Summary

: H.264 area upper limit checker is a tool that outputs the H.264 area upper limit value (*1) that differs depending on the Android device and information regarding device-specific H.264 movie playback to the screen, logs, and storage in the device as a yaml file. .
By using this tool, you can check the resolution and number of H.264 movie that can be played simultaneously on a specific Android device. (*2)

Remarks: (*1): For details, please refer to (D): Resolution area upper limit in About cases where H.264 movie playback fails.
(*2): Please note that this tool only checks whether playback itself is possible, and cannot confirm whether stable playback without stuttering is possible.

Operating environment

: This tool works on devices running Android 7.0 or later. The operating Android ABI is arm7/arm8/x86/x86_64.

Operation specifications

: When you start the H.264 area upper limit checker, a screen like the one below will be output, and the buttons at the bottom of the screen have the following meanings.

Screen configuration

**Description of each button**
button	Explanation
TEX/BUFF	H.264 decoder operation mode: Switch between texture output and buffer output. (*Four)
START	Starts H.264 area upper limit check.
STOP	Stops H.264 area upper limit check processing.
QUIT	Quit the app.
DETAIL	Turns on/off the screen display of the details of the H.264 area upper limit check result.
STATUS	Turns on/off the screen display of the Player status under the H.264 area limit.

: When you press the START button, H.264 movie with the following five resolutions will be played one by one in descending order of resolution until the maximum number of simultaneous playbacks (*3) is reached.
When the maximum number of simultaneous playbacks (*3) is reached or an error (*1) due to the H.264 area limit occurs, the estimated value of the H.264 movie area limit on that device and related information are displayed on the screen, logs, and local storage. Output to yaml file.

Remarks: (*3): Refers to the maximum number of simultaneous instances of H.264 decoders supported by the device, or the upper limit of 16 simultaneous H.264 decoders set by the Android version of Sofdec.
(*4): Currently, the native Android version of Sofdec SDK does not release buffer output mode to the public, and it is a function used only in CRIWARE Unity Plug-in for Smartphone.

**H.264 movie to play when checking**
Playback priority	Resolution	Total number of frames	fps
1	3840x2160	1	29.97
2	1920x1080
3	1280x720
4	640x480
5	320x240

Attention

Depending on the device, the app may crash due to lack of memory before outputting the results. For example, on the following terminal, the tool crashes due to insufficient memory before outputting the results.
- Google Pixel 3 (Android 12)
If the tool crashes before outputting the result, check how many resolution x number of H.264 movie you played before it crashes, and use that amount as a guideline for the area limit.

How to check

Installation on actual device/File access permission settings at first startup

: First, install H264AreaLimitChecker.apk on your terminal using the adb install command and start it.
When you start it for the first time, you will be asked for permission to access local storage as shown below, so please set it to allow it.

File access permission setting screen (Android 11 or later)

android_h264_area_limit_checker_file_access_under11.png

File access permission setting screen (for Android below 11)

Start check

: After selecting the H.264 decoder operation mode for which you want to check the operation using the TEX/BUFF button, press the "START" button to start the H.264 area upper limit check.
After starting, the check is complete when the text that says "Checking..." changes to "Done." in the upper left corner.

Checking the check results

: The check results can be viewed on-screen or in the log/yaml file.
Check from the screen

: After the check is completed, the following output screen will be displayed by default.
In the output screen example below, this terminal has an H.264 area limit and can play up to 2 H.264 movie at the same time at 3840x2160, 8 at 1920x1080, and 16 at 1280x720/640x480/320x240. is shown.

Check result display screen (simple)

If you press the DETAIL button or the "STATUS" button, the following information will be added to the screen.
The added information shows:

H.264 area limit exists between 17280000 and 17356800
Although I was able to play two H.264 movie with a resolution of 3840x2160/one H.264 movie with a resolution of 1280x720/one H.264 movie with a resolution of 320x240 at the same time, I was able to play one H.264 movie with a resolution of 320x240 at the same time. When trying to play, the area limit is reached.

android_h264_area_limit_checker_cap_limit_result_detail.jpg

Check result display screen (details)

Check from log/yaml file

: The following output results are output on the log.

