Best settings for converting any file to Samsung Galaxy S4?

[mindstormer]

Got a new phone, the Samsung Galaxy S4, and now I am looking for a way to convert videos to a format compatible for the phone. Compatibility shouldn't be an issue because I can still have the files synced and played on the phone without a problem, but converting is necessary to save file space.

With Handbrake (unless there's a better alternative?), I'm not sure what specific settings to use. I can use the "Android" preset, but it is very vague and I want to be as accurate as possible to get the best qualityize ratio, prioritizing quality (removing only the negligible quality to reduce the size).

Specs: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9500_galaxy_s4-5125.php

For example, what anamorphic setting, Constant quality (and what RF value) vs. Avg Bit rate, Auto passthru for audio, etc.

Thanks so much.

[aedipuss]

Xmedarecode most likely has a preset for your phone.

[mindstormer]

It does, but it doesn't show me any of the settings--I basically select it and press "convert" and hope for the best.

Anyway, I think I got the right settings on Handbrake, except I'm not sure what H.264 Profile to use and at what Level. Checking the specs for the phone, it only says "H.264" and has no mention whether it is "High," "Baseline," etc. Does it matter what I choose (I heard High is better)? What about for Level? What about "Auto" for both?

And for the Audio Track section, will choosing "Auto" make the file way bigger than using the codec AAC (faac)? I read a guide and it said to choose AAC, but if "Auto" doesn't make the file that much bigger it would be better quality-wise wouldn't it?

[theewizard]

i have samsung nexus, you have an hd display and you want to save space?
me i prefer decent quality, i encode to DVD specs and save as mp4

why bother with 'mobile' presets when you have hi-def display capabilites

[hello_hello]

I have a Motorola Razr (a bit over a year old) and it's hardware decoder will happily play 1080p, High Profile, Level 4.1 encoded video. It appears your phone has a better GPU and CPU so I'd assume it'll at least do the same thing.

I wouldn't get too excited about resolution/quality if you're only converting for watching on the phone. Your phone has a slightly larger screen than mine and much higher resolution, but seriously.... I'd wonder how much resolution you can actually see on a 5" screen. I'd be thinking x264's default CRF value of 23 would be perfectly fine for a small screen and after a few conversions you'll probably find a resolution which gives you the file size you prefer (well on average, at least).

I haven't used the players which come bundled with the Android OS in years, but I do highly recommend MXPlayer. It'll literally play almost anything and it'll use the hardware decoder for file types which aren't natively supported. You can even switch between hardware and software decoding on a per file basis and it supports anamorphic video even if your hardware decoder doesn't. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad&hl=en

[mindstormer]

Nice, I'll try MX Player. Thanks for the info, guys.

[aedipuss]

for an android player i use vlc. it even plays h264 1080p with dts audio.

http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/