Reduce the file size of large video files before uploading them to the OnSign TV platform and save valuable storage space.
In particular, the video codec profile is an important aspect to watch out for. There are multiple profiles for H.264. We recommend the Main or Baseline profiles. The High profile is often too heavy for the decoder to process.
Also when encoding the video we recommend making it Web Optimized, making them faster to load.
Even though compressing files results in a minor loss of quality, it will speed up transfer to the platform and Players. We recommend converting videos with Handbrake, a free software available for Mac, Windows, and Linux:
- Download and install the specific Handbrake version for your computer’s operating system.
- Once downloaded, launch the program.
It might seem complex at first, but we only need to focus on a few settings. - Select the file you want to convert.
- On the tab "Summary":
- Format: MP4
- Check mark “Web Optimized”
- On the “Video” tab, choose "H.264" for “Video Codec”.
- Browse the output file "Destination" folder. The program requires that you name the output file. Hit "Save".
- Click on the green "Start" button in the header. Depending on your computer and the file size, it may take a while. You can accompany the progress of the conversion in the bar below.
- The converted file will be saved in the folder you specified. In this tutorial, we have used a 50MB MPEG file (left image). With the conversion, we saved about 30 MB (right image).
- If the output file format is M4V, change the file extension to MP4 to be able to upload the file to your OnSign TV web account.