http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/ Come and discuss the greatest gaming of all time from Atari to Nintendo. en Thu, 17 May 2012 05:33:26 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/images/misc/rss.png http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/ http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19898-Stern-on-AGT&goto=newpost Tue, 15 May 2012 22:37:10 GMT Though I am not much for reality type shows. I am forced to watch Howard on AGT. Anyone else? Though I am not much for reality type shows.
I am forced to watch Howard on AGT.
Anyone else? ]]> TV/DVD/Blu-Ray Movie Chatter Spin http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19898-Stern-on-AGT http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19897-Will-work-for-food&goto=newpost Tue, 15 May 2012 03:21:17 GMT Image: http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5j0n4hnoy1qbsle3o1_500.jpg ]]> General Brian http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19897-Will-work-for-food http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19896-Galaxy-Tab-2-7-0-quot-version&goto=newpost Mon, 14 May 2012 17:09:02 GMT Anybody used one of these? Costco by my house has them for $229.99 and I have $300 gift card so I was considering picking one up depending on the... Anybody used one of these? Costco by my house has them for $229.99 and I have $300 gift card so I was considering picking one up depending on the reviews. I have read some positive online and some ehhh. ]]> Android yuckymucky http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19896-Galaxy-Tab-2-7-0-quot-version http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19895-Archon-and-Amiga-Forever-2012&goto=newpost Mon, 14 May 2012 06:58:58 GMT Hello everyone, I have been trying to get this game and Archon 2 to run on Amiga Forever 2012. Some versions of Archon 2 I have finally been able... Hello everyone,

I have been trying to get this game and Archon 2 to run on Amiga Forever 2012. Some versions of Archon 2 I have finally been able to get to run but Archon one I cant seem to make it work. I get the EA logo. It loads for a while the logo goes off and finally I get a Guru Meditation. I have about 4 different versions of Archon. But none seem to work. Anyone have a specific configuration that has worked for you? ]]> Classic Gaming ConnX http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19895-Archon-and-Amiga-Forever-2012 http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19894-Asus-TF101-1080p-Video-Playback-(from-G-)&goto=newpost Sat, 12 May 2012 17:19:18 GMT John RyanYesterday 10:51 AM (edited) - Public Asus TF101 Transformer related post Looking at +Shane Monroe +Chris Hentschel and any other... John RyanYesterday 10:51 AM (edited) - Public
Asus TF101 Transformer related post

Looking at +Shane Monroe +Chris Hentschel and any other owners :)

Looking at various posts on this really cool tablet and seeing really great Emulator performance, not to mention how it really does come across as a nice Netbook/laptop replacement which i'm really more than happy with...BUT One area that has my a little confused is video performance....

Ok as an example i have quite a few 1080p music videos that i have watched from my main PC to my Mobile phone, but it seems to me that the TF101 is not capable of smooth 1080p playback. Is the Tegra 2 seriously lacking in this department?

Ok granted that if you hook it up via HDMI it will only show in 720p anyway but it's the fact that i cant get it playing smooth with these files is quite annoying as my SGS2 does this flawlessly via its screen and i think native 1080p HDMI (so my TV says anyway). Given there is not much between actual CPU speeds between these devices, is it a case of Tegra 2 Vs Exynos fail for high quality video ?

I can only guess if it's not a dodgy ICS version we have that can't cope with these files in a good speed of fashion or it's simply the case Tegra 2 is lacking in this area. I have tried Multiple video players with same results.

In other news, i hear a new official update will be released soon, heard good reports about it.


5/10/2012 Update

The .24 release is approved and will be released in the near future.
44 comments

Shane MonroeYesterday 10:57 AMEdit
Upload a video somewhere and I'll record playback.

What you need is a GOOD video player ... The one that comes stock? Not so good.

