Question

I have a 1000×1500 pixel bitmap of which I want to make a mutable copy in Android.

When I run the following code…

// int width = original.getWidth(); // 1000px
// int height = original.getHeight(); // 1500px
final Bitmap result = original.copy(original.getConfig(), true);
original.recycle();

…I get an OutOfMemoryError on the copy line:

java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: bitmap size exceeds VM budget
ERROR/GraphicsJNI(419): VM won't let us allocate 6000000 bytes

Why does the copy instruction need 6MB (!) for a 1000×1500 pixel bitmap?

How can I create a mutable bitmap from a non-mutable one in more memory-efficient way?

Edit

BitmapFactory returns inmutable bitmaps. Apparently, the only way of creating a mutable bitmap from an immutable one is to copy it into a new mutable bitmap. In the case of a 1000×1500 bitmap, this apparently requires 12MB (1000x1500x4x2), which causes an OutOfMemoryError in most Android devices.

Is this problem unsolvable in Android then?

Answer 1

cdonner put me in the right direction.

Turns out that the original bitmap was using ARGB_8888, which requires 32 bits per pixel and is more than what was needed for this particular app.

Changing the bitmap config to RGB_565, which requires 16 bits per pixel, reduced memory consumption by half.