Hello again,
A few months ago I posted about the most popular posts
I think for the most part some of those are still valid. But now what you've search the most was for AVI files (DIVX or XVID) and how to play them in the S60 v5
Watching AVI videos in N97 (or 5800)
The second most popular is still the general settings for N96 that also work for 5800 and N97
And the ever popular tip for Music Database problems.
A lot of people also land in the Top page of this blog. If you're one of them and want me to blog about a specific topic, feel free to drop me a comment.
Until next time.
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Got me some N97
Hi,
Yesterday I finally got onto the bandwagon of the N97. I've read a lot about it, the ups and downs, got to try it out for myself and finally got one.
At first I thought it was going to be a big change from the 7710 and the N96. And it is and isn't both at the same time.
On the one hand it does most of what the N96 did and even adds a few things, and from the old 7710 back is the touch interface, the handwritting window and a few other tricks. But on the whole it doesn't add a lot more than adding touch to S60. I won't repeat what has been said ad-nauseum. Instead I'll focus on the topic and reason why I got this. Can you guess?
Well to play videos of course.
There's nothing really new or added that I've discovered so far from the N96 features. The old post I made last year about what settings to use still pretty much applies and there are some minor drawbacks even when compared to N96.
To start, some WMV videos that used to play correctly in the N96 seem to stutter in the N97. It could be that the CPU is indexing still some data since I just got the device but it's odd. Other than that videos that are in an aspect ratio of 1.77 (16x9) play great. So my old VGA and QVGA videos will need to be re-encoded to play better in this new screen format.
Also worth nothing is that the best resolution to use in this device will be 640x360 (native resolution) but doing some testing I found the PSP old resolution (368x208) to also work great. Not only is this the correct aspect ratio but for the size of screen it's sharp enough thus saving some CPU power and size.
I also ran into problems playing H264 videos even though they're playing fine in the N96. I had the same problem when moving from the N95 to the N95 8GB then to the N96. There are subtle differences in what they support. This is a big headache, I think with each new model the support will be expanded while keeping compatibility but alas this is not the case.
Some have claimed that H264 support is not there for the initial firmware release, I can't confirm this but I can't get H264 videos to play either. Maybe future releases will fix this as it stated in Forum Nokia that N97 DOES support H264.
TIP: Just like in the N96 and other newer models when you load a lot of content (videos, music, photos), the phone goes into indexing mode in the background. Everything slows down to a crawl and it can take 5 minutes or more to finish indexing everything (loaded 700 songs, 15 videos and 30 photos). Even though there's an option to Refresh Library, this doesn't work like it used to in the N95 or N91, you just have to leave it alone and wait until the contents show up. The device should provide some indication that it's doing this.
TIP: Don't shut off your phone or take out the battery right after loading contents, doing so could corrupt the databases.
Another thing I noticed is that the N97 doesn't support user created thumbnails like the previous models. Even if you load the picture with the video the "Videos and Photos" applications will create their own thumbnails which is a drawback as many of them are just a black screen or whatever is the beginning of the video. If you have several movie trailers you will get a bunch of icons with the green start screen. :(
TIP: When playing video you can stretch, or zoom to fill the screen useful for different aspect ratios.
TIP: You can use the rocker key to control playback. Center select acts as Play/Pause. Up and Down is FFW/REW and left and right control the volume.
Well this is the first couple of days of using it, hopefully with more time with it I will learn some workarounds to get more performance out of the video playback. Also I'm waiting for CorePlayer and DIVX to release their versions for this phone.
Until next time, keep on reading.
Yesterday I finally got onto the bandwagon of the N97. I've read a lot about it, the ups and downs, got to try it out for myself and finally got one.
At first I thought it was going to be a big change from the 7710 and the N96. And it is and isn't both at the same time.
On the one hand it does most of what the N96 did and even adds a few things, and from the old 7710 back is the touch interface, the handwritting window and a few other tricks. But on the whole it doesn't add a lot more than adding touch to S60. I won't repeat what has been said ad-nauseum. Instead I'll focus on the topic and reason why I got this. Can you guess?
Well to play videos of course.
There's nothing really new or added that I've discovered so far from the N96 features. The old post I made last year about what settings to use still pretty much applies and there are some minor drawbacks even when compared to N96.
To start, some WMV videos that used to play correctly in the N96 seem to stutter in the N97. It could be that the CPU is indexing still some data since I just got the device but it's odd. Other than that videos that are in an aspect ratio of 1.77 (16x9) play great. So my old VGA and QVGA videos will need to be re-encoded to play better in this new screen format.
Also worth nothing is that the best resolution to use in this device will be 640x360 (native resolution) but doing some testing I found the PSP old resolution (368x208) to also work great. Not only is this the correct aspect ratio but for the size of screen it's sharp enough thus saving some CPU power and size.
I also ran into problems playing H264 videos even though they're playing fine in the N96. I had the same problem when moving from the N95 to the N95 8GB then to the N96. There are subtle differences in what they support. This is a big headache, I think with each new model the support will be expanded while keeping compatibility but alas this is not the case.
Some have claimed that H264 support is not there for the initial firmware release, I can't confirm this but I can't get H264 videos to play either. Maybe future releases will fix this as it stated in Forum Nokia that N97 DOES support H264.
TIP: Just like in the N96 and other newer models when you load a lot of content (videos, music, photos), the phone goes into indexing mode in the background. Everything slows down to a crawl and it can take 5 minutes or more to finish indexing everything (loaded 700 songs, 15 videos and 30 photos). Even though there's an option to Refresh Library, this doesn't work like it used to in the N95 or N91, you just have to leave it alone and wait until the contents show up. The device should provide some indication that it's doing this.
TIP: Don't shut off your phone or take out the battery right after loading contents, doing so could corrupt the databases.
Another thing I noticed is that the N97 doesn't support user created thumbnails like the previous models. Even if you load the picture with the video the "Videos and Photos" applications will create their own thumbnails which is a drawback as many of them are just a black screen or whatever is the beginning of the video. If you have several movie trailers you will get a bunch of icons with the green start screen. :(
TIP: When playing video you can stretch, or zoom to fill the screen useful for different aspect ratios.
TIP: You can use the rocker key to control playback. Center select acts as Play/Pause. Up and Down is FFW/REW and left and right control the volume.
