What is the PQ of Windows Media 9?

[jim15800]

Does anyone know what the PQ is using Windows Media 9 as the recording format? Thanks in advance for any information.

[redwudz]

Just my opinion, but WM9 sucks in every way imaginable and what the hell does PQ stand for? (If you are wondering why you got no responses till now)

[tag]

Just my opinion, but WM9 sucks in every way imaginable and what the hell does PQ stand for? (If you are wondering why you got no responses till now)

PQ = Picture Quality? However, I'm thinking the reason there are no responses may be due to the fact that your opinion of WM9 is shared by many. :P

[Baldrick]

Please try post in correct forum. Or are you talking about wmv deskstop recorders??

[jim15800]

The Malata diva-2 records in wmf9. When I posted a question on the picture quality of that unit I received no responses. Which forum is the correct one?

[Suntan]

avsforum is the correct forum for wmv. They seem to be quite taken with it, and are relatively more open to the whole M$ death grip DRM system included.

-Suntan

[lordsmurf]

It's a streaming format as far as I'm concerned.

I keep hearing this in past months:
"xvid is better than MPEG2"
"MPEG4 is better than MPEG2"
"divx is better than MPEG2"
"wmv is better than MPEG2"
"HD is better with MPEG4, down with MPEG2"

As far as I know xvid = divx = wmv = MPEG4
They're all FourCC MPEG4 variants.
And MPEG4 isn't really an MPEG like MPEG1/2, just share the name.

None of them are better than MPEG2 as far as I'm concerned.
Plus most people only think of MP@ML when they talk of "MPEG2" and the specs go a whole hell of a lot higher than DVD.

PQ = blah .. I can watch it .. but it's no miracle.
I don't know what's next for video .. but it's not here yet.
I think all MPEG4, etc is a fad, maybe a stepping stone at most for the next true high quality replacement format.

I've seen some "HD" WMV files, but nothing that impressed me too much more than a good DVD.

[Suntan]

Chill out lordsmurf.

You are just going to have to come to grips with the fact that there is this thing called MPEG4 and that people do actually use AND PREFER it to MPEG2 for some encoding jobs!

Before you get all pissed off relize I said "for some encoding jobs" feel free to get pissy with anyone that states "MPEG4 is better than MPEG2 and thats all you need to know!"

As far as I know xvid = divx = wmv = MPEG4

That is completely false. First xvid and divx are both MPEG4 codecs, but there are important differences. Second WMV is a propritary codec that is not MPEG4 compliant.

If you want to get hot and bothered about something direct it at the people that deserve it, the ones that continue to post because they don't understand why there P.O.S. illegal Xvid download is out of sync when they try to copy it onto DVD.... 8)

-Suntan

[tekkieman]

Our products are based on wmv, and they are for broadcast purposes. We are also now using wmv for HD as well. Mind you, I'm not saying it's better or worse than anything else, but...

Just my opinion, but WM9 sucks in every way imaginable

...might be a little harsh.....

[lordsmurf]

Suntan, nothing for me to get pissed at. I just don't think it's the next thing. It may potentially be slightly better, but it's not revolutionary like it's hyped to be. And like I said, so many more MPEG2 options still unused by the masses.

I know WMV is proprietary, but I was sure it has some relation to MPEG4.

I don't give much thought to these formats. Most of them are special use or underground use.

[DVD_Ripper]

We have a proprietary system ($50K) we've purchased that actually is encoding the video at 1024x768 and also does a secondary capture (has dual capture boards) of the computer screen (presentation) also at 1024x768. Both are captured to some proprietary MPEG4 file. (these files are then processed into web / dvd / or computer based replay files.

But the fact is that many vendors are coming out with 'odd' MPEG4 settings since the format is still a tad wide open.

[Suntan]

I know WMV is proprietary, but I was sure it has some relation to MPEG4.

Kind of like saying a Hummer and a Prius are related because they both have 4 wheels.

I don't give much thought to these formats.

That is a shame as they offer a lot if you know what type of settings to use, and other than the price of my computer (with HD), I haven't had to pay a penny to use it.

Further, I certainly couldn't take a copy of Black Hawk Down and Return of the King on my IPAQ (via one 512mb SD card) with me to the inlaws this weekend using MPEG2.

Most of them are special use or underground use.

Yes, a lot of the illegal movie downloads are available in this format because it allows for such high compression, but you know that overall this statement is false. It is no more special use than getting DVDshrink to work, and as more and more settops come out it becomes more and more common.

And like I said, so many more MPEG2 options still unused by the masses.

I would be very interested in a Howto that explained how to get more use out of Mpeg2. Preferably using Freeware and how to do an average movie to look good at 2gb or less, but that would be getting off topic.

-Suntan

[Tom Roper]

WM9 is 3 times more efficient than mpeg2 and twice as efficient as mpeg4.

Not only, it supports true HDTV formats, 720p, 1080i/p. <-- because of that, the picture quality blows away DVD and mpeg2. It is as good as you want it to be, depending on the encoder quality settings you select. It takes a long time to encode an HDTV mpeg2-TS (transport stream) to wm9 at the best quality settings. But if you do...stunning PQ equal to the source. You can fit 2 hours of 720p HDTV on one 4.7gb single layer DVD disk. With performance like that, you have to wonder why anyone will bother with HD-DVD or BlueRay.

Yes, I have encoded to WM9 using TMPGEnc 3.0 Xpress. The PQ is fabulous. Joe Kane has reviewed WM9, and made the same conclusion.

I'm amazed by so many ignorant responses from people who apparently want this format to fail without knowing anything about it, or without using it for themselves.

There are 3 announced WM9 DVD players, the Malata Diva-2 (DV-469) is available right now, the KISS (from Denmark) may be shipping now, and the promised Bravo D3 seems to have been delayed. Or you can play WM9 DVDs on an appropriately configured PC through a DVI output to your home theater monitor.

WM9 is nothing more than a super efficient codec. The efficiency makes possible high quality recordings on conventional low density media, i.e. 4.7gb DVD, and also makes possible streaming and downloading content over the internet.

How good these announced WM9 DVD players are, is unknown. I can't find a single review. What is certain, is that you can use a high end PC graphics card with DVI output, the included Windows Media Player, and you've got PQ no NTSC mpeg2 DVD player can approach. With Windows Movie Maker, you add titles and menus structures as with standard DVDs.

Before you start slinging arrows...NO, I DO NOT WORK FOR M.S....I am a hobbyist just like most of you.

[Lucien]

I agree. By the way also note that WMV, Divx currently are on track to be approved as standard for the next DVD format (according to sound and vision) among some other formats. Imo mpeg2 is an old format and it shows his age (like mp3 however not such an issue since space disadvantage is not as huge as video).

[lapaz]

From the different codecs I tried (WM9, Divx and Real9) WM9 gives the best picture quality for highly compressed video footage.

Read this article for another opinion:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1544886,00.asp

[Suntan]

@lapaz

I would suggest trying Xvid 1.0.1. For highly compressed video, multi B frames helps a lot.

-Suntan

[rhegedus]

Does anyone know what the PQ is using Windows Media 9 as the recording format? Thanks in advance for any information.

As with most things, it depends on the bitrate.

Movie Maker has some impressive mwv templates that should cater for all needs.

Here are a few of my samples:

ASTON_DB9

LOTUS_EXIGE

[Baldrick]

please stick to the topic next time. desktop wmv recorders.