Video formats for mobile devices.
One day, a friend came to me for a cup of coffee. And he brought a mobile phone with coffee. “Why a phone,” I ask. “We’ll look at my dacha,” he answers, putting the ninth spoon of sugar into the cup. I suggested connecting the phone to the computer and seeing mobile video on the monitor screen. When the video file ended up on the hard drive, it turned out that my favorite Media Player Does not play video in 3GP format. “Okay,” I said, “Let me show you my video. I recently filmed it.” After watching it, my friend asked me to download my movie to his mobile phone. Oh woe! This time the phone refused to broadcast my masterpiece. The following story will tell how we resolved these misunderstandings.
As it turned out, some kind of codec is required to view it on a computer. Codec translated into Russian means encoder - decoder, some translate it as compressor - decompressor. The fact is that when an uncompressed video gets to a computer, it takes up gigantic amounts of information (one minute is more than 200 megabytes). Thanks to the achievements of modern mathematicians and programmers, various methods for compressing video content.
The most famous organization working in this area is the Moving Picture Experts Group. MPEG- working group, which, together with the International Standards Organization (ISO/IEC), is working on digital audio and video encoding standards.
How does the codec work? Let's look at an example from life. Suppose you are a secret agent and you received an encrypted message with the following content: “ZBV”. You know very well that “Z” is “here”, “B” is “was”, and “V” is “Vasya”. That is, when you receive such a message, you will immediately read: “Vasya was here.” On at this stage the decoding process took place according to the algorithm known to you. The reverse operation will be called encoding.
The codec works about the same. The contents of the video file are encoded using a certain algorithm. When viewing, using the same codec, the material is decoded. To date, many codecs have been created. Perhaps the most widely used in video are MPEG 1, MPEG 2 and various variations of MPEG 4. Among the codecs for audio encoding, probably the most famous is MPEG 1 Layer 3, commonly known as MP3. Thanks to active development mobile technologies The 3GP format was introduced and is now widely used.
This format includes video streams in MPEG-4 or H.263 format, and audio streams in AMR-NB or AAC-LC formats. I would like to say a few words about the AMR-NB audio format. The fact is that, unlike MPEG-4, H.263 and AAC-LC, which were originally intended to work on a computer, AMR-NB was invented specifically to work with mobile devices. By of this format became the 3GPP organization, which is engaged in creating various things for mobile phones third generation. The format was introduced in October 1998 and is still actively used in phones GSM standard. The main characteristics of AMR-NB are low bitrate and low sampling frequency.
Here we come to the basic concepts that we will have to deal with when encoding video.
Any information can be presented in varying degrees of saturation. For example, you are walking through an unfamiliar city and ask the first person you meet: “Can you tell me where the library is?” The first person you meet will answer: “There,” and point his finger somewhere beyond the horizon. You are wandering doomedly, in the indicated direction you suddenly meet an old woman who will explain that you need to turn left, then right, then left three times, right again and there will be a restaurant “Three Gudgeons”, which is located on the site of the former library.
Both people you met explained the same thing, but with different degrees of saturation or, on the contrary, compression.
When encoding video and audio material, it is possible to set a certain amount of information to describe a unit of time. The unit of information is bits, the unit of time is usually seconds, and the number of bits (or kilobits) per second is called the bitrate. Let's say, the same 22 second video file in 3GP format with a bitrate of 137 kbps will occupy 375 kilobytes, and with a bitrate of 98 kbps - 268 kilobytes. However, if we compare the quality, then in the first case it will be better. That is, by changing the bitrate, we decide what quality and size our future file will be.
It remains to be noted that the bitrate can be constant or variable. Constant – does not change its value, the value of the variable bitrate may fluctuate during viewing. The fluctuations depend on the video and audio material. Where the image or sound predominate, the bitrate increases, and where, for example, there is a black screen with titles, the bitrate decreases.
The next concept we need to understand is audio sampling rate. But first, let's look at how sound is becoming digital. For a long time, analog containers, which include tape cassettes, were used to store materials. The principle of analog recording is simple. Using a microphone or similar device, air vibrations are converted into an electrical signal, which is recorded on film. During playback, the reverse process occurs - electrical signals are converted into sound vibrations. Everyone knows that magnetic film, due to its fragility, is not the most The best decision for storing records.
