iPhone 3G S Hardware Can Record 720p Video

BrookieD

I was looking around at iPhone 3gs video information when i came across the below. Interesting that the iPhone can in theory record video at 720P but apple decided not to activate this option.

Any thoughts,
Sorry if discussed already

Here's a question: If you're building a video-capable successor to the wildly successful iPhone 3G and you choose new hardware that supports 720p-resolution video recording, then why do you cripple it to just VGA resolution?

It's an interesting question because that's exactly what Apple has done. The discovery was made by Rapid Repair, which got hold of a newly-on sale iPhone 3G S at midnight in Paris, and wasted no time tearing it apart to find out what its internals were like. The answer is that they're extremely similar to the iPhone 3G, which may be no surprise when you think that the 3G S is an evolutionary step up from the 3G, and even has identical screen tech and housing for the phone.

Except for the new camera and-updated processor, of course. Which is where the interesting 720p capability comes in. The camera shoots 3-megapixel stills, and thus could be commanded to shoot 720p video--it's got more than enough pixels to spare, and the speedier 600MHz processor in the phone should be easily capable of the increased bandwidth required by 720p video. Why has Apple chosen to limit it to VGA resolution? It seems a slightly odd move, given that there are smartphones out there that shoot still imagery at 12-megapixels and can do full HD video.

The answer is a mystery, but we can guess one probable cause. It's the same reason why the 3G S's new processor, which is capable of 833MHz speeds, is choked down to just 600MHz: Battery life. Apple's aware that the iPhone's battery is a bit small, and protects the battery performance as much as possible--its quoted as the chief reason there's no background app capability on the phone. 720p video recording and a faster processor would just eat into the battery a whole lot more.

And the reason the battery is limited is that Apple chose to stick with the same iPhone casing. If Apple would've adjusted the physical design of the phone, Apple could've easily included a bigger capacity battery. This seems to be one of those strange moments when an aesthetic design decision has squashed the opportunity to sell the iPhone with a killer feature: HD video recording.

Link

STBR

Yeah I read this a month or two ago.

Nothing to discuss really.

Apple just cut it down to VGA because if they bumped it up that high the battery would be dead in minutes.

an eventual jailbreak allowing this feature?

Stephen

What's the point in 720p video shot through a crappy little pinhole lens anyway? Resolution does not equal quality.

anoble66

wonder will we see a cydia app which overclocks the CPU :pac:

Tea 1000

Stephen wrote: »

What's the point in 720p video shot through a crappy little pinhole lens anyway? Resolution does not equal quality.

Exactly.

Mellor

As well as quaility, there is the issue of file size.
Viseos at that res would be huge and take up loads of space on the iphone

Better off without it imo

Tom Dunne

There's also the issue of delayed enabling of features (think copy-and-paste).

I think Apple puts these things in with an eye to the future - yes, it isn't enabled now, but it's on some big To-Do list and will probably be enabled at some point.

Once they figure out the whole battery issue.