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Max bitrate for 1080p mp4 playback?

cjd1978

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Hey guys,

Does anyone know what the maximum bitrate the 3rd gen iPad can play 1080p mp4 files is? I read that 5000 kbps is a good bitrate for playback, but I usually watch 1080p mkv files at at least 12 kbps so this seems kind of low? Has anyone tried to play a large file with a high bitrate?

Thanks!
 

AQ_OC

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cjd1978 said:
Hey guys,

Does anyone know what the maximum bitrate the 3rd gen iPad can play 1080p mp4 files is? I read that 5000 kbps is a good bitrate for playback, but I usually watch 1080p mkv files at at least 12 kbps so this seems kind of low? Has anyone tried to play a large file with a high bitrate?

Thanks!

How does your video look? Is it crappy? If so, then you need to use a higher bit rate. But if you like what you see, then don't worry about it.
 
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cjd1978

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I'm still deciding on whether to purchase or not and this is a big part of the equation. If the video chip can only handle around 5000 kbps 1080p mp4 files than that might be a deal breaker since I'm primarily going to use this as a portable movie player for use during my morning (boring) cardio sessions. One would notice the difference between 5000 kbps and >12000 kbps I think. At least I can on my flat screen.
 

AQ_OC

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I'm still deciding on whether to purchase or not and this is a big part of the equation. If the video chip can only handle around 5000 kbps 1080p mp4 files than that might be a deal breaker since I'm primarily going to use this as a portable movie player for use during my morning (boring) cardio sessions. One would notice the difference between 5000 kbps and >12000 kbps I think. At least I can on my flat screen.

Man...you're talking about a 10-inch screen. If you are more than a foot away, it is hard to believe you can see much difference.

Just get a copy of handbrake and rip the movies. A quick glance at several of my rips show around 1600-2200 kbps total bit rate. These are from blu-ray and smashed down to about 2GB in size. Going much higher in bitrate just makes for a large file and longer transfer times. For viewing on a 10-inch screen for watching while doing cardio, going any more is a waste. Of course, I would not tolerate these on a large screen, but then that's where I use the actual bluray.

Anyway...I did manage to find one rip that has a total bitrate of 4300 kbps. It plays fine on the iPad.
 

augustya

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Where do you find the Bit Rate of a Video File ? I have quite a bit of 1080P Videos but dont know at what rate were they encoded ! so...
 
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cjd1978

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Man...you're talking about a 10-inch screen. If you are more than a foot away, it is hard to believe you can see much difference.

Just get a copy of handbrake and rip the movies. A quick glance at several of my rips show around 1600-2200 kbps total bit rate. These are from blu-ray and smashed down to about 2GB in size. Going much higher in bitrate just makes for a large file and longer transfer times. For viewing on a 10-inch screen for watching while doing cardio, going any more is a waste. Of course, I would not tolerate these on a large screen, but then that's where I use the actual bluray.

Anyway...I did manage to find one rip that has a total bitrate of 4300 kbps. It plays fine on the iPad.

Okay yeah I get what you're saying. On a big flat screen you have less pixel density and so you need a higher resolution. On a small compact screen, being 2 feet away is like being 10 feet away from a 50 in or whatever. I'm sure 5000 kbps 1080p files will look great. Now should I get 16 GB or pay $100 more and get double the space? hmmmmm?

Thanks for your help.
 

AQ_OC

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Okay yeah I get what you're saying. On a big flat screen you have less pixel density and so you need a higher resolution. On a small compact screen, being 2 feet away is like being 10 feet away from a 50 in or whatever. I'm sure 5000 kbps 1080p files will look great. Now should I get 16 GB or pay $100 more and get double the space? hmmmmm?

Thanks for your help.

That's a harder question. If you main thing is just movies....well, it's still not easy. If you are doing your cardio a lot, you may want a lot of different things to watch. The 32GB might be best.
 

AQ_OC

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Where do you find the Bit Rate of a Video File ? I have quite a bit of 1080P Videos but dont know at what rate were they encoded ! so...

I imported my rips into iTunes and if you right click and pick "Get Info" it will tell you a lot of info about the file.
 

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