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HTC Desire S review: Video
The big change from the HTC Desire when it comes it video is the addition of 720p video recording. It's recorded in H.264 in the 3GP file format, and comes out with some slightly odd specifications.
It plays with a bitrate (the amount of data that's been recorded) of 8Mbps, which is fairly typical, but it's at some very odd framerates. One of the clips is just under 20 frames per second, one is just over 20fps and one's just over 21fps. Any one of these would be unusual, (we'd expect to see 24fps or 30fps), but three different clips with three different framerates is bizarre.
As you can see, the quality is generally pretty good. Motion is captured well in the first clip, with little ghosting and very few artefacts around the performer. There are some strange stutters, though, as if the phone had struggled to record consistently.
This same thing is even worse in the second clip. There's more motion in this clip, which would indicate that it's possibly a problem with the phone not being able to keep with the bitrate.
The third clip has the same issues again. However, it also shows the strength of the recording, with the ducks' ripples appearing smooth and crisp. The flying birds' movement is well handled, and a good amount of light is being let in with the sun already starting to get low in the sky.
Much like for stills, the light doesn't do much for videos. It'll light things immediately in front well enough, but drops of quickly, so you'll always be struggling to pick detail. However, it's better than nothing for when you just have to take videos of something in the dark. No, don't tell us. We don't wan to know.
