Quality Factor

[galehickey]

I have a program that is a Movie and Streams Viewer. One of the attrributes it addresses is Quality Factor expressed in b/px. I looked at several avi and mpg files and they range from .10 b/px to .45 b/px. What range is "acceptable"? Thanks.

[jimmalenko]

Quality is in the eye of the beerholder, I say

It depends on the source quality, the frame size used, the codec used, and your intended destination (if converting to something else) for this number to have any meaning.

[galehickey]

Thanks.

[kschang]

It also depends on the frame being compressed. A quiet scene can have a very low bitrate and still maintain good quality, while a full action scene with things flying all over the place will need a very high bitrate for the same number of pixels.

[galehickey]

"...with things flying all over the place will need a very high bitrate for the same number of pixels. "

Makes sense. Thanks.

[ROF]

It also depends on your end product display. An iPod and a 52" plasma have two very different requirements to achieve quality results.