why is the smaller res smc file larger than a higher res movie?

I believe this is a simple format question that can be answered by saying…well one is in mp4 and one is avi so that is why the files are different size.  If that is the case then I guess mine is more of a complaint than a question.  Anyway, I have a program that formats movies for my phone in 320 x 240 as an MP4 file, so you would think the file size should be nearly identical from my phones format to my fuze format.  However, by the time the SMC converts the file it doubles in size.  I literally take the file that was convereted for my phone and throw it into SMC.  So a 350mb file turns into 667mb.  Why is that, why is the SMC so inefficient with file sizes.  With a 4gig card I can fit about 4-5 movies, on my phone it fits twice that many.  Also, my phone is set to 24 fps. 

Any reason besides file type for the growth in file size? Am I doing something wrong?

I have wondered the same thing.

Take an mpeg and go through a converter and get an avi file that’s 20 megs or so, which is meant for a fairly large resolution screen, then go thru SMC and get a tiny resolution avi file which is 40 to 60 megs!  It’s crazy!

So far I have not heard any sort of explanation for this.

This question has been asked many times, with no official response from Sandisk.

Smaller files mean either lousy quality or more complex codecs. The Fuze doesn’t have a very powerful processor, so my expectation is that the larger files are to provide decent quality within the realm of what the processor can decode.

Because SMC dumps a bunch of proprietary ■■■■ in your file.

I wondered too as my coworker has an ipod and can fit more on hers then I can on my Fuze.  Even though I can put them on cards and use them whenever, she puts them on flash sticks but has more on a flash stick… and it’s easy she then can drop them into itunes on her ipod (30 seconds max)… which means I have more cards then should be necessary… :stuck_out_tongue:

As was stated above, this is very simple.  The Fuze CPU isn’t very powerful.  Mpeg4 is a quite efficient codec if used fully, but though highly-compressed files can achieve quite good quality, they also require a lot of horsepower to decode.  The Fuze just doesn’t have the horsepower.  So SMC puts out a file that’s much less compressed.  It takes more space, but it takes a lot less CPU power to decode.

I have another player that can take full-res XviD movies and display them wonderfully.  Of course, that player’s BATTERY is bigger than the Fuze.  You don’t get small, powerful, cheap and big battery life all at once; every player makes compromises.  Playing movies is a great bonus on the Fuze, but let’s face it, if you wanted a player to do a lot of video, the Fuze isn’t the right choice.  I personally think the Fuze is probably about the best small player on the market today, but for me video is not a huge deal.

Seems like a very good analysis.  Thanks for that.