Warpy 1080P Video?

[reflekt2099]

So I checked out the Phonearena.com iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus camera comparison...

and one thing is really bugging me about the g-nex. i've noticed that almost all of the videos shot at 1080p (with 24fps) play as verrry....warpy... almost to the point of making me nauseous and dizzy. there's this odd warpy effect going on around the edges of the videos. i've seen a lot of sample 1080p videos shot by the g-nex and practically all of them come out this same exact way.

is this something we should be concerned about? or can this be fixed? through software?

the photos taken by the iPhone 4S are already much better than the g-nex...and now i'm getting annoyed that the g-nex doesn't seem to take as good videos either. the photos taken by the iPhone 4S seem to get exposure down much better with better color representation; the colors just seem to pop and are very vibrant. whereas, most pictures taken by the g-nex seem washed out and very "un-vibrant". ehh...

Sample 1080p Video shot by Galaxy Nexus

Sample 1080p video shot by iPhone 4S

 

[mcaspe1]

Looks like they are both the same to me. Video and pics. I just don't see a difference.

 

[TerryMasters]

Yeah I've seen it on the iPhone 4S too. Disappointing to say the least.

 

[Spacemaker24]

The video looked good and the pics are satisfactory on the GN, If I want high quality pics I'll use my DSLR.

One thing that did stand out is that the audio on the GN video is profoundly better than the iPhone.

 

[SoulWeaponry]

I've seen this in alot of the Gnex sample videos, not just this one. My guess: doesn't it have digital image stabilization? This could effect the picture in the same way the optical image stabilization in my sony cx500v does. In my camera, you could pan left a little bit and when you stop, it'll wait another half second before the picture stops panning. It looks weird on camera. You stop and the picture keeps panning.

Now i'm guessing since phones don't have optical stabilization and go for the more compact digital version, there's a warping side effect because of the size of the lens/software making dynamic corrections. This effect is slightly present in the sample videos i've seen for the razr.

Is it a dealbreaker? Not if my assumption is correct! If it's really just a fault with the software, it can either be fixed or turned off. Then boom. Problem solved. I can't see this being a hardware issue

Camera camera wise on the stills front, they look okay. I know we like to take a step back from having definitive theories on this or that being better, but i'll take the step and say it for certain: the iphone 4s camera is better. In every way from color saturation, to sharpness to gradiant to low light. You can pretty much pick any positive attribute a phone camera could have and link it to the iphone vs the gnex. Apple did a good job.

With that said, this isn't a crappy camera. We like to think in negatives and paint the whole issue with it. We can't do that here. Is it the best camera in a phone in the us compared to everything else? No way. When you think in terms of "best" you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Will it be good enough for you in your daily life for the next year and a half? Probably. The camera in my rezound is better. Yet? I barely use it. It's cool here and there to take pictures of my daughter but for the most part, nah. I like having the quality camera on there if i need it, but 99% of my time with my phone i'm flicking screens and playing games.

If camera needs to be the best, iphone 4s, galaxy s2 and rezound are right there waiting for you. If you step back and look at the overall experience and vanilla android is what makes you happy, then why let a camera stop you?

 

[greydarrah]

They look the same to me...like most all videos shot from a shaky hand. I take a lot of videos of my son's tennis matches with my Bionic or X, and learned long ago that you deed to brace yourself against something solid (like leaning against a tree or pole) if you want videos that aren't shaky. Just like with the camera, it's a cell phone. It's intended to capture something you would otherwise miss. I know you don;t want to here this, but if you need high quality pictures or high quality video, use a real camera. This is no different than a keyboard...if you need to type a long letter/book/email, you wait until you're back on your computer, not the tiny keyboard of your phone. If you can accept this limitation of your cell phone, why can't you accept the same limitation of it's camera?

 

[reflekt2099]

I've seen this in alot of the Gnex sample videos, not just this one. My guess: doesn't it have digital image stabilization? This could effect the picture in the same way the optical image stabilization in my sony cx500v does. In my camera, you could pan left a little bit and when you stop, it'll wait another half second before the picture stops panning. It looks weird on camera. You stop and the picture keeps panning.