Well this is the first couple of days of using it, hopefully with more time with it I will learn some workarounds to get more performance out of the video playback. Also I'm waiting for CorePlayer and DIVX to release their versions for this phone.
Until next time, keep on reading.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Common resolutions, CIF, qCIF, QVGA, etc
Hello again,
Just briefly I'll post some common resolutions and names so that we are all speaking the same language.
** Internet tablet N800/N810 screen resolution
Another resolution to keep in mind is 176x208 which was the resolution of some older models before QVGA became the standard screen resolution. E.G. N91 8GB.
Hope this information is helpful.
Until next time, keep on watching.
Just briefly I'll post some common resolutions and names so that we are all speaking the same language.
- CIF 352x288
- qCIF 176x144
- sub-qCIF 128x96
- nHD 640x360*
- VGA 640x480
- QVGA 320x240
- WVGA 800x480**
- SVGA 800x600
- SVCD 480x480
- VCD 352x288 or 352x240
** Internet tablet N800/N810 screen resolution
Another resolution to keep in mind is 176x208 which was the resolution of some older models before QVGA became the standard screen resolution. E.G. N91 8GB.
Hope this information is helpful.
Until next time, keep on watching.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Most useful Posts
EDITED (May 29th, 2009)
Hello again,
Today I'm starting a new phase in my career and I need to decide if I'll continue with this blog or what I'll do with it. Hence the new poll about what to post about next.
Just as a summary and for people that have just found this blog this is the list of links to the most useful topics as seen by the number of comments made or the times I've pointed people to them when they had problems.
Enjoy!
Using ImToo 3GP encoder
Recommended Settings for N96
Using SUPER encoder
This has to be the most popular one.
Music Database problems.
Although this is but one solution there's lots of discussion about this. Seems to be a topic worth expanding on.
Will this video plan on my phone?
Lots of good information there.
uPNP, Media Center, Home Media
How to use this basically.
Hello again,
Today I'm starting a new phase in my career and I need to decide if I'll continue with this blog or what I'll do with it. Hence the new poll about what to post about next.
Just as a summary and for people that have just found this blog this is the list of links to the most useful topics as seen by the number of comments made or the times I've pointed people to them when they had problems.
Enjoy!
Using ImToo 3GP encoder
Recommended Settings for N96
Using SUPER encoder
This has to be the most popular one.
Music Database problems.
Although this is but one solution there's lots of discussion about this. Seems to be a topic worth expanding on.
Will this video plan on my phone?
Lots of good information there.
uPNP, Media Center, Home Media
How to use this basically.
Friday, January 9, 2009
New Year, start with something easy, ALBUM ART
Hello my fellow mobile users. I hope you all enjoyed a great New Year celebration (if you follow the Gregorian calendar) or a good summer break ( for those of you in the south hemisphere) .
For me I've been enjoying the snow. Lot's of snow.
So, new year, new challenges, new horizons. To kick off I'll start the year explaining a question that is very common and has caused a lot of issues for many Nokia users. I'm talking about How to display Album Art in the Music Player.
As I've explained on several occasions there's more than 1 way to do this (isn't this the case with many things in Nokia devices?).
I'll start with the simplest one then move on to other options.
LINK THE ALBUM ART IN THE PHONE
1) Find the Album cover pictures and save in the phone (you can use Search and Images to find them on the internet or Google Image).
2) In the Music Player navigate to the ALBUM view and select the ALBUM whose picture you downloaded.
3) Select OPTIONS -> ALBUM ART.
4) Then OPTIONS -> CHANGE
5) Now locate the picture you want shown.
6) You are now done!
There are some drawbacks to this. For one, if you move the file or delete it then the album art doesn't follow. The Album art pictures stay in the phone and show in the Photos or Gallery.
ADD ALBUM ART TO METADATA
Another option would be to add the picture to the Metadata before transferring the files to the phone.
There are many ways to do this, there are Metadata editors like Tag&Rename, but also WinAmp and Windows Media Player allow you to edit the metatada in an easy way.
Some things to keep in mind:
1) Use JPEG or PNG files (BMP and GIF sometimes are not displayed)
2) Keep the filesize to less than 200 KB. Although larger pictures may work, there's no point in having large files as the thumbnail displayed is rather small. A 300x300 or 600x600 rez picture is more than enough.
3) Make sure that the picture is tagged as Album Cover Front not as User Defined or other tag. This is important as only the Cover Front is displayed by the Music Player.
4) Don't add more than 1 picture to the file. For some reason if there are more pictures then none are displayed.
5) Don't use MTP sync to transfer files (PC SUITE mode or MEDIA/MUSIC mode) as this may cause the Album art to dissapear.
Once the files have the album art attached then use mass storage to load them to the phone.
TIP: If you already had the song in the Phone. FIRST delete it, REFRESH the library, then re-load it. This will cause the Music Player to find the METADATA again and then find the album art. If you just replace the song with the one with album art the Music Player may not refresh the Album art!
For me I've been enjoying the snow. Lot's of snow.
So, new year, new challenges, new horizons. To kick off I'll start the year explaining a question that is very common and has caused a lot of issues for many Nokia users. I'm talking about How to display Album Art in the Music Player.
As I've explained on several occasions there's more than 1 way to do this (isn't this the case with many things in Nokia devices?).
I'll start with the simplest one then move on to other options.
LINK THE ALBUM ART IN THE PHONE
1) Find the Album cover pictures and save in the phone (you can use Search and Images to find them on the internet or Google Image).
2) In the Music Player navigate to the ALBUM view and select the ALBUM whose picture you downloaded.
3) Select OPTIONS -> ALBUM ART.
4) Then OPTIONS -> CHANGE
5) Now locate the picture you want shown.
6) You are now done!
There are some drawbacks to this. For one, if you move the file or delete it then the album art doesn't follow. The Album art pictures stay in the phone and show in the Photos or Gallery.
ADD ALBUM ART TO METADATA
Another option would be to add the picture to the Metadata before transferring the files to the phone.
There are many ways to do this, there are Metadata editors like Tag&Rename, but also WinAmp and Windows Media Player allow you to edit the metatada in an easy way.
Some things to keep in mind:
1) Use JPEG or PNG files (BMP and GIF sometimes are not displayed)
2) Keep the filesize to less than 200 KB. Although larger pictures may work, there's no point in having large files as the thumbnail displayed is rather small. A 300x300 or 600x600 rez picture is more than enough.
