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Surprise: iOS 5 bumps up video exports in apps from 720p to 1080p


Media framework strings in iOS SDK have added a new 1080p video export preset

In addition to the newly discovered ability to render 1080p videos on A4-powered devices by scaling down high-definition content on-the-fly, a tipster pointed out that the iOS 5 software development kit ups the maximum resolution for video exports from 720p all the way up to 1080p. The iOS 5 media framework now rocks a new video export option: A 1920-by-1080 full HD preset. Previously, programmers calling system APIs were only able to export video content in 720p. The change has been spotted in export preset strings of AVAsset, an abstract class of AV Foundation framework which has been around since iOS 4.

Programmers use the AVAsset class to work on a detailed level with timed media assets such as videos and sounds. It lets them examine, create, edit or reencode media files, get input streams from devices, manipulate video clips during realtime capture and playback and more. It is now clear that iOS 5 enables devices such as iPhone 4, iPad 1 and 2 and fourth-generation iPod touch (all powered by the A4 chip) are now able to both decode and encode 1080p content. This completes the picture and is another indication that the rumors of an eight-megapixel camera with 1080p video capture on iPhone 5 are likely true because there is no point in iOS 5 supporting 1080p video exports if users won’t be able to acquire full-HD content on their iPhone 5.


iOS 5 can render 1080p videos (try this out by emailing yourself a short 1080p clip) and third-party apps are no longer limited to exporting video files in 720p

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It is already possible to load a 1080p movie on your iPhone 4 which runs a developer preview of iOS 5. High-def movies decode smoothly and look great. The system media player automatically scales down a 1080p file in real-time to your device’s display resolution. I’ve successfully tested this myself. First I downloaded a 1080p Tron trailer to my Mac, trimmed it down to a short 19MB segment that I emailed to myself. From there, I checked the email message on my iPhone 4, tapped on the 1080p MOV attachment and it played back without any hiccup. With the new 1080p export option, system apps like YouTube and Apple’s programs such as iMovie will gain the ability to export videos in 1080p. We can also expect that iTunes will enable you to load up your device with 1080p videos by the time iOS 5 ships this fall. Best of all, third-party developers will only need to adjust their code slightly in order to cater for the 1080p video export setting.

 

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