Chris HentschelYesterday 10:58 AM
Unfortunately I haven't delved much into watching videos on my TF101, especially anything HD, at least personal files I have moved onto it for viewing. However I have done HDMI out of 'HD' video from the IMDB app (trailers which are puported to be 720p) and YouTube and it looks spectacular both on the TF screen and my plasma.

John RyanYesterday 11:02 AM
Uploading a high quality 1080p music video to my dropbox at the moment, it's a prime example, hopefully done soon.

Shane MonroeYesterday 11:04 AMEdit
great .. I'm pulling a couple from my collection to prepare.

John RyanYesterday 11:10 AM
OK hoping this works OK, first time sharing via Drop.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/16yolp8j0r...-%20Poison.mp4

This file i have run on my Transformer, it will have slowdown and really can't keep up. Phone plays it perfect. Really great quality.

Shane MonroeYesterday 11:12 AMEdit
Okay .. I'm starting to remember some of my earlier tests with this.

Downloading your video now ...

Here is the deal ... CERTAIN compression technologies can be decoded with HARDWARE. I don't have a list for you. IF the video stream can be decoded with HARDWARE, then you have a good experience.

If not, it falls back to software rendering - and then - well, you know ...

Let me try this out.

John RyanYesterday 11:15 AM (edited)
Cheers, look forward to hearing how your Tablet deals with it.

The file is not unique in it's problems, pretty much all my 1080p stuff will struggle.

John RyanYesterday 11:16 AM
+Chris Hentschel If memory serves me correct, you are on GB these days? Be interesting to see how that version of Android deals with it also.

Shane MonroeYesterday 11:22 AMEdit
I think it is a pure failure to optimize for Nvidia ... I'll post my findings here in just a sec ... let me drop the videos.

John RyanYesterday 11:26 AM (edited)
Shame if it is the case i'm guessing optimising Tegra 2 now they just won't bother with as they are probably more focused on Tegra 3 and the future.

Shane MonroeYesterday 11:50 AMEdit
HDMI out didn't help either.

Okay I finally found something that makes some sense ...

Tegra-2's video decoding hw is limited to 6mps (tegra 3 can handle 40mbps). If your mkv's bitrate is more than 6mbps then some video apps will stutter. bsplayer,otoh, will try to drop frames (instead of stuttering) to provide a more acceptable experience. In my experience, for mkv slightly over 6mps, frame-dropping would be hardly noticeable. bsplayer also has its own smb mode and thus provide (imo) a smoother streaming than others which rely on a file-manager.

FYI, I tried every single top rated video player with this video. MX Video is still the champion and will be the one represented on the video.

For fun, I'm going to overclock the TF101 for a bit - see if it makes ANY difference.

Shane MonroeYesterday 11:53 AMEdit
Hmmm... No overclocking available ..strange.

My GUESS is? The TF300 would play this like BUTTER. Which is great. Tegra 3 in a same-price tablet? Sounds like a deal to me.

Giving me more reasons to consider a trade up.

Shane MonroeYesterday 11:58 AMEdit
Here is the video ....

Untitled2.avi

I'm recoding the video to 4.2 bitrate ... just for fun. We'll see if there is any noticable quality difference.

Shane MonroeYesterday 12:07 PMEdit
The original bit rate was just over 4 already - so that didn't help. I found it interesting that the original video was 23 fps too.

Trying a straight up conversion to "youTube HD", which is 1280x720. I have a feeling this will be fine.

Shane MonroeYesterday 12:08 PMEdit
Shame I already went to Fry's today. I would take an SD card and throw it in the TF300 for a test.

Shane MonroeYesterday 12:15 PMEdit
Considerably better but still not what I would want.

Chris HentschelYesterday 12:21 PM
GB? Oh you mean HoneyComb. ;)

Yeah, I am on that Revolver ROM.

I can try that file tonight though.

John RyanYesterday 12:29 PM (edited)
Yeah Honeycomb, My bad :)

720p seems OK this end, No problems i have found.
The odd 480p file having some flickering problems that only my transformer shows i have seen at times though. Weird.

