iPhone vs iPod Touch format

Bobbbo · Post by **Bobbbo** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:14 pm

In handbrake when I select Preset of iPhone vs iPod High-res I get a different format:
480 X 368 (iPhone) 640x480 (iPod high-res)

I have the new iPod touch and the Apple screen specifications for both the iPhone and iPod touch are the same 640x480. What Preset format in Handbrake should I use for the iPod touch?

zedsdead · Post by **zedsdead** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:24 pm

If you plan to only watch the Videos on the iPod Touch, use the iPhone preset because the screen is the same resolution and cannot display any higher than 480x320. If you want to watch the vid on other devices (Computer/Apple TV) then encode at the higher setting for quality...the iPhone can handle video in excess of 2500 MBS with a resolution up to 720x480 (not sure if the Touch is the same here).

Bobbbo · Post by **Bobbbo** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:40 pm

Thanks. I just realized I misread the specs on the touch and iPhone. It is capable of playing higher resolutions but the display is only 480 x 320. Why does iPhone preset in HandBrake record at 480 x 368?

hawkman · Post by **hawkman** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:39 pm

It depends on what aspect ratio the material is. The fixed value is 480px wide; that's great for movies, but 4:3 material will become 480*368 (closest to 480*360 that's divisible by 16).

432*320 might be a good resolution to use on the iPhone for 4:3 content, but 480*368 does give you the luxury of being able to zoom the content to fill your screen and have every pixel count; your call.

Bobbbo · Post by **Bobbbo** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:07 am

The guys that did the prests for HandBrake certainly know better than I. I will go with the iPhone preset.

mycatsnameisbernie · Post by **mycatsnameisbernie** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:39 pm

hawkman wrote:432*320 might be a good resolution to use on the iPhone for 4:3 content, but 480*368 does give you the luxury of being able to zoom the content to fill your screen and have every pixel count; your call.

I have iPod Touch on order and I am using Handbrake to prep some movies for it. Although its screen's pixels are in 4:3 ratio, the screen appears to be proportioned for widescreen.

Since I can't test my results yet (I don't have iPhone), how does a 4:3 480x368 movie display on iPhone/Touch?

Is the video sqashed to fit the screen? Or is there some magic in Apple's software that displays correct 4:3 proportion with bars on left & right?

Thanks for a great program!

Dave

Bobbbo · Post by **Bobbbo** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:52 pm

I have the iPod touch and have converted lots of DVDs in my collection for the iPod. Until I found this forum and learned to use the HandBrake iPhone preset, I was using iPod High-res preset which is 640x480. When it is played back on the iPod Touch they look great. According to the Specs on the iPod touch the screen is 4:3 ratio (480x360), though it does look a little more wide screen than it actually is. Since my wife has the iPod touch with her on a trip I cannot try out the iPhone preset until she returns on Friday. I will give it a try then and let you know if there is any difference.

By the way if you are anxious to get your iPod touch sooner, most Apple Stores have them in stock.

jbrjake · Post by **jbrjake** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:19 pm

Bobbbo wrote:According to the Specs on the iPod touch the screen is 4:3 ratio (480x360)

No it's not.

The iPod Touch/iPhone screens are 480*320 for a 1.5:1 ratio, neither 16:9 nor 4:3.

4:3 video is displayed with sidebars, unless you choose fullscreen mode, which will crop off the top and bottom and zoom the middle to fill the screen.

Bobbbo · Post by **Bobbbo** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:34 pm

My mistake, it is 480 x 320, when I play a DVD of a old TV show like Seinfeld the video fills the screen exactly. I cannot detect any distortion, but it looks good to me.

jbrjake · Post by **jbrjake** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:57 pm

Bobbbo wrote:My mistake, it is 480 x 320, when I play a DVD of a old TV show like Seinfeld the video fills the screen exactly. I cannot detect any distortion, but it looks good to me.

If it's filling the screen then you're telling it to fill the screen on the device, and the "distortion" is that it cuts off the top and bottom of the picture.

Bobbbo · Post by **Bobbbo** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:01 pm

I get the iPod back today and I will do a comparison between what I see on my computer vs on the iPod of the same video. I will let you know exactly what is happening. I also have some wide screen movies, I will check those as well.

Bobbbo · Post by **Bobbbo** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:21 pm

I got the iPod touch back today. I ran some experiments on the video viewed on the computer screen that is not restricted and the same on the iPod video that has a non-conventional 3:2 aspect ratio.

My finding were the iPod screen was always full (no letter boxing). The iPod does not distort the aspect ratio, but simply cuts off what does not fit the 3:2 (480x320) format iPod touch or iPhone. So a TV show with a 4:3 aspect ratio has the top and bottom cut off and a wide screen movie has the left and right side symetrically truncated. The iPod touch does have a setting of wide screen on or off, but in either setting I saw and measured no difference. For very wide screen movies the effect can cut off some important information. In the case of one of my movies, text was cut off.

I do not know if Apple made the best choice here but it is what it is. Certainly with a small screen it does look better than letter boxing as the edges of a video usually are not that important.

Bobbbo · Post by **Bobbbo** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:50 pm

Just found out that if you double tap the screen on any video being played, the iPod touch goes from the format of full screen I documented before to widescreen where everything fit with black bars or letter box look. Great feature by Apple.