3 Videos Mostly Vary in Bitrate...how important is it?

[justravis]

i have 3 videos that seem to mostly vary in bitrates (and file size of course)..when i play them, i cant tell the difference on my monitor or ANCIENT CRT TV! Would you reccomend I just keep the smallest file size or would the larger bitrates somehow make a difference once i upgrade my television?

File extension File size Duration Overall bit rate Video_Format_WithHint_List Video0 Width Video0 Height Video0 Display aspect ratio Video0 Scan type Video0 Bit rate Video0 Frame rate Audio_Format_WithHint_List Audio0 Bit rate Audio0 Channel(s)
mp4 1473009605 1:36:43 2030602 AVC 1280 720 1.778 Progressive 1790000 23.976 AAC 241304 6

mkv 4692305155 1:36:43 6468611 AVC 1280 720 1.778 Progressive 5827000 23.976 AC-3 640000 6

avi 2344323072 1:36:43 3231807 MPEG-4 Visual (XviD) 1280 720 1.778 Progressive 2771910 23.976 AC-3 448000 6

[guns1inger]

I would expect AVC to give you the same or better quality at smaller bitrates than Xvid, simply because it is a better compression codec.

The MKV file will have noticeable better quality than both of the other files on a larger TV, and has better audio if you have a surround system.

That said, quality is in the eye of the watcher. There are still people who swear that a 700MB Xvid encoded AVI file is 'DVD Quality'. If space is at a premium then chose the smallest file that meets your particular quality threshhold.

[PuzZLeR]

CRT TVs are more forgiving of bad quality than a more modern screen such as, say, LCD. Once you upgrade your television, any flaws or differences will likely be more noticeable.

Yes, AVC should compress more than Xvid, meaning more quality at the same bitrate, or less bitrate for similar quality. And this difference between the two as well becomes more noticeable at lower bitrates. (Keep in mind that MP4, MKV and AVI are containers only - it's what's inside them that counts).

Yes, as 'Slinger said - it's up to you, your tastes and eyes up till your quality/size limits.

But if you want to get analytic and do a real comparison on a computer screen - frame by frame - the best way is with AviSynth (assuming all files are the same dimensions).

Interleave(clip1, clip2, clip3)

Then you can preview it in VirtualDub.

What this does is take the same frame from each, in sequence, then the next frame for each, all three in sequence, then the next, etc. You can compare as many frames as you like using your left and right keys to see if there's a noticeable difference in quality.