Please read the full description for more in-depth information on my 10bit h264 mkv playback test. I tested an iPad Air (2013) running on iOS 7.0.3 playing 10bit h264 mkv 720p/1080p video files. Apps tested were AVPlayer, VLC, and HD Player Pro. Files Tested (All Unconverted): - Nagi no Asukara 720p - Overall Bitrate: 2,701 Kbps - Magi S2 720p - Overall Bitrate: 1,756 Kbps - Monogatari Second Season 720p - Overall Bitrate: 1,509 Kbps - Escaflowne 1080p - Overall Bitrate: 11,100 Kbps - Index Movie - Endymion no Kiseki 720p - Overall Bitrate: 1,344 Kbps - Nerawareta Gakuen 1080p - Overall Bitrate: 19,700 Kbps - Air 1080p - Overall Bitrate: 8,708 Kbps - Kanon (2006) 1080p - Overall Bitrate: 9,860 Kbps - Little Witch Academia 1080p - Overall Bitrate: 4,988 Kbps tl;dw - 10bit h264 mkv 720p playback is almost flawless, but this is too be expected as the 3rd generation iPad could already do it. With the exception of some typesetting glitching at times (fault of the apps, not the device I am assuming). 10bit mkv 1080p on the other hand plays decently, depending on the bitrate of the video file. If the video bitrate is above ~4500Kbps the video will start to drop/skip frames. Anything less than 4000Kbps is watchable at 1080p, but bitrates close to 6000Kbps and beyond, start to suffer greatly (un-watchable in the higher ranges). Seasonal anime works great and weekly subbed shows playback flawlessly, but Blu-ray rips from certain groups (that release in high bitrate, which is most groups) don't always work. I've been searching hard for a tablet that can beast through all the 10bit high bitrate 1080p mkv files I have, but alas, tablet and mobile hardware technology is not there yet. Apple is very very close however. Maybe, we'll get there next year, but as of November 2013, nothing out there can play 10bit h264 mkvs at 1080p with high bitrate well. Why 1080p over 720p on 9.7" screen when most people can't even tell the difference? That choice is really up to you as the viewer and what you're willing to download for the filesize. From Danny Choo's Culture Japan Season 2, when he visited JC Staff, we learned that JC Staff (and probably most other production studios), scan in their keyframes with 960 vertical resolution (somewhere around there). Technically, with a 720p file, there is loss of quality. When Blu-rays are released, I am assuming they master the disc from source and not from a 720p upscale. Of course, you can again argue that no one is ever going to see the difference between 720p and 1080p, but hey, if we kept that attitude, we would never have high pixel density screens, ergo Retina display and pretty much any high-end smartphone on the market. ==================== According to tech review sites like Anandtech, the Apple A7 chip inside the iPhone 5S, iPad Mini Retina and the iPad Air, pretty much blow everything else out of the water. Sorry Android. Don't believe me? Just read: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-iphone-5s-review/5 http://www.anandtech.com/show/7460/apple-ipad-air-review Unfortunately, even the 2.3Ghz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 (Qualcomm MSM8974 MDP/T), Qualcomm's highest-tier flagship SoC does not even come close to competing against the A7 in terms of raw compute power. Maybe next year. Hence, why I am testing 10bit mkv playback on the iPad Air.

• published: 05 Nov 2013
• views: 249