Database Users

Quick questions: Audio quality and wifi range.

Hi all... just a couple of quick questions...
1) What is the audio quality of the HD2 like compared to the Ipod or Touch Diamond? I have both, and I can certainly tell the difference between the two when playing mp3 files, but there is an even bigger difference when playing videos. The Ipod always wins...
2) What's the range like when using a wifi router? My Diamond likes to be about 2 foot away when surfing the web over wifi - any further and she just refuses. Is the any HD2 better?
If I do get this device, my main uses for it will be mainly for video (due to the screen size) and a very close second, music, as I would like to lose the ipod altogether!
I am a heavy WM user, so I would love this to be the one-for-all product!
Thanks all, your honest views appreciated.

In all honesty, WiFi range is pretty good.
WiFi
Mine is currently connected with aprox 50% signal about 40-50 metres away from my router, but i guess that also come down to how good the router is as well.
Audio
Audio through the external speaker can be a bit "tinny" if i am honest. Having said that, though ear phones the quality is a lot better and nothing to be complained about. I don't currently have my ipod with me at the moment so i cant compare the two side by side but the HD2 does sound pretty nice, even on low volumes. The HD2 does come with Audio Booster - An equalizer to adjust the sound to how you want it. I personally haven't played around with it much (the equalizer) seems to be on pretty good settings as default for me, but its obv nice to have the option there to tinker if you wanted to.
Video
Personally i love the video playback on movies on this phone. I can happily sit there and watch a movie in a very decent resolution for a phone. The best thing is because of the screen size you won't find yourself squinting trying to figure out what if going on. Playback in general is very crisp and clear.
Music
The music player built into HTC Sence in my opinion is a little simplistic. Not as many options as i would have liked to have seen but it does make it simple to use and navigate around your music.
I believe HTC HD2 is meant to be guaranteed to take any Mirco SDcard upto (and including 16gb) not sure about 32gb+.
**Disclaimer**
Don't really know why I'm doing this, but my response was as per my opinion and personal user experience.
Use this info as a guide not fact.

Timmzy89 said:
**Disclaimer**
Don't really know why I'm doing this, but my response was as per my opinion and personal user experience.
Use this info as a guide not fact.
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LOL.. I like the disclaimer bit
Wifi.. works very good.. I dont see any reason why you would be any more than 15-20 mts from the router.. and Timmzy is right.. it very much depends on the quality of the router as well.
Music/ Video.. no worries
Get the phone.. its kick ass

Thanks for the info guys.
My laptop works in the garden, streaming via the router, some 10 metres away no problem. But my diamond is a pig on wifi! Not sure if it's anything to do with the roms I've installed, but you have to sit next to the router when using my Diamond.
Video quality is better on Diamond than on Ipod, but the audio quality is better when watching the films. Not a big issue really, but I'll have a another go at ripping my films to get them sounding better on the phone.
Cheers

Has anyone used the sling player or hava player with their phone yet?

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.

[Q] Wi-Fi Download Speed for Video & Music

I'm pretty new to Android (3.1).
My eeePad and dock arrived just 2 days ago so I'm still getting the hang of things.
Today a friend came over and we experimented, comparing our iPad (version 1) with the TS.
Both have 16 GB of RAM.
What was amazing to me was how much slower the downloads were for the Transformer for both music and video, lots of buffering before anything comes on the screen.
That didn't happen with the iPad, viewing them side by side with the same Wi-Fi connection.
Is there something in the settings I'm missing?
The video quality was slightly different.
Again this may be partially a settings issue.
We noted that the colors in the iPad were some what more saturated in comparison with the Transformer.
The Transformer audio with the built in speakers are very tinny.
You really need ear phones to experience the real fidelity.
It's like night and day!
When using SKYPE, the screen in landscape (in dock) rotates 90 degrees when you want to make a call.
I found that odd.
Is this just a phenomenon of this application?
Flash Support observation: I use lynda.com and their Flash videos leave something to be desired. When I contacted them, however, they told me that they were working on tablet versions of their Flash-based video tutorials. For now you can hear them, but the video is not clear.
Lots more to learn and try!