3) Make sure that the picture is tagged as Album Cover Front not as User Defined or other tag. This is important as only the Cover Front is displayed by the Music Player.
4) Don't add more than 1 picture to the file. For some reason if there are more pictures then none are displayed.
5) Don't use MTP sync to transfer files (PC SUITE mode or MEDIA/MUSIC mode) as this may cause the Album art to dissapear.
Once the files have the album art attached then use mass storage to load them to the phone.
TIP: If you already had the song in the Phone. FIRST delete it, REFRESH the library, then re-load it. This will cause the Music Player to find the METADATA again and then find the album art. If you just replace the song with the one with album art the Music Player may not refresh the Album art!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
How to best benefit from this blog?
If you've found this blog it probably means that you are looking for some information on how to encode or convert videos to play on Nokia phones.
So what are the basic posts you should check out?, where to start?, here are some tips.
If you want information on what settings to use for N96 then go HERE
If you want to know how to use SUPER check this post
If you want to find out the detailed information of your video clip either for your records or to ask for my help check this post. Make sure you also check the other POST
If what you want is to know what are the basic video capabilities of Nseries products check HERE
And if you want an in-depth description of how to change a widescreen to full screen then READ THIS.
TIP: You can also check all the posts by either subscribing to the RSS feed.
TIP: You can check out the Blog Archive in the right-hand side below the YouTube logo.
Enjoy!
So what are the basic posts you should check out?, where to start?, here are some tips.
If you want information on what settings to use for N96 then go HERE
If you want to know how to use SUPER check this post
If you want to find out the detailed information of your video clip either for your records or to ask for my help check this post. Make sure you also check the other POST
If what you want is to know what are the basic video capabilities of Nseries products check HERE
And if you want an in-depth description of how to change a widescreen to full screen then READ THIS.
TIP: You can also check all the posts by either subscribing to the RSS feed.
TIP: You can check out the Blog Archive in the right-hand side below the YouTube logo.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Music player Database problems
UPDATE 3/29/2010:
Some people may be using the Ovi Player. Ovi Player seems to do some additional changes to how music is index in the device, as some people are having problems following this method when they use OVI player. So if you use OVI player this MAY not work for you.
Keep this in mind before trying this method.
I've not used OVI player to find out how to fix the similar issue when this software is used.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Some tips and other info for N96
I also got a link to a good first hands-on review here from user grschinon from the NSD.
I don't really plan to do an review or first hands since there are already quite many out there. Plus, I don't think I can add anything really to warrant yet another review.
But I do have something to share...
Here are some tips for N96 if you are getting one or just got one.
NEW (Oct 17, 08):
Music scanning Forever:
- Don't change the default date separator from "/" to ":".
- If you change the default date separator then you get the Music scanning and never ending.
First Boot:
- Enter the correct date and time. This is important as some copy protected items such as game installations may fail if you enter a wrong date (future or past)
- After the Idle Screen (“Active Idle”) is displayed, some software is still being loaded and some first-time initialization is still proceeding. It is best to leave the phone by itself for about 1 minute. If you start fiddling with it right away, you may experience the device to slow down severely or even hang; it is best to let it finish the first-time software processes.
- The end of bootup seems to be when the battery and signal is visible.
N-gage first-time use:
- N-gage games that come with the device are just pre-loaded but still have to install themselves. The installations takes a few minutes, so the first time you open N-gage application you will need to wait for all installations to finish.
Blinking Envelope (Message): This means you have unread or old Messages stored in the SIM card. Open the Messaging application, Open SIM Messages -> Delete Old messages.
Naviwheel: There’s no Naviwheel functionality in N96.
Keep your original Battery Cover: The original battery cover contains antennae for WLAN, GPS, Bluetooth and DVB-H. If you purchase unauthorized third-party battery covers, you might find that they will not work as they are missing these antenna components!. Or the performance may be greatly reduced.
Scanning for new content (slowness in UI)
- This is somewhat improved in 11.018 but still:
- If you've loaded many Pictures, Videos or Music, you may see the device appear to slow down or even become unresponsive. After new content has been added, it is being scanned by the device and being added to the media applications. Until that happens, the new content may not be visible in these applications (e.g. Photos and Video Center application) right away. The phone will need to find the files and create the thumbnails and other details. This information creation takes time and the processing may slow down the device. Your best option is to open Video Center and Photos and leave open in the background then check after a few minutes if the videos and pictures you loaded are already there before using your device.
The same applies if you insert a memory card with lots of content on it.
- Do Not leave the Photos or video center in background during this time.
Remember to Safely remove the MEMORY CARD:
- You risk corrupting your memory card and losing files if you do not remove the memory card properly. Never just take it out from the card slot. The right steps are: 1) press the power key for a short moment until the power key menu appears. Scroll to the item “Remove Memory Card”. Select this menu item. A dialog appears: “Remove memory card and press OK”. Remove the memory card from the card slot, then press the softkey for OK. There may be a dialog that indicates that some applications have to be stopped, if there were applications currently accessing the memory card.
Power Saving tips: Again...
Here are some tips that may help you save battery power. In general, you should turn off functions when you do not need them.
- Turn Bluetooth off when not in use
- Turn off WLAN scanning (from Standby Screen)
- Reduce the brightness of the screen (Settings -> Personalization -> Display
- Turn off Navi "Breathing" for the light ring on the scroll key
- If your network operator does not offer 3G, turn off 3G usage
- Close down unused applications that run in the background, like Music, Browser, Maps, Fring, etc.
- Avoid using carry cases with magnets as this may cause the device to wake up
- If you are fairly low in battery level and want to extend the usage time with the remaining battery power, use the power savings mode (Power key--> Single press --> Power savings mode). It will reduce display brightness to the minimum level, and change the backlight time out to 5 seconds.
- Ensure that Maps application the Camera application (if location tagging is on) are not active when not needed
- Do not leave the USB cable connected as this causes power to be consumed even if no data is being transferred. Use the CA-126 USB cable for USB connections (it charges at the same time)
- DO NOT set Bluetooth visibility to "Define Period" this seems to drain the battery faster
- For GPS Navigation, set the backlight setting to "Optimized" rather than "Always on". Go to Maps-> Options -> Tools -> Settings -> Navigation -> Backlight set to "Optimized".
