Page 3 of 4: Testing with Fraps

This section shows you how to test the playback performance of the H.264 mp4 file using a benchmarking tool called Fraps.

Fraps is mainly designed for games, but it can also be used on video. Fraps can provide a benchmarking report (as well as take screenshots) from video playback.

Installing and Configuring Fraps:
  1. Download Fraps and install it. Please note where you installed Fraps into (default: c:\Fraps\). Start Fraps and go to the "FPS" section.


    Fraps: FPS



  2. Make sure the "MinMaxAvg" option is enabled and you can set the "Overlay Corner" option to "Disabled". Take note of the "Benchmarking Hotkey", which by default should be the F11 key. This is the key that we will use to start and end the benchmark. I find that changing this key to "F10" is better in MPC since "F11" is already used as the fullscreen/windowed shortcut key
  3. Don't close Fraps, but you can minimize it.

Testing with Fraps:
  1. It is recommended that you test playback at the highest resolution your monitor can support. 1080p HD files can be 1920x1080 in resolution, so the high resolution is required to get the best out of HD.
  2. Double click on your ".mp4" file to start playback within MPC.
  3. Double click on the main playback area to go into fullscreen mode.
  4. Press the Fraps benchmarking hotkey to start the test and then press it again to end the test. It's best to make sure the test is as long as possible, so for the "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" trailer clip I used, I started the benchmark just after the MPAA disclaimer screen and ended it when the "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" title appeared on screen near the end.
  5. Once testing has finished, go to the Fraps installation directory (default: c:\Fraps\) and open the FRAPSLOG.TXT. If this file is not there, then it means the benchmark was not started properly and you will have to do it again (make sure you press the "F11" key, and sometimes you need to activate your keyboard's "F Lock" key to enable the F-keys). The FRAPSLOG.TXT contains the benchmark results.

 

 


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