers for Codecs
The container describes the structure of the file: where the
various pieces are stored and how they are made.
I) AVI (standard Microsoft Win container)
(mostly used in digital cameras)
II) MOV (standard QuickTime container)
Carries the widest range of codecs
III) MPEG-2 TS (acronym of Transport Stream,
standard container for digital broadcasting)

32. g) Containers for Codecs
IV) MP4 (standard container for the MPEG-4 multimedia portfolio)
V) RealMedia (standard container for RealVideo and RealAudio)
VI) 3gp (used by many mobile phones)

33. 3. Android Media Player
a) Android supported formats
b)Media player API and Sample Code
c)Limitations of Media Player

34. Type Format /
Codec
Encoder Decoder Details Supported File
Type(s) /
Container
Formats
Video H.263 • • • 3GPP (.3gp)
• MPEG-4 (.mp4)
H.264 AVC •
(Android 3.0+)
• Baseline Profile
(BP)
• 3GPP (.3gp)
• MPEG-4 (.mp4)
• MPEG-TS (.ts,
AAC audio only,
not seekable,
Android 3.0+)
MPEG-4 SP • 3GPP (.3gp)
VP8 •
(Android 4.3+)
•
(Android 2.3.3+)
Streamable
only in Android
4.0 and above
• WebM (.webm)
• Matroska
(.mkv, Android
4.0+)
3. a) Android supported formats

35. 3. b) Media Player API
RecordPlayback
Audio / Video
android.media.MediaPlayer android.media.MediaRecorder

36. b) Playback: MediaPlayer Basics
Play Media From:
• Resource Folder
• File System Path
• URL
Basically
• Create new instance of MediaPlayer
• Call prepare()
• Call start()

37. b) Playback View
Playing a video File

38. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="@+id/RelativeLayout1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<SurfaceView
android:id="@+id/surfaceView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_above="@+id/seekBar1"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_weight="0.67" />
</RelativeLayout>
b) Layout View

39. Create Using:
• URI
• Resource ID
States:
• Start
• Prepare
• Pause
• Release
• Reset
• SeekTo
• Stop
• Error
Get:
• Position
• Duration
• isPlaying
Set:
Output Display
Looping
• Data Source
• Wake Mode
Listeners:
• Buffering Update
• Completion
• Error
• When Prepared
Inherits from
java.lang.Object
b) MediaPlayer Class

40. public class MainActivity extends Activity implements SurfaceHolder.Callback,
OnPreparedListener, OnErrorListener, OnInfoListener {
MediaPlayer mediaPlayer;
SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder;
SurfaceView playerSurfaceView;
String videoSrc = "rtsp://v6.cache1.c.youtube.com/CjYLENy73wIaLQkDsLHya4-
Z9hMYDSANFEIJbXYtZ29vZ2xlSARSBXdhdGNoYKX4k4uBjbOiUQw=/0/0/0/video.3gp";
//String dataSrc = "http://clips.vorwaerts-gmbh.de/big_buck_bunny.mp4";
//int resId = R.raw.sample;//.mp4
//int String dataSrc = "/sdcard/music/sample_music.mp3";
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main2);
playerSurfaceView = (SurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.playersurface);
surfaceHolder = playerSurfaceView.getHolder();
surfaceHolder.addCallback(this);
}
b) Activity Code

41. @Override
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder arg0) {
try {
mediaPlayer = new MediaPlayer();
mediaPlayer.setDisplay(surfaceHolder);
mediaPlayer.setDataSource(videoSrc);
mediaPlayer.setOnPreparedListener(this);
mediaPlayer.setOnErrorListener(this);
mediaPlayer.setAudioStreamType(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC);
mediaPlayer.prepare();
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (SecurityException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
b) Activity Code

