Which Format Is Best For The Web

ADinelt wrote on 3/3/2004, 8:51 PM
A quick question...

If I wanted to put a 1 minute video clip on the web, which format would be the best to use? Please keep in mind that I have a maximum of 5 meg for my web site (also used by my son).

Screenblast offers the following:
- QuickTime 5 (*.mov)
- RealMedia 9 (*.rm)
- Wildform Flash Video (1-pass VBR) (*.swf)
- Windows Media Video V9 (*.wmv)

Looking for something that is most widely used and best quality (don't want too much, do I).

I tried the Windows Media Video and the resulting file size was around 600K. It ran at 320 x 240 x 15 frames per second. Some of the transitions were rather jumpy, where I thought it would have been smoother since it was already rendered.

Thanks in advance...
Al

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 3/4/2004, 6:18 AM
WMV is probably the most universal -- although anybody with updated freeware can probably read any of those files.

As I'm sure you know, you can Screenblast to record your WMV to a wide range of quality settings, although higher quality settings mean a bigger file -- not so much a problem for your web site space as for viewers watching over a dial-up.

As a general rule, compressed video files have trouble with transitions and look best when the on-screen image doesn't change much. That's just the nature of media compression. And I've seen nothing to indicate QuickTime handles them any better than Windows Media or any of the other formats.

I always presume there will be some compromise, when I post something to the web.
ADinelt wrote on 3/4/2004, 6:58 AM
Thanks for the info.

I did a quick test late last night and created a Quicktime.mov file for the same clip using the same settings (or as close as possible) as the .wmv file. (e.g. 320 x 240 x 15 fps).

The resulting Quicktime .mov file size was over 1 meg vs 600k for the .wmv file. The video playback quality of the .mov was absolutely horrible compared to the .wmv file. For the same file size, I can create a .wmv file at higher quality (320 x 240 x 30 fps).

Interesting....
Al