I havent read the responses from other people but would like to put my 2
cents in anyways. I think that a majority of the population is on "high
speed" now. I would go for high bandwidth with the least intrusion
necessary. By intrusion I mean having to install software. Therfore I
would say .mov and .ra is way out of question. Just go with the standard
high resolution .mpg. If bandwidth is the key factor, go with .wmv. Im
sure the Macintosh guys will have another say, but remember that 90% of the
world uses Microsoft.
--
John Huthmaker
PPL-SEL P-28-161
http://www.cogentnetworking.com
"John T" wrote in message
m...
I share a number of flying videos on my web site in both Windows Media and
Real Video formats. Frankly, I'm tiring of spending the time to render
both high- and low-bandwidth versions of each video in two formats (making
four files for each video), so I'm considering using a single format for
all videos - which brings me to my question:
Given a choice to download the following formats, which would you choose
and why?
MPEG-4
WMV (v9)
Real (v10)
Some issues for consideration include:
Size. MPEG-1/2 files are simply too large compared to Real and WMV. While
storage isn't an issue, bandwidth is (and I run my own server that does
not sit on a backbone).
Quality. WMV and Real offer decent quality at a bitrate of ~250kbps. Of
course, lower bitrates of ~53kbps (to support modem users) drastically cut
down the quality in any format, but WMV and Real offer at least enough
information to pick out a runway while on final. 
MPEG-4 offers
similar quality for only a slightly larger file (for instance, a sample 1
minute video is about 1.99MB in WMV and 2.02MB in MPEG-4 for similar
bitrates).
Playback. Windows Media Player (WMP) is free and widespread on the most
popular PC operating system. Real Player is free and is bundled with many
name brand computers. There is a fairly wide range of players compatible
with MPEG-4, though, including proprietary players (like Real and
QuickTime [also free]) and "third-party" players.
Compatibility. WMV and Real are proprietary formats, but they are
relatively "open" and encoders are freely available for both formats.
They also have the backing of some of the largest players (business-wise)
in the computer industry. MPEG-4 is a standard published by international
standards bodies, but licensing issues have kept encoders out of the
mainstream for several years. However, that appears to be less of an
issue now with a fairly wide availability (not necessarily distribution)
of encoders and players. While most users are likely running some flavor
of Windows, there is a large number of non-Microsoft users (both in OS and
software in general). MPEG-4 would appear to be the cross-platform format
of choice, but not unless there is a large enough market penetration of
players.
Thanks for your input!
--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/TknoFlyer
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