A day with the Samsung Omnia HD - Hardware and First Impressions

Steve, can you specify what media files you tried? I hope (and assume) it plays a 640*368 24fps divx without dropping frames, but did you try H.264 files of the same resolution? Or higher even?

slitchfield wrote:@malbry: no, capacitive screens work using human skin contact... Watch for an article from me on resistive vs capacitive touch technology....

That's what I thought, which means that there's some (older) touchscreen-enabled software that will be hard to use on this device - compared to the N97 or 5800. Won't be a problem for most people, but could be a choice factor for a minority of folks.

Best regards,
Malcolm

Unregistered wrote:Apple have the patents for multi-touch so unless you have an agreement with them you won't find muti-touch on a "phone".

There maybe workarounds such as simulated multi-touch which may not infringe on Apple patents but this is a very sketchy grey area.

Apples patents for multi-touch should *NEVER* have been issued though. There was so much prior art for multi-touch that it proves that the US patent system is totally broken.

It'll be interesting to see if Apples latest patent attempt - a remote control for the Apple TV - comes to bear, as they're basically trying to patent the Wii Mote.

I really don't understand - a single LED flash?

The argument about xenon and dual LED might go on and on. But to not include either?

slitchfield wrote:
no, you're giving people false hope. The test clips from the preproduction device had appalling sound sync. Period. They fixed it for VGA, however, over and above the problems of the INNOV8. The question is whether they can fix it for 720p HD recording, when there's obviously a lot more video info to encode and tie up the processors....... Hopefully they can, this being one of the Omnia HD's selling points.

No, he's not. I can't confirm any sound lag too. Plays perfectly in sync through whole video :/
But framerate ugh... framerate is another story. Sound quality is crazy bad too 😞.
BTW I'm using ffdshow decoder and Haali Media Splitter for playback.

That's what MediaInfo says about the clip:

General
Complete name : C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\christian\Desktop\i8910_720p.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 23.1 MiB
Duration : 38s 966ms
Overall bit rate : 4 983 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-03-12 08:27:05
Tagged date : UTC 2009-03-12 08:27:05

Video
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Codec ID : 20
Duration : 38s 966ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 4 934 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 7 550 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 8 389 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 21.994 fps
Minimum frame rate : 6.000 fps
Maximum frame rate : 24.000 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.243
Stream size : 22.9 MiB (99%)
Encoded date : UTC 2009-03-12 08:27:05
Tagged date : UTC 2009-03-12 08:27:05

Audio
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version : Version 4
Format profile : LC
Format settings, SBR : No
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 38s 400ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 48.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Channel positions : C
Sampling rate : 8 000 Hz
Resolution : 16 bits
Stream size : 225 KiB (1%)
Encoded date : UTC 2009-03-12 08:27:05
Tagged date : UTC 2009-03-12 08:27:05

So, big framerate variation (even in this practically motionless clip), way too low audio bitrate for decent quality...not too great at the moment, to be honest. Hopefully they sort that stuff out till release.

I also played the clip in VLC and the audio/video played together fine.

I then tried it in Win Media player and the audio finished over 10 seconds before the video!

clonmult wrote:Apples patents for multi-touch should *NEVER* have been issued though. There was so much prior art for multi-touch that it proves that the US patent system is totally broken.

It'll be interesting to see if Apples latest patent attempt - a remote control for the Apple TV - comes to bear, as they're basically trying to patent the Wii Mote.

People talk about multi touch being tied to Apple but the forthcoming LG Arena has multi touch and I am not aware of LG doing any deals with Apple.

My guess would be that the audio sync issues are all part and parcel of the frame rate problem. With that in mind, I wouldn't mind betting that the 480p (D1) video/audio sync also drifts away over a longer video capture.

I can feel my hopes being dashed...

i've heard the battery back up on this device is really poor...

"Battery back up"? Explain!

Hi! i'm just curious what improvement they include in the interface.

1. How about searching contacts? Is it the same Adaptive-search used in 5800? Still no way to turn it off and use multi-tap instead?

2. While using numeric pad in portrait. Can it be set so that when rotated to landscape, it will automatically adjust to full-qwerty like BB-storm? You have to manually set it in 5800.

3. While in web-browser entering a web-address using full-qwerty. Does it display auto-completion and recently visited addresses for selection?

thanks

Guys, great questions, but bear in mind we had less than a day with the device. We didn't get to read your minds (from the future) and try *everything*.

Be patient for more Omnia HD content. 8-)

"It'll be interesting to see if Apples latest patent attempt - a remote control for the Apple TV - comes to bear, as they're basically trying to patent the Wii Mote."

Apple really are the modern nasty corporate, the title that Microsoft used to hold.

Hopefully theres a hardware revision, adding a lens cover and better flash, be it dual LED or the fabled xenon.

