Develop Bugs

Video Formats

So I'm going on a trim over the weekend and I'm just wondering what to set everything for Converting a video.
.WMV is a no brainer for containers but what about the Audio & Video What should the BitRate and Sample rate be set as?
I left the Defaults and its sorta big...and needs to buffer ever 30-60 seconds
Current sets are:
Video:
.WMV
320x240 - 29.979FPS - Bitrate 4000Kbps
Audio:
Bit rate 198Kbps - Sample rate 48000Hz
Stereo
With that The video is great quality, and GREAT audio but kinda skippy
Also The phone:
3VO 3.00 - 6.5
Omap clock is 240Mhz
30.60MB left on Flash and Videos are stored on 2Gb Kodak SD with 19.75MB free.
Thanks guys.

There is quite a bit of data on this topic if you searched "bitrate" on the forum.
From [ http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=518749&highlight=bitrate ], I gather that the best way is :
timepassman said:
i encode them in avi using virtualdub or tmpgenc
bitrate 288, 2 pass encoding,
320x 240
for proper aspect ratio use this
http://andrew.hedges.name/experiments/aspect_ratio/
put source ratio, then put 320, get the 4th parameter !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From [ http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=419603&highlight=bitrate ], I gather that a good recommendation is :
Stylez said:
.mp4 is the best to use to recode good quality films for dash @ 320 x 240, just keep the bitrate low, mono sound about 92kbps will keep the size down.
You can use SUPER © http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html it's free.
I use A-One FLV to AVI as i use it for YouTube but will encode any file to .mp4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could probably find more by searching (as I only skimmed the results). But these should help some.
Good Luck

Recording video to h.264 codec on Evo?

This question is for developers. Can devs replace crappy compression codec on Evo recording cam to record with h.264 to improve quality of vids we shoot by far. Current cam codec is SO bad that 720p does no justice for the cam. Basically in my view camcorder is useless. H.264 would change the whole game for this phone. Would love to see the rom with h.264 video camera codec. Would any shead some light on this ?

stewie-droid said:
This question is for developers. Can devs replace crappy compression codec on Evo recording cam to record with h.264 to improve quality of vids we shoot by far. Current cam codec is SO bad that 720p does no justice for the cam. Basically in my view camcorder is useless. H.264 would change the whole game for this phone. Would love to see the rom with h.264 video camera codec. Would any shead some light on this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they cant do a whole lot with any camera settings till the source kernal is released. Who knows when that will be heh

stewie-droid said:
This question is for developers. Can devs replace crappy compression codec on Evo recording cam to record with h.264 to improve quality of vids we shoot by far. Current cam codec is SO bad that 720p does no justice for the cam. Basically in my view camcorder is useless. H.264 would change the whole game for this phone. Would love to see the rom with h.264 video camera codec. Would any shead some light on this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you even know what the current cam codec is?
It's MPEG-4 Part 2 (generally referred to as "MPEG-4"), which is most commonly known for it's implementations in divx/xvid.
It's not as trendy as H.264 (aka MPEG-4 Part 10 and/or AVC), but generally quality isn't what people take issue with when choosing h.264 over MP4 - it's filesize. When you get into higher resolutions with higher bit-depths, being able to compress a stream allows you to work around issues with slow write speeds.
I think you really aren't familiar with video encoding or codecs in general. You should educate yourself a bit more before announcing that a simple codec change will resolve the camera woes with the Evo.
h.264 is currently patent encumbered, which is part of why you don't see it implemented so widely.
Swapping out the codec isn't going to be a magic fix to improve this camera. It's limited by it's very design. Consider the 720p video a novelty and try to only shoot in situations with lots of ambient light and it'll be far more usable.

Petronic said:
Do you even know what the current cam codec is?
It's MPEG-4 Part 2 (generally referred to as "MPEG-4"), which is most commonly known for it's implementations in divx/xvid.
It's not as trendy as H.264 (aka MPEG-4 Part 10 and/or AVC), but generally quality isn't what people take issue with when choosing h.264 over MP4 - it's filesize. When you get into higher resolutions with higher bit-depths, being able to compress a stream allows you to work around issues with slow write speeds.
I think you really aren't familiar with video encoding or codecs in general. You should educate yourself a bit more before announcing that a simple codec change will resolve the camera woes with the Evo.
h.264 is currently patent encumbered, which is part of why you don't see it implemented so widely.
Swapping out the codec isn't going to be a magic fix to improve this camera. It's limited by it's very design. Consider the 720p video a novelty and try to only shoot in situations with lots of ambient light and it'll be far more usable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you. But x.264 is not involved in any patent issues, is free, and works very will with the best container format available to date... mkv.
Now the phone will do hardware decoding of x/h.264 but you are right, I don't see any advantage other than the smaller file size. You are right again, on one of those P labeled cams the h.264 stream is much smaller than that of mpeg-2/dvd or others so it works well on those crappy hardware writers.
Changing the encoding profile of this camera would not fix your issues OP.

