preferred video format?

[atxdiablo]

I have looked around trying to find out what is the better format to convert my videos too.
I have ogm, mp4, avi, divx, xvid, and i think a few others.
I primarily view on my pc, which is windows. I am wanting to make them all the same format, hopefully smalll file size but still have the good video quality.

[edDV]

I have looked around trying to find out what is the better format to convert my videos too.
I have ogm, mp4, avi, divx, xvid, and i think a few others.
I primarily view on my pc, which is windows. I am wanting to make them all the same format, hopefully smalll file size but still have the good video quality.

Conversion will reduce quality especially for TV display. It will also take many many hours of computation. If that is ok, wmv is as good as any. Windows Media Encoder can be batched to save manual loading.

[linyx]

Use h.264 and AAC video and audio formats in an MKV container
Staxrip and Handbrake work well for encoding to these formats

[Krispy Kritter]

For PC use, don't change them at all. Any conversion will further reduce quality.

[redwudz]

My 'fix' for multiple format playback on a PC is VLC Media Player. It works with most any format without adding additional codecs. If you add Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative players, you can also play back those formats.