Format comparison

[moviebuff2]

Would someone please tell me where to find a chart of comparisons between all different formats (DVD, AVI, SVCD,...) in terms of quality, size, etc.?

Thanks

[mats.hogberg]

It's impossible to do such a comparision. All these formats could come in any size, at any quality.
Adding to that, DVD (I presume you mean Video DVD) and SVCD (and the not mentioned VCD) are disc formats, while AVI is a file format.

/Mats

[redwudz]

At least on this site, there is somewhat of a comparison of disc formats to the left under 'What is'. <<<<<<<<<<<<. For AVI and other file type formats, the 'Glossary' has some information.

[moviebuff2]

I mean from one single source.

For example, for testing purposes, I made 1 MPG2, 1 MPG and 1 AVI files from one single video source. I observe that MPG2 quality is better than MPG and AVI. However, MPG2 takes more disc space.

Therefore, I wonder if there is such comparison chart for all formats so that I may decide which format I want to use for each project.

[moviebuff2]

Hi redwutz,

I saw that in the Glossary. But, I wish to find some type of chart that compares all formats, side by side. Maybe, that does not exist. Perhaps, I should spend some time to create such chart.

[mats.hogberg]

You could well create any of those file types bigger than any other, likewise, you could make any look better than the others.
If anything, AVI has the theoretical capacity for being best, as it can contain uncompressed video (=1:1 copy of the source), but at the price of huge file size.

/Mats

[thecoalman]

I observe that MPG2 quality is better than MPG and AVI.

I'm assuming your comparing Divx AVI..... Low compression AVI like DV-AVI or one using the Huffy codec is capable of much better quality tham MPEG2 using standard bitrates.

Edit: errrr what mat's said....

[ZippyP.]

It's all about bitrate. If it's high enough then most compression types should look about the same as the original source, assuming the resolutions are identical, but some will need to have larger file sizes.

The key difference is that at lower rates some formats are better at keeping quality than others. For example, Divx and Xvid can be 1/2 the size of a similar quality mpeg.

An mpeg1 and an mpeg2 at identical settings (bitrate, resolution) will look the same as each other.

An avi is a container for video that can be divx, xvid, dv or many other types.

Comparing disk types...
In basic terms VCD is the lowest resolution, SVCD is next and full DVD resolution is the highest. So the quality of the video should follow the resolution, but not necessarily. If the bitrate is too low, or if the source resolution is too low then either one can look crappy. DVD has several different resolutions to choose from, that's why I specified full DVD. For more info check "what is dvd" on the top left of this page.

Hope that helps a bit.