- Use "Headphones" rather than "Lineout" when playing music
I don't really plan to do an review or first hands since there are already quite many out there. Plus, I don't think I can add anything really to warrant yet another review.
But I do have something to share...
Here are some tips for N96 if you are getting one or just got one.
NEW (Oct 17, 08):
Music scanning Forever:
- Don't change the default date separator from "/" to ":".
- If you change the default date separator then you get the Music scanning and never ending.
First Boot:
- Enter the correct date and time. This is important as some copy protected items such as game installations may fail if you enter a wrong date (future or past)
- After the Idle Screen (“Active Idle”) is displayed, some software is still being loaded and some first-time initialization is still proceeding. It is best to leave the phone by itself for about 1 minute. If you start fiddling with it right away, you may experience the device to slow down severely or even hang; it is best to let it finish the first-time software processes.
- The end of bootup seems to be when the battery and signal is visible.
N-gage first-time use:
- N-gage games that come with the device are just pre-loaded but still have to install themselves. The installations takes a few minutes, so the first time you open N-gage application you will need to wait for all installations to finish.
Blinking Envelope (Message): This means you have unread or old Messages stored in the SIM card. Open the Messaging application, Open SIM Messages -> Delete Old messages.
Naviwheel: There’s no Naviwheel functionality in N96.
Keep your original Battery Cover: The original battery cover contains antennae for WLAN, GPS, Bluetooth and DVB-H. If you purchase unauthorized third-party battery covers, you might find that they will not work as they are missing these antenna components!. Or the performance may be greatly reduced.
Scanning for new content (slowness in UI)
- This is somewhat improved in 11.018 but still:
- If you've loaded many Pictures, Videos or Music, you may see the device appear to slow down or even become unresponsive. After new content has been added, it is being scanned by the device and being added to the media applications. Until that happens, the new content may not be visible in these applications (e.g. Photos and Video Center application) right away. The phone will need to find the files and create the thumbnails and other details. This information creation takes time and the processing may slow down the device. Your best option is to open Video Center and Photos and leave open in the background then check after a few minutes if the videos and pictures you loaded are already there before using your device.
The same applies if you insert a memory card with lots of content on it.
- Do Not leave the Photos or video center in background during this time.
Remember to Safely remove the MEMORY CARD:
- You risk corrupting your memory card and losing files if you do not remove the memory card properly. Never just take it out from the card slot. The right steps are: 1) press the power key for a short moment until the power key menu appears. Scroll to the item “Remove Memory Card”. Select this menu item. A dialog appears: “Remove memory card and press OK”. Remove the memory card from the card slot, then press the softkey for OK. There may be a dialog that indicates that some applications have to be stopped, if there were applications currently accessing the memory card.
Power Saving tips: Again...
Here are some tips that may help you save battery power. In general, you should turn off functions when you do not need them.
- Turn Bluetooth off when not in use
- Turn off WLAN scanning (from Standby Screen)
- Reduce the brightness of the screen (Settings -> Personalization -> Display
- Turn off Navi "Breathing" for the light ring on the scroll key
- If your network operator does not offer 3G, turn off 3G usage
- Close down unused applications that run in the background, like Music, Browser, Maps, Fring, etc.
- Avoid using carry cases with magnets as this may cause the device to wake up
- If you are fairly low in battery level and want to extend the usage time with the remaining battery power, use the power savings mode (Power key--> Single press --> Power savings mode). It will reduce display brightness to the minimum level, and change the backlight time out to 5 seconds.
- Ensure that Maps application the Camera application (if location tagging is on) are not active when not needed
- Do not leave the USB cable connected as this causes power to be consumed even if no data is being transferred. Use the CA-126 USB cable for USB connections (it charges at the same time)
- DO NOT set Bluetooth visibility to "Define Period" this seems to drain the battery faster
- For GPS Navigation, set the backlight setting to "Optimized" rather than "Always on". Go to Maps-> Options -> Tools -> Settings -> Navigation -> Backlight set to "Optimized".
- Use "Headphones" rather than "Lineout" when playing music
Thursday, September 25, 2008
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!
It's a PDF file from Forum Nokia with more details about how to create video content for Nokia devices.
ENJOY!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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:
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)
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.
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.
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.
Also, the Photos application also shows videos stored in your device. So you can choose whether to use Photos or Video Center.
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:)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
New N96 Video Center!
Hello all,
Not many readers are coming here now a days, I guess I haven't been promoting the blog as much. There are so many blogs out there also talking about video for your phones that it's easy for 1 blog to get lost in the pile.
I'll keep posting on the Nokia Discussion Forum and sending people over here when I've already made a post that may help them.
Anyways I wanted to post a quicky about the N96. It seems to me that new videos and reviews are popping out almost every other day. Also the Nokia.com pages seem to have gotten an update. Could it be that this monster video phone is almost ready to hit the shelves?
As some of you know I've been allowed to play with a pre-released version of the N96. And I wanted to share some things about the device.
I LIKE IT!
Coming from an N95 8GB and also having used the N91 8GB for a while, this is the next natural step. It has a whopping 16 GB on board plus I got an 8GB memory card to play with it. So it feels like it will never run out of space...
The build quality seems to be very good, but I'm not a big fan of the battery cover. But once in place it fits well.
The kickstand is a great addition as it makes watching videos a lot easier, although the angle that the screen makes is maybe not the best it beats having to hold the device all the time.
Here are some screenshots of the main menu:
As you can see this is very familiar specially when compared to the N78 , menus. Nothing really worth metioning.
I'll focus on what this blog's about which is the video section. This is where we find the major changes compared to all previous products.
When you open Video Center this is what you get:
On the first section you get the last played video if you hit the center select you get the option to play from beginning or continue where you last stopped the video.
TIP: It's important to note that you continue where you STOP a video and not where you PAUSE a video, so when using Video Center press STOP to save the point where you left the video.
The next section shows how many videos there are in your phone that can be played by Video Center. Note that FLV videos cannot be played from Video Center so they don't show here. A new addition is that it shows how many UN-PLAYED videos there are (i.e. New videos).
