- which Video Filetype has the 'best quality'?

[Entry]

Different video formats produce different qualities when produced. Which video filetype provide the best quality ? (eg, flv, mp4) ?

is this filetype im asking for, the same one to use for HD videos?

[jagabo]

Uncompressed or losslessy compressed (HuffYUV, Lagarith) AVI. Be ready for some large files though.

[MOVIEGEEK]

HD video uses all sorts of codecs, what will you be using the video for?

[Baldrick]

And mp4,flv,avi,etc are containers and can contain everything from low quality video to hd quality.

[tomlee59]

As jagabo said, only lossless formats answer your question literally. And lossless files are large, by virtue of their (virtual) non-compressedness. This is why so many other formats exist -- humans want infinite quality, zero filesize, instantaneous conversion, and ease of editing. These attributes are mutually incompatible, so compromises are made. Different kinds of compromises result in an array of different formats.

If you aren't truly looking for maximum quality, but "very high quality at 'reasonable' filesize (or editing ease, or whatever)," then post back with more of what parameters are most important to you. With more constraints, we can give you more focused recommendations.

[nitro1973]

...humans want infinite quality, zero filesize, instantaneous conversion, and ease of editing...

hehehe well said.

i think the answer for the question could be h.264. this gives good quality, relatively small filesize - file types: mov, mp4, mkv, mts, m2ts, ts and more...

but it could also be vc-1 (needs less cpu power).

the answer is not easy...
the simplest is like jagabo said. but i guess that 3GB AVI file (uncompressed) for 10s 1080p movie is not what you are looking for?

[JohnnyMalaria]

The same format as the source video.

[usta]

I understand the opening post asks for video container formats, not video codecs. Therefore, a comparison should be made between the containers: mp4, 3GP, avi, mkv, wmv, mov, rmvb, etc... Although, I don't see how a container can influence the video format.

Probably, a better question is which video codecs provide the best quality for compressed video, given the same resolution and bitrate?