Yeah I'm guessing the TF300 would probably play 1080p fine. I'd be very surprised if it didn't.

Shane MonroeYesterday 12:33 PMEdit
For giggles, I ran this though AVS4YOU's Video Converter - optimizing for Android devices, 1280x720. I would consider this ACCEPTABLE playback.

http://www.monroeworld.com/misc/nicole.mp4

Shane MonroeYesterday 12:34 PMEdit
My friend +Troy Toulou is bringing his Prime over with him Memorial Day weekend. I can see how things work there, too. Or +Martin Parrott could try it on his end ... heeheh ..

John RyanYesterday 1:21 PM (edited)
Must try that 720p file of yours over the weekend. No access to my TF at the moment. It probably be fine though.

Yeah given the prime is almost identical to the TF300, Be nice to know for real if it copes much better.

Cheers for all the info.

Martin ParrottYesterday 1:29 PM
I'll download everything from the links above after work and give them a go on my Prime, then get back.

John RyanYesterday 2:54 PM (edited)
Does the Prime & TF300 like the TF101 threw HDMI video output limited to 720p or can it output up to the size of the source, say a 1080p video file?
I'm still 95% convinced my phone can do this..so again i look at a possible Nvidia/Tegra issue if it can't (TV shows 720p for everything TF, Phone shows its own res but scales to size of a video. TV reports running in 1080p if the video source is 1080p)

Prime is quite rare to get in these parts and soooo expensive. TF300 is released in a few weeks here...I would be very tempted by it if it has full 1080p HDMI output for video and a smooth playback.

Chris HentschelYesterday 3:31 PM
I am looking at maybe putting the 300 on my Christmas list this year. Maybe I will try overclocking my 101. :)

Shane MonroeYesterday 4:10 PMEdit
Btw... Hdmi appeared to be 1080 p when I tried it on the tf101...so.....

Martin ParrottYesterday 4:32 PM
OK, I just slapped all the videos linked above on my Prime and it plays all of them flawlessly. No slowdown or stutter could be observed.

John RyanYesterday 4:34 PM
Hmmm Interesting, something in the firmware update?
I've still on an old ICS version, i'm getting 720p on home screen and in Videos.
I Won't have my TF back till monday but will try again and will probably be flashing it with a new firmware also. I might try and borrow a 2nd HDMI lead also just in case.

John RyanYesterday 4:35 PM
Cheers Martin, good to know. Should be the same outcome with the TF300 also then.

Shane MonroeYesterday 4:56 PMEdit
I can test the output again later and make sure HDMI out was actually 1080

John RyanYesterday 4:59 PM
I was thinking about it a little more , i may have got 1080i output at times. I'm not 100% though. bah! can't test anything at the moment unfortunatly

Chris HentschelYesterday 5:29 PM
I overclocked my TF to 1.5Ghz. While my TF is much snappier as whole, the video still runs out of sync and slow.

Shane MonroeYesterday 6:06 PMEdit
I might experiment with a custom ROM myself .. the ICS version of what Chris is running. Experimenting with OC too.

John RyanYesterday 6:32 PM
1.5ghz woo that's quite a big OC. much more heat?
Shame about the video though

Chris HentschelYesterday 6:45 PM
+John Ryan so far so good...it is dynamic at the moment. Basically all I did was open up the threshold of what it can top out at. Seems like 1.6 is the max people are pumping it to.

John RyanYesterday 6:47 PM
Ah, Any speed increase is no bad thing, from the OS to Emulation. Hope the stability keeps up.

Chris HentschelYesterday 7:05 PM
Stability seems fine, everything in terms of the OS and Apps is smooth as buttah! :)

Chris HentschelYesterday 9:25 PM
Just had a total freeze up. Screen on, everything locked. Had to hold power button to reboot. So much for the stability of that. :p

Martin ParrottYesterday 9:37 PM
Careful of those overclocked waters, thar be dragons!

