Video Podcast Voice Out of Sync

[mgerbasio]

Hi,
I notice on most of my video podcasts the voice is out of sync with the video. Is this a know issue or any way to get it to sync better? Thanks.

Regards-Michael G.

[marwatk]

Hi Michael,

Most of the time this is caused when the bb doesn't quite have enough power to decode the video. The video starts to lag behind the audio (which is easier to decode). Eventually it gets to a point where the video is far enough behind the audio that the bb skips ahead in the video to catch up. I've also seen encoding issues do this, but generally it's the power thing.

What type of berry do you have and is it always with a certain podcast?

-Marcus

[mgerbasio]

Marcus,
Yes, that's exactly what happens. I'm using a Blackberry Bold and the picture quality is actually excellent when I compare it with something like the video feeds from AT&T.

I haven't tried a lot of video podcast channels, I just get the video podcasts from NPR Science Friday. It is watchable since there isn't a lot of interview like video, more narration. But when they switch to someone speaking, the voice is seconds out of sync. The file size ranges from about 15mB to 39mB.

Podtrapper is an excellent program. I have had a few minor problems but I'd rather use podtrapper on my BB than listen to a podcast on my ipod.

Regards-Michael G.

[Vigilance]

From what I've been able to figure out, certain mp4 podcasts have the syncing issue. For example, ABC world news encodes their podcasts differently than G4 does, however, the older G4 podcasts seem to work... After discussing this with the developer, he explained that there is nothing that can be done at this time. Maybe BB will be updating their software and will allow the encoding to work better? I would love to have all of my podcasts on my phone, but with the out-of sync issues i can only watch a few. I have the Curve 8900 and love the phone. This program has the greatest potential for me to get rid of my ipod.

If anyone else knows some tips or suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

[mgerbasio]

I notice it happens with the native BB media player too. However, I think it skips more video with the podtrapper player. I guess the BB just isn't cut out for this type of video use.

Regards-Michael G.

[marwatk]

Well, I'm not so sure. I think that the BB is capable of doing it, I just don't think they're spending a lot of time optimizing and making it work. For example, on some OS versions, exiting a video will crash your phone. Seems like they need spend some more time on it if they really want to make it viable.

Another example, it's totally possible for it to be dropping frames more frequently to keep up with the audio. As it is, they don't drop frames but every 30 seconds or so, which means the video can get way behind. If they were dropping frames every second to keep up it would be a much better overall experience (I'm not sure most people would even notice).

-Marcus