3

This may be a ridiculous question - but I know nothing about videos, video files or playback.

If I have videos in 720p format (high definition) will they play normally on an iphone 3g/3gs which doesn't support high def? Or will I have to have 2 different videos and test the device?

Thanks Tom

Thomas Clayson
  • 29,657
  • 26
  • 147
  • 224

2 Answers2

3

I'm just doing some tests with html5 video and it looks like the 3/3GS will only play video upto 640px wide. This is via Safari so not sure if the same rules apply to native video.

The solution might be to encode the video as mp4 but include 2 video tracks (one as a baseline profile - low quality/small size video and one as a high def profile video). I'm not sure how to acheive this but will report back once I figure it out.

NickGPS
  • 1,499
  • 14
  • 22
  • After looking into the mp4 spec it looks like you only ever have a single video track (but can have multiple audio tracks) per mp4 file. – NickGPS Dec 13 '10 at 09:07
2

The iPhone 4 is technically capable of 1080p playback, while the 3G[S] is capable of 720p. I am not sure about the 3G, but I'm assuming it's less than the 3G[S], most likely it's max is slightly above VGA resolution.

  • so you're saying that HD videos acctually won't play on the iphone 3g and will only play if they are 720p on the 3gs? – Thomas Clayson Dec 10 '10 at 07:33
  • Almost. I'm saying that the 3GS is capable of playing 720p videos, although it is recommended that they are scaled down to VGA. Any resolution around 720p should play OK, although it might skip a couple frames if it gets overloaded. On the 3G, however, I think that it'll bog down on a video that's around 720p, but it might be able to handle a video that's a little bit above VGA resolution. Let me know if you need clarification. –  Dec 10 '10 at 19:40
  • ah, no thats good thanks. :) The point was I wanted to know if it was possible to just have HD versions (for the iPhone 4) in the app, and just play them on the iPhone 3g and 3gs, but from your answer I guess it'll be "possible" but definitely not useable. Probably best to include both sets. :) Thank you. – Thomas Clayson Dec 13 '10 at 09:46