While converting between files to use on your computer is not particularly useful as you can simply install the necessary codecs, converting for mobile devices is often necessary.
Downscaling from 1080p to 720p was very good with minimal compression artefacts, but some tinkering with the settings was necessary to get the quality just right. There were no issues in any of the conversions I made, and I tested out most of the formats it supports, save for a couple. Simply put, the actual converting function works, and it works very well. It’s sometimes disappointing to see the lack of codec support on Android devices, so using a converter is necessary sometimes, and due to the popularity of the platform it should have been included with greater support in this Video Converter. It would have been nice to see support for other Android screen resolutions such as 480 x 854, qHD or even tablet resolutions under a dedicated heading like the several Apple-related headings, but this must have been overlooked.
Also, if you have an iPhone, you can choose the profiles for that there are Android and Windows Mobile (not WP7) profiles but these essentially convert to MP4 with an appropriate screen resolution. If, for example, you wanted to convert your MKV movies to watch on your PS3 or Xbox 360, you can choose any of the formats under those headings and it will work on your respective devices. The video converter also comes with loads of pre-set profiles for different devices.
It supports all the popular filetypes (AVI, MP4, MKV, MOV, WMV, etc.) and even others such as FLV and GIF files (not that I would recommend converting a 1080p movie to a GIF file). First off, it has to be mentioned just how many formats this converter will take.
Now, here is the important stuff: how the software goes at actually converting files. Also, there are two other visual styles to choose from if you really dislike the silver default one, but to me the default one is fine. I’m not too sure that I would ever need to use the preview window, but I’m sure some people would use it. Honestly, there is nothing I can really find that I dislike about the interface here. It’s also great to see that Sothink Video Converter does not hide away important information or buttons via context menus, instead opting to include all relevant information in the one, uncrowded window. There is also a small preview window to view your files in, just in case you have forgotten exactly what you are converting. With this information easily displayed and more available via a simple mouse-over, you can very easily make decisions on your encoding profiles via the settings on the left hand side. The majority of the window is occupied by the list of files that you are planning on converting, as well as basic information about these files. For basic users, the drop down Encoding Profile menu will be sufficient advanced users can tinker with the settings in the Advanced tab. You load videos you want to convert via the buttons along the top, and on the left hand side is the information regarding the codec you will be converting to. Sothink Video Converter includes a fantastic and very easy to use interface. The guys over at Sothink were kind enough to provide me with a license for the paid version for their Video Converter, which allows more output formats and an ad-free interface without watermarks. Today I’m looking at Sothink Video Converter which hopefully will fulfil my requirements. Sure, there are plenty of video converters out there - many of them are free to use - but there are times when I just need a converter that’s extremely easy to use, quick to convert and supports a wide variety of formats.