The HTC Desire has a big, beautiful screen that just begs for some quality video to show off. But what is the best way for you to convert your favorite videos and transfer them to your Desire? In this guide, we show you what software you need to convert videos for viewing on the Desire, and we also show you how to get your newly converted videos onto your handset.

Requirements:

1. Installed copy of Handbrake software
2. Video files and or DVD of your choice
3. HTC Desire with microUSB cable

Step I: Launch the Handbrake application on your computer and select the video source

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1. Launch Handbrake (figure 1)
2. In the menu on the right-hand side, select the iPod Legacy preset (figure 1)
3. Select your video source by clicking on the Source dropdown menu (we used a DVD for our testing purposes)
4. Select the destination and name for the file once it has been converted (both the .mp4 and .m4v extension work for the Desire)
5. Confirm that the container is set to MP4 File and that Large file size, Web optimized, and iPod 5G support are unchecked

Step II: Adjust Handbrake's Video Settings

Picture Tab:

1. Uncheck Keep Aspect Ratio
2. Set the desired Width and Height (the Desire supports a maximum of 480 x 800 pixels)

Video Tab:

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1. Set Handbrake's encoding settings by clicking on the Video tab (figure 2)
2. Confirm the Video Codec is set as H.264 (x264)
3. Framerate (FPS) should be set to Same as source
4. Under Quality, select the Avg Bitrate (kbps) and change it to 1500

Step III: Adjust audio settings

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1. Set Handbrake's audio settings by clicking on the Audio tab (figure 3)
2. Confirm the Audio Codec is AAC (faac)
3. Mixdown should be set to Stereo
4. Change the Samplerate to 48
5. Change the Bitrate to 160

Step IV: Save as a preset for future use

1. Click on the Presets menu and select New Preset
2. Enter Desire in the dialog box and click Add
3. "Desire" will now be saved as a preset and listed on the right hand side in Handbrake to be used in the future

Step V: Convert the video and copy to your Desire

1. Click on the Start button in Handbrake
2. A command line/DOS window will open and start to process the video conversion
3. Once the conversion is done, mount your Desire on to your computer via USB (figure 4)
4. Once mounted, create a folder named Video in the root folder on the Desire
5. Copy converted file into the Video folder

That's it! The converted video can now be played on your Desire using the Gallery app. It should look fantastic on the Desire's screen as long as the original source was of good quality.

A few things to keep in mind when converting video:

1. The Desire does not like video file sizes over 2GB (the settings in Step II should help insure that the file size is kept under 2GB)
2. Your converted video will only be as good as the source video
3. If your source is over 480 x 800, you must be sure to set the width and height to a maximum of 480 x 800 as noted in Step II

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