Disclaimer: VideoLAN chairman and VLC dev here...
VLC on the iPad doesn't have any GPU/DSP because there are no APIs to to so... So, forget playback of 720MKV for now. But to decode DivX, Xvid, or DVD rips, the CPU is more than enough...
Let me just say I have been longing for this, ever since iPhone 1.0. I have a lot of video and I don't want to convert to MP4 and wind up with two of everything. I know CineXPlayer is there, so I'm hoping VLC will be too. Will there be an iPhone/iPod Touch A4 version coming? And, OT, a webOS 2.0 version -- is that possible?
iPhone will come very quickly after the iPad.
WebOS should come easily, if I have a device...
Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store
by loewenskind on Friday September 10, 2010 @03:12AM
(#1678141)
I didn't blame you guys for not doing hardware, I knew you would if you could. I was simply pointing out that most people don't know anything but "this runs slower in VLC than iTunes".
Anyway, thanks for a great product! I haven't really used any video player but yours since I first found out about it.
Now that VLC for iPad is out, I've installed it and tried playing WMV files but they don't appear on the shelf. Is it forthcoming?
More than enough with what battery life?
With DivX decoding, I believe 7hours+
Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store
by FooBarWidget on Monday September 20, 2010 @02:37PM
(#1709981)
7 hours? The battery life is about 8 hours for normal usage. Since decoding Theora takes about as much CPU as decoding DivX all the statements about Theora halving battery life are probably bull.
Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store
by guywithabike on Monday September 20, 2010 @03:12PM
(#1710114)
Most reviewers reported seeing 10 to 11 hours of continuous h.264 video playing. I haven't empirically tested this, but I have definitely watched at least four or five movies without charging the iPad. 7 hours is a significant hit, although still plenty enough for a few movies, so it's probably a wash in practice.
I know someone who tested OPlayer HD[1] and he said that the player does not use the H.264 acceleration, some videos were absurdly slow, yet the player is in the App Store.
[1]: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/oplayer-hd/id373236724?mt=8
The iPad does video so well because it uses hardware support. From the "hardware limitation" comment, I suspect VLC isn't able to take advantage of this. Given that, I don't think it could weaken the iTunes/iOS "death grip" even if it were accepted.
But if they aren't using hardware acceleration then I suspect it wont get approved. Would you want a player that everyone is going to be downloading (so they can watch any video) out there making people think your device is slow and underpowered? I wouldn't.
EDIT: Nevermind my last paragraph. There is apparently already players in the store that don't use acceleration.