Chris HentschelYesterday 10:09 PM
Plenty of kernels to try here...:)

John Ryan8:05 AM
Does any of them Kernels mention anything about GPU overclocking or is it even possible? I have seen little about it

John Ryan8:22 AM (edited)
A little more digging shows that Blades kernel can do this and possibly some others. hmm stability is probably another question though.

I was curious as i thinking this may have more performance impact in video rather than CPU OC as Chris still had lag @ 1.5 Ghz with video

Chris Hentschel8:54 AM
It is definitely a hardware acceleration issue IMO. Raw CPU won't do it.

Shane Monroe9:57 AMEdit
It is probably speed of the video pipeline. All the CPU power in the world won't help.

This is a lot like the Amiga. We would get a 68030 CPU, but speed increase was NEGLIGIBLE unless you added specific fast memory to the 030 card - then all the sudden, it was blazing fast.

John Ryan10:08 AM
To true, just adding a memory card to the A1200 for example could nearly double it's speed ]]> Android Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19894-Asus-TF101-1080p-Video-Playback-(from-G-) http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19893-Passenger-Seat-Radio-2012-05-10-Episode-Now-Available!&goto=newpost Sat, 12 May 2012 05:53:19 GMT Topics: * Tacoma Horror Stories * Wyatt Earp Days * Manilow Windows Challenge * Android 61, Apple 29 * Google Calendar Amazements * Gmail... Topics:

• Tacoma Horror Stories
• Wyatt Earp Days
• Manilow Windows Challenge
• Android 61, Apple 29
• Google Calendar Amazements
• Gmail Drops the Ball
• Professor Doesn't Inhale

]]> PSR Show Feedback Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19893-Passenger-Seat-Radio-2012-05-10-Episode-Now-Available! http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19892-PSR-banned-from-iTunes&goto=newpost Mon, 07 May 2012 19:57:26 GMT I found out today that PSR was REMOVED by Apple from iTunes.

They didn't like "explicit" language in the show feeds.

Oddly enough - which the show is explicit (and marked as such) - they claim they removed the show because the FEED that shoves the show out to listeners contained "profanity". Long time listeners of the show know I do NOT include profanity in the show description an/or topics.

I'm trying to work with my syndicate to get the show back "on the air" on iTunes. Apple will apparently not "elaborate" on what they didn't like about the feed - so I'm having to GUESS at what the issue is - and resubmit the show.

The ONLY thing that even REMOTELY makes sense, is that they didn't like the show topic:

Instagram BS

I've changed BS to STUFF ... we'll see if the show is "allowed" back on "the air" now.

Unreal. ]]> PSR Show Feedback Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19892-PSR-banned-from-iTunes http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19891-Vectrex-demo!&goto=newpost Wed, 02 May 2012 01:32:46 GMT Check this out, http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/1/2984857/carnegie-mellon-students-vectrex-demoscene. You liked demo scene stuff from years ago? You... Check this out, http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/1/298...trex-demoscene. You liked demo scene stuff from years ago? You will love this. ]]> Classic Gaming Dragon57 http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19891-Vectrex-demo! http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19890-Passenger-Seat-Radio-Episode-4-30-2012-Now-Available!&goto=newpost Tue, 01 May 2012 15:43:04 GMT Topics:

• Navy Stories: Clarance Pt. 1

]]> PSR Show Feedback Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19890-Passenger-Seat-Radio-Episode-4-30-2012-Now-Available! http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19889-RetroGaming-Radio-April-2012-Episode-Now-Available!&goto=newpost Tue, 01 May 2012 04:46:18 GMT This month:

• Editorial: Dragon's Lair Kinect
• Anniversaries: Jack Tramiel Memorial
• Interview: D. Scott Williamson
• Bits & Bytes (inc. Frogger 5th, Google BBS, CBM Interview, MMO Asteroids)
• Review: Pixel Nation (Book)
• Review: Battle Squadron One (Android)

