Root 720p video for Droid?

[droidpcguru]

As the title implies, are there any projects out there to bring 720p video to the Droid? I know it is possible as there are other 5MP smartphones out there that do 720p.. its just a matter of writing/porting an app to work with our particular camera. Seems the app could be written to deal with the low-light performance also..exposure compensation is not rocket science. That and noise shouldn't be much of an issue either considering the pixel ratio between 5MP and 1280x720.. then again that should apply with the stock video recorder also

And yes, I do realize that such an app will probably require OC'ing which the majority of us "rooters" are doing anyhow.

 

[icstars989]

No, there will be no 720p on your droid. It has a tough enough time making a 720x480 video. Low light performance has nothing to do with an app. The Sensor is physically far too small to let a lot of light in. Noise is an issue with the small sensor size as well. If it can't open up to let the light in, its gonna jack up it's ISO which in turn is gonna jack up the noise. It all goes hand in hand.

 

[droidpcguru]

I beg to differ with that response..

I am quite familiar with the whole lens/sensor size+high iso= noise issue with digital cameras. I have owned many a different make and model of digital cam since 1998. Yes, obviously 5MP packed into one teeny sensor+tiny lens= sensor/software being driven at high iso=considerable noise in the image. Add in jpeg compression and this worsens.

Having said that, now here is why noise should be less of an issue with video-such as over 75% of the cams I have owned:

I'll just throw some numbers in the air here.. say your camera's native resolution is 1280x960, and the video it takes is 640x480. That means that the still picture size in pixels is exactly twice the dimensions of the video size. Also, the image you see in the video is exactly the same image(just lesser res.) as you see in the stills(with the camera/zoom in the same position). This means that the camera is still using the WHOLE sensor for the video. What this amounts to is that 4 sensor pixels are available to create one video pixel. More pixels(working together that is)=more sensitivity=better low light performance. This is why almost every digicam I have owned took better video in low light than stills(when compared minus flash of course).

For some reason the Droid's cam does not do this. Maybe the software is only using the data from every one out of so many pixels on the sensor?..Either way something isn't kosher.

As far as the Droid's processor not being able to handle 720p.. well yes it can. There are actual mini-HD video cams out there with much lesser processors in them that do just fine. The Droid's processor should be plenty capable of handling 720p@30fps at stock speed. OC'ed- even better. It MAY be a little skippy at times at stock speed of course.. which is why there will never be an OFFICIAL 720p app for the Droid.

It all boils down to finding someone that is good at porting/coding/ compiling to make this happen. I am willing to bet the stock camcorder app could be re-written to perform much better in low light also(Within reason--tiny sensor/lens of course) It may even be possible to use the Motoroi camera software as a starting point, although obviously the camera drivers/controls would be different.

 

[DroidSuks]

Can the present SD card handle the write speeds necessary to consistently support that resolution and frame rate?.

I know it's recommended to go to the class 6 SD card for apps2sd for just this reason... I'm thinking that with the on-the-fly compressions needed to make this happen the stock card would take a hell of a beating.

 

[droidpcguru]

I have tested that theory..

When my first Droid quit, and while I was waiting for the refurb to ship to me, I cleaned out my SD from the Droid, popped it in an adapter, and into my Aiptek 1080p mini-cam. I took a whole bunch of videos that day, in 720p30,720p60 and "1080p"30. The card did just fine for recording and playback, just as any of my other cheapo class 2 full size SD cards did. I managed to fill up about 10 gigs of harddrive space that day..lol.

To this day, that Aiptek still has an 8GB Sandisk microSD+adapter plugged into it, since it is the only spare 8GB card I have.. and it still works just fine. Well that is besides the 8GB card in my Kodak Z980, which is staying put lol.

I'd be curios to know what class of card the Motoroi comes with..most likely a typical class 2.

Again, I'm about 90% sure the Droid + its card are plenty capable. I just wish I had followed through learning to do actual programming when I was younger..I would try it myself..Unfortunately I just don't have the time with 3 kids and all the work that needs done around here to attempt such a thing...

 

[Timaphillips]

Cyanogenmod has it up and running on the N1. I wonder if the Droid will get a chance to try it out.

 

[Droid_Ninja]

I totally understand where what you are saying! And I concur! The software is a big part of the problem. You know what they should do, they should ask DSLR makers like Canon or Nikon to put a special made sensor for the next DROID coming out and call it "Droid Type RS MARK III!" LOL
If we had maybe a larger lens to let more light in! Or maybe if the users would pay attention to proper lighting, then the noise issue will diminish greatly.

I beg to differ with that response..

I am quite familiar with the whole lens/sensor size+high iso= noise issue with digital cameras. I have owned many a different make and model of digital cam since 1998. Yes, obviously 5MP packed into one teeny sensor+tiny lens= sensor/software being driven at high iso=considerable noise in the image. Add in jpeg compression and this worsens.

Having said that, now here is why noise should be less of an issue with video-such as over 75% of the cams I have owned:

I'll just throw some numbers in the air here.. say your camera's native resolution is 1280x960, and the video it takes is 640x480. That means that the still picture size in pixels is exactly twice the dimensions of the video size. Also, the image you see in the video is exactly the same image(just lesser res.) as you see in the stills(with the camera/zoom in the same position). This means that the camera is still using the WHOLE sensor for the video. What this amounts to is that 4 sensor pixels are available to create one video pixel. More pixels(working together that is)=more sensitivity=better low light performance. This is why almost every digicam I have owned took better video in low light than stills(when compared minus flash of course).