Surely with the HD recording this device does means it needs a high amount of RAM anyhow? I would've thought putting the usual 128 or lower in wouldn't allow the Video recording of HD? I thought it would've been far too demanding of hardware and as such 256 or more would be needed, so I'm guessing the likelihood of the production unit having 256mb RAM would be possible 😊

Oh and about the whole 2 hands thing, I can use my iPhone 1 handed fine for browsing, double tap to zoom etc. it's easy to use one handed, multi-touch enabled or not 😉

slitchfield wrote:"Battery back up"? Explain!

sorry that came out wrong,

battery backup, i mean how many days the battery lasts upon full charge. like for my 5800 it lasts exactly 2 days (1-3/4 to be exact). i read before somewhere that the battery is not at all sufficient for the tasks that its put through, like hd 720p video recording..

Did someone mentioned about audio/video sync problem? Because I didn't experience it while playing the HD samples in my PC. I use K-Lite Codec Pack to play it. But there's a little lag probably because it was indoor recording.

I hope next time well be seeing more sample HD videos with emphasis on moving objects and panning.

Interesting that some of you managed to play the clips with no lip sync problems. From the fact that Rafe's PC and my Mac both saw big audio problems though, it's evident that something's not right. Hopefully just some encoding setting or other that Samsung can fix.

There's nothing wrong with variable frame rates, by the way, but the playback software has got to know how to handle them. Quicktime on the Mac, for example, handles Nokia's variable frame rate videos perfectly, presumably keeping things in sync using a clock index of some kind - but the same technique didn't work here 8-(

slitchfield wrote:Interesting that some of you managed to play the clips with no lip sync problems. From the fact that Rafe's PC and my Mac both saw big audio problems though, it's evident that something's not right. Hopefully just some encoding setting or other that Samsung can fix.

There's nothing wrong with variable frame rates, by the way, but the playback software has got to know how to handle them. Quicktime on the Mac, for example, handles Nokia's variable frame rate videos perfectly, presumably keeping things in sync using a clock index of some kind - but the same technique didn't work here 8-(

My Mac Book Pro cannot even seem to play them it's loads for a while and then just comes up with a question mark.

Is there an option to record at 60fps in the lower resolution mode?

Does it have haptic feedback? I wonder if I still could use the traditional s60 home screen?

Unregistered wrote:Also, will the Omnia work with a Nokia bluetooth keyboard?

The Bluetooth stack on recent Symbian OS versions includes a driver that should work with all "Human Interface Device" (HID) peripherals. If Samsung leave this in the phone the keyboard should just work when you pair it.

Or Samsung may receive the Wireless Keyboard application as part of S60, the Nokia E71 for example ships with this built-in. (In the "Office" folder.)

ttfn

sorry about my bad english 😞
the german amzon website shows a picture with brushed metal batterycover and a lens shutter... i'll hope the final sales version will it have too
amazon.de/Samsung-MP-Kamera-AMOLED-Touchscreen-Branding/dp/B001ULCL5K/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

I can't believe there's no camera lens cover, big disappointment for me 😞

Hello...can someone please confirm if it does have HDMI port and were you able to see it on a plasma or LCD?

Many wonder if the TV-OUT function is only possible via DLNA or even via cable?

An Internet tablet with wheels and handle or not this may be the phone I have been longing for for years.

I was originally an Agenda man with its wonderful Microwriter key configuration (Is that now dead and gone?). I later became a Psion man and sadly regretted its passing but I was by then quite used to bricks weighing down my inside pocket. I moved on to the light Palm Tungsten T2, with its big wide sliding touch-sensitive screen in full colour. I could read, edit and create MS documents with ease. It fitted squarely inside my shirt pocket and Graffiti, better than Microwriter, allowed me to take notes easily, quietly and discretely in meetings. I ran my first TomTom system on it for several years and more besides.

Because the T2 was not a phone you did need one along side to link to emails, the internet and TomTom Traffic. My ideal was to have the two combined into one and I have gone through a succession of phones such as the S-E P910i ending up with the Nokia E90, hoping to find that Holy Grail.

My current contract is almost up and I have been trailing round the malls in and out every conceivable phone shop but unable to better my current brick (which incidentally is the same size as an open N95) when you get behind the glitz and the fa�ade into the nitty-gritty. None yet match my ideal.

This is not a quest just for the sake of it. I am retired and out of big business enjoying life as a driver and guide all around Britain and Europe. I need phone to keep in touch by voice, GPS to find my way on foot in cities, Internet to answer client questions and do a little late research; email to pass backwards forwards documents such as invoices, expenses and worksheets and a quality camera and video to record those magic moments in a place of beauty. I have considered a netbook, but I might as well resurrect my Palm.

Omnia HD, if it were to have Graffiti, it could be that ideal. Roll on the autumn.

The HD sample clip provided here is encoded at a bit rate of 4.98 mbits/s, the previous other sample clips provided by GSM Arena are encoded at a bit rate of 6.49 & 7.78 mbits/s!

That's a big difference in bit rate, I'm sure it's not possible to change the actual bit rate, so does the phone offer different options like; medium, fine, best, etc?

Typically the higher the bitrate the better the video quality, of course more fps helps as well if the phone can actually do 30 fps.

Typically the higher the bitrate the better the video quality, of course more fps helps as well if the phone can actually do 30 fps.