Podsize

307200 pixels

Version History

  • v0.9: June 6th, 2007: New look, added profiles for Apple TV and iPhone.
  • v0.8: November 16th, 2006. Now compatible with iPod firmware 1.2 - double the video resolution.
  • v0.7: November 17th, 2005. Small bug fix with doPodsize and the minimum acceptable width
  • v0.6: November 14th 2005. Added H.264 checking, made sure that all dimensions are divisible by 16, added bump feature
  • v0.3b: November 12th, 2005. Added iPod image, fixed small issue with 4/3 calculation
  • v0.3a: November 12th, 2005. Added ability to lock aspect, plus several other tweaks
  • v0.2: November 10th, 2005. Cosmetic changes
  • v0.1: November 9th, 2005. First iteration

Credits

  • iPod, iPhone images courtesy of Apple
  • TV images courtesy of Sony

Bugs, Feedback & License

Thanks!

What is Podsize?

According to the official iPod tech specs, video formats for iPod are constrained by maximum video dimensions/resolution of 640x480 for H.264 and MPEG-4 formats. In practice this restriction is actually set at 307,200 pixels (being 640*480) regardless of the video dimensions, the upshot being so long as you stay below this limit - you can encode video in widescreen formats (16:9 etc) at higher resolutions that you might at first think.

Podsize is simple tool that allows you to check the dimensions of your video prior to encoding to ensure the end result will be compatible with your iPod.

Podsize Widget

Running Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"? Why not use Podsize on the road by adding it to your dashboard.

Podsize - The Widget

H.264 Profile

When encoding to H.264, be sure to choose the Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile in your video encoding program.

iPhone Profile

With the imminent release of the Apple iPhone, I've added a new profile for it, carrying over the tech specs from the iPod range. At present we have no idea if these specs are accurate or not; rest assured that as soon as the video specs for the iPhone are released, the video setting here on Podsize will be updated.