After thinking a little, people decided to store records in digital form, but how to do that? Using analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). Such a device is found in every modern sound card.
When digitizing sound, the main problem was continuity sound signal, because the air pressure on the microphone changes smoothly, and does not jump from one value to another. ADCs are capable of digitizing continuous analog sound into a sequence of individual numbers, that is, dividing the sound, making it discrete (“discrete” - separate, consisting of separate parts). How does an ADC work? The device measures the signal many times per second and records the measurement results in the form of numbers. It is clear that the more often the signal is measured, the better the quality. final result. The frequency at which measurements occur is called the sampling frequency. For example, when we say that the sampling rate is 44.1 kHz, it means that the signal is sampled 44,100 times within one second.
If you haven't fallen asleep yet, I suggest you start practicing. We found out that to play 3GP video we need the appropriate codec. Download it, install it - and you're done. Click on the file icon and you can start viewing.
However, our task is more complicated - we need to convert video encoded using other algorithms into 3GP. This will require special program. I recommend a wonderful product called "ImTOO 3GP Video Converter" Let's take a closer look at it.
When you first launch it, the “Add” button attracts your attention, which is used to open files. When the file for processing is selected, turn your attention to the settings window located on the right.
Let's start in order. The “General” section includes three items:
- Duration – duration of the future file
- Start Time – time in the source video file from which encoding will begin.
- Filename – the name of the future file.
- Video Codec– select a codec for future encoding.
- Video Size – here I recommend finding out what screen resolution your phone has and setting it.
- Bitrate – set the bitrate.
- Frame Rate - number of frames per second
- Aspect – screen proportions.
- Bitrate Tolerance – given value is responsible for how the bitrate can fluctuate during encoding and viewing.
- Same Quality – by setting this option to “True” we get the quality of the source file.
The last one on our list will be the “Audio” section.
- Audio Codec – Codec for audio encoding.
- Bitrate – bitrate for audio codecs.
- Sample Rate – sampling rate.
- Channels – Number of channels, that is, choose mono, stereo or surround sound.
- Disable Audio – if you set this item to true, the movie will turn out without sound.
ImTOO 3GP Video Converter allows you to encode video not only in 3GP. For formats available for transcoding, see the “Profile” list. The “Split” function allows you to split a video into fragments, and the split can be done according to the proposed options, or maybe according to your ingenious plan. In order not to search for the final conversion product in the future, I recommend that you indicate your special folder.
After all the settings have been made, just press the “Encode” button and wait for the process to complete.
At the end brief overview I want to give some practical advice:
Before encoding something large, such as an hour-long film, practice on short fragments, it is better if it is a minute piece of the film. Be sure to view the intermediate material on your phone display.
Since ImTOO 3GP Video Converter is not the only video transcoding program, you might consider using something else. Here I can say one thing - avoid programs where encoding occurs in a few mouse clicks without the ability to adjust the bitrate and other important things.
In the case of phones, you need to keep in mind that the frame rate per second also plays a big role. Although progress does not stand still, the power of processors in mobile phones leaves much to be desired, so a situation may arise when you have to reduce the frame rate to 15. Of course, there is no need to talk about comfortable viewing under such conditions.
At the end I would like to provide a few links, maybe they will be useful for you.
Contrary to popular belief, different media formats do not represent different technologies, but are so-called “containers”. File packages that contain slightly modified versions of the main types of media content - video, audio and text.
Various layout options for media formats are necessary for correct display on various types playback players or for optimal provision of data transfer protocol over local and global networks.
In this context, the 3GP format is a “product set” for powering (from the English Feed) mobile devices that have significantly lower processor power, limited volume disk memory for data storage.
An important point is the high cost of Internet traffic. Video files are huge, reaching hundreds of megabytes. If you send an episode of a series over the World Wide Web, this can significantly deplete the user’s balance.
Features of the 3GP video format
To reduce the size of video files, visuals in the 3GP protocol contain a lower number of frames per second and lower image resolution. Due to the introduction of this kind of restrictions, the weight of a video file in 3GP format can be tens of times less than a high-resolution video.
For example, a full-length one and a half hour movie in HD quality will require approximately 1GB of disk memory, while the same movie in 3GP will require only 150MB. Feel the difference, as they say.
