What is better to archive files and quality encoding

[jgandara]

I want to store some videos, but I don't know if I should use Divx or Xvid. I'm worried if I use Divx, in the future I'll have compatibility problems or the codec will be obsolete (like Divx 3.1). Is Xvid codec better? or should I go with the latest Divx 5.1x

I already have the files as avi or mpeg, but I think I'll have to recompress them to whatever codec I choose.

Another question: when encoding if you choose quality 100%, that means you will keep the quality the file already has?. .I'm not concern on losing quality here, but I want at least to keep the same quality, should I choose 100% quality?

[BJ_M]

if you want to keep the same quality -- leave them as mpeg2 .. compressing a mpeg2 file to divx OR xvid will lose quality but the file will be much smaller ..

[jgandara]

Even if i keep them to 100% quality?

[BJ_M]

even if you keep them to 100% quality you will lose quality because you are compressing to a (highly compressed) lossy format (from a lossy format no less) ..

the tradeoffs may be ok to you -- do a small bit and see if its ok to your judgement

[jgandara]

Which format has better quality? Divx or Xvid?.

I'm also thinking on buyin a DVD player with Divx and Xvid support, so I'd like to have all my movies in any of those formats. Mpeg can be played too, but it's too big. I'd like to have VHS quality. They are videos for my daughter, so as long as she can see/hear them, it's fine.

[theDruid]

If you're worried about a codec becoming obsolete, I'd stick with DivX5.

It's moving towards being a widely accepted standard now (e.g. the standalone players that are DivX certified.)

xVid is good, but it's not really at the same stage of development as DivX.

It's always tempting fate to make predictions, but I think xVid is more likely to have been through some radical changes (new builds and versions) in a few years' time than DivX is.

At least anything DivX come out with should be fairly well backwards compatible with the 5.1 codec. The same may not be true for whatever build of xVid you use right now.

cheers,
mcdruid.

P.S. - as for which is better... that's not an easy question to answer, and you'll not find much consensus of opinion. Have a look at the codec comparison over at doom9 for a fairly objective view.

[jgandara]

Thank you for that link, so I'm still deciding between Divx and xvid. I'll do my own tests