Mobile/cell phone video formats

[jhd]

I'm interested in what video formats are captured by modern mobile phones. I know that most use the 3GP container format, and the ones I've been able to gather use an H263 codec. But there must be exceptions to this. Does anyone know of any phones that DON'T use the 3GP wrapper and/or the H263 codec for their cameras?

(I'm not looking for info on phone playback, just the formats that phones use to capture video.)

Does anyone know of a list of video specs for phones?

Thanks!

[Gornot]

3GP, 3GPP, 3G2, MPEG-4...

3G mobile phones can also use AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 & WMV.

[kevo777]

Gornot pretty much nailed it. I work for Samsung Wireless and I can tell you this. It will vary according to manufacturer/service provider needs and wants. AVI and WMV are rarely seen outside of Windows Mobile-based devices. 3GP and MPEG-4 SP are most common. 3GP is a mobile-optimized format and therefore the most popular. Typically inside of 3GP files you'll see H263 or MPEG-4 video streams paired with AMR-NB, AMR-WB, or AAC audio streams.

Check http://www.howardforums.com also.

[jhd]

Thanks. So do some Windows-based phones actually capture video as WMV and/or AVI, or do they just play back those formats?

[Gornot]

Hmmm, not sure. I'm certain that 3G phones can play/stream them, but capturing... Not sure. I guess it depends on the manufacturer and the model...

[kevo777]

Speaking from experience with Samsung phones, the answer is no. None of Samsung's Windows-based phones capture video in the WMV format. They capture in the more network-friendly 3GP format. They do also support WMV playback since they are loaded with Windows Media Player.

[zambelli]

Speaking from experience with Samsung phones, the answer is no. None of Samsung's Windows-based phones capture video in the WMV format. They capture in the more network-friendly 3GP format. They do also support WMV playback since they are loaded with Windows Media Player.
Yep. In fact, a lot of the 3GPP recording/playback capability is provided by OEMs through DirectShow extensibility on Windows Mobile. When I worked on WMP Mobile some years ago we actually tested 3GPP playback in WMP using 3rd party DShow filters.

[DeeGee]

On this (http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/resources/technologies/audiovideo/) page you can get info on the video/audio formats Nokia phones support. Click the "Audio & Video Feature Tables" link.

[castellanos]

Hi there!
I would like to take advantage of this thread and make a few questions:
I was trying for a while a cell phone/pda “Xda Orbit” which uses a Windows Mobile 5.0 OS, a special offer from O2 Germany.
I made 3 backup examples of a short movie “For The Birds”. Everything was made trough Avisynth/VirtualDubMod and really not complicated, the source was PAL 25 fps progressive so I’ve only applied resized to a lower resolution. (No GMC and no QPEL)
First example was using DivX 6.5.0 “Home Theater Profile” at 1000 kb/s.
Second example was using XviD 1.1 final (I took the same avs file) “Home Theater PAL” at 1000 kb/s.
Third and last one was using DivX 6.5.0 “Mobile Profile” at 600 kb/s (I resized the avs file to 320x240).
I muxed all the examples with an mp3 at 128 kb/s CBR

So, I was very surprised with the result:
The only file that the phone was able to play was the first one and a little bit jerky… the other two examples it said: “format not supported”
The question is: First and Third examples were made with the same codec, besides resolution and kb/s, which differences are between “Home Theater Profile” and “Mobile Profile” in DivX?
Somebody knows which profile can that phone play?

Thanks in advance! :)

[zambelli]

Somebody knows which profile can that phone play?
You forgot the most important piece of information: which player are you using? If using WMP, are there any DirectShow filters installed to handle DivX?

[castellanos]

You forgot the most important piece of information: which player are you using?
:o Sorry about that! Yes, it is Windows Media Player.

If using WMP, are there any DirectShow filters installed to handle DivX?
Eh... are not them already installed in the OS?

Greetings!

[zambelli]

Eh... are not them already installed in the OS?
Only if O2 put them there. You'd have to check with O2 to find out which multimedia formats they've added support for other than the default Windows Media formats.

[castellanos]

I see… so, Microsoft is responsible only for the Windows media format, am I right?
If yes, the other filters are third part?
Anyway, thanks zambelli for your help, good to know all that.
Greetings! :)