========== H.264 AREA LIMIT CHECKER RESULT ==========
H.264 AREA LIMIT is between 17280000 and 17356800.
       - [device-specific information] -       
- checker version: 1.0
  device name: SC-02J
  model number: SC-02J
  OS: 28
  decoder info: OMX.qcom.video.decoder.avc
  output mode: texture
  output format: 2141391878
  is area limit reached: yes
  estimated lower area limit:
  - value: 17280000
    number of 3840x2160: 2
    number of 1920x1080: 0
    number of 1280x720: 0
    number of 640x480: 2
    number of 320x240: 1
  estimated upper area limit:
  - value: 17356800
    number of 3840x2160: 2
    number of 1920x1080: 0
    number of 1280x720: 0
    number of 640x480: 2
    number of 320x240: 2
  max decoder handle: 16
  max width : 4096
  max height: 4096
  min width : 64
  min height: 64
  max framerate: 240
  min framerate: 1
=====================================================
output result to /sdcard/cri/crimana/output/h264_area_limit_checker_result_SC-02J_os28_texture_v1_0.yaml

: Also, among the log output contents

- [device-specific information] -

From

=====================================================

During this time, it is also output as a yaml file to the following directory in the terminal. (*5)
Obtain and check the yaml file using Android Studio's Device Explorer or the "adb pull /sdcard/cri/crimana/output" command.

/sdcard/cri/crimana/output/
- h264_area_limit_checker_result_(model)_(OS version)_( Output format)_(Tool version).yaml
- (Example) Pixel 5 (Android 14), for texture output
  - h264_area_limit_checker_result_Pixel_5_os34_texture_v1_0.yaml

Remarks: (*5): File output may fail depending on the terminal. If it fails, the text "(Failed to output result to local file)" will be output to the screen and the following text will be output to the log.

Failed to output H.264 area limit checker result to local file.

About each information output on the check result display screen (details)/log/yaml

: Each item output to the check result display screen (details), part of the log, and the yaml file has the following meaning.

**H.264 area upper limit check result log/yaml content description**
Item		Description
checker version		H.264 area limit checker version
device name		Device product name
model number		Device model number
OS		Device OS version (API level)
decoder info		H.264 decoder name
output mode		H.264 decoder output format (texture/buffer)
output format		H.264 decoder output color format
is area limit reached		Whether the area limit has been reached (yes/no)
estimated lower area limit	value	Lower estimated area limit
	number of 3840x2160	Number of 3840x2160 H.264 movie played during downward estimation
	number of 1920x1080	Number of 1920x1080 H.264 movie played during downward estimation
	number of 1280x720	Number of 1280x720 H.264 movie played during downward estimation
	number of 640x480	Number of 640x480 H.264 movie played during downward estimation
	number of 320x240	Number of 320x240 H.264 movie played during downward estimation
estimated upper area limit	value	Estimated upper area limit
	number of 3840x2160	Number of 3840x2160 H.264 movie played during upward estimation
	number of 1920x1080	Number of 1920x1080 H.264 movie played during upward estimation
	number of 1280x720	Number of 1280x720 H.264 movie played during upward estimation
	number of 640x480	Number of 640x480 H.264 movie played during upward estimation
	number of 320x240	Number of 320x240 H.264 movie played during upward estimation
max decoder handle		Maximum number of simultaneous instances of H.264 decoder supported by the device
max width		Maximum resolution width supported by the device
max height		Maximum resolution height supported by the device
min width		Minimum resolution width supported by the device
min height		Minimum resolution height supported by the device
max framerate		Maximum fps for resolution supported by device
min framerate		Minimum fps for device supported resolution