]]> RGR Show Feedback Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19889-RetroGaming-Radio-April-2012-Episode-Now-Available! http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19888-Play-virtual-dpad-games-with-your-real-controller!&goto=newpost Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:28:43 GMT ]]> Android Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19888-Play-virtual-dpad-games-with-your-real-controller! http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19887-Hospital&goto=newpost Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:11:44 GMT Going into hospital this week for major surgery, wish me luck! Going into hospital this week for major surgery, wish me luck! ]]> General merman1974 http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19887-Hospital http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19886-Video-Making-the-Year-8-RGR-DVDROM&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Apr 2012 06:26:28 GMT I thought the die hard fans would appreciate a peek at my working on the Year 8 DVD ROM. Here is some video of me working on the interface. It's not super exciting, but I know when I'm a fan of something - even the mundane seems interesting. :)

]]> RGR Show Feedback Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19886-Video-Making-the-Year-8-RGR-DVDROM http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19885-Hear-every-RGR-intro-from-the-last-decade&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Apr 2012 06:12:41 GMT Every RGR intro since 1998 - back to back ... http://www.retrogamingradio.com/allrgrintros.mp3 Every RGR intro since 1998 - back to back ... http://www.retrogamingradio.com/allrgrintros.mp3 ]]> RGR Show Feedback Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19885-Hear-every-RGR-intro-from-the-last-decade http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19884-Enhanced-SidPlayer-8-Bit-Music-The-Way-I-Remember-Part-2&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:32:24 GMT

This is the second collection of Sid Player music in my series.

Long before MP3 files ... before the popularity of "8-Bit Chip Tunes" ... well before the "High Voltage Sid Collection" ... came a little thing called SIDPLAYER and it's composition partner - SIDEDIT.

During the mid to latter 1980s, SIDPLAYER inspired a connected online presence known as QuantumLink to arrange, compose and trade some incredible songs - mostly arrangements from popular TV, movies and pop music of the time and decades before.

This phenomenon become known as The Compute's Gazette Sid Collection (CGSD); thousands of songs that have been subsequently ignored by fans of early computer music in favor of "in game music" and compositions from a handful of (admittedly) talented musicians (via projects like HVSC which contain none of the CGSD).

Even as "8-Bit Music" became more popular, part of the experience - the SidPlayer keyboard (also known as "Enhanced SidPlayer") fell by the wayside for basic, but functional players for Windows like SIDPLAY/W and other working - but unmemorable software - some highjacking the name of the original but never presenting the original experience.

For those of us in the scene - the "I was 8-Bit ... before 8-Bit was cool" crowd, SidPlayer and the CGSC is how WE remember music from that era; complete with keyboard display and playing music of the time period we existed in at the time.

This is the first of possibly many tributes of real music, played back on the original hardware (emulated for convenience) - with the original interface, timing and content that we, the lovers of music at the time, remember.


Enjoy your trip back to the '80s.

This collection features the following tunes: (with composer)
America (Bobbye)
Here I Am (Bobbye)
Look Away (DC Star & CPR)
Memory (Bob Huffman)
Mr. Roboto (David Strauss)
Ob-La-What? (Roth)
Straight Up (DC Star & CPR)
Sweet Dreams (Bobbye)
The Promise (DC Star & CPR)
Xanadu (Crazy Bill)
All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You (DC Star)
It's Still Rock 'n Roll To Me (DDK)
Never Ending Story (Alex Morales)
Rock Me Amadeus (Crazy Bill)
She Works Hard for the Money (Bob Retelle)
Sounds of Silence
Sweet Child of Mine
(the video has issues with the second two songs ... sorry) ]]> Classic Gaming Shane R. Monroe http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?19884-Enhanced-SidPlayer-8-Bit-Music-The-Way-I-Remember-Part-2