Good document with details about video for Nokia devices

HERE you find it.

It's a PDF file from Forum Nokia with more details about how to create video content for Nokia devices.

ENJOY!

My recommended settings for N96 video

Hello again.

On this occasion I want to share with all my list of recommended settings for encoding video to be used in N96.

While I've done a lot of testing, please note that this is just my recommendation, and this was tested with a firmware that may be different to what you have in your hands so things may have changed.

I'll keep using the N96 and if I find any significant changes I'll post an updated version. I've also done efforts to cross check my findings with what's available from official sources so I feel pretty confident that these settings are accurate.

As always, if you have comments or questions, feel free to add them here. I'll do my best to review, post and answer any questions you may have. Even if the answer is "I don't know" ;)

Ok on to the settings:

For playback in N96 screen

Codec: MPEG-4 Part 10 AVC/H264 Baseline Profile

Container: .mp4

Resolution: QVGA 320x240

Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (1.3333)

Framerate: As per source but limit is 29.97

Bitrate: 600 kbps (but can go as high as 1 Mbps but there's little gain in quality)

Audio: mpeg4aac, 96 kbps @ 44.1 KHz sample rate (can use 48 KHz if source is 48 KHz)

For use with TV-out

Codec: MPEG-4 Part 10 AVC/H264 Baseline Profile

Container: .mp4

Resolution: VGA 640x480

Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (1.3333)

Bitrate: 1 Mbps

Framerate: As per source up to 29.97.

Audio: mpeg4aac, 96 kbps @ 44.1 KHz sample rate (can use 48 KHz if source is 48 KHz)

Alternatively you can use MPEG-4 Part 2 SP/H263 Simple profile as the codec and use bitrates of 3 Mbps, this creates much bigger files but it's an alternative to H264/AVC.

Keep in mind that TV-out will change your video somewhat as the video will need to streched/cropped to PAL or NTSC and also the frame rate will change to comply with TV standards.

For WMV videos

Resolution: CIF (352x288) or QVGA (320x240). I haven't tested but QCIF (176x144) may also work.

Codec: WMV9 VC-1 SP/ MP.

Bitrate/Framerate: Depends on the profile you use. VC1 Simple profile: low level (QCIF 15fps), medium level (QVGA 24fps / CIF 15fps 384 kbps, VC1 Main profile, low level (CIF 30fps 2Mbps)

Audio part will be WMA (WMA2 part of WMV9) Use 32 kbps. and sample rate as per source material, you can of course go higher depending on the video bitrate. But for most cases I rather sacrifice audio quality than video since there's not a lot of headroom.

For Flash Lite Videos

If you are already converting your videos to FLV you can also use them on the N96 but these videos don't show up in the Video Manager or Photos applications so you need to access them through the File Manager.

Here are the specs:

Codec: Sorenson Spark or h263 or VP6

Resolution: QVGA 320x240

Bitrate: 192 kbps (for video part)

Framerate: 25 fps for h263 15 fps for Sorenson or VP6

Audio: MP3 (Mpeg1 Layer 3) variable bitrate

Combined bitrate should be around 350 kbps (in my tests if you start going to around 500kbps then the playback becomes choppy).

Other Codecs and Containers

There are other possible codecs to use, like Realvideo (Rm or Rmvb) but after doing some testing I don't recommend using Real as the performance is much restricted. I guess the main reason for still keeping real (keeping it real), ;) is mainly for video streaming. So CIF and QVGA are the main resolutions, only 15 or 25 fps is supported and the bitrate needs to be quite low (256 kbps).

You can also use .3GP and .3G2 containers for MPEG-4 codecs, as well as using .M4V container. Just keep in mind that iTunes uses H264 MAIN profile in their .m4v videos so they will NOT play in N96.

WMV can also have the extension .ASX or .ASF usually for streaming links. I had had some problems if the wmv or asf file contains more than 1 video or audio stream. The end result being that it doesn't play or plays partially.

MPEG-4 Part 10 also includes the "normal" mpeg-4 (non AVC) and several Levels are supported. Baseline profile Levels 1, 1b, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2. So it's an alternative as well.

Thumbnails and other issues to keep in mind

You can still create you personalized thumbnails to be displayed in video center following my previous tips. HERE
The file attribute “hidden” should be turned on for the thumbnail. The best way to do this is to set the hidden attribute when you create the images on a Windows PC (right mouse click on file in File Explorer -> Properties ->Hidden). Or use YBrowser to achieve the same effect.

• TIP: Some things to keep in mind is that when you load a lot of video clips, video center may not show them right away, you may need to leave it open for a few minutes before the library is refreshed. While this is happening your videos may not play correctly as the N96 is furiously searching for all those videos and creating thumbnails.
• TIP: If you just inserted a Memory Card with lots of videos, they may not appear right away in the Video Center, you have to let the program find the videos. It's very important that you either a) DO NOT remove the memory card while Video Center is searching for videos or b) Use the"Remove F: Memory card" option from the power button. Failure to do so may cause corruption to the Memory card
  

Also, the Photos application also shows videos stored in your device. So you can choose whether to use Photos or Video Center.

• TIP: Remember to save your videos in the VIDEOS or MY VIDEOS folders in the Mass Memory (E:) or the memory card (F:)

You can use either the front media keys or the landscape (hidden) media keys to control the videos. When the landscape media keys are exposed, i.e. Slide is down, then the front media keys will be inactive.

Quick N96 Video Center TIP

One thing I just learned today.

In the New Video Center for N96 you can search for Videos just like you search in other places. By typing any letter or word that may be in the video title.

See below:

This makes navigation through long lists of videos much easier.

Cheers!