I've never seen bad quality from h.264 codec but then again i agree i have not research enough on the codecs comparison enough but that's why i'm asking. I just know it looks horrible. Somehow camera pics are acceptable. Thank you for the input.

stewie-droid said:
I've never seen bad quality from h.264 codec but then again i agree i have not research enough on the codecs comparison enough but that's why i'm asking. I just know it looks horrible. Somehow camera pics are acceptable. Thank you for the input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could encode an h.264 video in a low bitrate and low resolution and it would look bad. The codec is only one factor involved in the end result. Different codecs can squeeze better quality video into a smaller file size but it comes at the expense of CPU use and other bottlenecks. In this case I don't think the choice of codec is what is holding back the video. It's probably more about processing power and overall architecture.

I'm not sure that implementing x.264 compression for the EVO would solve anything. From my experience in order to have better quality with h.264 over h.263 it requires much more processing power due to the higher compression complexity.. This would all have to be done real time by the phone.
With the great hardware being sported by the EVO I wonder if a more unorthodox approach could be implemented to attain the highest quality possible.
How about this:
Capture video using a real time lossless compression. Maybe huffyuv?
Once captured let the phone recompress the source to x.264 or whatever via a background service or at a scheduled time like 3am or something
Maybe via this method a higher frame rate could even be achieved?

amdchip said:
I'm not sure that implementing x.264 compression for the EVO would solve anything. From my experience in order to have better quality with h.264 over h.263 it requires much more processing power due to the higher compression complexity.. This would all have to be done real time by the phone.
With the great hardware being sported by the EVO I wonder if a more unorthodox approach could be implemented to attain the highest quality possible.
How about this:
Capture video using a real time lossless compression. Maybe huffyuv?
Once captured let the phone recompress the source to x.264 or whatever via a background service or at a scheduled time like 3am or something
Maybe via this method a higher frame rate could even be achieved?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uncompressed [email protected] with 8-bit color would be something like 45MB/s. (That's excluding audio.)
No current SD card supports those write speeds.
I'm not sure that you could losslessly compress it down to something that'd support even a class 6 card.

Petronic said:
Uncompressed [email protected] with 8-bit color would be something like 45MB/s. (That's excluding audio.)
No current SD card supports those write speeds.
I'm not sure that you could losslessly compress it down to something that'd support even a class 6 card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eeeeek!!
I checked it out and you are right on the money.
(8 bit @ 1280 x 720 @ 59.94field = 105 MB per/sec) / (2.33:1 huffyuv) = 45.06
Still I wonder if better video quality could be achieved via a capture now (large file size) compress later (small file size) solution.
Certainly, considering your well taken point, we would need to keep things within the requirements of the EVO's hardware (sd card included). Probably would need to keep the data rates within the EVO's stock microsd specifications in order for it to be viable for everyone.

The iPhone 4 can record in h.264 and its processor isnt *that* much more powerful than Snapdragon (and the camera is similar--same company, same sensor size, same features, just 5MP instead of 8MP). What it comes down to is lazy coding by HTC

I don't know if you guys have looked in the build.prop file but the settings are in there. I just don't have alot of time to play with them but here's what's inside. Sprint/HTC changed the line in 1.47,ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.bps, to 8000000 from 6000000 on 1.32, so I'm guessing that's how they upped the Mbits in the upgrade. I could be wrong and the change may need to be in the kernel also but play with them and see.
Code:
#
# This file describes the media capabilities and profiles
# using system properties.
#
# Note: The property key and value has some length
# limit as defined by PROPERTY_KEY_MAX and
# PROPERTY_VALUE_MAX, respectively
#
# WARNING: We may not use system properties for specifying
# media capabilities and profiles in the future
#
ro.media.enc.file.format = 3gp,mp4
ro.media.enc.vid.codec = m4v,h263
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.width = 176,1280
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.height = 144,720
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.bps = 64000,6000000
ro.media.enc.vid.h263.fps = 1,30
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.width = 176,1280
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.height = 144,720
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.bps = 64000,8000000
ro.media.enc.vid.m4v.fps = 1,30
#
# Increase SKIA decode memory capability for progressive jpg file
#
ro.media.dec.jpeg.memcap = 20000000