HTC Video Recording Quality

As you all know by now, today HTC and Sprint announced the release date for the HTC EVO 4G LTE.
I am excited as anyone about this phone. However, there is one area that I am VERY disapointed about: video recording quality.
In my opinion, HTC has so far been un-able to make a cell phone that can record good quality HD video. It's even more puzzling since apparently both HTC and Sprint were really promoting the camera on the phone at the press event today.
I have no issue with the quality of the still photos - my original EVO takes pretty good stills.
I saw a sample of video shot with the European version of One X, and it suffers from the same issue as my EVO - jerky video!
Shot in 1080p outdoors, at the highest quality setting, the video looks as if it were shot at around 20fps rather than 30fps. Pans and objects moving across the screen were jerky.
My EVO has always had this issue, which has prevented me from shooting much video with it. The camera is great, but I want to be able to carry a camcorder with me always. My mom's two year old Epic Galaxy S has been able to shoot smooth HD video from day one, and I've always envied it.
There is no video I can shoot with my EVO that I would want to burn to DVD or shoot important events with, like birthdays, holidays, etc.
Some bigwig from HTC was quoted comparing the One X's camera with that of the iPhone 4S. But I know the 4S shoots smooth HD video as well.
I'll probably at least go into Sprint and check it out myself, but I don't expect to have different results then that fromthe reviewer.
Have any of you (who can review video quality with a critical eye) noticed what I'm talking about?
I don't understand why HTC can't get video recording right!

Didn't notice the recording problem on my EVO, but could be the ROM I'm using. Also on the new One X, the videos I've seen look amazing. Don't know which one you saw, but I thought it looked great. Perhaps issues uploading or the video stabilization was turned on in the video you saw? It's not going to be like a 60 fps camcorder, but if that's what you are expecting out of a tiny phone camera, your expectations may be too high.
What other phone has better video? Looks the same as iphone 4S video and no one complains about that. A small sensor has limitations and it isn't going to get better when you post it to youtube and they compress it. No phone is going to make quality DVDs for your events. What's wrong with getting a camcorder with a sensor twice the size or a triple sensor if you have the funds? Seems they are getting video recording done just as well as any other phone to me. These are phones.

Well, maybe I'm a bit more critical than most. I work in video and perhaps my eye is more sensitive to the various aspects of video.
I'm not talking about sharpness, contrast, color saturation, etc.
As I mentioned, both the iPhone 4/4S and Samsung's Galaxy line of phones do not have this issue.
Try this: film 20 seconds of either relatively close fast moving objects like car traffic, or else pan in a circle at a somewhat faster than pleasing speed.
If you look closely, you will see very slight jumping in the video. It's not going to jump out at you (excuse the pun).
It's not a compression issue, that would result in a more blurry or pixelated image.
I realize we're talking cell phones. But both Apple and Samsung do not have this issue. I REALLY want to love the EVO LTE, I'm eligible for an upgrade in June!

Video recording on my evo was horrible as well ...like unusable horrible ..super choppy and laggy all the time. My brothers was exactly the same. My phone was rooted flashed multiple roms, video was always choppy... brothers phone never rooted...video was always choppy
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

No I gotcha, I'm critical as well. That's why I wouldn't use ANY phone for capturing video for an important event. A camcorder is the only thing that will do.
However the samples I've seen look every bit as good as the iphone 4s or samsung videos. Of course the One X does seem more geared towards photos and have to say it definitely beats the others there. Also if you pause the One X videos you can still clearly see everything and even grab a frame as a picture. The Samsung videos get blurry so I wouldn't try it with the Nexus. Can't say I notice any change in fluidity from iphone 4S videos to One X videos, but again I don't know which video you are talking about. If there is any difference it is slight. All phones have this issue as they are just not going to match the smoothness of a quality camcorder and definitely not professional camcorders. Even then I notice the difference with motion interpolation on high refresh 120 hz and 240 hz TV's so I know what you are saying.
Perhaps best to withhold judgment about video on phone that isn't out yet. Once it's on youtube it just isn't going to look as good.
EDIT: I did find a One X video that looked horrible, it was a close up and the exposure was constantly changing, but did notice jumpiness when panning. Can't tell if it was due to being uploaded on youtube, but if it did happen on the phone it looks like it is having trouble with quickly writing to memory. It doesn't do it constantly so that may be the issue. When you have trouble with your EVO 4G are you directly shooting video to the SD Card? That may be your problem. The lag causes a frame to be skipped here or there. A larger buffer would correct this issue (well until it fills) or higher memory bandwidth. This also happens when uploading videos or converting the file format. Perhaps a result of poor conversion from RAW to 3gp. Still I wouldn't worry about it as there is a way to go until June and the hardware version may change. If there is an issue I'm sure they are aware of it.