Now i'm guessing since phones don't have optical stabilization and go for the more compact digital version, there's a warping side effect because of the size of the lens/software making dynamic corrections. This effect is slightly present in the sample videos i've seen for the razr.

Is it a dealbreaker? Not if my assumption is correct! If it's really just a fault with the software, it can either be fixed or turned off. Then boom. Problem solved. I can't see this being a hardware issue

Camera camera wise on the stills front, they look okay. I know we like to take a step back from having definitive theories on this or that being better, but i'll take the step and say it for certain: the iphone 4s camera is better. In every way from color saturation, to sharpness to gradiant to low light. You can pretty much pick any positive attribute a phone camera could have and link it to the iphone vs the gnex. Apple did a good job.

With that said, this isn't a crappy camera. We like to think in negatives and paint the whole issue with it. We can't do that here. Is it the best camera in a phone in the us compared to everything else? No way. When you think in terms of "best" you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Will it be good enough for you in your daily life for the next year and a half? Probably. The camera in my rezound is better. Yet? I barely use it. It's cool here and there to take pictures of my daughter but for the most part, nah. I like having the quality camera on there if i need it, but 99% of my time with my phone i'm flicking screens and playing games.

If camera needs to be the best, iphone 4s, galaxy s2 and rezound are right there waiting for you. If you step back and look at the overall experience and vanilla android is what makes you happy, then why let a camera stop you?

I appreciate your informative response.

I'm not looking at any of the other phones, because i'm definitely getting the Galaxy Nexus, without a doubt; i've been waiting forever for this phone, just like the rest of us. the camera isn't a deal breaker for me, but it's definitely a bummer. i'm happy with the camera photo quality on my droid charge, and the camera on the g-nex seems to take pictures as good as the droid charge, of course with the bonus of zero shutter lag.

i'm definitely hoping that maybe with some tweaking of the settings, or maybe with a future software update, the camera can be improved for both photos and videos. but that "warping" i was mentioning is really annoying.

@mcaspe1 i'm not sure how you can't tell the differences in the picture comparisons for the iphone4s and the g-nex. they're as clear as day. in practically all of the photos, color representation, vibrancy, correct exposure, etc are all much better on the iphone4s.

@Spacemaker24 I really hate comments from people who suggest to use a DSLR for high quality photos. this isn't dpreview.com. we're discussing phone camera quality. and for spur of the moment events, we primarily use our phone camera because its always accessible. unless you're someone who carries around their DSLR everywhere you go. as far as audio goes, to me, it does seem a bit better on the g-nex, but interestingly, the writer of the article specifically makes mention that the audio quality is better on the iphone4s video. i guess that's debatable.

@TerryMasters you're right. the warping effect is also apparent on the iphone4s 1080p video, but it's much much less significant and almost unnoticeable. whereas, on the g-nex video, it is really distracting.

 

[reflekt2099]

I know you don;t want to here this, but if you need high quality pictures or high quality video, use a real camera. This is no different than a keyboard...if you need to type a long letter/book/email, you wait until you're back on your computer, not the tiny keyboard of your phone. If you can accept this limitation of your cell phone, why can't you accept the same limitation of it's camera?

we're not talking about taking high quality DSLR type photos. it's not about necessarily needing high quality photos. if i did need those types of high quality photos, then yes, i'd use my DSLR. instead, what we're actually talking about is the convenience of being able to take high quality photos from your phone. so that when your kid does something hilarious, you can pull out your phone from your pocket, and take a photo in that spur of the moment. who wouldn't want that spur of the moment photo to be as high quality as possible?

to add to the discussion regarding the photo comparisons, it seems like the g-nex pictures are just as clear and sharp as the iphone4s photos. the only difference to me is the better auto exposure and the color representation (being more vibrant; reds look more red, yellows more yellow).

