Whats the best codec?

Tab. · Post by **Tab.** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:26 pm

H.264.
No good implementations currently exist, but it's arguably the most technically advanced codec yet.

Otherwise VP6, RV10, WMV9, Xvid 1.0 (still RC), DivX 5.1.1, in that order.

Tab. · Post by **Tab.** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:51 pm

Oh yeah, that's speaking strictly on the basis of quality. You usually want to factor in compatibility. That's a harder area to judge, but I'd guestimate an order of WMV, RV, DivX & XviD (the two are equal insofar as decoding goes), VP6, and of course H.264 is near-nil. There are more H.264 decoders than encoders, though.

Accounting for the entire user base, you're likely to have a kind of hyperbolic situation with compatibility and the above list. Since WMV is part of Microsoft's empire its compatibility is most any windows computer. RealPlayer is also installed on something like 90% of all computers. The combined support of DivX and XviD in most mpeg 4 decoders gives a pretty wide area of support, and VP6 is somewhere between pretty obscure and really obscure.

Of course, you could tag Mpeg 1 onto the front of this list and end of the last one.

You're left to figure out yourself what a happy medium is. RM and WM seem like an ideal solution, being high in quality and compatibility, but they tend to carry another factor: stigma. So, essentially, it all comes down to a judgement call.

AbsoluteDestiny · Post by **AbsoluteDestiny** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 7:14 pm

I dont think RV is more commonly installed above divx for anime fans.

the Black Monarch · Post by **the Black Monarch** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 7:47 pm

In all of my test encodes, DivX was noticeably higher quality than XviD at the same bitrate and settings. I haven't tested any of the 5.1 builds, but I'd guess they're even more of an improvement.

Tab. · Post by **Tab.** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 1:30 am

All of my personal experience coincides well with the SSIM graph of these tests.

the Black Monarch · Post by **the Black Monarch** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 3:25 am

I'mjust wondering... what the HELL are those graphs of? What do SSIM and PSNR stand for?

AbsoluteDestiny · Post by **AbsoluteDestiny** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 3:53 am

the Black Monarch wrote:I'mjust wondering... what the HELL are those graphs of? What do SSIM and PSNR stand for?

They are math for picture quality comparison. PSNR is the 'peak signal to noise ratio' and SSIM is a Structural SIMilarity index. SSIM gives slightly more 'subjective' results (if such a thing is ever possible by math).

They are pretty decent indicators for image quality but can't be completely relied on.

Also, TBM, you haven't tested the xvid 1.0x branch I'm guessing.

the Black Monarch · Post by **the Black Monarch** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 11:13 pm

What? It's finished?

PLEASE tell me you got rid of the upside-down encoding bug... and the Motion Search artifact bug... and that bug that turns parts of the screen pink... and the bug that... aw f*ck it, I'll just download it and see for myself.

the Black Monarch · Post by **the Black Monarch** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 2:52 am

-Installed Koepi build
-Tested against DivX Pro 5.11
-Set both to one-pass Quantizer-based VBR (to produce the same bitrate curve as a two-pass encode), Quantizer 10, slowest (best compression) encoding speed, b-frames off, Luminance masking and Psychovisuals on.
-Found that DivX looked better
-Still a DivX fan

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:11 am

the Black Monarch wrote:-Installed Koepi build
-Tested against DivX Pro 5.11
-Set both to one-pass Quantizer-based VBR (to produce the same bitrate curve as a two-pass encode), <b>Quantizer 10</b>, slowest (best compression) encoding speed, b-frames off, Luminance masking and Psychovisuals on.
-Found that DivX looked better
-Still a DivX fan

If you're looking for quality, why the heck are you using Quantizer 10? Why not Quantizer 2 or 3?