which mjpeg codec is best?

[freakyalbino]

which mjpeg coedc is best, or do you have one thats better:

PICVideo™ MJPEG Codec v2
http://www.pegasusimaging.com/picvideomjpeg.htm

or

Morgan M-JPEG Codec V3
http://www.morgan-multimedia.com/technicalsV3.htm

[kenmo]

Have you made a decision on which one is the better ?

[Heavensent]

picvideo is grate,
as long as you set it for something between 18-20.
anything lower doesnt look that good.

but im very happy with it, its a wonderfull codec.

[Bullworth]

Use PICVideo alot for anime and VHS transfers. Love the quality. Can't really offer an opinion about Morgan; onl installed it once but had too many options to fiddle with so I removed it almost immediately

[Will Hay]

I've only used PicVideo and love it.
One tip, stick with quality 19 rather than 20.
The quality increase in marginal and a third fof the file size.
Will

[Ego_Shredder]

I've tried both and find PicVideo the best by a mile. It uses less CPU power, looks better and doesn't install any extra crap like the Morgan one does.


Ego

[MrKGB]

I also use PicVideo @ 19 quality setting and it looks great. At 18 I can see some artifacts.

[disturbed1]

I use the Morgan codec for decoding hardware encoded MJPEG from another machine.

The decoding of Morgan is much better than PIC video's. Not sure about the encoding properties of either codec, never used them to encode.

[Bilal]

i use picvideo but last i recorded a show over an hour long and it was out of synch by the end of it what happened and what should i do? i use a very small capturing program called amcap.

[MrKGB]

Bilal,
The sync problem has nothing to do with codec.
Try VirtualVCR, and select "Resample Audio Dynamically" in AVIsync tab.
This should fix the sync problem.

[txpharoah]

When I capture on a MAC that has DV capture, I use the PICVIDEO MJPEG codec. Never compared to the Morgan. I never use MJPEG. It's either MPEG2 (to convert) or AVI (to edit with) for me.

[vitualis]

PicVideo @ 19 is great if you don't mind SOME artifacts. PicVideo @ 20 is IMHO near lossless. I've never used the other MJPEG codec but PicVideo's one has quite good quality and is easy on the CPU.

For a while I used LeadTools MJPEG codec as well (trial version). Quality wise, I think that the LeadTools one was better (less artifacts, for same size) but it was much more CPU intensive.

Regards.

[thefox149]

I use this codec all the time....I have Used it both at 20 and at 19 Currently capping at 20 but the file size sometimes is not practicle...but quality is a must as I am doing wedding VHS transfers....

I use 19 for my own capping of cable TV etc


what are some of you expert users settings???

[SatStorm]

I have tried them both.
With PicVideo I use 19 for VHS, 20 for SVHS and sometimes 18 if the source come from a bad DVB channel (like the ones from sky digital). Since the quality there sucks and filtering is neccessary, it won't help me capture higher.
With Morgan, sometimes the quality looks somehow better, when I insert s-video.
After filtering and the encoding to mpeg 2, I can't say for real if the source come from morgan or picvideo.

I also believe that decompress mpeg 2 to avi, is better with any mjpeg codec than decompress to huffyuv. Maybe because mjpeg is relative to mpeg? I don't know....

[Will Hay]

When I capture on a MAC that has DV capture, I use the PICVIDEO MJPEG codec. Never compared to the Morgan. I never use MJPEG. It's either MPEG2 (to convert) or AVI (to edit with) for me.

Perhaps I'm gonna'; show my ignorance here but it won't be the first time.
So if I capture with PicVideo MJPEG using Virtualdub (edit with Studio 8.5 and save as an avi) and then use TMPGEnc to convert to 8000 mpeg2 I'm not actually capturing as an avi in the first place?

I never use MJPEG. It's either MPEG2 (to convert) or AVI (to edit with) for me.

This is what's confusing me
Thanks,
W.

[jtan]

have you guys tried out the Picvideo Lossless MJPEG?

thanks!

[IJM]

have you guys tried out the Picvideo Lossless MJPEG?

<Stands up at back of room and shouts "Yes! I have!">

Seriously,

I've been using it as an alternative to Huffyuv (that being the only other lossless CODEC I know). I did a test, taking the exact same 10 minute sample of live action video (720x576 interlaced) and compressed it with both CODECs and leaving out the audio. The Huffy file compressed to 57% (compared to an uncompressed AVI). Picvideo's Lossless MJPEG was slightly smaller at 54%.

Bear in mind though that's just one test, other samples may compress differently. Having said that, I do remember reading somewhere (probably here on dvdrhelp.com) that, overall, the Picvideo Lossless MJPEG offers slightly better compression than Huffy.

But also, on playback, I find that Huffy files don't play smoothly even with my machine (see my profile). The lossless MJPEG is much less of a problem.

Obviously, the lossy MJPEG CODECs being discussed in this thread compress much better still. Picvideo's lossy MJPEG achieved a compression of 28% with a setting of 20 (ie. max quality) with the same 10 minute file.

I hope this helps.

Ian.