Which encoder/codec gives the best quality? (*not* speed)

[kaz219]

Which video encoder/codec gives the best ratio quality/size if encoding time isn't relevant? I am hesitating between mencoder/MPEG4 and mencoder/XviD.

It seems to be different options available with the MPEG4 codec (three pass encoding, 4 motions vector) and the XviD codec (cartoon, interlace), and I would think XviD is better in the end, but because of all this options I'm not so sure about it.

Can anybody help me out here?

cheers,
kaz

[DaleMox]

I dont know. But I do know that Xvid's in AVI containers are better supported, so if anything you make you want to share at any point, use that instead of H.264 or mpeg-4

[major]

mencoder XviD should have slightly better quality than mencoder mpeg-4. However if you enable all options that could change. There are no cross-codecs PSNR metrics for now, so to determine if you're satisfied with quality, you should look at the movie itself.

[sturzi]

well, I tryed many different settings with Xvid and mpeg-4 as well, and I came to the conclusion (that's my opinion) that Xvid is slightly better for movies with a lot of motion, but the mpeg-4 codec gives a slightly sharper picture when there is very little motion. (This is with the best options selected, both Xvid and mpeg-4)
I personally prefer Xvid