1.8" Widescreen Watch. Are MTV and AMV the same?
 

I just bought one of these off of eBay. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'd like to be prepared with a decent collection of video in the correct format so I can just copy them and go. Basically, I've seen the MTV and AMV files equated, but are they really the same? My watch says that it plays MTV files, but, as is common knowledge, the size of these files is incredibly large. For example, an episode of Man Vs. Wild ( a 1 hour program with commercials removed) is 530mb as an MTV file but only 162mb as an AMV file. Do you think this watch will play AMV files? I am praying that it does. I did spring for the 4gb model, but I could fit like 4 times as many AMV files. To encode the files, I used PocketDivxEncoder to reduce the size of the originial avi to 160X120, then I converted it with MTV Converter and AMV converter to determine file size. I will list below all known information about the watch. If YOU have some info about the firmware, capabilities, please let me know.
Thanks.
Link to Ebay auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=009

Stats:
SONYA 4GB 260K Color 1.8" WIDE TFT MP3 MP4 Player Watch

Features:

* 100% Brand New And High Quality !
* Support JPEG,BMP picture files; MP3, WMA audio files and MTV video format (other formats video files need to be converted to MTV by software attached in CD)
* Picture manual slide show, and auto compression when large size picture
* High quality digital recording in WAV format, voice recorder playback enabled.
* The songs' titles and lyrics shown synchronously on screen
* 4 Play Modes: Normal, Repeat One, Repeat All, Random
* 6 presets EQ for your music: Normal, Rock, Jazz, Classic, Pop, Bass, Cunstom sound effect
* Show time, week and date with hour, minute, second. manual adjustment.
* E-book format: txt. And file delete function supported
* Built-in game: Russia blocks, Greed snake, Moving box
* FM tuning function: auto / manual scanning and saving , recording
* Support multi-languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, Simple Chinese.
* Built-in speaker and earphone output
* Firmware can be upgraded free from website
* Operating System: Supports Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, VISTA (Window 98 needs driver)

Specification:

* Screen: 1.8" 260K true color TFT, resolution 160*128
* Memory Capacity: 4GB high speed flash memory
* Menu/VOL+/-, PRE/NEXT, PLAY/PAUSE , MODE function buttons for easy operation
* Frequency response: 20Hz to 20KHz
* Audio output power: (L)5mW + (R)5mW (32 Ohm)
* S/N ratio: 85dB
* FM frequency range: 87.5MHz to 108MHz
* USB interface: USB 2.0 high speed
* USB cable: 5 pins
* Earphone jack: 3.5mm standard jack
* Built in rechargeable battery
* Battery performance: 8 hours music playing time while screen off, 5 hours movie playing time
* Power adapter: AC 100-240V 50/60HZ
* Dimension (L x W x H): 51mm x 42mm x 15mm (watchcase)
* Weight: Approx. 60g

n_saneone,

The MTV format is an older format but NO VIDEO compression. The AMV video format has video compression but at a cost of quality.

MTV files are larger because it doesn't have video compression but tend to have better quality.

AMV files are smaller in size, has video compression so is smaller in size than the MTV format, however, quality is not as good.

Generally a player will play either MTV or AMV but not both. I haven't seen one that has, but who knows, it's worth trying once you get your player.

Hope that helps.

Re: 1.8" Widescreen Watch. Are MTV and AMV the same?
 

I did read that it is possible to play both amv and mtv files if one has firmware 3.2.16 or higher. Does anybody know what firmware version this watch has?

Re: 1.8" Widescreen Watch. Are MTV and AMV the same?
 

The spec of that is almost exactly the same as my new player. Similar to a nano, but with a bigger screen. I guess this is a generic model which is sold by various companies. I've seen a few which are the same.

It's a great unit; mine plays AMV files, I haven't tried MTV files though.

Re: 1.8" Widescreen Watch. Are MTV and AMV the same?
 

Thanks for all the input. I will post a full review of this thing when it shows up in a week or so.