WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion users. One of the key features of WhatsApp is the ability to send videos in chats and groups. However, many users have noticed that WhatsApp compresses or reduces the size of videos when sending them through the app. There are several technical reasons why WhatsApp reduces video size and quality.
Limitations of Messaging Apps
Unlike dedicated video streaming or sharing platforms, messaging apps like WhatsApp are not optimized for transferring large video files. Messaging apps have the following limitations when it comes to videos:
- Limited bandwidth – Most messaging apps rely on mobile data networks which have bandwidth limitations. Sending uncompressed HD or 4K videos will consume large amounts of data bandwidth.
- Storage limitations – Most messages and attachments in messaging apps are stored on the phone’s storage. Storing many uncompressed videos will quickly fill up storage.
- Processing limitations – Video compression and decompression requires significant processing power, especially for phones and tablets. Sending uncompressed videos also taxes device processors.
Due to these technical constraints, WhatsApp and other messaging apps have to compress videos to reduce their file size before transferring them.
Optimizing Speed and Data Usage
WhatsApp’s primary goal is to quickly transfer videos and other multimedia between users while optimizing mobile data usage. Some key stats about WhatsApp video transfers:
- 400 million videos shared per day
- Average WhatsApp video is 16MB in size
- 65 billion messages sent per day
If WhatsApp did not compress videos, transferring hundreds of millions of uncompressed videos daily would have a huge impact on data networks. Video compression helps manage data bandwidth usage since WhatsApp has such a massive user base.
| Resolution | Uncompressed Size | Compressed Size |
|---|---|---|
| 720p | 500MB (for 60 sec) | 16MB (on WhatsApp) |
| 1080p | 750MB (for 60 sec) | 24MB (on WhatsApp) |
As you can see in the table above, video compression drastically reduces the file size, from 500MB down to 16MB in the case of a 60 second 720p video.
Optimizing Performance
In addition to reducing data usage, compressing videos also helps optimize performance and resource usage on smartphones. Key considerations:
- Processing power – Compressed videos require less computation power for encoding/decoding on senders’ and recipients’ phones.
- Battery life – Transferring and storing uncompressed videos taxes phone batteries due to power needed for processing large files.
- Storage – Compressed videos take up less storage space on devices.
By reducing video file sizes through compression, WhatsApp is able to speed up transfers and reduce strain on phone resources like battery and storage.
Maintaining Quality
WhatsApp uses video compression algorithms to minimize video size while trying to maintain acceptable visual quality. The compression techniques include:
- Resolution reduction – Videos are resized to lower resolutions like 480p or 720p before sending.
- Bitrate reduction – The number of bits consumed to encode each second of video is lowered.
- Frame rate reduction – Lower frame rates require fewer frames to encode/decode.
Advanced video codec standards like H.264 and H.265 are used to compress videos efficiently. The algorithms attempt to compress video in ways that minimize perceptual quality loss. However, extremely high levels of compression will inevitably reduce visual quality – for example reducing fine details in the image.
User Control Over Compression
While WhatsApp compresses videos automatically, users do have some control over compression levels in the app settings:
- Toggle auto-download for videos – This prevents automatic downloads and allows manually controlling when to download videos.
- Select video upload quality – Options are Data saver, Auto (default), Best quality. This allows user to pick compression level.
However, even at Best quality setting, there will still be significant compression compared to the original video file. The video bitrate is still capped at a maximum of 512 kbps by WhatsApp.
Comparison With Other Apps
It is not only WhatsApp that compresses user-shared videos. Most messaging apps use video compression to optimize file size, performance and data usage:
| App | Video Compression |
|---|---|
| Yes, maximum 512kbps bitrate | |
| Facebook Messenger | Yes, maximum 4MB file size |
| Telegram | Yes, maximum 1.5MB per second bitrate |
| Signal | Yes, caps video resolution at 1080p |
The actual compression algorithms and limits vary across apps. But the core goal remains to optimize and restrict video file sizes for messaging purposes.
Workarounds for Sending Uncompressed Videos
If users want to send original quality videos without compression from their phones, there are a couple of workarounds:
- Use file transfer apps like ShareIt, Xender to transfer original videos between devices
- Upload videos to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox and share the link on WhatsApp instead of uploading the video directly
- Connect phone and computer via USB and transfer videos directly while appearing as external storage
However, these workarounds defeat the purpose of conveniently sending videos directly through messaging apps. Also, they consume mobile data through alternatives like cloud sharing services.
Conclusion
WhatsApp compresses and reduces video size automatically due to limitations of messaging apps related to bandwidth, storage, processing power and optimizing data usage. While compression impacts video quality, there are benefits related to transfer speeds and performance. Users have some options to control quality levels, but cannot send completely uncompressed videos. Workarounds exist but reduce the convenience of sharing directly via messaging apps. Overall, the video compression approach makes tradeoffs designed to balance quality, speed and data usage for billions of WhatsApp users worldwide.