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Hi everyone,
I've had my Vibrant with me at a local music festival this weekend, and thought it would be a fantastic time to exercise the HD video capture. Unfortunately, every single video I've taken has had such terrible audio that it's unwatchable. I kept digging around in camera settings but found that there's no way to adjust the mic sensitivity. Anyone else have a similar experience or any idea of a workaround?
In my experience the Vibrant's got excellent mic sensitivity and the sound quality is even quite good. Unfortunately, this means that things like concerts are going to be distorted. I've actually seen very few video cameras that can properly record a live concert, much less ANY cell phone.
I absolutely understand that recording a live concert through a microphone designed around voice for telephony is not going to be in any way, shape or form, ideal. I feel like the Vibrant could do better. I just wonder if it's something that could be corrected for in software, if it's a hardware limitation, or if it's just my particular unit. My dad was also with me at the festival, and recorded the same shows using my old Blackberry 9700. The Blackberry did a markedly better job.. It's not what I would call good by any means, but the video isn't intolerable to watch for memory's sake. I just find it frustrating since the phone takes such incredible video. I agree that it does very well in low volume situations, and I absolutely love the phone overall.
I have a couple of comparison example videos on Youtube from the festival but due to my new user status I can't post a link to them. PM me if you're interested.
I also took my phone to a trance festival, the image is amazing but the sound is rubbish. I was also standing very close to the speakers so I don't really blame the mic since it's not really built to handle such a strong volume input.
If there is a possible way to fix it software wise that would be great, but I'm no that optimistic about the chance it's fixable that way.
I agree, the sound just pops... Same song recorded by the og droid was MUCH BETTER... of course my video LOOKED amazing.
I agree my wife and I recently went to the Honda Civic Tour. I used my Vibrant while a friend used one of those little flip HD cameras. We both got the same picture quality however, her sound was amazing. The thing I find funny is those cameras only cost like $249.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using the XDA app.
TGA_Gunnman talks about the same thing here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734515
Though doesn't say exactly which one of the settings is what adjusts the mic gain.
I too would be very greatful to know how to turn the thing down.
-Greg
Using the Netflix App on the Focus.
Wi-Fi:
Let me say how very very pleased I am!! I used it last night and felt the opposite, was to impatient. When you first start a movie it may look horrible, very very blocky. But slowly over the next 1-3 minutes the picture quality will continue to get better and better till it looks, well... perfect. The audio is sinked perfect. It looks HD to me.
1-3 bars on AT&T 3G: (inside house no Wi-Fi activated)
Same end results, just took 3-6 minutes to reach full video quality. It didn't regress any at all after it reached an apparent HD state in video quality. Audio sinked perfect from the second it starts showing video.
This was a selling point for me, with this beautiful SAMOLED screen. I'm sold!!!
That's good to know. The quality doesn't really need to be better than 480p though, since that's the display resolution of all WP7 phones.
I'll probably go with the 2GB/month service and it seems 2 movies is all I can watch a month on the phone over 3G assuming I don't access the internet too much when outside.
I didn't even find netflix in the marketplace, thanks for making me grab it! Stoked.
Netflix Video Quality
I have only tried NETFLIX via 3g in my home, I am not even sure how many bars I am getting, but I never have reception issues there. I can't compare on WiFi because my network is hidden for now.
Anyway, my image quality is good, but not great. The frustrating part of it is that there are moments (long moments) of stunning quality. This seems to indicate to me that the issue is buffering and not the phone screen quality.
I'll keep messing around when I have time. The picture is definitely good enough to watch a movie with, but obviously nowhere near the potential of this amazing screen.
Oh and the whole buffering, acquiring license time mentioned earlier was nowhere near 6 minutes.
Was running last night and today, avgr 2 -3 bars , I am really happy with the quality of the picture, the que time is not bad as well.
Only complaint is the my bluetooth speakers will work with Netflix or Iheart radio. They do work with the Media play.
There would appear to be quite a video quality difference when streaming via WiFi rather than 3G. I suppose that should have been expected, but the difference was far more apparent than I would have guessed it would be. Maybe eventually there will be a different level of buffer offered for the 3G option.
Also, I have noticed that the video quality gets better about a minute into playback. Maybe this is the buffer getting up to speed, but on both streaming modes, playback improves steadily over the first minute until a good quality is achieved (spectacular in the case of WiFi).
Lots of experimenting now and I absolutely agree with the OP. The software seems to thrive off of a less than a minute of playback with WiFi to get a stunning screen quality and about a minute or so more to achieve exceptional quality via 3G.
At first I was underwhelmed by 3G playback but it really gets sharp after a few minutes.
Very impressive.
I agree. It looks very well even over 3G.
I wonder how the video quality is or either one. The hava is cheaper but wonder which has the best upload video quality. I know the slingbox has software for $30 for android, but I heard the software for the hava is free, I think.
I've used the sling player and it's pretty cool. Video looks good, works well on 3g
worth every penny. there is nothing like sitting around in an office watching whatever you want. video quality is great with a good signal. sling player
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
works awesome on strong 3g and even better on 4g
ok great
There is someone near me selling the previous version of the slingbox hd pro. It's colored red. I wonder if the newer ones have some better compression built in giving better video quality or does it 99% depend on the internet connection.
I am considering this as well. Does anyone know if the quality on your phone depends only on the connection to your mobile network? Or does the quality also depend on the connection speed of your home network? I currently have att DSL which maxes out at 600kbs. Since you have to plug the sling box into your home network I was just curious.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
I have one and it does depend on your Home network uploading speed. Its best to have 1mb or more or it will skip a lot. Also your 3g strength factors in as well.
Sent from my Evo!
I have the slingplayer software with both a slinghd and slingpro.
