Bitrate

[OG24]

What is the difference between a 100kbps video bitrate on an AVI and a 1Mbps video bitrate on an AVI?

[gadgetguy]

Ummm, 900kbps?

[OG24]

i meant what is the difference like quality, size or what?

[tinker]

Bitrate give you video quality. Higher the bitrate =better quality video. This is specially important if you have video with lots of fast motion in it.
You try to have always highest bitrate for video encode.
Also higher bitrare=larger file

[OG24]

ok thanx just wanted to know that...... so would 512kbps look that much different than a 1Mbps video bitrate?

[Nelson37]

Yes. No. Maybe. It depends. How high is up? If I bake an apple pie, and its better than a different one, will a blind monkey like mine better?

It may not be THAT MUCH better, but more than just a smidge.

Too many variables to answer, and the answer is an opinion, anyway. Try it and decide for yourself.

Or, if you can't make a decision, paint your house green because that is my favorite color.

[redwudz]

It would depend on what codec you are asking about, and somewhat the quality of the source material and the framesize used. With the Xvid codec, for example, much over 2000 - 3000kbps is probably just a waste of hard drive space for a average video, IMO. I use 800kbps to about 1100kbps most times for a average ~2 hour video.

There's a 'saturation' point for bitrate where you don't gain any more quality, just size. The higher the compression the codec is, the lower that point will be. The saturation point for H264 will be a lot lower than DV or HuffyUV.

And if you are comparing a 512kbps video to a 1000kbps video from a good quality source, 512kbps will probably look terrible, at least with a Xvid or similar codec. Why not use a bitrate calculator and also try some different encodes at different rates? A five or so minute representative clip will show you the differences in bitrate.

[OG24]

ok thanx a lot for ur help! i get it now, i just asked because i have a insignia mp3/video player and i was wondering what video bitrate i should convert my AVI to.

[jagabo]

You have to be sure not to exceed the bitrate your device can handle.

[OG24]

do u guys think 512kbps is good bitrate for a 2GB video/mp3 player?
I don't really need amazing quality just as long as its not nasty, and also i would like the file to be a bit small cause i only have 2GB wut do u guys recommend?

[gadgetguy]

You're not giving us any information to help you with. The bitrate you use will depend on the video in question. The length x bitrate will determine the filesize of the video. The required bitrate may determine the video resolution, but the resolution of your player may determine the resolution that the video needs to be, in which case it might dictate the bitrate to use. You have to give us the specs of the source video you want to play on your player as well as the specs of your player before we can even begin to help you.

[OG24]

Ok then. The video is a XVID1.0.2, the resolution is 672x272. My player takes windows media video or a AVI. The player takes only 320x240 with a 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 and the player can go up to 4Mbps for video bitrate. Hope that helped!

[guns1inger]

If you resize it down to 320 x nnn then chances are you can get away with a bitrate as low 256 kbps on some videos. There is no hard and fast rule. Each video is different and needs to be dealt with individually. If it's a documentary with lots of talking heads then you can get away with a lower bitrate than an action movie. In video there are few absolutes. Size = Bitrate x Running Time is one absolute. Anything to do with quality is not.

[OG24]

ok thanx a lot for ur help! i think ill stick to either 512kbps or 256kbps. what do u recommend AVI or WMV?

[guns1inger]

You have to make some of these decisions for yourself. I don't know what your player is like. I don't know what formats it plays, and whether or not it plays any of them well. If you spent a couple of hours with a 5 minute clip and SUPER, did some test encodes at different bitrates (they don't have to be multiples of 256 kbps) and different formats then you could see for yourself what works best. Otherwise you are just taking the word or people you have never met, and whose standards may be substantially higher or lower than your own.

You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by taking a little bit of time and playing yourself.

[OG24]

ok thanx man i got my answer lol this place is awesome!