Does ripping to Divx will replace reencoding to MPEG2?

[astroruben]

Does ripping to Divx will replace reencoding to MPEG2 once Divx capable DVD players will be available? Since MPEG4 offer better compression ratios a the same quality then MPEG2, then I guess even two standard DVD disks will be able to fit at one Divx DVD without noticable differences.

[Craig Tucker]

I guess it will all be down to compatability, and how many mass produced DVD players will be able to play the divx format.

[Gurm]

In my opinion, there are ups and downs to DIVX. The space savings are often negated when you attempt to get the fluidity of motion and level of detail you take for granted in a DVD. For slower-moving movies, dramas for example, DIVX will in fact offer a HUGE space savings. But for fast-motion stuff, your DIVX will in fact balloon in size rather rapidly. You want to encode the latest action blockbuster in DIVX? Get prepared for a shock as you either go all blurry during fast movement or have a DIVX file the size of an MPG2 file!



- Gurm

[MachineMan]

MPEG2 quality is much better and since hard drive space is cheap and 20Gb+ Blue ray discs are on the horizon, MPEG2 DVD format will remain. Of course also very few players play MPEG4.

[Gurm]

MPEG4/Divx/Xvid are excellent where bandwidth is ... "limited". For example Satellite TV or network streaming broadcasts.

However, I think that nobody really anticipated just HOW cheap DVD burners would get, just HOW well DVD would catch on, or just HOW inexpensive they would get to produce.

I think DIVX has its place. It's DEFINITELY how the pirates on the Internet operate, which is not necessarily good... it lends itself to limited bandwidth, etc.

But no it's not replacing DVD anytime soon.

- Gurm

[astroruben]

In my opinion, there are ups and downs to DIVX. The space savings are often negated when you attempt to get the fluidity of motion and level of detail you take for granted in a DVD. For slower-moving movies, dramas for example, DIVX will in fact offer a HUGE space savings. But for fast-motion stuff, your DIVX will in fact balloon in size rather rapidly. You want to encode the latest action blockbuster in DIVX? Get prepared for a shock as you either go all blurry during fast movement or have a DIVX file the size of an MPG2 file!



- Gurm

Why are you comparing DVD quality with internet divx videos which are only800-1800kbps in bitrates. Have you seen divx rips that have have twice as much bitrate? (yes, they wont fit on a CD, but thats the point, they will fit on DVD).

[xtreemkareem]

i have actually seen some awesome quality 2 hour movies in DVD resolution fit onto a single 700 mb CD-R. i have personally never been able to do that bnut before people complain about DivX they should remeber one thing - VCD. True, VCD is much more compatible on a variety of hardware, but fro PC viewing puroses, DivX of the same filesize as an equivalent VCD will look 10 times better.

[Craig Tucker]

MPEG2 quality is much better

This is rather a sweeping statement, and not accurate. Mpeg2 can be better than divx, but conversely divx can also be better than mpeg2. It all depends on how well the file has been encoded and how much bitrate was allocated.

[Gurm]

If processing power is equivalent, MPG2 is "superior" simply because it can achieve better quality with less processing required.

If processing power is irrelevant, MPG4 is "superior" in MOST cases because it can achieve tighter compression with similar quality.

However, I still think that MPG2, in fast-moving shots where the entire contents of the scene changes rapidly and repeatedly... is gonna give you a bit better quality than MPG4. I could be wrong, and would need to spend some time doing some tests to be sure.

But regardless - DVD as a standard with MPG2 video is not going anywhere anytime soon.

- Gurm