TIP: When you transfer many videos to the phone you have to open Video Center and wait for a while (depending on how many videos you loaded) for the videos to appear, if you load 5-10 videos at one go they show up in a few seconds. So keep this in mind if you transfer 20 or more videos at one go.
The next section is Video Feeds. This is the same as previous Video Center. You can subscribe to video feeds. And also add video feeds.
After you add a feed you need to connect to the internet to download the items that can be played from the feed. Keep in mind that some feeds will Stream content while others are Download, meaning that you need to wait for the whole video to download before it plays.
The last section of the main Video Center menu is Video Directory. This launches a Nokia site where you can subscribe to additional video feeds and get more video content.
Now going back to the My Videos view. If you open it you will be greeted by a new way of navigating through your video collection:
All videos: Self Explanatory
Download: Downloaded videos
TV Recordings: Recordings made from the DVB-h Mobile TV application only.
Personal Videos: Videos you took with the phone
Other: All the rest.
Once you select one of the above you will see a list of videos like this:
Notice the red asterisk on videos that have not been played. From here you can press play or use the center rocker to start playback.
TIP: I'm happy to report that thumbnails can either be automatically generated or user loaded like in the old Video Center.
Interesting to note that some of the preloaded videos that this device had where on both QVGA resolution and VGA resolution like in the above picture (Snake for TV out).
I tried to take a snapshot of videos playing but they didn't come out. But anyways, the video quality is the same as the N95 8GB. Some new things though. The light sensor in the N96 makes the screen change brightness to adjust the contiditions, and for the most part does a good job.
You can use the front media keys or the other media keys (if you expose them) to control playback. Auto rotation works well with Video Center, allowing you to move from portrait to landscape by just turning the device.
The codec support is very similar to the N95 8GB with the following additions:
WMV9 at QVGA resolution which allows you to play WMV movies or streaming links if they are QVGA or less.
H264 (MPEG4 AVC) at VGA resolution. So now you can have movies for TV out that look almost like a DVD. YEAH!
One more mention, is that uPNP is still going strong.
I used the home media application with a PC using Simple Center and everything seems to work fine. I can play videos music and images both ways. I may do a post specifically showing this withmy PC and also with the Playstation3 it's just that I'm camera shy. :)
In the next post I'll talk about the new Gallery Application, aka Photos.
Until then, keep on rockin!
Not many readers are coming here now a days, I guess I haven't been promoting the blog as much. There are so many blogs out there also talking about video for your phones that it's easy for 1 blog to get lost in the pile.
I'll keep posting on the Nokia Discussion Forum and sending people over here when I've already made a post that may help them.
Anyways I wanted to post a quicky about the N96. It seems to me that new videos and reviews are popping out almost every other day. Also the Nokia.com pages seem to have gotten an update. Could it be that this monster video phone is almost ready to hit the shelves?
As some of you know I've been allowed to play with a pre-released version of the N96. And I wanted to share some things about the device.
I LIKE IT!
Coming from an N95 8GB and also having used the N91 8GB for a while, this is the next natural step. It has a whopping 16 GB on board plus I got an 8GB memory card to play with it. So it feels like it will never run out of space...
The build quality seems to be very good, but I'm not a big fan of the battery cover. But once in place it fits well.
The kickstand is a great addition as it makes watching videos a lot easier, although the angle that the screen makes is maybe not the best it beats having to hold the device all the time.
Here are some screenshots of the main menu:
As you can see this is very familiar specially when compared to the N78 , menus. Nothing really worth metioning.
I'll focus on what this blog's about which is the video section. This is where we find the major changes compared to all previous products.
When you open Video Center this is what you get:
On the first section you get the last played video if you hit the center select you get the option to play from beginning or continue where you last stopped the video.
TIP: It's important to note that you continue where you STOP a video and not where you PAUSE a video, so when using Video Center press STOP to save the point where you left the video.
The next section shows how many videos there are in your phone that can be played by Video Center. Note that FLV videos cannot be played from Video Center so they don't show here. A new addition is that it shows how many UN-PLAYED videos there are (i.e. New videos).
TIP: When you transfer many videos to the phone you have to open Video Center and wait for a while (depending on how many videos you loaded) for the videos to appear, if you load 5-10 videos at one go they show up in a few seconds. So keep this in mind if you transfer 20 or more videos at one go.
The next section is Video Feeds. This is the same as previous Video Center. You can subscribe to video feeds. And also add video feeds.
After you add a feed you need to connect to the internet to download the items that can be played from the feed. Keep in mind that some feeds will Stream content while others are Download, meaning that you need to wait for the whole video to download before it plays.
The last section of the main Video Center menu is Video Directory. This launches a Nokia site where you can subscribe to additional video feeds and get more video content.
Now going back to the My Videos view. If you open it you will be greeted by a new way of navigating through your video collection:
All videos: Self Explanatory
Download: Downloaded videos
TV Recordings: Recordings made from the DVB-h Mobile TV application only.
Personal Videos: Videos you took with the phone
Other: All the rest.
Once you select one of the above you will see a list of videos like this:
Notice the red asterisk on videos that have not been played. From here you can press play or use the center rocker to start playback.TIP: I'm happy to report that thumbnails can either be automatically generated or user loaded like in the old Video Center.
Interesting to note that some of the preloaded videos that this device had where on both QVGA resolution and VGA resolution like in the above picture (Snake for TV out).
I tried to take a snapshot of videos playing but they didn't come out. But anyways, the video quality is the same as the N95 8GB. Some new things though. The light sensor in the N96 makes the screen change brightness to adjust the contiditions, and for the most part does a good job.You can use the front media keys or the other media keys (if you expose them) to control playback. Auto rotation works well with Video Center, allowing you to move from portrait to landscape by just turning the device.
The codec support is very similar to the N95 8GB with the following additions:
WMV9 at QVGA resolution which allows you to play WMV movies or streaming links if they are QVGA or less.
H264 (MPEG4 AVC) at VGA resolution. So now you can have movies for TV out that look almost like a DVD. YEAH!
One more mention, is that uPNP is still going strong.
I used the home media application with a PC using Simple Center and everything seems to work fine. I can play videos music and images both ways. I may do a post specifically showing this withmy PC and also with the Playstation3 it's just that I'm camera shy. :)In the next post I'll talk about the new Gallery Application, aka Photos.
Until then, keep on rockin!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I'm starting to get too Lazy... Check this out!
