Do you want to reduce the resolution of a video because in its original format it is not playable on the multimedia player in your living room or on a mobile device? No problem. Contrary to what many think, reducing the resolution of a movie is not an operation reserved only for editing and computer experts.
If you want to learn how to change video resolution , all you have to do is use some special programs – available for both Windows and macOS, both free and paid – and that’s it. Furthermore, you should know that it is possible to do the same thing also on smartphones and tablets.
If you are interested in this and want to know in more detail what solutions you have on your side to achieve the goal you have set for yourself, go ahead and read this guide. Below you will find those that, in my opinion, represent the best solutions in the category and the relative indications for use: you just have to find the one that best suits you and follow my advice. Happy reading and good work with your videos!
Index
- How to change video resolution on PC
- How to change video resolution on smartphones and tablets
- How to change Android video resolution
- How to change iPhone video resolution
- How to change video resolution online
- How to change YouTube video resolution
- How to change Netflix video resolution
How to change video resolution on PC
You’ve created a video with all the photos from your vacation, or maybe you’ve merged both the photos and videos you’ve recorded into one file so you can show it to your friends. However, when you tried to play it on the TV in your living room, you noticed that the resolution was too low and it looked really bad or, conversely, the resolution is too high and your TV cannot handle the file. , which is played back in jerks. Probably when you edited the video something went wrong, so now you would like to understand how to change video resolution on PC .
No problem, I’m here to help you: below I will tell you about some video editing software that could be useful for you to succeed in your intent.
The first video editing software I want to tell you about is called Avidemux and is one of the best solutions if you need to perform fairly basic operations, such as changing the resolution of a video, thanks to a really intuitive interface. To get the program, all you have to do is go to its official website and proceed with downloading the correct version for your PC, in fact this software is compatible with Windows PC, macOS and Linux. For all the details on how to download and install it, read my dedicated guide .
Once the installation is complete, open Avidemux and load the video you want to edit within the program: click on the File item , at the top left, then on the Open one and select the video . After a few seconds the video will be loaded into the program timeline.
To change the video resolution, all you have to do is press on the drop-down menu of the Video Output section (located in the side menu), select the codec you prefer (I recommend Mpeg4 ASP (xvid4) for greater compatibility), set the Audio Output on Copy (so as not to have to re-encode the audio when exporting the video) and click on the Filters button . On the page that opens, go to the Transform tab and then to swsResize : from the tab that appears, select the resolution you want (by moving the dedicated cursor) and click on the OK button .
To save the file, all you have to do is go to the File> Save menu : decide where to save the file and click on the Save button . The procedure will take a few minutes, as the video will be re-encoded to be resized. For more information on how Avidemux works, check out my tutorial on the subject .
If, on the other hand, you want to use more advanced video editing software, I recommend using DaVinci Resolve , available for download from this page and compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux. It’s 100% free, although there is a paid version with more professional features. To download and install the program (which at the time of writing is only in English), take a look at my dedicated tutorial .
Once installed, open DaVinci Resolve and click the Continue button in the screen that shows you the news of the version in use, then click Skip and start right now . After a few seconds of waiting, necessary for the program to load, you will find yourself in the main screen.
The first thing you need to do is click on the File item in the top bar, then on Import> Media and select the video you want to edit. Once the video is loaded, move it within the timeline by dragging it with the mouse and click on the gear icon at the bottom right.
In the screen that appears, you will find the item Timeline resolution with the video resolution indicated (for example 1920 x 1080 HD ): to change it, click on it and from the drop-down menu choose the resolution you prefer and click on the Save button located in low.
To save the video with the new resolution, click on the File item , then on Quick Export and finally on Export : decide in which folder to save the file and click on the Save button . For more details on how to use DaVinci Resolve , check out my dedicated guide.
How do you say? Don’t the software I suggested you convince you? In this case I suggest you take a look at my tutorial on free video editing programs , where you will find more useful software for this purpose.
How to change video resolution on smartphones and tablets
You shot a nice video with your latest generation smartphone and then sent the video file to a friend of yours, because he absolutely wanted to see it. However, your friend cannot view the video with his smartphone, perhaps because he is unable to play such a high resolution video.
Since you do not have time to turn on the PC and change the resolution of the video, following the instructions I gave you previously, you would like to understand how to change video resolution on smartphones and tablets , in order to speed up the operations.
How to change Android video resolution
If you are using an Android smartphone and want to change the resolution of a video you have previously recorded, you could use the internal editor inside the Gallery app .
Android smartphones use different software customizations based on the brand and therefore also different Gallery apps, so I cannot show you a unique solution valid for all devices.
For example, today I’m going to show you how to change Android video resolution using a Samsung smartphone and the default Gallery app on these devices.
To change the resolution of a video, open the Gallery app, select the video file and tap on the Edit button (a pencil icon) at the bottom. Once the video editing menu is open, tap on the button with the icon of the three dots on the right and from the menu that appears tap on the item Size and format : select the video resolution you prefer among those proposed and tap on the Done button .
