Best quaility video formats

[eager to learn]

I see in VLC Media Player you can convert video files into 3 MP4 formats.

1. Video-H.264 + MP3 (MP4)
2. Video-H.265 + MP3 (MP4)
3. Video MPEG+2 (MP4)

Is one format a better quality than another?

Which is best?

Thank you.

[themaster1]

h265 is the best out of these 3 but make sure to click on "modify profile" at the right and choose a good bitrate for video and audio codecs (mp3: 192k or above and h265 i don't know but i think above 6000kbps.

you could also change mp3 for aac (better compression/rendition audio codec)

[jagabo]

What to you mean by best? And under what circumstances? For example, when a DVD is the source, remuxing the MPEG 2 video and AC3 audio from the DVD into an MKV container will give the best quality -- because nothing is reencoded. But the resulting file will be about the same size as the DVD. Do you have playback restrictions? h.265 currently gives the best compression -- ie the best quality at the smallest file sizes. But many devices don't play h.265 encoded video (Blu-ray players, TVs with built in media players, etc.). And it will probably take you 2 to 4 times longer to encode as h.265 (compared to h.264). Some devices (especially older Apple TVs, etc.) don't support AC3 audio in MP4.

[Krispy Kritter]

Based strictly only your question, no. They can all be similar in quality.

There isn't a "best". It's a question of how will the file be used and which format is supported by the player.

[hardy]

you could also change mp3 for aac (better compression/rendition audio codec)

definitely, people still use mp3?

[eager to learn]

Hi jagabo,

Do you know if h.265 will play in a TV-DVD player (think analog TV)?

Sounds like h.265 is the MP3 of video in that it sounds fine although compressed?

I was told to always save audio in .wav format (told that it was uncompressed) but listening to a song in .wav and then in .mp3 I can't detect any sound quality difference.

I don't own a $100k+ stereo sound system so maybe if I did then I would notice the difference?

But. mp3 songs are about 1/3 the size of a .wav song so if I can't hear the difference then why save a music file as .wav?

What to you mean by best? And under what circumstances? For example, when a DVD is the source, remuxing the MPEG 2 video and AC3 audio from the DVD into an MKV container will give the best quality -- because nothing is reencoded. But the resulting file will be about the same size as the DVD. Do you have playback restrictions? h.265 currently gives the best compression -- ie the best quality at the smallest file sizes. But many devices don't play h.265 encoded video (Blu-ray players, TVs with built in media players, etc.). And it will probably take you 2 to 4 times longer to encode as h.265 (compared to h.264). Some devices (especially older Apple TVs, etc.) don't support AC3 audio in MP4.

[eager to learn]

Hi the masterone,

Which program do you use to "modify profile"?

I was looking at VLC Media Player to convert the .webm into a mp4 as an experiment.

Thanks so much.

h265 is the best out of these 3 but make sure to click on "modify profile" at the right and choose a good bitrate for video and audio codecs (mp3: 192k or above and h265 i don't know but i think above 6000kbps.

you could also change mp3 for aac (better compression/rendition audio codec)

[Anonymous]

Hi the masterone,

Which program do you use to "modify profile"?

I was looking at VLC Media Player to convert the .webm into a mp4 as an experiment.

Thanks so much.

h265 is the best out of these 3 but make sure to click on "modify profile" at the right and choose a good bitrate for video and audio codecs (mp3: 192k or above and h265 i don't know but i think above 6000kbps.

you could also change mp3 for aac (better compression/rendition audio codec)

VLC Media Player. Look for edit profile

[jagabo]

Do you know if h.265 will play in a TV-DVD player (think analog TV)?

DVD Player? Not even a Blu-ray player? Extremely unlikely. These are mostly MPEG family codecs, in order of increasing complexity:

MPEG 1 (VCD)
MPEG 2 (DVD)
MPEG 4 part 2 (XVID, DIVX)
MPEG 4 part 10 (h.264, AVC, Blu-ray)
MPEG H part 2, (h.265, HEVC, Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray )

Each generation offers about a 2x increase in compression. Only devices made in the last few years are going to have the ability to play h.265.

[jagabo]

I was told to always save audio in .wav format (told that it was uncompressed) but listening to a song in .wav and then in .mp3 I can't detect any sound quality difference.

It depends on the quality of your source, the quality of your encoding, the quality of your equipment, the quality of your ears, and how well trained you are to spot the differences.

[themaster1]

Do you know if h.265 will play in a TV-DVD player (think analog TV)?

already answered, only recent tv's built in the last 2-3 years.
the 2nd best for you would be H264 (more compatible) but with a higher bitrate (9000 kbps) most likely (i haven't tested vlc codecs that much to be sure)

Sounds like h.265 is the MP3 of video in that it sounds fine although compressed?
I was told to always save audio in .wav format (told that it was uncompressed) but listening to a song in .wav and then in .mp3 I can't detect any sound quality difference.

wav is fine if you're picky or for archival purposes or post production editing.
the mp3 codec like the other audio codec cut high/low frequencies that humans can't hear but take mp3 for example a bitrate of 320 kbps will keep these frequencies (= great fidelity), below not.
And for aac i don't know precisely but probably half this bitrate ( = file size smaller+ great fidelity)

[VideoGuruDude]

265 is better for 2.5k/UHD/Etc resolution.

Up to 1080, maybe even fine for 2.5K, H264 is plenty good, and its what I still use (H264 & AAC for MP4 container). It also helps to keep a device from puking when I try to play (265 is still "new").

MPEG2 looks good, but... you need "twice" the bitrate at 1080 for it to look good. Hell, XviD looks great at 1080 and 12mbps! <grin>

EB