I may not be a...
developer but when you are talking about codec you are talking my language (I am an editor). H264 isn't that great itself and won't make the EVO's footage look any better yeah you get some more detail out of the H264 but the real reason the camera doesn't look as good is the variable fps in different lighting conditions. The variable kills it. The cam should be fixed at 24fps or 30fps. If that can be done you will see a major difference. I'm not sold on the white balance either. Also I would love to have h264 but the difference in the two is compression. H264 is better but again FPS is key.

I agree as well as most of the other people that h.264 won't help by itself.
Though one thing it would help with is allowing to bump up to a higher bit rate and or FPS and still maintain speeds sufficient for Class 2 SD cards. So, even though it won't do anything by itself, it will help in that you could in theory record higher quality video to your phone.

billobob said:
The iPhone 4 can record in h.264 and its processor isnt *that* much more powerful than Snapdragon (and the camera is similar--same company, same sensor size, same features, just 5MP instead of 8MP). What it comes down to is lazy coding by HTC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Das troo, I emailed Omnivision about the issue, they said that their Evo is great there, and that I should contact HTC about it and had said they created the driver/software for it.
"Hi Steve,
I’m sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues video performance. The HTC EVO we have here works great. OmniVision only makes the sensor. HTC makes the drivers and software that run the sensor. Unfortunately, you will need to contact them with any issues.
Sorry, I couldn’t be more help.
Scott"
Then I had asked them if they have any samples they used. And sent me a video they just recorded.
"We just went outside and took this simple video. Hope it helps.
Scott"
Currently uploading right now, i'll edit the link.
EDIT: here you go
bit.ly/c0lwOb
What do you guys think?

FunYunZ said:
EDIT: here you go
bit.ly/c0lwOb
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not able to post links yet I'm guessing. Just type it out.

Holyrolla said:
Not able to post links yet I'm guessing. Just type it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you don't see the link? its a bit[dot]ly link. But yea i can't post links yet, so I used the URL shortening.
bit[dot]ly/ c0lwOb

That video is pretty clear, but jumpy as well (expected). Wondering if they tweaked it or installed the OTA update on it?

Holyrolla said:
That video is pretty clear, but jumpy as well (expected). Wondering if they tweaked it or installed the OTA update on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what I wondered to, but I guess not.
We are using one of our employees phones he bought from Sprint. All of the drivers and software are stock and from HTC.
Scott

Good god, that video sample is hideous! Look at this video comparison done between the Evo and the iPhone 4 in the exact same scene. There's just no competition between the two.

Good god, our Evo sucks mighty ass in the 720p category.

CRACKED H.264 VGA video recording with excellent quality! [Tested on Touch pro2]

