Newb Q: Best quality format?

[sleepy180]

Hi all. i know next to nothing about dvd's extensions converting and all that other stuff so bear with me.

im wondering what type of files are better quality. are .avi the best? .ogm .mkv? im downloading something and i have three choices; one i can get the file in a .avi format, and the second, i can get the same file in a .mkv format, and the last i can get the same file in a .ogm.

now i know that mkv and ogm have dual audio while .avi doesnt but im just wondering which file will be the best quality in terms of picture and sound. I'm asking this because i plan to burn it onto a dvd so i can watch it on tv.

does the file format even matter? i read something about how when you burn it onto dvd it converts the file or something and that there are different qualities you can burn something at so does that make the file format of the original file unimportant? i just want to get the best file possible so that it will look the best after its been burned onto dvd.

thanks for any help.

[lordsmurf]

You're completely lost. You need to read.

https://www.videohelp.com/dvd
http://www.digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/basics/dvdintro.htm

For starters, quit downloading. That is the sewer of video quality.

For DVD, everything must be MPEG format. There are no options.

[pchan]

You can get a DVD player that support Divx. These players support avi files in Divx format. Most p2p avi files are in Divx format. Save you the hussle of converting to DVD.

[jtoolman2000]

For starters, quit downloading. That is the sewer of video quality.

Agreed! A total waste of your time and your bandwidth. These downloads are totally worthless and it they are of comercial movies as I suspect, totally ILLEGAL not to mention their quality sucks. But if you just can't resist the urge, get your self a Divx DVD player as mentioned and you can then play these files directly to your TV. When you see how crappy they look, then go out to the nearest Video store and simply purchase the original and be marveled at how great the real thing looks.

Best bet, invest on a small miniDV cam and go out and explore the neighborhood with it. Come back and transfer that footage and basically spend the your valuable time learning the process of raw video - editing - correcting - authoring to a final format be it DVD, VCD or hell, even divx. Just please don't waste you time with the crap that comes through the p2p boards.

[celtic_druid]

Most p2p avi files use XviD for video compression, not DivX. The DivX format is based on avi and I would guess most .divx files use DivX for compression, although I guess any MPEG-4 codec would work.

The container doesn't really matter in terms of generic contains like mkv, avi, ogm since they could contain numerous different compressed streams.

mkv will generally have lower overhead than avi or ogm though. So if you had the same video and one vorbis audio stream, the mkv would be better quality for the same size since more space could be dedicated to the video.

[sleepy180]

thanks for the help. i'm also wondering, are even the dvd .iso files that are available to download poorer quality then if i were just to buy the dvd and back it up?

[Krispy Kritter]

There is no way of knowing if the .iso files are originals from the disc or if they have been compressed.

If it is a non altered iso image, quality will be the same.

If a dual layer disc image was converted (conpressed) into a single layer iso, then the image will be worse.

[celtic_druid]

If it is a scene release it would come with an nfo telling you what was removed, compressed, etc.

[lordsmurf]

This conversation needs to not stray towards "downloading originals". This is warez discussion. Stop.

[Abond]

The best format is avi uncompressed. BTW it can have til 99 sound tracks.

[thegeeman]

This conversation needs to not stray towards "downloading originals". This is warez discussion. Stop.

True!!! As for poor quality downloads on divx-i disagree; I've downloaded LEGITIMATE films and i must admit the quality is crisp!!! But to agree with Lordsmurf this thread is in danger of going totally off on a tangent!! Warez are NOT approved of and i wholeheartedly agree.

And now for the cocky replies that i'm merely fuelling it by replying to this!!!!

Just a quick point-Look on an ISO as merely a container for what is in it-could be data;mpeg;avi etc etc. The quality depends on what first went in it-Crap in, Crap out!!!