It had been a while since I posted.
It's also been a while since I visited Symbian-Freak site, since I usually just go to the boards there.
In the Home Page there's a link to a thread about video encoding for phones. It's quite good if you want information on how to use MediaCoder
So head down there and check it out!
This is the link
http://www.symbian-freak.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6977
Until next time.
Cheers everyone!
It's also been a while since I visited Symbian-Freak site, since I usually just go to the boards there.
In the Home Page there's a link to a thread about video encoding for phones. It's quite good if you want information on how to use MediaCoder
So head down there and check it out!
This is the link
http://www.symbian-freak.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6977
Until next time.
Cheers everyone!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Video file properties
Very quickly.
In a previous post I showed how you can read the Video Properties in different tools. HERE
Someone sent me a link to the source tool that provides the information for SUPER. The tool is called MediaInfo and can be found HERE.
I just started using it, it's very simple and powerful and should help when trying to figure out why a certain video doesn't play in X or Y device.
Cheers!
In a previous post I showed how you can read the Video Properties in different tools. HERE
Someone sent me a link to the source tool that provides the information for SUPER. The tool is called MediaInfo and can be found HERE.
I just started using it, it's very simple and powerful and should help when trying to figure out why a certain video doesn't play in X or Y device.
Cheers!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Home Media, uPNP and DNLA
Hello again,
In this entry I would like to share some of my experiences with uPNP and using Nseries and Playstation 3 together with a PC.
First a bit about uPNP (Universal Plug and Play) you can learn about it in wikipedia or other places, but basically is a protocol to connect various devices and share content over a wide range of connectivity options.
The uPNP and DNLA both have certifications and lists of certified products, I'm still confused a bit about what does it mean to be DNLA or uPNP certified. But at least these sites are resources to find out if the products you have are certified.
Now let's go back to more practical things. If you are not yet using uPNP, then there are several options to start your set-up. One of the simplest ones would be to have a PC with Windows Media Player 11 installed, and a WLAN router. NOTE: It may be possible to also do this using ad-hoc wlan connection but I've had limited success doing this.
In WMP11 you can enable uPNP sharing by going to Tools --> Options
Click to enlarge
Then in the Library tab select the Configure Sharing button and you get this:
Click to enlarge
In this entry I would like to share some of my experiences with uPNP and using Nseries and Playstation 3 together with a PC.
First a bit about uPNP (Universal Plug and Play) you can learn about it in wikipedia or other places, but basically is a protocol to connect various devices and share content over a wide range of connectivity options.
The uPNP and DNLA both have certifications and lists of certified products, I'm still confused a bit about what does it mean to be DNLA or uPNP certified. But at least these sites are resources to find out if the products you have are certified.
Now let's go back to more practical things. If you are not yet using uPNP, then there are several options to start your set-up. One of the simplest ones would be to have a PC with Windows Media Player 11 installed, and a WLAN router. NOTE: It may be possible to also do this using ad-hoc wlan connection but I've had limited success doing this.
In WMP11 you can enable uPNP sharing by going to Tools --> Options
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Select to share then OK.
From this point on, even if WMP is not running the computer is "listening" for uPNP devices to share content with. After you turn on Sharing in your Nseries device a pop-up window will come in the PC to inform you that there is a new device you need to click on it to allow the device to connect to WMP11.
In the phone you will go to Menu --> Tools --> Connectivity --> Home media
From here a wizard will start to enable you to set what gets shared and which connection method to use, etc. Also when it connects to WMP11 you have to answer YES in the phone to allow it to connect to WMP11 as well.
Select Browse Home and you should find the computer and be able to browse, play, and transfer media files that are in the WMP11 library to the phone. It's very straight forwards. See screenshots. There are many limitations though. On the plus side, the computer just needs to be ON, WMP11 doesn't even need to be running and you don't need to LOG-into windows for this to work. On the bad side, only content that WMP11 can "see" meaning that it's in the WMP11 library can be shared. So MP4 and AVI files are not there by default, there are ways to make WMP11 "see" this files and add them to the library but that's outside the scope now. Also you can't control playback on the PC from the phone.
The next option is to install the Home media PC application called "simple center". You can install from here.
It's also fairly straight forwards. Simple center takes you to the next level. It allows you not only to share things from the PC to Phone but also the other way around and allows you to control playback of Music, Images or Videos directly from the Phone, so that it acts as a remote control for your media. If you buy the full version of Simple Center you can also access the files across the internet and not just on your local LAN.
I was going to post some screenshots but I've been mighty busy lately so I'm posting this AS IS. Leave a comment if you want some specific help about this post.
Until next time, keep on watching!...
From this point on, even if WMP is not running the computer is "listening" for uPNP devices to share content with. After you turn on Sharing in your Nseries device a pop-up window will come in the PC to inform you that there is a new device you need to click on it to allow the device to connect to WMP11.
In the phone you will go to Menu --> Tools --> Connectivity --> Home media
From here a wizard will start to enable you to set what gets shared and which connection method to use, etc. Also when it connects to WMP11 you have to answer YES in the phone to allow it to connect to WMP11 as well.
Select Browse Home and you should find the computer and be able to browse, play, and transfer media files that are in the WMP11 library to the phone. It's very straight forwards. See screenshots. There are many limitations though. On the plus side, the computer just needs to be ON, WMP11 doesn't even need to be running and you don't need to LOG-into windows for this to work. On the bad side, only content that WMP11 can "see" meaning that it's in the WMP11 library can be shared. So MP4 and AVI files are not there by default, there are ways to make WMP11 "see" this files and add them to the library but that's outside the scope now. Also you can't control playback on the PC from the phone.
The next option is to install the Home media PC application called "simple center". You can install from here.
It's also fairly straight forwards. Simple center takes you to the next level. It allows you not only to share things from the PC to Phone but also the other way around and allows you to control playback of Music, Images or Videos directly from the Phone, so that it acts as a remote control for your media. If you buy the full version of Simple Center you can also access the files across the internet and not just on your local LAN.
I was going to post some screenshots but I've been mighty busy lately so I'm posting this AS IS. Leave a comment if you want some specific help about this post.
Until next time, keep on watching!...