First, as you all known, Touch pro2 can't record VGA video in H.264 format(the resolution is limited to 352x288), it's really a pity. And if you want a VGA res, you just can use a MPEG4 format and finally get a video full of noise and blocks...... After I buy my Touch Pro2, I always try to find a way to enhance the video recording quality. And finally found it!
If you have the software "BsB tweaks" in your ROM, you can see it has such two tweaks：
Video Format--Enable hidden video recording format
(Add H.264, Motion JPEG,3GPP2 to the format list)
Video BitRate--Improves Video recording in MPEG4
I should tell you that, this two tweaks is not useful on Touch Pro2 (I don't know if they have any effects on other phones).The first one makes you could record in H.264 format, but only with a resolution up to 352x288. The second one has no use at all.
But from BsB tweaks, I know that there're some Reg keys handle the video recording parameters, So I spend whole night on these keys, and find many interesting things
1.Enlarge video recording Bitrate and Framerate:
Value function
"HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\Recparam\<...>\<Bitrate;VSBitRate;FrameRate>"
These Reg Values control the video recording Bitrate and FrameRate, if you want to enhance the quality, you can write down a bigger number.
For example, change
"HKLM\...\Recparam\H264Large\BitRate" to 600000(dec)
"HKLM\...\Recparam\H264Large\VSBitRate" to 600000(dec)
"HKLM\...\Recparam\H264Large\FrameRate" to 20(dec)
(Tips: Large equals to CIF, Medium equals to QVGA, etc...)
then when you set the Capture format to H.264 and Resolution to CIF(352x288),finally you will get a *.3gp video at 600kbps(VBR)@20fps.
Now a new question comes out: what's the upper limit Bitrate of Touch pro2 to record a H264 video?
I have done the test and find out that you could record a H.264 video as high as [email protected](352x288) ! Maybe you have thought that MSM7200 couldn't be so powerful to encode 1000kbps H.264, but it really works fine！
So，if MSM7200 could support 1000kpbs bitrate，then it should have enough power to record a VGA H.264 video! Go next！
2.Crack H.264 VGA video record limitation on Touch Pro2:
Don't wasting time on the HTC video recording program, whatever you do finally you just can use the resolution no more than CIF(352x288) when H.264 format is selected.
Now the way out is here:"HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\P2\"
When I delete it, the HTC video recording program can't start anymore. Now you know, this Reg Key has the Values to decide which format and resolution the recording program should use
Value function
"HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\P2\CaptureFormat"
When set to "10(hex)", the video format is MPEG4 (*.mp4 V:MPEG4, A:AAC);
When set to "2000(hex)", the video format is H.264 (*.3gp V:H.264, A:AAC);
Other value not tested.
"HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\P2\MainCamCaptSize"
When set to "20(hex)", the video resolution is 352x288;
When set to "1000(hex)", the video resolution is 640x480;
Other value not tested.
PS: Check if there is a Key "H264VGA" in "HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\Recparam\", if you can't find it, please create it manually and copy all Values from "H264Large", set BitRate & VSBitRate to 1000000(dec) and FrameRate to 20(dec).
When you set CaptureFormat=2000(hex) and MainCamCaptSize=1000(hex),then start HTC Video Recording, you'll get a VGA H.264 video with great quality!
3.Try 1000kbps VGA MPEG4 video recording:
Besides H.264 format, you can also enlarge the BitRate (in HKLM\...\Recparam\MPEG4VGA) of MPEG4 formate to get a excellent quality MPEG4 video.
Compare between MPEG4(1000kbps,VGA,20fps) and H.264(1000kbps,VGA,20fps), I find that MPEG4 has a better quality on rapid motional scene, because it's variable bitrate is up to 1600kbps, and H.264 is limited to 1000kbps. MPEG4 also has a higher average famerate, act more smooth than H.264. On the other hand, H.264 has a strong advantage on slow motional scene. Altogether, MPEG4 has a surprising better quality than H.264 at 1000kbps VGA mode.
4.Attention:
1.Don't set the bitrate more than 1000000, if you set it as 1100000, you could find that the actual bitrate break down to 128kbps! That is why the BsB tweaks didn't work, it tweaks the MP4VGA bitrate to 4194304(dec) !
2.Don't set the framerate more than 20, or you'll get a less framerate.
3.MSM7200 handles MPEG4 and H.264 recording in HW mode, so lowering the bitrate is useless to get a smoother video. You just need to keep the bitrate less than 1000kpbs then MSM7200 will work best enough.
4.When you decide to record a VGA H.264 video, a overclock is recommonded. Just use WiMoSpeed to oc to 710MHz!
5.Don't open HTC Camera's setting panel in video recording mode, that will lock the H.264 VGA mode again and the resolution goes back to CIF!
6.Only tested on T-Mobile Touch Pro2 with EnergeRom, other MSM7200/7201 phones should work too.
===========================
Cab and Reg files for this topic:
Enable MPEG4 & H.264 VGA recording at 1000kbps: MSM7200_H264VGA_Tweaks.cab
Unlock the H.264 VGA limitation: vgaunlock.reg (included in MSM7200_H264VGA_Tweaks.cab, but if you click out the HTC Camera's setting panel and the resolution go back to 352x288, you may need it to turn on VGA again.)