Now all you have to do is save the video with the new resolution by tapping on the Save button at the top right and then again on Save from the pop-up that appears on the screen. If, on the other hand, you want to create a new video with the new resolution, without overwriting the original, tap on the button with the three dots at the bottom right and from the menu that appears tap on Save as copy .
If, on the other hand, you are using a Huawei smartphone , open the Gallery app , select the video whose resolution you want to change and tap on the Edit button : once the editing menu is open, tap on the Save button at the top right and from the pop -up that appears select one of the available resolutions (for example Full HD, HD, Standard ) and tap on the OK button : the video will be exported and saved in the Gallery.
Finally, if you are using a Xiaomi smartphone , open the Gallery app , select the video you want to edit and tap on the button with the scissor icon , which will allow you to enter video editing. Once inside the editor, to change the resolution all you have to do is select it using the button at the top that indicates the current resolution (for example 1080p ) and from the drop-down menu select one of the other available resolutions (for example 720p ). Once this is done, tap on the Save button at the top right and wait for the video to export.
How do you say? Would you like to understand how to change the resolution of a video before recording it? No problem, all you have to do is open the Camera app , move to the Video tab and tap on the gear icon : from the menu that appears, choose the resolution of the video (for example 4K ) and the frame rate (for example 30 fps ) And that’s it.
How to change iPhone video resolution
You own an iPhone or iPad and want to change the resolution of a video you’ve recorded or sent to you, you just don’t have a clue how to change iPhone video resolution .
Have you noticed that the iMovie app is installed on your iPhone by default , so understand how to change iMovie video resolution ? Unfortunately this app, just like the Photos app, does not offer the possibility to change the resolution of a video, so you will necessarily have to contact a third-party app.
The app I want to tell you about is called Compressor and is available for free download on the App Store . There are small, minimally invasive advertising banners.
Once the app has been downloaded and installed , open it and, from the main screen, tap on the Compress video item , then from the pop-up that appears on the screen, tap on the item Allow access to all photos . Now select the video you want to edit and tap on the Done button at the bottom right.
In the screen that appears, all you have to do is select the dimensional compression ratio (the lower the resolution will be), and the bit rate : once you have set these data according to your needs (you will find at the top an indication of the final resolution of the video ), tap on the Compress button . To be able to change the frame rate , however, you will necessarily have to buy the Pro version of the app at a one-off price of 1.99 euros , which will also remove the advertising banners.
After a few seconds of waiting, a preview of the video will open with the new resolution: to save the resulting video, touch the Save to album button on the phone .
How do you say? Would you like to increase the resolution of a video? In this case, I don’t recommend using the Inshot app , which I told you about in my tutorial on how to increase the resolution of a video .
Would you like to change the resolution of a video before recording it? To do this, open the Camera app , move to the Video section from the bar at the bottom and select the resolution you prefer by tapping on the numbers at the top right: you can choose both the resolution and the frame rate.
How to change video resolution online
This did not take! Just at the moment you were about to start watching your favorite youtuber’s video or a new episode of a TV series, your connection has stopped working and it looks like the problem won’t be fixed any time soon.
To solve the problem you have decided to make a hotspot with your mobile phone , so that you can continue to use the Internet, but you are afraid of running out of the amount of data you have available with your phone SIM. For this reason, you would like to understand how to change video resolution online , in order to limit, as much as possible, the data consumption of your phone SIM. No problem, you must know that in this case you will have to go and act directly in the settings of the various services you are going to use.
How to change YouTube video resolution
Are you eager to find out how to change YouTube video resolution , so that you can watch videos without the fear of consuming too much data?
In this case, the first thing you need to do is open the video you want to watch. As soon as the video is loaded, press on the gear icon and from the menu that appears click on the Quality item : select the resolution you prefer (the lower the value selected, the lower the data consumption will be, however the resolution will also be reduced ).
In the YouTube app for Android and iOS / iPadOS in the menu with the gear icon , the Data saver item is available , if you want to lower the resolution, and the Superior image quality item , to take advantage of the highest quality. If, on the other hand, you want to select the resolution manually, tap on the Advanced item . For more information take a look at my tutorial on the subject .
How to change Netflix video resolution
Do you want to see the new episode of your favorite TV series but would like to avoid consuming too much data? No problem, now I’ll show you how to change Netflix video resolution .
First go to this web page and log in with your account. Once in the Netflix main screen , click on the avatar at the top right and from the menu that appears click on the Account item .
On the page that appears, click on the arrow next to your account name and from the drop-down menu that appears, click on the Change button next to the Playback settings item : in the screen that opens, choose the quality you prefer, I recommend setting it to Low or Medium , and click on the Save button .
The same thing can also be done through the app, available on Android devices (also on alternative stores ) and on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV . Once the app is open and logged in with your account, tap on the avatar at the top right and then on the App settings item : tap on the Cellular data consumption item , set the lever of the Automatic item to OFF and select the Data Saver item .
