Better catpure video...?
 

Hi I bought N900 and i have a question, my previous mobile Nokia N95 had much more better capture of video than N900. Its possible to change it, i mean better fluent video, at least 25-30fps? Thanks too much!

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

The N95 does not record at near HD res.

never the less please vote for this bug

https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7062

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

what does the N95 record at? I just shot some video today on the N900 and the person I sent it to was amazed at how high resolution it was for being that it came from what I told him was my cell phone.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

N95 is 640x480@30
N900 is 848x480@25

The framerate is not noticeable in playback, however, running stuff in the background does affect capture so it can be tricky for first timers. Also, automated features like work being ended, connection dialogs and such can also induce gaps in recording.

Quality- and compression-wise, it is superior to N95. Minus the hiccups.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

To ndi: I mean 30fps N95 vs 25fps N900. N95 has video more fluent.....! My question is if it can be improved! 25fps update to 30fps:). I'm sorry for my english. Thanks

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

You are not really going to see much difference between 25fps and 30fps recording. (Of course some will claim that they can ;))

What happens sometimes with N900 is that the frame rate during recording temporarily drops below 25fps (or in other words frames are dropped during recording) if the phone is heavily loaded. This is probably why the N95 seems better to you.

So I think that the improvement should not be an increase in frame rate but rather that the N900 is able to maintain the 25fps frame rate during recording (even when it has other processing to do in the background).

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

When I had HTC D2 I installed program registry where I can change framerate, bitrate etc....! So I thought if exist any similar program for N900!

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

There probably is, however, this is basically the best they have since it's at screen size (N900 doesn't do more-than-screen resolutions for good reason), and has a decent framerate and bitrate, and uses the MP4 algo which rules. It would likely only go down from there.

Also, to the people (generally speaking) who always have this framerate discussion every time (no finger points, k?):

a) PAL TV has 25 FPS
b) DVDs in PAL have 25.
c) Cinema movies have 24.

Don't confuse game FPS with TV FPS. They are not the same. Games need some 50-60 FPS to achieve the same smoothness due to the fact that games have no inter-frame movement.

You see, video when paused is unclear, smudged, objects in motion are even more unclear, because filming is supposed to compensate for POV (Persistence Of Vision). Games have no such technique (some do), so when moving around instead of a natural blur you get to see edges repeating themselves that give a stop-motion like feeling, like a strobe in a disco.

There is no reason to go over 25 FPS in a video recording. Full HD video has 25 or 30 FPS depending on PAL/NTSC standard. If it needed more, it would HAVE more, it's not like they skimped on specs with these things.

Don't let the 60 in the 1920x1080@60 fool you, that's 60i (interlaced), or 1080i, as it's called, that is, you need two frames to compose a full frame, via odd then even lines., so the actual refresh is 30 (NTSC) and 25 (PAL).

Next time you feel 25 is subpar, remember the cinema. Do they jump on the screen? No. Cinema is 24 FPS, be it Terminator or Titanic. And they sure don't skimp on specs there.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

Thanks a lot for answer!! Today I done video test between N95 a N900 I recorded the same scenes in various themes but N95 had better capture video always, if the problem is not in framerate where is problem in N900? Processor, ram, bitrate, resollution?

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

Well, youtube them and let's see.

You need to compare them on a large screen anyway, since N900 has such a small screen compared, so the video compresses down physically, giving an apparent gain in contrast and edges.

Or maybe just attach them here if they are small enough and we'll have a whack at it.

Oh, and, make sure you don't miss the usual: Make sure there's enough light, be outside, even sunny if possible, same scene, the lens are clean on both devices, etc. I don't want to even start with camera performance in the dark.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

I have the same issue and voted for bug 7062. I found that video is jerky and it's most obvious when you pan the camera.

I took the following video indoors, with the latest firmware and only the phone app running. I sat in my office chair and tried to hold the camera as steady as possible. Then I rotate my chair from side to side. See for yourself.
Download video clip here

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

+1 to NDI's post. Informative and concise - very much appreciated dude.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

I have guestioned already, is existing any program for Nokia N900 as progam "registry" for Htc where i can change various parameters as bitrate, fluent, resollution etc? Thanks much!

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

This is one of my 'niggles' with the N900, putting it into 'flite-mode' before taking some clips does not overly improve the capture, motion is generally jerky... All the time. (ie panning shots especially).

As I understand it, this can be improved with better drivers than the one currently in use.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

I saw a pr1.2 screenshot that shows an improved camera app that allows 640x480 recording at 30fps, and also 320x240.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

Good news indeed Jessi!

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

I have little trouble with video.

I DO have the following issues, however:

a) when first starting a recording, the video stutters a few times in the first 2-3 seconds

b) on high-detail panning shots, as compression drops, there is visible framerate drop. However, once panning is done, movement is pretty smooth.

IMO, slightly lower framerate in pans is worth the resolution gain - in the sunny outdoors video quality is stunning, definitely more than what I would expect from a phone.

Agreed, however, options are always good news.

ETA: forgot to add that the framerate one gets in panning shots is NOT 25 - feels like 10-15. If doing 640x480 but at 30 FPS sets the same strain on CPU you still get dropped frames panning. I hope they add 640x480@25 so they can keep up.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

I wish Nokia will make the camera app for video recording to do autofocusing while recording. This will be very handy when we recording something important, instead of using lFocus to do it manually.

If they make this possible then, HELL YEAH!! I'll buy more NOKIA lol

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

Focus on such small cameras is rudimentary, it's done by trial and error (camera resets to minimum, then pans to max, looking for a sharp edge).

This kind of focusing during a video would be painful. It's probably why they left it out, every time distance changes there's be a second of blur. Anyway, that's what I'd do, set it to manual, since when someone moves around the room the cam can't keep a lock and it would keep on focusing like nuts, destroying the video.

That's what you get for a lens camera. Pinholes have no such problems.

It's true that with advanced software in-video focusing could be done in smaller increments, but that would make any kind of action shot impossible as the focus would drag behind the action.

Frankly, right now I lock video focus to infinity and just film from at least 2-3 meters away, keeping stuff in the field of focus.

Re: Better catpure video...?
 

Where is the focus adjustment for the camera? I don't see any place I can change the focus distance.