A sample recorded by Touch Pro2 @VGA H.264 format
===================================================
Complete name : I:\DCIM\100MEDIA\VIDEO0072.3gp
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 1.98 MiB
Duration : 19s 466ms
Overall bit rate : 854 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2011-02-01 3:20:40
Tagged date : UTC 2011-02-01 3:20:40
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 19s 466ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 825 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 978 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 14.127 fps
Minimum frame rate : 4.286 fps
Maximum frame rate : 30.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.190
Stream size : 1.91 MiB (97%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2011-02-01 3:20:40
Tagged date : UTC 2011-02-01 3:20:40
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version : Version 4
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 19s 392ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 27.5 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 33.2 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Channel positions : Front: C
Sampling rate : 16.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 65.2 KiB (3%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2011-02-01 3:20:40
Tagged date : UTC 2011-02-01 3:20:40

I have never been able to record in H.264 or MOTION JPEG. I can select them but everytime I wanna record my phone freezes. It has been this way no matter which rom I use. How do I get these two formats workin? Is it common for for these formats not to work?

porkenhimer said:
I have never been able to record in H.264 or MOTION JPEG. I can select them but everytime I wanna record my phone freezes. It has been this way no matter which rom I use. How do I get these two formats workin? Is it common for for these formats not to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OC to 768MHz？ I think this is too high for your phone, MSM7200 use HW mode to encode video, It's video DSP maybe unstable even while your CPU works fine.
If you have tried without OC, I would say that your phone really need a repair
And you could depress the clock lower than 518MHz,for example:400MHz then try again, maybe it works.
PS: Did you try EnergyROM?

Thanks!!! could you please post some video tests on YouTube?

XMarinE said:
Thanks!!! could you please post some video tests on YouTube?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really want to do this, but there is a Great FireWall in my country which makes us can't visit YouTube, Twitter or Facebook, because there're many "disharmonious" information on such sites and we're "protected" by the Goverment...
But I could show you two video captures(my Laptop's desktop),left one on H.264 and right one on MPEG4, both has a 640x480 resolution and the bitrate as high as 1000kbps, I promise there're video's captures but not photos

dmc_universe said:
OC to 768MHz? I think this is too high for your phone, MSM7200 use HW mode to encode video, It's video DSP maybe unstable even while your CPU works fine.
If you have tried without OC, I would say that your phone really need a repair
And you could depress the clock lower than 518MHz,for example:400MHz then try again, maybe it works.
PS: Did you try EnergyROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From day 1 the hidden formats have never worked. I use BSB TWEAKS to show them but they just freeze my camcorder. This happens whether i am overclocking or not. Yes i have tried ENERGY roms but still nothing. Could I be doing something wrong with BSB TWEAKS? I ask because my friend has the same settings and these formats do not work on her device either. It would be great if I had the reg entries for HKLM/SOFTWARE/HTC/CAMERA so I could compare them to my registry.

porkenhimer said:
From day 1 the hidden formats have never worked. I use BSB TWEAKS to show them but they just freeze my camcorder. This happens whether i am overclocking or not. Yes i have tried ENERGY roms but still nothing. Could I be doing something wrong with BSB TWEAKS? I ask because my friend has the same settings and these formats do not work on her device either. It would be great if I had the reg entries for HKLM/SOFTWARE/HTC/CAMERA so I could compare them to my registry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, the Default format of HTC Camera really sucks, here is my Camera.reg, pls flash the newest EnergyROM and import it then try again.
By the way, what's the version of your TP2? Mine is T-Mobile without the front Camera, maybe there is something wrong with your front camera Reg setting.
Check the Value "2ndCamCaptSize" under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\P2", try set it as 10(hex) or 20(hex).
Or hard reset your TP2, then only change the value "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\P2\EncodeFormat" to 7FFFFFFF(hex), which add H.264, Motion JPEG and 3GPP2 to you format list (do not use BsB tweaks), and try again.
And, if you really can't use H.264 whatever you do, why not try a 1000kbps MPEG4, it has even better quality that H.264 in VGA mode.

So... what's the way to go?
install the CABs, do the reg edits, both?

Chillout said:
So... what's the way to go?
install the CABs, do the reg edits, both?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just install the CAB that's OK.
And you could also do the reg edits if you want to adjust the recording parameters yourself
The vgaunlock.reg is used to set the recording format back to H.264 VGA when you:
1.want to try another format (for example, MPEG4), then you want to use H.264 again;
2.click out the HTC Video Recorder's setting panel by mistake, this would pull down the H.264 recording resolution to 352x288.

porkenhimer said:
From day 1 the hidden formats have never worked. I use BSB TWEAKS to show them but they just freeze my camcorder. This happens whether i am overclocking or not. Yes i have tried ENERGY roms but still nothing. Could I be doing something wrong with BSB TWEAKS? I ask because my friend has the same settings and these formats do not work on her device either. It would be great if I had the reg entries for HKLM/SOFTWARE/HTC/CAMERA so I could compare them to my registry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine crash too. When i put settings in h.26 or whatever and push record it freezes or camera stop working

thank's! I will be useful

someone testedthis on xperia x1?