It is quite natural that due to all these restrictions, the quality of image and sound suffers greatly. And if a 3GP video is played on a widescreen screen plasma TV, the impression will be the worst.
But when a user watches television series on a small smartphone screen or book format tablet - HD and six-channel stereo sound become overkill.
The limitations of the mobile devices themselves come into play. Even if you play HD video on your smartphone, all the riot of colors and volume of sound is forcibly cut off. Otherwise, the low-power smartphone processor will simply freeze forever with the message “There is not enough memory to complete the process.”
Consumer benefits of 3GP format
Imagine that you are going to long journey By railway. Alternatively, a weekend at the dacha.
Very romantic, but modern man so accustomed to the comfort of the high-tech world. Without a smartphone and the Internet, we feel like without pants.
In short moments of rest, the summer resident will want to distract himself and relax. And in this situation, a mobile computer comes to the rescue. On external card whose memory you can download an entire film library and a collection of your favorite music albums. It’s enough to immerse yourself in the adventures of a brave and handsome detective from Nevsky Prospect for a whole day (30 episodes, 45 minutes each).
What does 3GP mean?
There are two versions of the abbreviation.
From the English Third Generation Partnership Project - Third Generation Partnership Project is a working group developing various useful gadgets for mobile devices.
And the popular name is 3dr Generation for mobile Phones - a protocol for third generation mobile phones.
Video format for dynamic users
Today even the cheapest ones Cell Phones almost always contain the function of playing video saved to an additional SD card. So the described format is simply irreplaceable for those who like to watch movies and listen to music anytime, anywhere.
To install the program, download the distribution package from the official Movavi website and follow the installation instructions. You only need to make a few clicks and the 3GP video converter will be installed on your computer. Convenient program in Russian will always be at your fingertips, and you can change the format of any video for playback on your mobile phone.
Launch the 3GP converter and select the desired file
Once the video converter is installed, launch it to start converting. Click the button Add files in the upper left corner, then - Add a video and select the desired video file or several files at once in AVI formats, FLV, MKV, WMV or MP4. If you want to convert DVD video, make sure the disc is inserted into the drive, click Add DVD, select Open DVD and find the disk in the window that opens.
Select the desired format
At the bottom of the video converter window, go to the section Video and then select the format 3GP, 3G2. Here you can choose the profile that suits you best. After conversion, your file will be converted to 3GP phone format, compatible with Nokia devices, Samsung, Sony and other manufacturers.
If you need to convert 3GP to MP3 or other audio format, open the tab Audio and click on the icon of the desired format - for example, MP3. The program will offer you sets of pre-configured parameters optimized for the video file being processed. You can select one of them or adjust the size and quality manually by clicking on the line with the output file size.
Convert video files
Before converting, all you have to do is select the location where the files will be written. Click the button with the folder icon and specify the desired save folder, then click the button Start in the lower right corner of the converter window and wait until the conversion process is completed. This will take from a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the size and number of source video files.
Transfer the converted 3GP file to your mobile phone
Connect your phone to your computer and launch the file transfer program. Following the instructions of the program, transfer ready file to your device and open it using the video playback application. Enjoy watching!
Now you know the simple and quick way compression and DVD conversion, AVI, MPEG-4, FLV, MKV, WMV in 3GP format for the phone. On Windows computers, Video Converter can be even more effective as part of a software package Movavi Video Suite, which includes everything necessary tools for working with video: in addition to the converter, it includes a video editor, programs for burning files to DVD and Blu-ray, capturing images from a monitor, web cameras and VHS tapes, tools for working with photos and audio. Download trial version Download trial version Movavi Video Suite and try all these programs in action.
New version of WindowsPlayer 3.9
- Updated codecs
- Fixed hardware decoding with new video card drivers
Program update
- Added support for new file types (.avcs, .heifs, .heif, .avci, etc.)
- Added support for AV1 codec
- Updated codecs
- Bugs fixed
Program update
- Updated codecs
- Bugs fixed
New version of WindowsPlayer 3.6
- Now the sound on the laptop is even louder! - new algorithm increase the volume
- Codec update
New version of WindowsPlayer 3.5
- Codec update
- Fixed a crash when opening damaged files
New version of WindowsPlayer 3.2
- H.265 and VP9 decoders updates
- Fixed player crash with some versions of NVIDIA drivers
New version of WindowsPlayer 3.1.1
- Resolved conflict with some antiviruses (Error 412)
New version of WindowsPlayer 3.1
- Optimization of video codecs. Radical reduction in resource consumption on some systems.
