Hype about H.264

[Kairo]

I've been hearing a lot of hype about H.264 here lately. Personaly, I'm all about quality. I have a few questions concerning H.264. What is the size to quality ratio of H.264 compared to Xvid, DivX, and MP4V3? What would the difference in file size and quality be of H.264 encoded file and that of an Xvid encoded file that was ecoded with similar settings and at the same bitrate? What container files support H.264, such as AVI, WMV, MOV, OGM, MKV, and MP4? Is H.264 interchangeable with any existing MPEG-4 or other codecs meaning, can a Xvid or DivX decoder decode H.264 content or vice versa? Are there any stand alone DVD players that support H.264? And finaly what are the limitations of the codec?

[Soopafresh]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=96059

Pluses - Excellent quality at lower bit rates than Xvid. The image doesn't macroblock like Mpeg2 and especially Mpeg1 can do.

Minuses - Slow encoding speeds. Playback is CPU intensive, especially HDTV resolution video. Images can have an "oil painting" look to them.

[edDV]

H.264 and VC-1 (Microsoft) are the approved new generation codecs (SD and HD) for the new HD DVD players (HD DVD and Blu-Ray). Both are required to be supported in all players. MPeg2 will continue to be the primary DVD HD format.

Basic links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/h264/
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/h264/faq.html
http://www.vcodex.com/h264.html
http://www.ati.com/products/pdf/H264_Whitepaper.pdf
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=73022
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=674815#post674819

Trends
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25000
http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2433
http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/Tech-Corner/F_Hoffner-03.09.05.shtml
http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=9015

[edDV]

...

Minuses - Slow encoding speeds. Playback is CPU intensive, especially HDTV resolution video.

Things will improve as CPUs increase in power but expect h.264 and VC-1 to be generally supported in display card hardware for decode playback.

Hardware encoders will be widely available.

[jtoolman2000]

What is the size to quality ratio of H.264 compared to

I have a couple of HD 1280x720 clips done with that codec and found at the apple quicktime HD site at

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&hs=PqY&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:eek:f...ime+HD&spell=1

. On a PC LCD screen the image is simply Pristine!!!

A 2 min and some seconds clip on the average runs about 60-70 megs. S-Video from PC to my Toshiba 52" DLP looks fantastic.

[celtic_druid]

and apples AVC codec is nowhere near the best available.

[Kairo]

Thanks everyone for all your input, its been a big help.