The N-series has been synonymous with media since its introduction. The N97 is not any different, with the large 3.5″ nHD screen with a resolution of 640×360, 3.5mm headset jack for use with any standard headset, dual speakers and 32gb of internal storage with room to expand via the microsd slot. While in the past I have never really had too much interest in encoding videos, the N97 had me jumping at the chance. Lets see if this current flagship can handle the things that I throw at it.
I have been excited about watching movies since the release of the N95 but never really had a desire to watch it on a such a small screen (2.6″, I owned the N95-1). The N97 is one of the first Symbian phones to offer a screen that is perfect for movie viewing. Naturally, its large nHD screen (640×360) makes it perfect for watching movies and I couldn’t start with anything less than encoding some high definition movies. I chose to use sources that were either 720p or 1080p, no less. The Nokia N97 does not natively support most formats (mkv, avi, etc) so I had to convert the files using a third party program and changing the file format to mp4. The original files ranged in size from 5gb-10gb and were able to be compressed down to around 1.5-2.3gb. While the quality was superb and the device was able to handle the playback without any hiccups I did run into the issue of some movies not being recognized. The N97 would see the file in file manager but it would not recognize in the video section and when selected an error message would appear stating that the file was not supported. It turns out the N97 does not support video files over 2gb (with its native player, I haven’t tested third party applications such as Coreplayer). While this wasn’t a major issue, just a couple tweaks here and there will encoding, but I think the N97 not supporting files larger than 2gb is silly. The unit has 32gb of storage. It is almost certain that most people will be putting movie files onto the device. I don’t think that I am the only one wanting to see hi def videos on the beautiful screen on the N97 (or am I?) Here are some settings I used to obtain great results. Feel free to chime in with your settings if you’ve found something that works better.
The movie encoded flawlessly, I’ll list the specific setting below:
If you are interested in a higher rating that is indeed available but once you start encoding the bitrate higher than 3000 you will run into the video stuttering and the file will most likely exceed the 2gb limit. 3000 seemed to have little if any issues while playing while 4, 5000 had noticeable stuttering.
When the movie is converted the Nokia N97 plugs up via microusb and takes about 7 to 10 minutes to download the movie in mass storage mode. Once the movies are loaded they are automatically refreshed in the Video section. I played the movie through its native software and it looked amazing. The picture was crisp and vibrant. The movie had great sound. One thing to note about the audio is that there aren’t any settings or options in the native player. While there are options for the video (natural, stretch, zoom).
Overall the unit performs well and I was happy being able to watch such great movies on the go. However I do hope that in a future firmware update they uncap the 2gb limit on video files.
Related Articles:
- Nokia N97 Makes An Appearance In Black Eyed Peas Music Video
- X-Plore: Free File Explorer App For The N97
- How To: Set Up Ovi Files On The Nokia N97
