MP4 Players Buying Guide - Original article from Shop Kami
The next generation of Mp3 Players and the next big product call "Mp4 Players" or sometime call Portable Media Players. MP4 Players can do all the MP3 Players features and offer more like store hours of favourite TV shows, movies, photos, music and small size to fit in your pocket. MP4 Players is the best electronic entertainment device next to your PC (personal computer).

But before you buy one, there are a few things you have to consider. Althought MP4 Players can do all the features in MP3 Players and offer more features. In fact these MP4 Players is relatively new in consumer electronics and infancy.

This Buying Guide will help you knowing you really need to know: what is available, what features are worth looking out for, and which player is right for you.


MP4 Players Buyers' Guide Contents

1. Types of MP4 Players
2. The built-in Screen
3. Memory
4. Price
5. Video, sound quality and recording
6. Other considerations
7. Other useful link about MP4 Players buying guide


Types of MP4 Players

Basic MP4 Players - which is refer to with screen size and memory included with the basic must have features like built-in speakers, bateries,support multiple video and audio format. MP4 Players With Digital Cameras - which is with additional digital camera function. HDD Media Players - which is the bigger storage support with mini hard disks for store 15-100GB or more of data. DivX MP4 Players - which is support DivX format, DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality (more information about DivX please refer to DivX Wiki ).

As a rough guide, a 30GB MP4 Players has enough capacity for about 6500 songs, 120 hours of video or 300,000 photos. Additionally, most will support Win98 and above. If you are a Mac or Linux user, you need to check with OS support, but in many instances you should be fine.

Pros:

* Very easy to use if you already got a PC
* Glitch-free video playback
* Support major audio and video file formats

Cons:

* Limited amount of PM4 Players devices on market (will getting more soon, refer here for some MP4 Players Categories .)
* Limited file support
* They are more expensive than MP3 Players devices
* You need a PC to download data to the MP4 Players device


The built-in Screen

MP4 Players all have built-in screens to view video/photos on the move. Please do not confused with portable hard disk Media Players that do not have a built-in screen and need to output to a TV to playback stored DivX and other multimedia content. The built-in Screen is one of the main important factor in MP4 Players and the price will greatly vary depend on the screen size and type of the screen.

Display type:

1. CSTN - is a form of passive matrix LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) for electronic display screens. The original CSTN displays developed in the early 90's suffered from slow response times and ghosting (where lit pixels in a row can affect the unlit pixels). Recent advances in the technology, however, have made CSTN a viable alternative to active matrix displays. Example MP4 Players that feature with CSTN displayExample MP4 Players that feature with CSTN display
2. LCD - A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a thin, flat display device made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector. It is prized by engineers because it uses very small amounts of electric power, and is therefore suitable for use in battery-powered electronic devices. Example MP4 Players that feature with LCD displayExample MP4 Players that feature with LCD display
3. TFT LCD - is a variant of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) which uses Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) technology to improve their image quality. TFT LCDs are one type of active matrix LCD, though this is usually synonymous with them. They are used in both flat panel displays and projectors. In computing, TFT monitors are rapidly displacing competing CRT technology, and are commonly available in sizes from 12 to 30 inches. As of 2006, they have also made inroads on the television market. Example MP4 Players that feature with TFT LCD displayExample MP4 Players that feature with TFT LCD display
4. OLED - is a special type of light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive layer comprises a thin-film of certain organic compounds. The emissive electroluminescent layer can include a polymeric substance that allows the deposition of very suitable organic compounds, for example, in rows and columns on a flat carrier by using a simple "printing" method to create a matrix of pixels which can emit different colored light. Such systems can be used in television screens, computer displays, portable system screens, advertising and information, and indication applications etc. OLEDs can also be used in light sources for general space illumination. OLEDs lend themselves for the implementation of large areal light-emitting elements. OLEDs typically emit less light per area than inorganic solid-state based LEDs which are usually designed for use as point light sources.
One of the great benefits of an OLED display over the traditional LCD displays is that OLEDs do not require a backlight to function. This means that they draw far less power and, when powered from a battery, can operate longer on the same charge. It is also known that OLED based display devices can be more effectively manufactured than liquid-crystal and plasma displays. However, degradation of OLED materials (see drawbacks) have limited the use of these materials. Example MP4 Players that feature with OLED displayExample MP4 Players that feature with OLED display

A bright, large display on a standard MP4 Players is everything because it makes navigating playlists and viewing track information a much easier task. A best display can make the difference between a good player and a great one and a bad display can limit the situations in which you're able to use your MP4 Players. There are a few display features to keep in mind, test and compare when you are shopping around for a MP4 Players, the bigger screens are better to watch and a higher resolution allows for sharper images, select the highest resolution available for a given display size. Most MP4 Players have 2.5-3.8in displays capable of around 320x240 pixels. There are also a screen brightness and contrast ratio which affect the reproduction of colours, but can also eat into battery life, some PP4 Players also come with touch screen or a glossy display treatment that can help reflect sunlight, or increase colour depth, or reduce glare. You should give this a high priority when comparing when buy a MP4 Players.
Memory

If you want to store thousands of music, videos and photos, select the MP4 Players with large memory included and expandable that support multiple type of memory. Some MP4 Players feature with expandable memory slot like this model SDAOLM103KK MP4 Players feature with expandable memory slot


Some of the bigger PM4 Players use mini hard disks that store 15GB-100GB or more of information, like this MP4JHDC40GBKK PM4 Players use mini hard disks

The bigger the memory included and flexible of expandable of memory is the better, 30GB MP4 Players has enough capacity for about 6500 songs, 120 hours of video or 300,000 photos.


The Price

One of the biggest issues when select the right MP4 Players is price. You can get MP4 Players from pricing $20 up to $200, while hard disk models can cost anywhere from $400 right up to $1000, depending on capacity and features. Nothing more suggestion for this, just select the one with pricing you affordable, good design, small in size and lite weight. Batteries and removable storage affect size and weight, as well as functionality. All these factors must be considered when choosing a player.


Video, sound quality and recording

Video quality usually fine on MP4 Players, the unit usually supplied with software from vendor and instruction how to best encode the video content. Large screen with supported mutiple audio/video format and with recording feature is must have features for MP4 Players. The good quality of headphones and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) specification also need to consider when buying a MP4 Players. Top-level MP4 Players will allow you to record audio from a line-input, microphone or built-in FM radio tuner straight into memory. Some even allow you to record TV shows directly from your TV and allow you to output to your television, but there are few things you should check like TV-out support and higher resolution of TV-out. Recordings are usually converted straight to compressed media format files and sometimes you can nominate a format or possibly be forced to use a proprietary type, some devices include built-in microphones, which is more convenient than having to plug in an external one.

Hot-selling MP4 Player Hot-selling MP4 Player
Other considerations

After compare the above there are some other you may take in consideration like bundled software, bundled hardware, accessories, power source, radio, system connectivity, playback time, personal information management feature, integrated camera, games and warranty. Is free to ask the vendor information about the product, so just ask them whatever you are not certain.

This post has been edited by ffox: Mar 22 2007, 06:04 PM


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