 

[reflekt2099]

after looking at the photos some more on the comparison article, i wanna say that I believe the galaxy nexus takes photos that look more natural. even if the colors look more muted. they do look more natural. as in, it takes photos of what you're actually seeing.

whereas, the iphone4s takes photos where the colors are much more saturated, which gives off that appeal of looking more vibrant.

i think the camera is a wash for me now, comparing both phones. but the video issue still bugs

 

[vicw926a4]

The warping effect during pans looks about as severe on the GN as on the 4gs to me, and may be the result of image stabilization working in opposition to the panning movement. I wonder if it's possible to disable stabilization on either phone/camera.

 

[dammitcubs]

That's a natural phenomenon of the CMOS sensor. That happens to all digital cameras with the type of sensor. the horizontal lines go through the jelly feeling.

Samsung GS2 has done a great job of minimizing this as was the case when i was recording while my friend was driving. if you point the camera to the side, all the buildings and poles should look like they are leaning because of the speed of the car + the jelly sensor but GS2 has minimized this so it might be fixable through software.

not that google would.

 

[qnet]

They both look pretty close. The Iphone 4s does look slightly better in some instances IMO. The only device that I have that is on the same level as my Iphone 4's camera is the Xoom. It's funny because I don't think a lot of people know this. The Xoom's RFC camera is pretty good.

 

[Qazme]

They look the same to me. One may look better in one area but worse in another. It's a draw as far as I'm concerned.

 

[jerrod6]

I saw both of these videos earlier today. The thing that strikes me is that the guy doesn't know how to take a video. You are not supposed to be making fast wide sweeping motions when taking a VID because it results in unstable footage and for me it makes me dizzy. My dedicated DVD movie recorder manual states this fact, so I don't see why this would be any different on a cell phone. The other thing is that he must be holding the phone with one hand otherwise how can he hold up an iphone to test auto focu( unless someone else was holding the iphone). To me the iphone vid has the same jerky, floppiness as was displayed in the GN vid so I think the problem is related to the shooter. I could hardly stand to watch either of the vids.

I have heard other comments about washed out colors in pictures. Thing is I am not at the location where the pictures were taken so I don't know if the color is washed out, or closer to real, or over compensated, so the only way I am going to tell is take the pictures myself and compare to the pictures to the actual that I am seeing.

 

[sushiglobster]

Yup. I've seen this same warpy video on other GN video posts.

I wonder what it is. Hopefully it gets tightened up in later updates or even through a 3rd party app.

EDIT: Just actually read through the thread, haha, seems like it's a normal thing of sorts.

 

[CynicX]

I can't really see anything....is there something I should be looking at in the video that makes it stand out.....

Is this one of those thing like 120 or 240hz auto motion on a TV that make some people sick but don't affect others?

 

[FrogVomit]

The jello effect generally improves at higher frame rates, because the rolling shutter moves faster. At 24fps, expect it to be pretty bad.

 

[vicw926a4]

I can't really see anything....is there something I should be looking at in the video that makes it stand out.....

Is this one of those thing like 120 or 240hz auto motion on a TV that make some people sick but don't affect others?

As I see it, during rapid panning or jerky movement of the camera, the images are momentarily twisted, so that the edges warp slightly, like a dress being swung from side-to-side from a hanger - the loose bottom portions lag behind the top. It's very disorienting, and it's clearly there on the sample videos from both devices.

I've never noticed the effect on any videos that I have created with my DX, but I hold the camera much steadier than on these samples, and avoid the quick panning.

 

[humpagardengnome]

As I see it, during rapid panning or jerky movement of the camera, the images are momentarily twisted, so that the edges warp slightly, like a dress being swung from side-to-side from a hanger - the loose bottom portions lag behind the top. It's very disorienting, and it's clearly there on the sample videos from both devices.

I've never noticed the effect on any videos that I have created with my DX, but I hold the camera much steadier than on these samples, and avoid the quick panning.

That's enough to.make a person sea sick while sitting in a lazy boy on dry land.

 

[reflekt2099]

This video shows how bad the "jello"/"warping" effect can get on the g-nex. apparently, the guy is gently wobbling the camera and you can tell that the phone instantly triggers an image stabilization function where it shows the warping/jello effect. pretty odd.

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gymA26jqtTQ[/YT]