[Q] CM7 Video resolution settings

I have a issue with the video recorder in CM7. I had this in RC1v2 and also in latest nightly, don't know in versions before that.
I can't use the high and youtube resolution setting. I can select them, but when I press the record button nothing happens. The other settings, for example wide, do work.
Is this normal? If not is there a sollution to solve this?

I installed Nordic rom and reinstalled CM7 latest nightly, that didn't solve my issues.
However changing the frame rate for the encoder profiles (in media_profiles.xml) to 24 did. (this was a suggestion in the developers forum). Now I can use all resolution settings.
My defy has red lens.

During testing I also noticed that the standard bitrate for the high and wide recording setting are really high.
For a 640x480 (high) mp4 video it is 10000 kb/s
For a 848x480 (wide) mp4 video it is 8000kb/s
This a lot higher then most good looking xvid 720p movies I have , which are around 2000 kb/s.
I now use 1300 kb/s (high) and 1500 kb/s (wide) which seems to give usable results but with a lot smaller videos.
Which settings do other people use/suggest?

Try the newest LG Cam (free) from market an set it to these parameters:
video resolution: 848x480
video encoder: mpeg4
video file format: mpeg4
video bitrate: 8
video framrate:24
audio encoder: ACC
audio samplerate: 44100
audio bitrate: 62900
and check force autofocus before capture
This works great on mey Defy (red lense)!

[Q] Epic Optimal Video Settings

After much experimentation, I have found that the epic prefers 5:3 aspect ratio. If you want the maximum in clarity and optimized file size for your videos, here are the settings I came up with. Adding more to either bitrate wont help the quality.
Customized MP4 Movie (*.mp4) template in Freemake
Video Code: MPEG4 (NOT h.264 or x264)
Frame Size: 1000x600 (5:3 ratio)
Video Bitrate: 1280
Video framerate: 24
Encode Passes: 2
Audio Codec: AAC
Audio Bitrate: 160
Sample rate: 44100
Audio Channels: 2
Disable Audio: No
A/V Sync: Default
These settings work great on my Arnova 10b (Capacitive) and my Touchpad. They would also work great in an iPad or XBOX. I used the high resolution to fill the screen of my Arnova without stretching. It works fine on my Epic.
Here the question: Why 5:3? Any other aspect ratio does not actually fill the screen. If you make a 800x600 (4:3) video, you will find that the player does not actually fill the screen. Thoughts?

The screen resolution is 800x480, which is 5:3...
Just make the video 800x480, and it won't have to do any scaling.

Interesting. Gonna check my videos and see what res I have them in, because they look awesome as it is.

LunaticWolf said:
The screen resolution is 800x480, which is 5:3...
Just make the video 800x480, and it won't have to do any scaling.
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I did that resolution... It worked great for my epic.. I settled on the resolution I used because it worked awesome on all my devices.. even my touchpad. The cost in file size is almost nothing between the two resolutions.

Ok, I have a 720p video.. it looks amazing at its normal resolution of 1280x720.. no cropping that I can notice..

I'm an editor by trade.
What you're looking for is H.264 in .mp4. I tend to go for a video bitrate that hangs out around 1.5mbps and AAC stereo audio at 160kbps, 44.1kHz. There are quite a few artifacts in the shadows, but for watching a movie on an airplane it'll suffice.
The key to both a sharp picture and long battery life is to properly prepare the video. When your video is under or over 800px wide the Epic has to perform scaling to make it fill the screen (or sacrifice filling the screen if it is under). This scaling is an additional calculation it must perform, which hits the battery, and is a transformation on a lossy codec - a quality killer. If you have the render power (48 i7 cores and segmented processing makes for fast work) you can always hit it with mild sharpening for that extra pop.
Export your video at 800 pixels wide by whatever makes the correct aspect ratio. It's a bit of simple algebra, set up a proportion, cross-multiply, divide, and bang.
ex:
(1280/720)=(800/x)
1280x=720*800
1280x=576,000
x=450
800x450 <-- use this for any 16x9 broadcasts
(1.85/1)=(800/x)
1.85x=800
x=432
800x432 <-- use this for movies presented in 1.85:1, 2.35:1, and 2.40:1.
If it's 4x3 export at 640x480.

I just scale up to 4k. Looks pretty good =D