htc-ppc said:
When you have trouble with your EVO 4G are you directly shooting video to the SD Card? That may be your problem. The lag causes a frame to be skipped here or there. A larger buffer would correct this issue (well until it fills) or higher memory bandwidth. This also happens when uploading videos or converting the file format.
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Well, yes. the EVO has so little internal storage, and video file sizes are large compared to other file types.
But then, my mom's Samsung also wrote directly to the SD card, and it's still very smooth.
I will try to find that example I was speaking about and post a link. It was shot outdoors in daylight, near a flower stand if I remember correctly.
And for sure I will definitely check it out myself before writing the phone off.
As far as the phone not having the same quality as a "real" camcorder, sure. but you know the old saying, "The best camera is the one you have with you". My phone is ALWAYS with me. And I do think the quality is getting to the point where I can shoot casual everyday stuff that I may want to archive for the future, even edit.

Here is a link to the sample I was referring to.
This is from the HTC One X, which I believe has the same camera as todays announced EVO LTE. Pay particular attention to the panning at about the 1:10 mark.
And this phone has no SD card, so it was recorded to the internal memory.
Also, while you may wish to blame YouTube, this is how video recorded on my two year old EVO looks.
http://youtu.be/xOv4tjB7HMQ

Better than the one I found, but SD Card or not that is still the issue. I know that the version of the One X used for this does not have an SD Card. The Sprint one will. Either way, uploading it to youtube can cause this problem as well. And if you record to your SD Card on your 2 year old EVO and use a slow card you will see this as well. That may be your issue though it isn't for the One X. If it's internal then another phone might be your best option.
These are frames that get skipped either due to trouble encoding, small buffer, or memory speed problems. The iphones never seem to have this issue like Androids do (probably due to all the stuff running in the background and iOS's control over apps). Can tell when it happens in the video and it starts skipping. It's the same as when you are video conferencing and frames get dropped due to bandwidth. This isn't normal and guessing they would be on that. As far as the rest, still looks as jagged as any other phone with motion. If you use post processing it can help.
Here's on I saw that looked about as decent as other phone videos
One X 1080p sample
with cars going by like you mentioned. Have to say it looks clear when you pause on passing cars. Fast pans aren't going to impress on any phone (or many camcorders in my experience) and I don't know what else to say about it. Hopefully they fix what is bothering you and if not I guess you gotta go with another phone.

OK, you got me motivated to check out several youtube videos. I will give you the YouTube effect. Even though I have seen Galaxy and iPhone 4S clips Played back on the phones without the jumping, the YouTube samples did exhibit the issue.
While I wait for the EVO LTE to arrive at Sprint, I will change the video recording folder on my EVO and see if that makes any difference. I will also test the new EVO and cross my fingers. Everything else looks great and I'm hoping the video recording will pass my stringent tests!!!

So I checked, and I can not find any setting on my EVO to have the camera record video files directly to internal storage. In fact, there is no setting at all as far as location of recorded video and photos. Apparently the EVO is designed to record directly to the SD card and there is no other option.
However, in thinking about this studdering or "jumping" issue, it doesn't make sense that it would be related to the SD card anyway.
The phone would buffer recorded video before it writes it to the card. If the buffer ran out, perhaps video would jump or skip, but it would be at random times. The issue I'm talking about happens consistently during the video, like I said, it looks like video shot at about 20 fps.
Besides, I've used the same SD card in my mom's Samsung Galaxy, and video is very smooth.
So it's not the SD cards fault.