- Optimization of memory consumption on NVIDIA video cards
- Fixes in displaying 10-bit video
- Fixed DXVA hardening on some video cards
New version of WindowsPlayer 3.0.2
- Fixed a bug that caused an error on AMD video cards.
New version of WindowsPlayer 3.0
- Added HTS-HD hardware decoder
- Optimization of WEBM and HEVC hardware decoders
- Corrected incorrect display time when playing Blu-ray streams
- Faster rewinding on files with broken indexes
WindowsPlayer Update
- Updated audio codecs Opus, ATRAC, Nellymoser and others
- Opus support for audio tracks in videos
- Optimized 4K video decoding H.265 and VP9
- Added support for HEVC Main10
- improved playlist playback
WindowsPlayer 2.9.4 update
- Fixed an annoying bug with muting sound
- Fixed incorrect work with NVIDIA and AMD video processors
- Many minor corrections based on your feedback
- Support URL types: rtspu, rtspm, rtspt and rtsph for RTSP protocol
New version of WindowsPlayer 2.9
- Playing 4K video now requires 2 times less resources!
- Removed flickering when resizing windows
- Fixed image restoration after screen Windows locks
- Support for multimedia keys and Windows MCE remotes
- Fixed switching audio tracks
- Prevent pressing pause when rewinding
- Fixes and improvements in playing Internet streams
- Full support hardware acceleration WEBM format
Windows Player 2.8
- Added support for 3GA files
- The selected program language is saved
- Fixed video output when inaccessible DirectX acceleration
- Removed the window at startup when DirectX acceleration is not available
New version of WindowsPlayer 2.7
- Work on improving the player engine
WindowsPlayer version 2.6
- Improved startup time on Windows XP
- HQ does not turn off spontaneously
- Support for "icyx://" streams
- Audio tracks in ATRAC3+ format
- Accelerated DXVA2 decoding by Intel video cards
- Accelerated decoding high resolutions on AMD video cards
- Added support for video codec Duck TrueMotion 1/2
WindowsPlayer version 2.5
- The most correct tracking of new versions.
WindowsPlayer version 2.4
- Even more formats to play video and audio formats
- When you click on the timeline, you can see a screenshot of the current frame for quick viewing
WindowsPlayer version 2.3
- Added video playback in H.265 (HEVC) format with hardware decoding support
- Added hardware decoding of VP9 video format
- Accelerated detection of streams in a video file
- Fixed DV decoding from some video cameras
WindowsPlayer version 2.2
- Added Apple support intermediate codec
- Added support for DivX codec version 7
- Added support for HDV, AVCHD video formats
- Added support for M4A audio format
- Accelerated hardware decoding on AMD video cards
- Accelerated 4K video playback
- Opening a file from the previous playback position has been accelerated
- Fixed file association
- Bugs fixed
WindowsPlayer chronology
3GP format, how to play 3GP video
Video format 3GP. WindowsPlayer video player plays all formats, including 3GP video format
What is 3GP format
Not many people know about the 3GP format. Now I will tell you a little about him. This format is used to play videos, most often on mobile phones. Its peculiarity is the size of the played files - it is much smaller than, for example, avi.The downside of 3GP is the quality, but it is ideal for playing on mobile phones. All modern mobile phones that can transmit MMS support the Internet, in general, new generation phones support files of this format. Little is known about him on Russian-language sites.
If this information is not enough for you and you speak English well, then you can safely look for information on English-language sites, but I think that everything you need to use is indicated here and you do not need to go somewhere and look for information.
Any programmer can make his own changes to this format, because 3gp open source. 3gp stores video data as MPEG-4 or H.263, and audio tracks are stored in AMR-NB or AAC-LC formats.
How to play 3GP video in WindowsPlayer
I will now tell you how to open files of this format on a computer using an example. Windows Player.
Open Windows Player, click on the icon in the upper left corner and “open file” there.
