Why is mobile video compression so poor

[Gordon.C]

Hi,

I am wondering since almost every mid-range phone has full hd build in camera, why is video compression still so poor.

If you compare an .mkv full hd movie of 120 minute length, it will take approximately 800MB space, that equals to approximately 111KB / s.

Most phones would capture full hd video and compress it to approximately 1MB / s.

Why cant they include a better compression into phones already?

 

[beers]

Seems to me that you'd be a bit processor bound trying to use more complex algorithms.

 

[Darren]

This is speculation on my part but I imagine the phone doesn't have the capabilities of compressing a HD video as it's recording it due to technical limitations like the processor.

I imagine it's similar idea behind why FRAPS videos are so massive. A few minutes of video can be several gigs at 1080p, but if you run it through even Movie Maker you can compress it down a lot and maintain most of the original quality.

 

[Gordon.C]

Seems to me that you'd be a bit processor bound trying to use more complex algorithms.

I would wait a minute or two to be able to send a good quality video via email.

This is speculation on my part but I imagine the phone doesn't have the capabilities of compressing a HD video as it's recording it due to technical limitations like the processor.

I imagine it's similar idea behind why FRAPS videos are so massive. A few minutes of video can be several gigs at 1080p, but if you run it through even Movie Maker you can compress it down a lot and maintain most of the original quality.

It does not have to be in real time though. The compression feature could be an opt-in kind of thing before you send it or upload it.

 

[Darren]

It does not have to be in real time though. The compression feature could be an opt-in kind of thing before you send it or upload it.

I don't really understand what you're trying to get at. If it's not as the video is taken then why not just compress it like you always would?

 

[Gordon.C]

I don't really understand what you're trying to get at. If it's not as the video is taken then why not just compress it like you always would?

Have you seen the regular compression? No matter how good the original video is, the web compression that kicks in whenever you upload it, makes it lose 50 - 75 percent of original quality.

 

[Darren]

Well yeah places like Youtube and the like will compress it as much as they can get away with to save bandwidth.

I still don't understand what your question is.

Are you just asking why file sizes are so big on raw video that hasn't been compressed, encoded or anything?

 

[Gordon.C]

Well yeah places like Youtube and the like will compress it as much as they can get away with to save bandwidth.

I still don't understand what your question is.

Are you just asking why file sizes are so big on raw video that hasn't been compressed, encoded or anything?

Yes saving the bandwidth is exactly my point. My question is, since majority of phones catch internet through 3G, and majority of phones are capable of capturing FULL HD video, why is there still no reasonable compression that would allow relatively fast download and upload without losing much quality.