OP I'm with you. Camcorder on my Evo or better yet HTC phone if pure crap. Low light shooting is the worst I've seen on a phone. My Xoom, wife's ipad and daughter's Epic all take great low light and non jerky videos. People need to compare on hand with different devices before saying the Evo is okay, because it's not. That's my only peeve with htc phone and my next phone I'm going to make sure the video department is almost as good as the iphone 4s if not better, because iphone 4s take stunning video especailly low light.

I have been scouring the web looking for a fix for my Evo 4G video quality.
If anyone finds a fix please post it here.
Phone is rooted with CM7.1.0

Took my phone to a 2 day long concert, here's what I liked

After 12 hours a day and recording almost 100 videos on the highest setting the phone battery never went down past 50% (each day mind you). The phone was starting to get warm about mid way through the day, not sure if it was the sun beating down on my pants (I was in Jacksonville, FL) or due to the constant recording, but it never got extremely hot.
I took some videos zoomed in max at 8x and the quality is honestly not bad. Definitely not HD quality but you can see quite well what you're looking at.
The audio came out better than any other I've seen or heard from others who were with me, two being S7 Edges​, and another an iPhone 7 plus.
The stability when zoomed in 8x was also amazing to me. I could walk around someone who got in the way and it looked like I was barely moving, definitely didn't seem as if I were holding my phone in the air.
The way it picks up light was also better than any other phone I was able to compare with. When the later bands played in the dark I could still see so much detail and wasn't flushed out by either low light or having the stage lights drown out what my camera could see.
Definitely impressed and glad I had this phone with me for this event. Not professional quality but amazing nonetheless, so I figured I'd share with others my experience. I'm willing to answer any questions to anything I may have forgotten to give better details for. I don't really use my YouTube account to upload videos but if need be I could upload a few for those who are curious.

Is there a chance you could share some video samples of what you got?
I haven't had a chance to take my S8+ to a concert yet.

Does the zoom still severely distort the audio?
On the Note 7, audio zoom was enabled by default. It's a good idea, say if you're recording someone talking across the room and when you zoom in it increases the mic gain so you (may) hear them.
Problem is at a gig either on stage or front row with stacks of amps and columns ripping at 120dB and you decide to zoom in the audio distorts horribly. Like makes you want to stab your eyes out with a fork horrible! And there is no way to disable it. The solution is to not use zoom but when recording at 4K using up to 4X optical zoom is generally OK if you re-render your edits at 1080. Fortunately the gigs I did this with I was using a digital recorder and have decent audio tracks to go with the video. Otherwise I'd be screwed. I have not tried recording with mine yet but I may bring it to drum rehearsal and kick things up a bit and zoom in on the kit.

Tw1ser said:
Is there a chance you could share some video samples of what you got?
I haven't had a chance to take my S8+ to a concert yet.
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cpufrost said:
Does the zoom still severely distort the audio?
On the Note 7, audio zoom was enabled by default. It's a good idea, say if you're recording someone talking across the room and when you zoom in it increases the mic gain so you (may) hear them.
Problem is at a gig either on stage or front row with stacks of amps and columns ripping at 120dB and you decide to zoom in the audio distorts horribly. Like makes you want to stab your eyes out with a fork horrible! And there is no way to disable it. The solution is to not use zoom but when recording at 4K using up to 4X optical zoom is generally OK if you re-render your edits at 1080. Fortunately the gigs I did this with I was using a digital recorder and have decent audio tracks to go with the video. Otherwise I'd be screwed. I have not tried recording with mine yet but I may bring it to drum rehearsal and kick things up a bit and zoom in on the kit.
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I have the videos up on my Facebook if you guys would like to check it out that way. Just drop me a PM and I'll give you my info through that.
Not too sure about the audio and zoom feature. Didn't even know that existed to be honest. I will say that there are a few I started out with no zoom and I zoomed in during the video but I don't think I really noticed a difference in audio quality. I'm not the pickiest when it comes to stuff like that and none of it is Hollywood material but still impressed nonetheless.

Ok been a while but I finally got to test this and can confirm the audio zoom "feature" is definitely still there! :|
So when recording events such as live venues with loud SPL particularly lower frequencies do NOT use the zoom if at all possible.
Your audio will be very distorted.
Otherwise, it shoots fine.