VGA video recording group test
Published by Steve Litchfield at 12:13 UTC, February 21st 2007
Seeing as I have, for a short time, the Nokia N93, the N95 (production hardware, non-final firmware) and the E90 Communicator (prototype hardware, quite early firmware) all in one spot, I thought a comparison of VGA video recording was in order. Read on...
Firstly, the download. It's at the full VGA video resolution supported by all three devices:
n95n93e90comp.mp4, 28MB (right click and save-as)
Notes:
- Ignore the occasional clicks and distortions in this compilation clip - there's something wierd going on in the way VideoStudio 10 re-encoded the files
- The N95 video is pretty good, but there are obviously some optical compromises in squeezing such a camera into a monocoque body, the picture quality isn't up to that on the N93.
- The soundtrack on the N95 clip shows a high level of hiss. I'm pretty sure this will be addressed in the final release device.
- The E90's video recording quality really surprised me, the camera's much smaller than that on the other two devices. The native frame rate from this prototype was only 22fps, but I'd expect this to rise as the firmware is further completed.
- The E90 soundtrack is 'messier' than the others because the microphone is pointing in a different direction to the lens(!), in this case picking up a lot of wind noise.
Don't read too much into this test - as I say, the N95 and E90 aren't final devices by any means.
What IS important to stress is how far video-on-a-smartphone has come. I've been shooting my Smartphones Show video podcast on the N93 for the last 3 or 4 months and both the N95 and E90 show enough promise to be good enough to fulfill the same role, or at least deputise in an emergency. Especially astounding for the E90 considering that fact that it's an enterprise model, a mini-laptop-wannabe and that its camera is theoretically an afterthough - apparently not, it's quite decent!
Steve Litchfield, 21 Feb 2007
Categories: Hardware, Editorial Thoughts
Platforms: Series 80, S60 3rd Edition
News Discussion
mudstuff
I've been holding off purchasing an N93 as I have never had a clamshell phone before and prefer sliders like the N95. Video looks pretty good so I would be happy to go with the N95 provided they clear up that hiss. It would be nice to have stereo sound though and the autofocus on the N93i is tempting so we'll have to see once the N95 and N93i are available!
Dogmann
Hi all,
That was very interesting but does re enforce my belief of not upgrading as for shooting video the format of the N93 is a more natural setup and has more of a dedicated camcorder feel to it whilst the N95 more resembles a stills camera. I find i use my N93 in Laptop / Landscape mode at least 95% of the time so really don't see it as flip phone. The only app i use it in Flip mode is Tom Tom as one it doesn't support laptop mode and also I find it shows more information and is clearer like this. The N95 just doesn't appeal to me as i am not a fan of slider phones and see the slide out Multimedia controls as nothing more than a gimmick as for listening to Music i am more than happy with using the D-Pad on the right hand side of the N93 to change tracks or volume without the need to open up the N93, and if watching a Movie, Video or pictures the phone is already in Laptop mode so all controls are already accessible so have no need to slide anything out to gain access to the controls.
The E90 is a different proposition completely and whilst i am in awe of it's spec and abilities i just can't justify it for my needs as IMO it is a more business focused device with Multimedia abilities whilst the N93 is a Multimedia device with business abilities but it definitely appears to be very capable of covering all the bases and i suppose only user preferences would decide which device suits their needs best.
Marc
Unregistered
Interesting comparison, especially see the E90 do se well. The N93i edges it for me I think.
Unregistered
Looks to me like the N95 is superior. It does obviously have some color issues (overly magenta, blue shadows) but it does not exhibit the rather severe edge enhancement (artificial sharpening) of the N93.
The N95 also seems to have a higher dynamic range based on this footage.
N90 appears to have lower frame-rate in this clip, so it's out of the competition.
mazor
Nice video comparison!!! I am impressed.
Looks like N95 does have the nicer softer image. N93 has gone for a more harsh oversharpened image, which seems to reveal artifacts. these artifacts could be also due to the lens having slower f stop f3.3 vs N95 with f2.8! Also it seems that the N93 video has some active noise reduction as the video quality is somewhat water coloured, and smudged losing alot of detail. I liked the video picture quality of N95 best.
As for sound, N93 beats all by far. This is due to the dedicated positioned stereo microphones. It also seems the N93 records at a higher resolution than the N95 and the E90, which both seem to record voice quality.
E90 seems very sharp for revealing fine details in the bricks int he video, but the limited frame rate, and extremely bad sound ruins the whole experience.
Mazor
Akezzon
I have to say, I like the N95 image quality best, N93 seems to be a little overexpoosed and some parts of the video is very brightened and almost kills some colors. N95 is more natural.
N93 has a sound that is far more superior than the N95.
E90...well..hmm...
Seems ok, little to early to make a verdict here.
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