And actually, the quality sucks. I posted screenshots some time ago. The aliasing is out of control. And this was on my LAN. And before the doubters say anything, feel free to post your own screenshots.
I have had a sling box for a few years now. I Couldn't be happier with it. I do have a 20/5 connection at my house so this helps me alot. The video quality is pretty good on 3g. I have watched whole basketball games on a 3g connection and its more than watchable even with all the action. Streaming on the laptop is even better for obvious reasons.
Found my old post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6915956&postcount=28
Decide for yourself. I think youtube looks 10x better. Which is ridiculous.
I use it through the Dish Network software. I have found it to have good quality for shows that I don't have time to watch at home.
i have had my slingbox since the day it was released i love it , as far as the app i find that it works very well, the quality is not bad im very impressed at this point al though i wish it did support HDMI out so i could watch on my projector but hopefully CM will be able to release Full HDMI out on his next release. other than that it is worth the price. only flaw i find is i wish there was a channel guide that was built into the app that would adapt to what provider you are using for cable or sat. other than that very beautiful app and is a must have!!!
I agree with you ^
Sent from my Evo!
I actually just got an older Slingbox AV (no HD hookups) just before Thanksgiving so I could fool around with it while at my parents' for the holiday. I was worried it would suck over 3G since I can only get Time Warner Cable at my home and the upload is a pitiful .5Mbit. I was pleasantly surprised at how watchable it was using my Evo and my original eeePC over the internet. I kind of want to try a Slingbox HD now just so I can fully utilize the screen on the Evo. The Zoom/Aspect ration options are a little lacking and I can't get a letterboxed video to take up the entire screen, but SD signals still look great.
It's definitely not Youtube quality as someone said, but I think that mostly has to do with 1)not having an HD slingbox and 2)not having the upload bandwidth from home to send out a higher quality stream.
Just got mine today. Love it, used it all day at work on 3G and the quality was amazing.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I have a slingplayer pro and on the 3g network it streams directv perfect with a good signal... if you do not have good internet it will suck giant donkey balls though
i had the slingbox solo and it was clutch. didn't even try the regular av cables, went a bought the hd composite cables.
it definitely depends on the connection you have. If you set it to "auto" from your PC, then you will get poor video when you have weak reception, but if you have good signal all day, you can set it to "better" or "best" quality and have no real issue.
best investment ever. I did rid it cause my gf at home would have to watch whatever i was watching when i was working. saving for an HD ($300) cuz i believe you can watch seperate channels with it.
I guess they're issues. Dunno.
My volume doesn't seem that great at half way compared to say an S3 or an iPhone 5. At the weekend, a friend was playing Temple Run 2, as was I. Both volumes were half way. His was louder. His Siri/turn-by-turn directions at half way was louder than the voice in Navigation on my N4. His accelerometer/gyroscope seemed more sensitive than my phone, also. Though it could just be because his is a more expensive Apple product, I dunno. Also my vibrate is quite dull. And since the 4.2.2 update, it seems shorter. Two short bursts. I hardly notice it.
Secondly, my apps keeps crashing. My Bible (YouVersion) app constantly crashes when I try to search on it. Angry Birds crashes occasionally. All my apps I've bought over a period of time. Installed Robot Unicorn Attack on Friday cuz I was going away for the weekend. Tried to play it whilst I was away - not internet connection - and it told me it wasn't purchased and if I want to play it I need to buy it. Did it a few times then started working.
Also, my camera. When I've taken a pic and zoom in, it's get's all grainy. Is that normal?
Also, can loud noises mess with the microphone? My university has got into that Harlem Shake craze, and I recorded it off my phone. Right by the speaker. Aaaand, sunlight. Can direct sunlight damage the camera sensor or anything? Not that I take pictures of the sun. Just I have occasionally by accident when taking pictures.
Thanks.
1) The speaker on the N4 is pretty rubbish compared to most high-end phone, yeah.
2) I think the problem with app crashing are mostly problems with the app itself rather than the phone. If you can reproduce the crash you should send the details to the developers.
3) Digital zoom produces grainy pictures. It's quite normal. You shouldn't use it at all. It's better to just take the picture using the default zoom level and then just crop/resize it afterwards.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
I tried Hangouts, Skype and Viber and was thoroughly disappointed with the quality. Opposed to Facetime, the sound was delayed preventing a normal conversation, and the picture was extremely pixelated. This in spite of having a good 4g signal and later a strong wi-fi signal.
Is the fault somehow on my side or is the Android videocalls seriously lacking behind Facetime? If the latter, why?!? What holy grail did Apple discover to make video calling so smooth and what prevents android from adopting this technology?
Facetime uses H265 on newer devices, this allows double the quality on the same connection. Wait till Duo by Google comes out in the Summer. The Verge had a chance to use it and they've said it is the quickest video chat app they've ever seen, better than Facetime
As far as I understand H265 is only supported on iphone 6 and up. Whenever I use facetime on my iphone 5, it is smooth as butter and never any audio delay.
So even before H265, apple must have used a technology which never was embraced by any android developers. I just wonder why.
Well - seems there is hope with Duo. Fingers crossed or I will have to keep my iphone just for facetime.
You can also try Tango, which has good (not best) quality when you have a good connection.
I get excellent video quality with Skype but it works a bit different than Facetime. The skype video call will start pixelated and will get better over time. After about 1 minute you should see it improves significantly. Remember that both sides of the convo needs to have good connectivity speed.
Sent from my Pixel C using Tapatalk
I find Viber to be pretty good, they all have good and bad moments, when Viber does't work well, I try Skype, when that doesn't work, Facebook Messenger, one of the 3 always seems to come through. Not ideal, but, for the price of free, can't really complain.
Try Tango. worked for me in the past. Or use snapchat's video calling feature. reception sux sometimes.