Getting Started with Videos on your BlackBerry PART 1

Getting Started With Videos On Your BlackBerry


As new BlackBerry devices are being released it’s becoming more and more apparent that RIM has intentions for their devices to be pushed out of the corporate world and into the hands of consumers who are looking for more than just an email and web enabled gadget. These consumers are looking for all-in-one devices to feed their digital needs. BlackBerry devices now include digital audio players as well as the ability to be able to play videos encoded to specific formats.

Let’s start with having a look at the video capabilities of the latest generation of BlackBerry devices.

Hit The Jump For More Details.....


MPEG-4 Part 2 (Simple Profile and bvop, including DivX 4)
File formats - .avi, .3gp, .mp4, .mov
Video - Up to 320 x 240, up to 800 kbps, up to 30 frames per second

H.263 (Profile 0 & Profile 3)
File formats - .avi, .3gp, .mp4, .mov
Video - up to 320 x 240, up to 800 kbps, up to 30 frames per second

Windows Media Video (Simple Profile)
File formats - .wmv
Video - Up to 320 x 240, up to 800 kbps, up to 24 frames per second

Now that’s all fine, But what does it all really mean? Lets break it down even more...

.avi, .3gp, .mp4, .mov, .wmv are all supported video formats for BlackBerry devices but there are limitations imposed on these types of files. Extracting the information from above, all of the files are limited to 320 x 240 resolution (aspect ratio). This is basically the size of the video as it will appear on your BlackBerry screen, similar to WideScreen and FullScreen aspect ratios that are so relevant in the DVD world.

The next item to address is the limitation of 800Kbps you see above. This is relevant to the quality of the encoded file, and by quality I mean clarity of the file itself. If a video file is encoded in a lower kbps it will look grainy and pixelated.


As you can see from the examples above the higher the kbps, the higher video quality. Keep in mind this is also relative to the size of the video - the higher the kbps, the larger the end result will be in file size.

The next item to address is the frames per second (FPS). Now while this is a highly technical aspect of filming in television and video, I’ll try to explain it as easily as possible, or better yet, the problems that can arise from not assigning the right FPS to a video that you are trying to convert for your BlackBerry device. Every video that is filmed or captured has to have an appropriate FPS to it otherwise things filmed will look like they are either moving too fast on the video or possibly even too slow, as well, this may cause problems with audio when converting for BlackBerry devices, or any other devices for that matter such as PSP, Home DVD’s etc. If the right FPS is not used you may find that audio will be out of sync on your videos. I realize that the specifications call for a range of 24 to 30 FPS for all videos to fall under the compatible category, but honestly this will be based more on the programs used to encode the video files than anything. It really is trial and error when selecting a the right FPS, and we'll dive into that further next.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

CHECK OUT MORE TIPS AND TRICKS @ BLACKBERRY BASICS

Videos on your BlackBerry PART 2
Videos on your BlackBerry PART 3



Sent from your Data Expert Device.