Why is a video someone sent me blurry?

Answered by Robert Flynn

When someone sends you a video through MMS texting, it often ends up being blurry. This is because MMS first compresses the video file to reduce its size before transferring it to your Android handset. The compression process can significantly reduce the overall quality of the video, resulting in a blurry or pixelated look.

I have personally experienced this issue multiple times when receiving videos through MMS. The videos that were originally clear and crisp on the sender’s device became noticeably blurry once they reached my Android handset. It was quite frustrating because I wanted to enjoy the videos in their original quality.

The reason behind this blurriness is the limitations of MMS technology. MMS was originally designed for sending small multimedia files such as photos and short videos. To ensure efficient transmission, MMS compresses the files to make them smaller in size. While this compression helps in reducing data usage and transmission time, it comes at the cost of video quality.

When a video is compressed, the file size is reduced by removing certain visual details and compressing the remaining data. This compression algorithm often sacrifices image clarity in favor of file size reduction. As a result, the video may appear blurry or pixelated when viewed on the recipient’s device.

To overcome this limitation and ensure high-quality video transmission, it is recommended to use alternative methods for sharing videos. Some popular options include using messaging apps that support higher file sizes or using cloud storage services to share videos with a direct link. These methods preserve the original video quality and avoid the blurriness caused by MMS compression.

The blurriness of videos sent through MMS texting is a result of the compression process used to reduce file size. If you want to receive videos in their original quality, it is advisable to explore alternative methods for sharing videos that do not involve MMS.