Video quality

HD = High definition e.g. 1080p = 1920 x 1080 (aspect ratio is 16:9)
SD = Standard definition e.g. 640 x 480 (aspect ratio is 4:3)

Defines pre-set values for most other advanced settings in the video tab. e.g. video size, bit rate, codec etc

Suggestion: Usually your device will be set up correctly by the manufacturer, therefore if you change the video quality all other settings will change accordingly. If your device is not well set up by manufacturer then use advanced video settings

Video focus mode

Similar to focus mode for photos, the default is Continuous (Video). some phones don’t support other focus modes while videoing.

Flash Mode

In low light the flash can be used to illuminate the video, this setting controls how the flash is turned on.

Auto: Turn on the flash in low light
On: Always on
Off: Never on
Photo: Same as photo flash mode

Exposure

Allows you to specify an exposure compensation which is only used for Video.

Allow Pause

Some LG and Samsung devices allow you to pause and resume a video recording. If you select this, a pause button will appear on the screen.

Video Snapshot

Allows you take a photo while recording a video, simply press the photo shutter button while recording. This option will appear even if snapshots are not supported, but will be disabled by default if the app thinks snapshots are not supported. Some phones (e.g. Nexus 5) need this option to be on or video recording may crash.

Full Size Snapshots

Some devices can capture a video snapshot at the full picture size, others can only capture at the video size. This setting tries to capture at full size. Some phones ignore this setting and capture at video size even if this is set.

Preview framerate

This also sets the framerate for the video, if it doesn’t appear there is only one possible framerate. If the preview framerate is a range (e.g. 10-30) the framerate will be reduced for low light.

Time lapse

Allows you to take time lapse videos

Video Frame Rate

Tries to set the number of frames/second for a video recording, most devices ignore this setting

Audio Source

By default, a video recording will use a microphone facing the same direction as the camera (if available), this setting lets you change which microphone is used. This can be useful if the camcorder microphone doesn’t work well or if you are narrating the video. You can also use this setting to disable audio.

Audio Channels

Either mono or stereo, some devices only support mono

Audio Codec

How audio is recorded on the video, AAC should give the best quality

Audio Bit Rate

Bitrates for the different audio codecs are shown here, these may not all work

Audio Sample Rate

Sample rates and the audio codec they are designed for are shown here

Video Bit Rate

Higher bit rates will give better quality videos but take up more space, some settings may not be available on all devices.

Video Codec

Choose a video codec here, only change this if you know what you are doing

Video File Format

Some media profiles specify the video will be stored in a 3gpp container rather than mp4, these are usually the same thing but to avoid having to rename your video files you can set this to mpeg4 here

Video Size

A device has a set of media profiles giving default values for all the above video settings, when you select 1080p or 720p in the “Video Quality” setting, you are selecting one of these profiles. Often, there are other video sizes available. This setting lets you choose a video size that is not available in the profile. You may need to change the video bitrate if you change this. This setting is useful for devices such are the Nexus 7 (2012) which doesn’t have a profile for 720p but does support it.

Video Preview Size

This is the preview size while recording a video. For Android 2.3 the default is the same as the video size but for Android 4.0 and up, there is a “preferred” preview size for video recordings. Unfortunately some devices don’t work when using the preferred size. When this setting is set to default, Snap uses a preview size no bigger than the “preferred” size, when it is set to “Video” it uses the video size. Some devices (e.g. SGS2) need this to be set to a fixed value such as 1280×720. Using the wrong video preview size will cause video recording to fail and you will probably need to reboot your phone. If you have a device which needs an unusual video preview size please let us know.

Preview Format

This is an advanced setting and is not generally useful except on the LG G2/3 where nv12-venus gives a smoother frame rate (at the expense of disabling video snapshots). Most devices should use the default (yuv420sp).

4k Video Support

Some devices crash if a 4k video quality is queried so this setting allows you to enable it. Some devices (e.g. note 3, galaxy s5, lg g3) will show 4k video qualities without this setting being enabled. This setting always adds a 3840×2160 video size to the list of available resolutions.

Maximum File Size

Many devices do not support files larger than 4G so this setting allows you to specify the maximum size of a video file. The 100M option allows testing.

Split Video Files

If this setting is enabled, when a video reached the maximum file size it will be stopped and restarted with a new file. There may be a few seconds gap between the recordings.

Video High Frame Rate

Some devices have a setting for high frame rates, this is useful for slow motion and smooth motion.

Use HFR Frame Rate

On some devices the Video High Frame Rate setting doesn’t work or is not available, select this to force a 120fps preview frame rate. This setting will not work on many devices.

Slow Motion Speed

This setting will change the playback speed of a video, it works on all devices but playback will be jerky unless a high frame rate is used. If a video has audio, the audio playback speed will not change and will usually finish before then end of the video. Set the audio source to “No Audio” for slow motion videos.

Display Brightness

This setting changes the brightness of the display during video recording. “Photo” will use the same setting as photos. Set it to “Dim” to save power when recording long videos. Be aware that “Dim” may turn the display off completely on some devices.

Extra parameters

Similar to the Extra Parameters for photos these only apply when recording a video.