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The most popular formats:
AVI Format
The AVI (Audio Video Interleave) format was developed by Microsoft.
The AVI format is supported by all computers running Windows, and by all the most popular web browsers. It is a very common format on the Internet, but not always possible to play on non-Windows computers.
Videos stored in the AVI format have the extension .avi.
The Windows Media Format
The Windows Media format is developed by Microsoft.
Windows Media is a common format on the Internet, but Windows Media movies cannot be played on non-Windows computer without an extra (free) component installed. Some later Windows Media movies cannot play at all on non-Windows computers because no player is available.
Videos stored in the Windows Media format have the extension .wmv.
The MPEG Format
The MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) format is the most popular format on the Internet. It is cross-platform, and supported by all the most popular web browsers.
Videos stored in the MPEG format have the extension .mpg or .mpeg.
The QuickTime Format
The QuickTime format is developed by Apple.
QuickTime is a common format on the Internet, but QuickTime movies cannot be played on a Windows computer without an extra (free) component installed.
Videos stored in the QuickTime format have the extension .mov.
The RealVideo Format
The RealVideo format was developed for the Internet by Real Media.
The format allows streaming of video (on-line video, Internet TV) with low bandwidths. Because of the low bandwidth priority, quality is often reduced.
Videos stored in the RealVideo format have the extension .rm or .ram.
The Shockwave (Flash) Format
The Shockwave format was developed by Macromedia.
The Shockwave format requires an extra component to play. This component comes preinstalled with the latest versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer.
Videos stored in the Shockwave format have the extension .swf.
|
Format |
VCD |
VCD |
DVD |
HDDVD
HDTV |
AVI DivX
XviD WMV |
MOV |
RM |
AVI
DV |
|
Resolution
NTSC/PAL |
352x240
352x288 |
480x480
480x576
|
720x480?
720x576? |
1920x1080?
1280x720? |
640x480? |
640x480? |
320x240? |
720x480
720x576 |
|
Video
Compression |
MPEG1 |
MPEG2 |
MPEG2, MPEG1 |
MPEG2
(WMV-
MPEG4) |
MPEG4 |
Sorenson, Cinepak, MPEG4 ... |
RM |
DV |
|
Video bitrate |
1150kbps |
~2000kbps |
~5000kbps |
~20Mbps
(~8Mbps) |
~1000kbps |
~1000kbps |
~350kbps |
25Mbps |
|
Audio
Compression |
MP1 |
MP1 |
MP1, MP2, AC3, DTS, PCM |
MP1, MP2, AC3, DTS, PCM |
MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, AC3 |
QDesign Music, MP3 ... |
RM |
DV |
|
Audio bitrate |
224kbps |
~224kbps |
~448kbps |
~448kbps |
~128kbps |
~128kbps |
~64kbps |
~1500kbps |
|
Size/min |
10
MB/min |
10-20
MB/min |
30-70
MB/min |
~150MB/min
(~60MB/min)
|
4-10
MB/min |
4-20
MB/min |
2-5
MB/min |
216MB/min |
|
Min/74min CD |
74min |
35-60min |
10-20min |
~4min
(~10min) |
60-180min |
30-180
min |
120-300
min |
3min |
|
Hours/DVD |
N/A |
N/A |
1-2hrs
(2-5hrs?) |
~30min
(~1hrs) |
7-18hrs |
3-18hrs |
14-35hrs |
20min |
|
Hours/
DualLayerDVD |
N/A |
N/A |
2-4hrs
(5-9hrs?) |
~55min
(~2hrs) |
13-30hrs |
6-30hrs |
25-65hrs |
37min |
|
DVD Player Compatibility |
Great |
Good |
Excellent |
None |
Few |
None |
None |
None |
|
Computer CPU Usage |
Low |
High |
Very High |
Super high |
Very High |
High |
Low |
High |
|
Quality |
Good |
Great* |
Excellent* |
Superb* |
Great* |
Great* |
Decent* |
Excellent |
kbps = thousand bits per second
Mbps = million bits per second
? approximately resolution, it can be higher or lower
~ approximately bitrate, it can be higher or lower
? DVD with lower video quality, similiar to VCD/SVCD video quality
* the video quality depends on the bitrate and the video resolution, higher bitrate and higher resolution generally means better video quality but bigger file size
Last update: 02:49 PM Tuesday, December 12, 2006 |
