differences between dv type-1, type-2 & AVI

[benbaker]

Can someone provide me with information regarding the differences between DV Type-1, DV Type-2 & AVI files. I am looking for what's the best format to capture my MiniDV tapes to my computer. Storage space is not a limiting factor. I have always thought that AVI is the best to capture in since you don't lose any quality to compression but I just recently discovered these capture formats and want to make sure I am choosing the best quality possible.

[lenti_75]

DV1 and DV2 are AVI files....avi is just a container, it can contain diferent file types, divx, xvid, uncompressed....

the only difference between 1 and 2 is the audio format, DV2 uses PCM, and DV1 uses....forgot what. Anyway, the PCM is longer, but the quality is better...

so, if you want the best quality, use DV2, then compress to MPG2, and don't go lower on bitrate than 5000.

[piano632]

Both DV1 and DV2 have PCM audio. The only difference between the two is the way the audio track is stored. DV1 interleaves it with the video track which should make sync issues non-existent and it takes up slightly less space than DV2 (but not much though). DV2 has separate audio and video tracks which makes it easy for editing each track independently. I don't see any difference in quality between the two.

See here for the complete explanation of DV1 and DV2:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/dvavi.mspx

[benbaker]

So to be more specific, I am using Nero VisionExpress 2 and have 3 options to capture. If disk space isn't a worry should I capture at AVI non compressed, without using type 1 or type 2?

[thecoalman]

It will be a AVI whether you capture using DV1 or DV2. The DV file wheter it be type1 or type2 is stored in the AVI file. It's kinda like packaging, it's a generic extension for many types of video.

DV1 and DV2 are essentially the same. Both will produce the same quality. The only issues that I have seen posted about choosing between the two are software related. Some editing programs don't work well with one or the other. From my experience the only thing you get with a uncompessed AVI file is a huge file. Do some comparisons, I doubt you will see much difference.

[junkmalle]

AVI files contain a header with some global information (like dimensions of the video, etc) followed by labled "streams" of video and/or audio data. Logically a typical (non DV) AVI looks like:

Header information
video frame 1
audio frame 1
video frame 2
audio frame 2
video frame 3
audio frame 3...

DV capture normally doesn't split the video and audio into separate streams when it saves to an AVI file. This is called "Type 1". The stream is labled as a video stream within the AVI file but it contains both video and audio:

Header information
video (and audio) frame 1
video (and audio) frame 2
video (and audio) frame 3...

Some software doesn't know how to handle the combined DV video and audio so "Type 2" DV AVI files have a second copy of the audio in it's own stream:

Header information
video (and audio) frame 1
audio frame 1
video (and audio) frame 2
audio frame 2
video (and audio) frame 3
audio frame 3...

Programs that look for separate video and audio streams will find them in a Type 2 file.

Since the audio requires much less space than the video the "Type 2" files are only about 5 percent larger than "Type 1".