[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] dmc_universe:
First, as you all known, Touch pro2 can't record VGA video in H.264 format(the resolution is limited to 352x288), it's really a pity. And if you want a VGA res, you just can use a MPEG4 format and finally get a video full of noise and blocks...... After I buy my Touch Pro2, I always try to find a way to enhance the video recording quality. And finally found it!

If you have the software "BsB tweaks" in your ROM, you can see it has such two tweaks：

Video Format--Enable hidden video recording format

(Add H.264, Motion JPEG,3GPP2 to the format list)

Video BitRate--Improves Video recording in MPEG4

I should tell you that, this two tweaks is not useful on Touch Pro2 (I don't know if they have any effects on other phones).The first one makes you could record in H.264 format, but only with a resolution up to 352x288. The second one has no use at all.

But from BsB tweaks, I know that there're some Reg keys handle the video recording parameters, So I spend whole night on these keys, and find many interesting things :)

1.Enlarge video recording Bitrate and Framerate:

Value function

"HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\Recparam\<...>\<Bitrate;VSBitRate;FrameRate>"

These Reg Values control the video recording Bitrate and FrameRate, if you want to enhance the quality, you can write down a bigger number.

For example, change

"HKLM\...\Recparam\H264Large\BitRate" to 600000(dec)

"HKLM\...\Recparam\H264Large\VSBitRate" to 600000(dec)

"HKLM\...\Recparam\H264Large\FrameRate" to 20(dec)

(Tips: Large equals to CIF, Medium equals to QVGA, etc...)

then when you set the Capture format to H.264 and Resolution to CIF(352x288),finally you will get a *.3gp video at 600kbps(VBR)@20fps.

Now a new question comes out: what's the upper limit Bitrate of Touch pro2 to record a H264 video?

I have done the test and find out that you could record a H.264 video as high as 1000kbps@20fps(352x288) ! Maybe you have thought that MSM7200 couldn't be so powerful to encode 1000kbps H.264, but it really works fine！

So，if MSM7200 could support 1000kpbs bitrate，then it should have enough power to record a VGA H.264 video! Go next！

2.Crack H.264 VGA video record limitation on Touch Pro2:

Don't wasting time on the HTC video recording program, whatever you do finally you just can use the resolution no more than CIF(352x288) when H.264 format is selected.

Now the way out is here:"HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\P2\"

When I delete it, the HTC video recording program can't start anymore. Now you know, this Reg Key has the Values to decide which format and resolution the recording program should use :)

Value function

"HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\P2\CaptureFormat"

When set to "10(hex)", the video format is MPEG4 (*.mp4 V:MPEG4, A:AAC);

When set to "2000(hex)", the video format is H.264 (*.3gp V:H.264, A:AAC);

Other value not tested.

"HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\P2\MainCamCaptSize"

When set to "20(hex)", the video resolution is 352x288;

When set to "1000(hex)", the video resolution is 640x480;

Other value not tested.

PS: Check if there is a Key "H264VGA" in "HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\Camera\Recparam\", if you can't find it, please create it manually and copy all Values from "H264Large", set BitRate & VSBitRate to 1000000(dec) and FrameRate to 20(dec).

When you set CaptureFormat=2000(hex) and MainCamCaptSize=1000(hex),then start HTC Video Recording, you'll get a VGA H.264 video with great quality!

3.Try 1000kbps VGA MPEG4 video recording:

Besides H.264 format, you can also enlarge the BitRate (in HKLM\...\Recparam\MPEG4VGA) of MPEG4 formate to get a excellent quality MPEG4 video.

Compare between MPEG4(1000kbps,VGA,20fps) and H.264(1000kbps,VGA,20fps), I find that MPEG4 has a better quality on rapid motional scene, because it's variable bitrate is up to 1600kbps, and H.264 is limited to 1000kbps. MPEG4 also has a higher average famerate, act more smooth than H.264. On the other hand, H.264 has a strong advantage on slow motional scene. Altogether, MPEG4 has a surprising better quality than H.264 at 1000kbps VGA mode.

4.Attention:

1.Don't set the bitrate more than 1000000, if you set it as 1100000, you could find that the actual bitrate break down to 128kbps! That is why the BsB tweaks didn't work, it tweaks the MP4VGA bitrate to 4194304(dec) !

2.Don't set the framerate more than 20, or you'll get a less framerate.

3.MSM7200 handles MPEG4 and H.264 recording in HW mode, so lowering the bitrate is useless to get a smoother video. You just need to keep the bitrate less than 1000kpbs then MSM7200 will work best enough.

4.When you decide to record a VGA H.264 video, a overclock is recommonded. Just use WiMoSpeed to oc to 710MHz!

5.Don't open HTC Camera's setting panel in video recording mode, that will lock the H.264 VGA mode again and the resolution goes back to CIF!

6.Only tested on T-Mobile Touch Pro2 with EnergeRom, other MSM7200/7201 phones should work too.

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Cab and Reg files for this topic:

Enable MPEG4 & H.264 VGA recording at 1000kbps: MSM7200_H264VGA_Tweaks.cab

Unlock the H.264 VGA limitation: vgaunlock.reg (included in MSM7200_H264VGA_Tweaks.cab, but if you click out the HTC Camera's setting panel and the resolution go back to 352x288, you may need it to turn on VGA again.)