We all know that it’s not required to jailbreak your iPhone 3G/2G to get video recorded anymore – but are these non-jailbreak apps better than the popular jailbreak video recording app Cycorder?
Here’s the side by side comparison of the best video recording apps available for iPhone 3G and 2G that I picked up: iCamcorder, Qik VideoCamera, and Cycorder. You can also find test videos here.
Differences between Cycorder and non-jailbreak apps?
Right now Apple only allows developers to “screenshot” the camera’s output frame by frame, then encode to a “video”. Instead, the jailbreak app Cycorder can access to the RAW stream from camera directly, and it’s using MPEG encoder provided by the Infineon PMB8876 S-GOLD 2 chip onboard.
If you are looking for an easy way to share videos across multiple social media sites, applying fun effects, then iCamcorder and Qik VideoCamera should be your choice. But Cycorder is always a good option for jailbroken iPhones.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
“Cycorder can access to the RAW stream from camera directly, and it’s using MPEG encoder provided by the Infineon PMB8876 S-GOLD 2 chip onboard.”
I’m not a video guy; does this make much of a difference in the quality of the final product or is it just a different way of getting the same end result?
Using QIK with good results but just jailbroke so interested in whether Cycorder is better…
Mitch,
In my short study about video recording apps for iPhone 3G/2G, Cycorder’s using motion JPEG hardware compression (the same compression you get in most point-and-shoot digital still cameras that also happen to do video) at 384×288 (4×3) screen resolution. This means that the quality, performance, and file size (relatively large) you get is going to be similar to what you’ve come to expect from smallish digital cameras.
On the other hand, Qik VideoCamera is doing software encoding of a higher compressing algorithm, which makes it to yield smaller files that have lots of visual artifacts.
But to be honest, I only have iPhone 3GS with me now, so never actually tried Cycorder myself. Why don’t you just give it a try and let us know which one you think is better?
Best,
Claris