Library videos from one of 5 cameras will not play on my Samsung tablet

[jmurt]

Videos in the library from 4 of 5 cameras play fine on both my Samsung Galaxy Tab A and on my Samsung Note 8 cell.  Videos from one camera will not play on the Tab A.  I can see the 1st (or last?) shot but when I hit play, it goes to a Black screen.  I can look at it live, but not the recorded video.

If I download it to Photos, instead of playing it asks me what to open with.  If I select Video Player it says Codec not supported.  If I select Photos it plays a black image just as when I do it through the library.

[StephenB]

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@jmurt wrote:

Videos in the library from 4 of 5 cameras play fine on both my Samsung Galaxy Tab A and on my Samsung Note 8 cell.  Videos from one camera will not play on the Tab A.  I can see the 1st (or last?) shot but when I hit play, it goes to a Black screen.  I can look at it live, but not the recorded video.

If I download it to Photos, instead of playing it asks me what to open with.  If I select Video Player it says Codec not supported.  If I select Photos it plays a black image just as when I do it through the library.

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This is almost certainly because the 5th camera is sending 2K or 4K video using the HEVC codec.  The Galaxy Tab A is too old to play this - though the Note 8 ought to play it I think.

One thing you can try is to enable "Auto Zoom & Tracking" in the camera's video settings.  That will reduce the resolution to 1080p, and switch the codec to AVC - which will play on older devices.

[jmurt]

Thanks. That did work, but of course it does not let me view the earlier videos.  But it is odder even still.  I had a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (8", 2019) and it showed the videos fine, but was getting very sluggish so I bought a new one.  The one with the problem is a Galaxy Tab A8, supposedly this year's model.  Comparing the Software Information from Settings, they have the same version of Android etc.  The A8 does have a newer Security Software version and is 10" instead of 8".  

The three Pro 3 cameras were all bought at the same time and were all set up the same.  I cannot understand why the Galaxy A8 can read the videos from two of them but not the 3rd.  I may have to return the A8 which I just bought yesterday.

[StephenB]

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@jmurt wrote:

I cannot understand why the Galaxy A8 can read the videos from two of them but not the 3rd.  

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The third one was recording 2K with HEVC, while the other two were recording 1080p with AVC.

FWIW, the Tab A8 specifications do include HEVC, but don't specify the resolution.