Select the location where the video is located and open it. it will look something like this. And, in fact, we enjoy watching.
How to quickly open 3GP in WindowsPlayer
But you can open the file differently. Click on the desired video file right click mouse, "open with" and select the player. It looks like this:
I'm attaching a few more screenshots so you can see what it looks like: 
I recommend watching videos in 3gp format on your phone, but if space on your computer is important to you and you are not so picky about the quality of the video you watch, you can, of course, actively use it on your PC.
A little history of the 3GP format
Probably everyone remembers the times when you could only watch movies at home and only on a VCR or cable. With development information technologies everything has changed: now you can watch films anywhere and anytime. In this regard, a whole variety of various formats videos that have their own characteristics and their own scope.
With the advent of color mobile phones on the market with sufficient memory capacity for recording and playing videos, 3gp and mp4 formats have found widespread use. WITH in English 3gp stands for 3rd generation phone and is translated as “third generation phones,” that is, this is a specially designed format for playback on portable devices.
As you might guess, this video format has a very modest size compared to its analogues.
In history, there are two types of 3rd generation phone: 3g2 – more early version, similar in its characteristics and features to the well-known mov, the later one, 3gp itself, is a media container in which video is stored as MPEG-4, and audio as AMR-NB or AAC-LC.
The advantages of this format are, of course, its size within 200 MB for full-length films and 5 MB for videos and clips. And the disadvantage is obvious - small size and low quality, which is only suitable for viewing on small devices, since if you display a 3gp image on a full-size screen, you will see nothing but colored squares.
If you look at the screenshots for this article, they show a video of the highest possible quality for this format. In general, the parameters of 3gp video format vary: size from 176x144 pixels to 352x288 pixels, 15 frames per second, video stream - 60-320Kbps, audio stream - 10-128Kbps, mono sound.
So, how to open 3gp on a computer?
If you still decide to play 3gp on your computer, then there are a number of players with which you can do this. These include: WindowsPlayer, The KMPlayer, Pot Player, QuickTime and others.Take for example the 3gp WindowsPlayer. How to open a 3gp file in this program? And it's very simple! Or open the file double click by its icon, or you can open WindowsPlayer, and then simply drag the file into the player’s work area.
It all depends on you. Enjoy watching!
Senior Technology Writer
Someone sent you a e-mail 3GP file and you don't know how to open it? Maybe you found a 3GP file on your computer and were wondering what it was? Windows may tell you that you cannot open it, or in the worst case, you may encounter a corresponding error message associated with the 3GP file.
Before you can open a 3GP file, you need to find out what kind of file the 3GP file extension is.
Tip: Incorrect 3GP file association errors can be a symptom of other underlying issues within your Windows operating system. These invalid entries can also produce associated symptoms such as slow Windows startups, computer freezes, and other PC performance issues. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you scan your Windows registry for invalid file associations and other issues related to a fragmented registry.
Answer:
3GP files have Uncommon Files, which is predominantly associated with Nokia 7650 Video Recorder Video File (Nokia).
3GP files are also associated with 3GPP Multimedia File and FileViewPro.
Additional types of files may also use the 3GP file extension. If you are aware of any other file formats that use the 3GP file extension, please contact us so we can update our information accordingly.
How to open your 3GP file:
The fastest and easy way Opening your 3GP file means double-clicking on it. IN in this case Windows system she will choose the necessary program to open your 3GP file.
In case your 3GP file does not open, it is very likely that the necessary software is not installed on your PC. application program to view or edit files with 3GP extensions.
If your PC opens a 3GP file but in the wrong program, you will need to change the file association settings in your Windows registry. In other words, Windows associates 3GP file extensions with the wrong program.
Install optional products - FileViewPro (Solvusoft) | | | |
3GP Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME):
3GP File Analysis Tool™
Not sure what type of 3GP file is? Do you want to get precise information about a file, its creator and how it can be opened?
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In just a few seconds, you'll know exactly what your 3GP file type is, the application associated with the file, the name of the user who created the file, the file's protection status, and other useful information.
To get started free analysis file, simply drag and drop your 3GP file inside the dotted line below or click "Browse My Computer" and select the file. The 3GP file analysis report will be shown below, right in the browser window.
Drag and drop the 3GP file here to start analysis
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