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
ImTOO 3GP encoder and H264
Since my early posts I've been advising people that I'm a user of
ImToo encoding solutions. I bought these encoders because they were cheap and got good feedback from other users of these solutions. Also because I wanted something to make the conversion from DVD to portable format easier.
I ended up buying the bundle of ImToo 3GP Suite that includes both the DVD to 3GP Encoder and the 3GP Encoder (Above).
First I recommend you download the software and try it before buying. Usually ImToo tools allow you to encode short videos or encode up to 5 minutes. This is great as it will allow you to try out the different format and settings until you feel comfortable that this is what you want.
Since I started using ImToo there's been a flood of encoders in the web. Mostly due to the popularity of the iPod video and other PMP devices. Back in 2002 when I started creating videos for mobile phones there were not a lot of options and the Nokia Multimedia Converter was one of the only ones available to do 3GP and h263. Real also had RealProducer which is a good software if you want to use realvideo format. But I've stuck with them since it works for me and if ImToo doesn't work with something then I can always use SUPER.
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
ImToo encoding solutions. I bought these encoders because they were cheap and got good feedback from other users of these solutions. Also because I wanted something to make the conversion from DVD to portable format easier.
I ended up buying the bundle of ImToo 3GP Suite that includes both the DVD to 3GP Encoder and the 3GP Encoder (Above).
First I recommend you download the software and try it before buying. Usually ImToo tools allow you to encode short videos or encode up to 5 minutes. This is great as it will allow you to try out the different format and settings until you feel comfortable that this is what you want.
Since I started using ImToo there's been a flood of encoders in the web. Mostly due to the popularity of the iPod video and other PMP devices. Back in 2002 when I started creating videos for mobile phones there were not a lot of options and the Nokia Multimedia Converter was one of the only ones available to do 3GP and h263. Real also had RealProducer which is a good software if you want to use realvideo format. But I've stuck with them since it works for me and if ImToo doesn't work with something then I can always use SUPER.
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlargeSome things to keep in mind...
- The bitrate, frame rate and resolution you set will only work if it's a combination that's supported by your phone. For more information see here.
- The ZOOM option in Imtoo encoders work in conjunction with the Aspect setting in the Video section of the settings. I tend to use the ZOOM option and not play around with the Aspect ratio setting. But you may want to try to use either.
- Further, zoom only works reliably if the source video doesn't have black bars as part of the picture frame. If they do then the black bars will be part of the video. See here.
- 3GP, 3GPP2, MP4 and MPEG-4 AVC all work in Nseries devices but you got to have the right settings.
- If using h264 codec don't forget to expand the Expert section of the settings and set the coder to 0 (zero).
- DVDs are all created differently. The same settings that work for 1 dvd will cause audio synch problems with another dvd or a jumpy picture.
- This is also due to the fact that some DVDs are encoded at 23.987 fps others at 29.97 fps others at 24 fps
- Some dvds have interlaced frames others have progressive frames.
- Some dvds have AC3 audio some have ProLogic2 or other audio formats. Some have only PCM audio.
- Remember to select the right Language track and right subtitle if you want to have those enabled
- TIP: Try first to encode one chapter of the dvd and try it out, if something is wrong right click on the chapter and play around with the settings. Email Imtoo support to get some more tips on how to solve specific problems they usually respond within a day or two.
- If it doesn't work sometimes it's not the fault of the encoder or the device or you, but a combination of different factors. No matter how hard you try sometimes some dvds are just difficult to find the correct settings to encode.
- Other DVD encoders may be more robust/smarter than Imtoo. So again shop around, try different solutions and if you find something that totally blows aways Imtoo please share in the comments so I can also try it! :)
- Have fun!, that's what it's all about.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Take control of your videos
Hello and welcome back!
Cluster of controls N95 8GB
Detailed names of Controls
In this post I would like to share with you some useful shortcuts and other controls you can use with Nseries devices to control playback of the RealPlayer.
I'll look at the Flash Player in a separate post. I haven't been very successful with it so I need to spend more time with it before I can make any intelligent comments :)
Ok, now on to the shortcuts and other tips.
- If your phone has dedicated player controls
- Press Play to play and pause playback
- Press Skip forward or Rewind to jump to the end or begining of the current video
- Press Stop to stop. TIP: Use this to re-start at this point when in Video Center
- Press AND hold Skip Forward or Rewind to search within a video. TIP: Keep an eye on the timer, as you keep pressed longer the timer will accelerate helping you search within long video files.
- Use the volume control to increase or decrease the volume. In many cases you can also use the rocker or joystick up or down (depending on the orientation) to act as volume control or as Skip and Rewind keys.
- Press DOWN on the directional pad or joystick to decrease the Volume
- Press LEFT on the directional pad or joystick to Rewind or jump to previous Video
- Press RIGHT on the directional pad or joystick to Skip or jump to next Video
- Press CENTER select to PLAY/PAUSE
In Some models you can switch between FULL SCREEN (landscape mode) and Partial Screen (portrait), by pressing the 2 or 5 key. In some models this will NOT change the orientation of the video but just remove the menu bar.
Remember that pressing and holding the REW, FFW keys lets you search within a video.
In Video Center for N95 8GB you can skip to next video or previous video by using the REW, FFW keys.
Cluster of controls N95 8GB
Detailed names of ControlsIf you have comments or questions feel free to drop me a line or two in the comments.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Easter Eggs
Just in time, have a good Easter (if you celebrate it).
Also, I would like to talk about a topic that matches this time of year very good.
Easter Eggs in DVDs.
Easter Eggs are some "hidden" things in the DVD discs. Some funny outtakes, additional scenes, interviews, or other things.
In cases where these features are video you can also encode them for use in your Nseries.
Some things you may need:
If this information is not enough to allow you to do this. Leave a comment and I'll update the post with more details.
Until next time,
May the force be with you!
Also, I would like to talk about a topic that matches this time of year very good.
Easter Eggs in DVDs.
Easter Eggs are some "hidden" things in the DVD discs. Some funny outtakes, additional scenes, interviews, or other things.
In cases where these features are video you can also encode them for use in your Nseries.
Some things you may need:
- Have a DVD that has these hidden contents (there are some websites that keep track of these easter eggs or hidden features)
- Identify the Track number and Chapter number where these video clips are hidden
- Have a DVD software that allows you to read the Track and Chapter numbers like Imtoo DVD to 3GP.
