Selecting Video Formats to Convert to

[ctdvd]

I use Xpress 4.0 (works great) and was wondering if there is an information resource that provides comparisons of the various video formats, pluses and minuses? For example, converting from QuickTime to Windows Media Format produces a larger file and the quality seems to improve.

Thanks! J

[Baldrick]

What is your goal with the video?

For low file size but with good quality use H264 video and AAC audio, and you can store it in different containers like mov,mp4 or mkv.

And you should be able to specify the output file size by changing the bitrate. Higher bitrate = better quality.

[ctdvd]

Objective would be good quality, smaller file size and what is the best format for these.

[jagabo]

First you need to separate containers and codecs.

What container you use (AVI, MP4, MOV, MKV, WMV, etc.) will depend on the capabilities of your target playback device(s) -- now and in the future(?). Some containers are rather tightly associated with particular codes (WMV3 in WMV container, for example).

Then you need to consider codecs. In general, any codec can deliver very high quality if given enough bitrate (big enough file size). The bitrate required to deliver quality varies. From least compression to most:

MPEG2 (DVD for example)
MPEG 4 part 2 (Divx, Xvid...)
MPEG 4 part 10 (h.264, AVC...)

[ctdvd]

How does this relate to subsequent players of these conversions, do I need to ensure the person I am giving it to can play these formats first or can they be more universal?

Thanks

[jagabo]

You have to verify the person you are sending them to has the appropriate file splitters for the container and the right decoders for the video and audio. Or make sure they have a player with the splitters and decoders built in (MPCHC, KMPlayer, VLC...).