Test an unsupported setup

Aim

To test the quality of MediaRecorder videos with an unsupported camera or computer.

Background

In an unsupported setup the following problems may occur:

• Video frames are dropped, which gives an incorrect video length.
• The audio and video are not synchronous.
• Two or more video streams are not synchronous.

Procedure

1. Set a timer display running on a computer monitor (preferably with both digital and analog display) and play music (not on the same computer as MediaRecorder). Make sure no background programs are running on the computer.
2. Make a recording in the normal way. Remember to plug in your microphone if you will be using audio.
3. After the normal maximum recording time, give an audio and visual cue (e.g. click your fingers) and stop the recording
4. Check the recording length in MediaInfo and number of frames in GSpot. Use the frame rate to determine if any frames are dropped.
   See Tools for troubleshooting
5. Go to the moment where you gave the cue and check if the audio and video are in sync, and if multiple videos are in sync.

Note that a small error is not necessarily a problem (and is normal); it depends entirely on the accuracy with which the audio and video need to be scored.