For some reason the Droid's cam does not do this. Maybe the software is only using the data from every one out of so many pixels on the sensor?..Either way something isn't kosher.

As far as the Droid's processor not being able to handle 720p.. well yes it can. There are actual mini-HD video cams out there with much lesser processors in them that do just fine. The Droid's processor should be plenty capable of handling 720p@30fps at stock speed. OC'ed- even better. It MAY be a little skippy at times at stock speed of course.. which is why there will never be an OFFICIAL 720p app for the Droid.

It all boils down to finding someone that is good at porting/coding/ compiling to make this happen. I am willing to bet the stock camcorder app could be re-written to perform much better in low light also(Within reason--tiny sensor/lens of course) It may even be possible to use the Motoroi camera software as a starting point, although obviously the camera drivers/controls would be different.

 

[dutchtrumpet]

From what I understand this TI processor doesn't support HD video capture. Not the photo sensor. On that point I'm not 100% certain. The rest is different...

Photography...that's my bag (www.hollandphotostudio.com) high iso on digital sensor is the result of increased current to increase sensitivity (as opposed to chemically increasing with film). Increase current amps up noise (digital equivalent of film grain.). Small pixels (5mp on tiny cell phone sensor are still very tiny compared to even 5mp on point and shoot cam as point and shoot pixels are tiny compared to full frame DSLR pixels) Pixels do not equal pixels!

Small pixels do not have the same light gathering capability as large pixels. Large pixels equal less noise all things being equal. This is what steve jobs (relax everyone) was referring to Monday when he said there was more going on than MP.

I hope some of that drunk rambling makes sense

 

[dmodert66]

@ dutch...You are probably right, BUT.... Since they did that hack on the N1, we should just wait and see. I'm not techie enough in the camera world, but a good start would be comparing the N1 optics to the Droid's optics. If they are similar, a 720p hack may come one day. If the N1's optics are much better, then this may not be possible...

 

[dutchtrumpet]

@ dutch...You are probably right, BUT.... Since they did that hack on the N1, we should just wait and see. I'm not techie enough in the camera world, but a good start would be comparing the N1 optics to the Droid's optics. If they are similar, a 720p hack may come one day. If the N1's optics are much better, then this may not be possible...

Possible but my take is this...

I don't think it's an optics issue..optics do not determine digital output. I shoot on pair of Nikon FX bodies and when I leave for an wedding I'm carrying a large $$$$ amount of gear. I can take the lens off of a Nikon D3s and still shoot HD video. It's mush and garbage shot with no lens, but the sensor/processor/software will take whatever the dumb shooter gives it and out put whatever file is selected in camera.

Point being...nexus one could have an Ebay lens and the droid a leica...it's the processor, chip and computing that spits out a file.

 

[Droid_Ninja]

Great work by the way! I hate shooting weddings or doing photography for money in general. I feel as if it takes the fun out of it for me. Oh ya and I agree again, to stay on topic

From what I understand this TI processor doesn't support HD video capture. Not the photo sensor. On that point I'm not 100% certain. The rest is different...

Photography...that's my bag (www.hollandphotostudio.com) high iso on digital sensor is the result of increased current to increase sensitivity (as opposed to chemically increasing with film). Increase current amps up noise (digital equivalent of film grain.). Small pixels (5mp on tiny cell phone sensor are still very tiny compared to even 5mp on point and shoot cam as point and shoot pixels are tiny compared to full frame DSLR pixels) Pixels do not equal pixels!

Small pixels do not have the same light gathering capability as large pixels. Large pixels equal less noise all things being equal. This is what steve jobs (relax everyone) was referring to Monday when he said there was more going on than MP.

I hope some of that drunk rambling makes sense

 

[dutchtrumpet]

Great work by the way! I hate shooting weddings or doing photography for money in general. I feel as if it takes the fun out of it for me. Oh ya and I agree again, to stay on topic

Thanks! Different strokes...I prefer to make a living doing what I love

 

[Droid_Ninja]

Have you guys check this out? I am thinking about getting this for my Droid!
YouTube - Wide Angle + Macro Lens Review

 

[Timaphillips]

Cyanogenmod has 720p video recording now. But after a test I ran of it, I'm not convinced. Didn't seem very HD to me.

 

[Rotundjere]

From what I understand this TI processor doesn't support HD video capture. Not the photo sensor. On that point I'm not 100% certain. The rest is different...

Photography...that's my bag (www.hollandphotostudio.com) high iso on digital sensor is the result of increased current to increase sensitivity (as opposed to chemically increasing with film). Increase current amps up noise (digital equivalent of film grain.). Small pixels (5mp on tiny cell phone sensor are still very tiny compared to even 5mp on point and shoot cam as point and shoot pixels are tiny compared to full frame DSLR pixels) Pixels do not equal pixels!

Small pixels do not have the same light gathering capability as large pixels. Large pixels equal less noise all things being equal. This is what steve jobs (relax everyone) was referring to Monday when he said there was more going on than MP.

I hope some of that drunk rambling makes sense

Nope, you're wrong ...

read the spec here http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wt...ateId=6123&navigationId=12643&contentId=14649

OMAP 3 processors support HD video