Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Compression of videos for MMS is very heavy

L

LiquidThunderLT

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 21, 2009
42
0
Been playing around with 3.1, and while MMS messages won't actually send, you can still TRY to send them, which means inserting them in conversations locally. While playing around with this just to explore the interface, I 'sent' a video from my camera roll as an MMS. *The usual compressing status bar did it's work, but when I went to the convo in messages and played the compressed video, the difference in quality was far more pronounced than it is when compressed for YouTube or email.

Examples:

Original: http://yfrog.com/4c8zyj

Compressed for MMS: http://yfrog.com/8cz4hj

I suppose this is for two reasons, the first being that they want the files light for bandwidth purposes, and the second being to ensure smooth video playback on lower end and older handsets. *Just my own conjecture. *Also note that there is no 3G service where I live and I have the 3G radio toggle disabled to increase battery efficiency, perhaps when 3G is enabled it doesn't compress for MMS as badly? *Just a thought.
 
yes, it really compresses the hell out the file and takes forever to send. The video has to be really well lit to avoid giant pixels all over the place.

If you're interested in really trying out mms:

... and I know it's been reported a billion times so far but: with 3.1 you can call at&t and tell them you are developer working on an app that uses mms and need the non-iphone text plan enabled on your account. They'll transfer you to a supervisor who can do this if you press the fact that you need to test an app. Pop your sim card into another non-iphone smart phone, make a call, swap it back into your iphone. Done... MMS should work fine. no ipcc file needed. It took about 20 minutes total phone time with AT&T, if you don't want to waste your time: wait until August.
 
Sidebox: so even if I get AT&T to do it over the phone I still have to use my sim card in another non iPhone AT&T phone?
 
MMS is basically advanced text messaging. Originally txt msgs were expanded to handle things like midi ringtones and wallpaper sized graphics (on phones, not smart phones) - these were called EMS. MMS is the generation after EMS and while it does handle bigger files, it's still a protocol which relies on small data packets.

Video will be heavily compressed - it's not ATT nor is it the iphone. It's just why and how it works.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back