Wednesday 1 January 2014

Unlike New Year - Jolla video recording and html5 test

Jolla camera takes mp4 .h263 videos - which need to be converted to mp4 .h264 format for showing them in the web.

For testing the supported video formats in Sailfish Browser, I made a Short HD video clip with Jolla Smartphone. Let's see which is/are the working way(s) to upload a video and watch it using Jolla's default Sailfish Browser:

Jolla Camera video playback on Sailfish Browser 


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1A. Original video (mp4mov) and audio, embedded with html5 code:


1B. Converted video (mp4/h264 codec), audio removed. Embedded with html5 code:


3. Youtube embedded video (auto converted by Youtube uploader)

RESULTS (Please comment if have other findings )  


HTML5 video embedding, watched in Sailfish Browser

  • Video's from the phone must be converted (If Jolla should be able to show its own videos in its own browser)
  • Framerate in dark surrounding was only 12 frames per second. Phone should be able to do FullHD recording with better frame rate (15fps or 30fps)
  • When converting videos, it might show up upside down. Workaround: Turn your phone to the left (anticlockwise) when recording in landscape.
  • The way to succeed: Convert the video with codec h264 (capsulation staying as mp4).

Embedded Youtube, watched in Sailfish Browser

  • Video doesn't show in total (this 11 seconds video stops around 7 seconds, while the sound is still going on)
  • Comparing the output between Jolla and Computer screen, the Youtube video format (automatic converting when uploaded) is laggy on Jolla
  • However, the video starts and isn't upside down. This is the easiest way to show at least something.

HTML5 video, watched in other browsers

All the biggest browsers have their own support for HTML5 video formats. For full visibility, two converted versions are needed. In the good side, html5 code doesn't use iframes or Java. Supported formats:
  • Firefox: mp4, webM, ogg
  • Chrome:  mp4, webM, ogg
  • Internet Explorer: mp4
  • Safari:  mp4
  • Opera: webM, ogg
Conclusion

Jolla Browser does not support playback of mp4 videos recorded with Jolla's camera, but it does support mp4 videos with h264 codec (html5 support)

Published: 2014-01-01 10:00 UTC
Updated: 2015-05-30 12:46 UTC

7 comments:

  1. For what it's worth, on my notebook (latest Chrome, Fedora19):
    - 1 is audio only, no video played
    - 2 is video only, no audio played
    - 3 is the only one to play both audio and video

    So, Chrome on desktop can only play 3 successfully.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For #2, the audio was removed when converting (in purpose). I should add this to the article, thanks.

      Delete
    2. okay, then only no video in #1 for desktop chrome ;)

      about the video turning upside down, are you sure this is not VLC's bug? (just wondering)
      it's not jolla turning it as it's upside down on desktop chrome as well

      Delete
    3. I can't be sure, but I would definitely first examine Jolla's SW on this. The image is upside down in several other apps (Android) too when using the phone, e.g. FB, Twitter. These have both been developed for a while already, as is VLC. In Jolla, the camera orientation update, and better support for Android apps, was released just a while ago (with Sailfish Maadâjävri)

      Delete
    4. sure, if it does it in other apps as well it's jolla's sw :)

      Delete
  2. More observations: Using Andriod app's gallery, I have access to the video folder. 2 videos saved by Jolla are shown in landscape only. Videos recorded within Sailfish camera: "This video can't be played" (I suppose due to the same mp4 format bug).

    Camera photos's taken within Sailfish (either back or front camera) are rotated sometimes right, sometimes wrong (70% wrong in my gallery), Two shots with the same angle while shooting might turn another right, another upside down. Android camera photos are not shown in Sailfish gallery, but Android gallery shows both).

    Something is definitely wrong here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. By the way, if anyone gets the first example to show the video (only audio is hear) with any device/browser/add-on/codec combination, I'd love to know. The media info for the video feed is:

    Format : MPEG-4 Visual
    Format profile : Simple@L6
    Format settings, BVOP : Yes
    Format settings, QPel : No
    Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
    Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
    Codec ID : 20
    Duration : 11s 1ms
    Bit rate mode : Constant
    Bit rate : 7 552 Kbps
    Width : 1 920 pixels
    Height : 1 088 pixels
    Display aspect ratio : 16:9
    Rotation : 180°
    Frame rate mode : Variable
    Frame rate : 12.544 fps
    Minimum frame rate : 11.673 fps
    Maximum frame rate : 30.000 fps
    Color space : YUV
    Bit depth : 8 bits
    Scan type : Progressive
    Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.288

    ReplyDelete