Which format would convert better to DVD: M-JPEG or MPEG4?

[bnelson]

I'm looking at two digital cameras that can both record 640x480 30fps movies. One saves the files in M-JPEG format, the other in MPEG4. In terms of video image quality, is one of those formats better than the other when authoring a DVD? My software can accept both formats, but I was wondering if one would lose more quality during the MPEG2 transformation.

[daamon]

The easy way is to look up the amount of compression that each codec provides. More Compression = Lower Quality - basically, compression is throwing away information.

Absolute best = lossless. This is raw video.
Very low compression is something like DV AVI at 25 Mbps.
Then fairly low is DVD with a max bitrate around 8 - 9 Mbps.

And so on...

Look up both M-JPEG and MPEG-4 to see. I don't know either, so can't comment.

[Baldrick]

MJPEG is usually less compressed than MPEG-4...but you can't store that many minutes on your camera then.

[Cornucopia]

One of the likely differences is that MJPEG is all I-frames, whereas MPEG4 would probably be a standard GOP (I-B-P).

MPEG4 is gonna have better compression efficiency (and therefore much smaller filesizes), but whether this will maintain the quality or not will depend on a lot of factors-program material, tripod-vs-handheld, etc.
MJPEG is gonna be easier to edit, if that's what you had planned to do with material you shoot with this cam.

You ought to be allowed to do a test with each one before you buy. Stores that don't let you do that should be avoided.

Scott

[rumplestiltskin]

If you're looking at video and want to talk quality, forget what any still camera can provide. Just get a DV-camcorder and be done with it. Anything less is, at best, a compromise and, therefore, quality is really not part of the discussion.

[Cornucopia]

Can't argue with the man...


Scott

[bnelson]

The M-JPEG camera stores 8min in 1gig and the MPEG4 camera stores 33 minutes in 1gig. A huge difference in file sizes.

And I do have a DV camera. Obviously if I'm looking for good video I'll use that. But there are times when I only have my digital camera, and I want to make sure that any videos I take with it will retain as much quality as possible even if they are lower quality to begin with.

[rumplestiltskin]

The MJPEG will give you better quality. I sometimes convert AVI's to MJPEG-B when they can't be converted directly to MPEG4 (H.264 for my iPod), and then convert from the MJPEG to MPEG4. I lose no quality from the AVI (and, yes, they are enormous).

[Cornucopia]

The M-JPEG camera stores 8min in 1gig and the MPEG4 camera stores 33 minutes in 1gig. A huge difference in file sizes.

Actually, that works out to 17.6Mbps for the MJPEG and 4.13Mbps for the MPEG4. BOTH are in their "pretty good quality" range for that codec type (assuming same rez and bitrate, etc). For me, it would probably come down to whether I needed the extra time available (favor MPEG4) or whether I needed to edit often/alot (favor MJPEG).

Scott