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claimed 7 hours 10 minutes full brightness video playback??

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
Using a Modern UI App with hardware encoded MP4, I could see this. I was able to use my SP3 on my flight from Seattle to Toronto to Heathrow watching videos and listening to music for well over 8 hours.....(putting it in Connected Standby at times), the total trip was well over 13 hours and I arrived with about 16% battery.
 
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tony8154

Member
could you please explain what hardware encoded Mp4 means?

I understand the mp4 video file type, but I'm not sure what you mean by hardware encoded.

thank you
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
could you please explain what hardware encoded Mp4 means?

I understand the mp4 video file type, but I'm not sure what you mean by hardware encoded.

thank you
MP4 files can use the GPU rather than the CPU for rendering which allows for better battery life, AVI and WMV files typically render in software (CPU) which will drain the battery faster.
 
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tony8154

Member
MP4 files can use the GPU rather than the CPU for rendering which allows for better battery life, AVI and WMV files typically render in software (CPU) which will drain the battery faster.
so does this also mean that if i convert an mkv/avi file to mp4 it will also use less battery?
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
so does this also mean that if i convert an mkv/avi file to mp4 it will also use less battery?
Potentially...it is all on how you encode them, most conversion programs have settings that allow for Hardware Encoding. My understanding of mkv is it just a wrapper and the payload can be a MP4 file....
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Potentially...it is all on how you encode them, most conversion programs have settings that allow for Hardware Encoding. My understanding of mkv is it just a wrapper and the payload can be a MP4 file....
Right mkv is a container and can potentially have multiple things in it including subtitles, notes, & malware :)
 

ctitanic

Well-Known Member
Potentially...it is all on how you encode them, most conversion programs have settings that allow for Hardware Encoding. My understanding of mkv is it just a wrapper and the payload can be a MP4 file....
Mkv can be hardware decoded too. All depends on how are you encoding it. If you are using H.264 for video codec and AAC for audio codec most likely the will be decoded using hardware, and that depends on the video player that are you using and its configuration.

Capture.JPG
 
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nipponham

Active Member
Interesting test. I checked out the person's YouTube page and he had some more info.
The video resolution is 480p, I'm using the default video player (Xbox video app), and I've not changed any other network settings (Wifi is on, bluetooth is on, etc...) The only setting I changed is to not let it go to sleep or auto-dim the screen. I'm using a core i3 model, which might explain part of the difference. I've used a core i5 model in the past, and I can confirm that the battery life of the core i3 model feels much better than the core i5 - but that's just my personal experience...
I'm not really all that surprised at the result since I can watch a 2-hour movie and and still have more than 80% battery left, (albeit at 40% brightness or so.) I might do some testing of my own over the holidays when I have time. It's just about that time to recalibrate my battery meter:)
 

nipponham

Active Member
Using a Modern UI App with hardware encoded MP4, I could see this...
I think you mean hardware decoded, right? i.e. hardware acceleration? Whether the video was hardware or software encoded should not have an effect on final playback. I believe the issue here is whether the codec/container used in the video supports hardware acceleration.
 
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