Are There Any Differences Between Cellphone Content And iPod Content?

[Lee]

So far as encoding goes etc etc?

Can i (or should i) use the same MPEG4 format for both cellphones and iPods or are they all different?

Regards,

Lee

[Becky]

The newer cell phones should be able to play wmv by now. I got a new Cingular 8125 and it plays wmv as well as mp4. But if they don't, I'm pretty sure that mp4 will play no problem.

[Lee]

Cool stuff thanks Becky

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

do cell phones play quicktime? ipods will play quicktime up to i think it was 480 pixels.

[Jasun]

iPods will have a special large size M4V file now.. not just mp4 files.

but both will work.

[Lee]

Okay so im setting this up for MPEG4 @ 320x240 and 480x360 resolutions however, i have a question about the bitrate, does anyone know what the maximum or minimum bitrate size for iPod video should be?

Right now im kind of hedging my way towards the 700k bitrate for the pure fact that if played on TV anything lower than that i think is going to look like shite.

So what are you folks currently using for the bitrate on iPod movies?

Regards,

Lee

[Becky]

I currently encode mp4s at 128 mpbs. I am going for smaller file sizes rather than high resolution as i know that memory is limited on portables most of the time. But, I don't think they look bad on the smaller screens at that bit rate.

[Jasun]

I'll agree with BEcky here, although for iPod, I actaully allow FCP to encode it directly for iPod... which means that even if you port out to your TV, it will look rather impressive.

(I honestly think this is the direction that the industry will soon go, anyway, so I'm just ahead of the game.)

Here's a secret.

FCP will encode an iPod file with and .m4v extension, but if you rename the file .mp4, anything can play it.

it's just Apple's way of trying to confuse the end user.

[Xstr8guy]

Jasun, what does FCP mean?

[Jasun]

FCP= Final Cut Pro.

The best movie editing software for macs.

The only one I use.

[Lee]

Okay i just did a test on a 20 minute clip with an original filesize of 202mb which was originally encoded from a DVD to 640x480 @ 384kbps, here are the results of the encoding...

MP4 @ 320x240 @ 384kbps - 48.5mb.
MP4 @ 320x240 @ 768kbps - 100mb.

MOV @ 320x240 @ 384kbps - 50.5mb
MOV @ 320x240 @ 768kbps - 104mb.

In terms of 'playback' quality on the iPod, the first of the options i tried came out trumps, the movie didnt look grainy and played smoothly throughout.

Interestingly enough though, the worst was actually the second MP4 in terms of playback quality (grainy looking).

The MOV (Quicktime) files wouldnt load to the iPod at all, so either i did something wrong or iPods (at least the newer generation) dont support the Quicktime format yet.

Just wanted to post some of my results for those of you who are interested in the possibilities of iPod porn

Regards,

Lee