- Encode using working settings
If this information is not enough to allow you to do this. Leave a comment and I'll update the post with more details.
Until next time,
May the force be with you!
Monday, March 17, 2008
How to check your video properties?
Many of us have problems converting videos. It's not straightforward. And when you ask for my help I always ask about your video. You should always be able to read what type of video you are dealing with before you start questioning why it doesn't work.
In many cases once you read your video properties it will become quite obvious why it doesn't play. As long as you know that compatible resolutions are:
sub-QCIF
QCIF
CIF
QVGA
VGA
So take these tips as an important step into figuring out what you need to convert in order to be able to use the video in your phone.
These are some useful ways to see the video file information in different players or applications.
Quicktime
RealPlayer
ImToo 3GP encoder
SUPER
DIVX player
Windows Media Player 11
Let me know if this post was useful. Since I use these tools all the time...
Until next time. Keep on watching...
In many cases once you read your video properties it will become quite obvious why it doesn't play. As long as you know that compatible resolutions are:
sub-QCIF
QCIF
CIF
QVGA
VGA
So take these tips as an important step into figuring out what you need to convert in order to be able to use the video in your phone.
These are some useful ways to see the video file information in different players or applications.
Quicktime
RealPlayer
ImToo 3GP encoder
SUPER
DIVX player
Windows Media Player 11
Let me know if this post was useful. Since I use these tools all the time...
Until next time. Keep on watching...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Will this video play on my Nxx?
Sometimes the question is: why doesn't this video play?
Well to learn more see my old post HERE
_________________
I know some of you will not so here are some more generic tips.
These are the generic baselines for most Nseries devices. Some models support more, but as a general guide.
Basic compatibility
Newer Nseries:
This is why many of the H264 videos don't play on Nseries devices even if they are in a supported resolution and bitrate.
As of today N95, N95 8GB, N93 and others support H264 at QVGA resolution. At VGA it will stutter or not play regardless of the bitrate or frame rate.
A note on quality, different codecs and framerate.
In general, the quality of a video is dictated by the resolution, bitrate and the frame rate. But these parameters also control the size of the video.
Plus if you use MPEG-4 and AVC (H264) the resolution has to be divisible by 16, otherwise you waste a lot of space (resulting file is needlessly large). So if you use a resolution of 640x480 this is better than 640x396 since 396 is not a factor of 16. 320x160 is better than say 320x150. 320x144 is OK though.
OK, this is basic good information but I want better quality than the general compatible quality!
In this case it starts to get more complicated as videos you encode may ONLY work on your device and may not work on other devices. For the best settings IMHO see my post about using SUPER.
What if I want to play AVI files or XVID?
This is also a common question. First thing is you need to get a player for your device that can play this codec.
I recommend you get DIVX mobile Player (see links at the bottom of my blog)
If you want a better experience and don't mind spending some money get CorePlayer or Smartmovie.
Anyway. What ever the player you get there will be some limitations due to the smaller CPU in the phone than your PC. So as a rule of thumb in my experience videos that are smaller than VGA tend to play almost correctly. Videos that are VGA or greater will drop many frames. Again QVGA, CIF videos play correctly almost 100% of the time. Also VCD resolution plays ok (480x480) for the most part. But once you get higher than this you start running into problems.
TIP: Using TV out is great because TV-out resolution is VGA instead of the internal display 's QVGA. So you see more pixels with TV-out.
TIP: When you use TV-out the CPU has more to do, so a video that plays marginally good in the phone may not play or play worse when using TV-out.
I welcome your comments. Tell your buddies about the blog, email the posts. Let's get more people into enjoying Video in their Nseries devices!
Well to learn more see my old post HERE
_________________
I know some of you will not so here are some more generic tips.
These are the generic baselines for most Nseries devices. Some models support more, but as a general guide.
Basic compatibility
- RealVideo 8,9 and 10 (note that there is no support for Realvideo 7! or 11). Video size of QCIF, QVGA , CIF. Bitrate of 128 Kbps.
- h263 video in 3GP or 3G2 or MP4 container at 128 kbps (narrow band audio AMR or AAC)
- MPEG-4 in a 3GP, 3G2, MP4 or M4V container at 256 kbps (aac audio mono or stereo)
Newer Nseries:
- Support VGA MPEG-4
- (N95, N81, N82, etc) support H264 in an MP4 or M4V container. BUT, and this is key, only the Baseline profile of H264 is supported.
This is why many of the H264 videos don't play on Nseries devices even if they are in a supported resolution and bitrate.
As of today N95, N95 8GB, N93 and others support H264 at QVGA resolution. At VGA it will stutter or not play regardless of the bitrate or frame rate.
A note on quality, different codecs and framerate.
In general, the quality of a video is dictated by the resolution, bitrate and the frame rate. But these parameters also control the size of the video.
Plus if you use MPEG-4 and AVC (H264) the resolution has to be divisible by 16, otherwise you waste a lot of space (resulting file is needlessly large). So if you use a resolution of 640x480 this is better than 640x396 since 396 is not a factor of 16. 320x160 is better than say 320x150. 320x144 is OK though.
OK, this is basic good information but I want better quality than the general compatible quality!
In this case it starts to get more complicated as videos you encode may ONLY work on your device and may not work on other devices. For the best settings IMHO see my post about using SUPER.
What if I want to play AVI files or XVID?
This is also a common question. First thing is you need to get a player for your device that can play this codec.
I recommend you get DIVX mobile Player (see links at the bottom of my blog)
If you want a better experience and don't mind spending some money get CorePlayer or Smartmovie.
Anyway. What ever the player you get there will be some limitations due to the smaller CPU in the phone than your PC. So as a rule of thumb in my experience videos that are smaller than VGA tend to play almost correctly. Videos that are VGA or greater will drop many frames. Again QVGA, CIF videos play correctly almost 100% of the time. Also VCD resolution plays ok (480x480) for the most part. But once you get higher than this you start running into problems.
TIP: Using TV out is great because TV-out resolution is VGA instead of the internal display 's QVGA. So you see more pixels with TV-out.
TIP: When you use TV-out the CPU has more to do, so a video that plays marginally good in the phone may not play or play worse when using TV-out.
I welcome your comments. Tell your buddies about the blog, email the posts. Let's get more people into enjoying Video in their Nseries devices!
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