42. @Override
public void onPrepared(MediaPlayer mp) {
mediaPlayer.start();
}
@Override
public boolean onError(MediaPlayer mp, int what, int extra) {
Log.e("MainActivity", "what="+what+" extra="+extra);
return false;
}
@Override
public boolean onInfo(MediaPlayer mp, int what, int extra) {
Log.i("MainActivity", "what="+what+" extra="+extra);
return false;
}
b) Activity Code

43. Media Player State Diagram

44. c) Limitations of Media Player
• Any time media player changes state, check before selecting any
action or you may fall into IllegalStateException.
• Error when the orientation of screen is change, even if you manage
the tag screenOrientation=“orientation” in manifest.xml
• When activity goes in background and MediaPlayer is playing, even if
you have handled onPause and onResume in some devices it goes to
error state.
• There are 30 to 34 types of possible error starting from -1 to -34.
For e.g. Error: the video container is not valid for progressive
playback (-32);
Error due to resource being in wrong state to handle request (-14)
Error due to general data processing(-18)

45. c) Limitations of Media Player
• public static void playMusic(int id)
{ // Not a good practice
MediaPlayer mediaPlayer = MediaPlayer.create(context, id);
mediaPlayer.setLooping(true); mediaPlayer.start();
} // Here the media player will be removed by GC even if it is
in play mode.
• The error value (1, -2147483648), the '1' value corresponds to
the constant in MediaPlayer.MEDIA_ERROR_UNKNOWN. (This
might happen)
-2147483648 corresponds to hexadecimal 0x80000000 which is
defined as UNKNOWN_ERROR

46. 4. Advanced Media Player Development
• Customization Features
• Benefits of Customization
• Drawbacks
• FFMPEG Library

47. We can Customize the Media Player and achieve :
We can enhance security.
a) Playing video in chunks
b) Prevent video from getting stolen.
c) Encrypt the InputStream with Cipher.
• Real Time manipulation.(Play ads in between)
• Adaptive Streaming.(Configurable bandwidth)
• Multi Format Playing.(discussed later)
a) Customization Features

48. • Your video content is secure.
• Easily applicable to other java platforms too for e.g. J2ME
• Saved video can be played only by our media player.
• Configurable bandwidth according to network speed.
• Since playback is chunk by chunk you can show video ads in
between them too.
• Event handling during playback is possible for e.g. at what point
the user stops the video or how much percentage watched.
b) Benefits of Customization

49. • Decoding of Android media player is bad, may fall into lot of
errors and you might not get possible solution anywhere.
(Limited number of file formats)
• The total chunk playback duration and the clip playback
duration should match or the player will again throw errors
like ChunkNotFound (Custom exception).
c) Drawbacks

50. d) FFMPEG Library
• Almost every android phone user is friendly with MX Player
which is a pretty famous player.
• MX Player is build using FFMpeg library which we will discuss
later.
• It is user-friendly, plays almost all formats and possesses great
build-in features.

51. • Plays almost every movie files including .3gp .avi .divx .f4v
.flv .mkv .mp4 .mpeg .mov .vob .wmv .webm .xvid and many
more
• Hardware decoding (with h/w+ decoder)
• Processor optimization
• High speed rendering for ARM® NEON™ compliant
processors.
• Provides processor specific Codecs including Tegra 2
processor.
• Move forward/backward (Optional)
• Aspect ratio selection
d)Features of MX Player

52. Following conditions are required to run included shell script:
•Linux or Cygwin
•Latest Google NDK
Download ffmpeg source code
1.In config-ffmpeg.sh, change "NDK" variable to point NDK path.
2.Add this line NDK=$HOME/Desktop/adt/android-ndk-r9
3.In build.sh, change "MAKE" variable to point ndk-build script of
NDK directory.
4.Run the shell scripts by command ./build.sh
5.The build can take a while to finish depending on your
computer speed.
6.Make ffmpeg Libraries available for Your Projects
How to build FFmpeg for Android

53. References
Video Characteristics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video
Android Developer Site:
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/MediaPlayer.html
FFMPEG Build:
http://www.roman10.net/how-to-build-ffmpeg-with-ndk-r9/

54. Thank You!