Okay, updated testing results (using first hardware decoder beta v1.1.0 on New 3DS XL):
Previously, I tested a 240p (400x240) video that performed great, but was choppy when the camera panned (linked example above). I have since reconverted that file, testing if the fact that my converter had changed the fps from the native 23.976 to 24.000 was the cause. But strangely, I have been unable to reproduce that choppiness with any reconverted version of this file that I throw at the player (other than the original file with the issue).
Results for an anime episode (same video, newly converted from original source), h.264 480p (854x480), 96kbps AAC audio, freshly converted with AnyVideoConverter: You are right
@MarioKartFan , this freshly converted video runs perfectly 99.6% of the time with only the slightest of audio hiccups from CPU/GPU over-utilization. It looks super sharp. It runs almost perfectly performance-wise (it rivals the Netflix app, which runs absolutely perfectly with no exceptions ever).
Quality-wise, this video looks perfect most of the time (way better than Netflix!), with a notable exception: Sometimes, some of the colors persist on the screen, (most often) when the scene changes. This happens in blurred blocks usually. It can even get very messy at moments, turning a character into an amorphous set of blurred blocks. While this issue occurs most often during scene changes, it can occur when a character is standing still. This happens 100% of the time when seeking and persists for a very long time (though this does not occur at all in the first choppy video I mentioned in this post). I am guessing (merely speculating) that this issue **when caused by seeking specifically** is due to the same thing that causes the video to not be correctly decoded at first.
Here is a 21-second example:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17VB4pZzL80fLMeHAjsiizUYDf9hS2cEO/view?usp=sharing
The first blur across the face of the character wearing red happened on its own. The next three full screen blurs happened exactly when I deliberately seeked to three different places in the video, waiting a few seconds between each seek. You'll notice that each time the blur starts (which is at the instant I seek), it lasts for a few seconds, covering up the scene.
This issue occurs much more frequently (meaning much of the time) on its own with a converted YouTube video I tested out.
*btw, the videos are from the anime Hunter X Hunter, which can be watched with a Crunchyroll subscription! I highly recommend it!