Need SIMPLE answer to smartphone question on video capabilities

[Pillott12]

Hello.
I love computers...not so much for phones. Do not really even need one. However, I may want one for a simple reason....can it play a movie that I can put into whatever format that can be loaded from my pc ...to the phone. In other words, can I play a compressed version of whatever movie...Poltergeist for example on my phone? I do not want to "sync", join a cloud, etc....I just want to be able to put it from pc if possible onto the phone for later use. I do not need to have the latest 4G streaming etc....its nice, but unnecessary. Also, I want to keep the cost to a minimum on the phone itself. I see walmart of all people has phones that almost seem to fill the requirements for 100$ and I then pay a pre-paid (which i totally like) amount for unlimited text/talk for an additional 40-50 bucks. Again, I like that prepaid no contract stuff. So...Is there a phone that can play a format that i can use to get the video on my pc...convert to whatever is necessary and port it onto my phone? Is this even a realistic request?

Thanks group
Sean

 

[photonboy]

Yes.

You can use a tool like HANDBRAKE to convert to a supported format (video, audio, and container must be compatible). For example:

H.264 video codec,
MP4 container
AAC audio codec

Other:
1) Phone must have enough capacity to store the movie, and
2) Phone must have the ability to COPY via local wi-fi or through USB (connected to PC).

Or-> Phone may have an SD-card connection (can copy movie to SD-card first if you have a suitable device on PC).

I can't speak for all phones so you'd have to Google any specific model you look at (like "phone x copy files from pc").

Handbrake: https://handbrake.fr/

 

[Pillott12]

Yes.

You can use a tool like HANDBRAKE to convert to a supported format (video, audio, and container must be compatible). For example:

H.264 video codec,
MP4 container
AAC audio codec

Other:
1) Phone must have enough capacity to store the movie, and
2) Phone must have the ability to COPY via local wi-fi or through USB (connected to PC).

Or-> Phone may have an SD-card connection (can copy movie to SD-card first if you have a suitable device on PC).

I can't speak for all phones so you'd have to Google any specific model you look at (like "phone x copy files from pc").

Handbrake: https://handbrake.fr/

 

[Pillott12]

I like your answer. You pretty much get what I was asking. Thank you. I will look a bit more into it now that I know what I am wanting is within reason. I will certainly give my finding back to the group.

Again, thanks.

 

[photonboy]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/support/product/lumia435/smartguide/?action=singleTopic&category=phonemanagementandconnectivity

Example only.

In Handbrake, you can take an existing movie and perhaps choose something like:

MP4,
normal profile
variable framerate (pretty much always),
H.264,
1000Kbps,
2-pass video,
128Kbps audio.

You might only have about 5GB or so of free space. A movie on a phone can look pretty good at 1GB if compressed properly from a good source. The manual should give supported codecs, though you may just have to try it and see how it goes.

You'll need a MEDIA PLAYER (software) on the phone side. I have no idea what most phones use.

 

[Pillott12]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/support/product/lumia435/smartguide/?action=singleTopic&category=phonemanagementandconnectivity

Example only.

In Handbrake, you can take an existing movie and perhaps choose something like:

MP4,
normal profile
variable framerate (pretty much always),
H.264,
1000Kbps,
2-pass video,
128Kbps audio.

You might only have about 5GB or so of free space. A movie on a phone can look pretty good at 1GB if compressed properly from a good source. The manual should give supported codecs, though you may just have to try it and see how it goes.

You'll need a MEDIA PLAYER (software) on the phone side. I have no idea what most phones use.

 

[Pillott12]

Excellent answer again. Im falling asleep at the moment, but will follow your suggestions.