WMV or MPG for web?

jkrepner wrote on 8/14/2005, 8:30 AM

Hey gang, quick question/poll.

Which do you prefer, WMV or MPG, in terms of quality vs. file size, for internet video.

(Currently, client is posting 5 to 6 minute videos online as WMV 320x240 (about 25mb) and I think it looks pretty blocky.)

Thanks.

Jeff

Comments

PossibilityX wrote on 8/14/2005, 8:32 AM

I render WMV at 500kbps.

---John

birdcat wrote on 8/14/2005, 9:09 AM

OK - While we're on this topic - I know that I need streaming software on my server to truly stream video (real or shockwave). And since Vegas renders in streaming formats, anyone know how I can put this on my "virtual" server and have it stream?

Thanks.

ken c wrote on 8/14/2005, 9:44 AM

flv, as in www.sitefomercials.com :P

ken

riredale wrote on 8/14/2005, 9:53 AM

WMV came 5+ years after MPEG2, which came 5 years after MPEG1. As codecs get more sophisticated and processors get more powerful, file sizes needed for equivalent quality shrink.

WMV is probably better than MPEG2 by a factor of 2--a 1MB WMV file looks as good as a 2MB MPEG2 file.

On the website I maintain I have WMV VBR files that were encoded as 320x240x30fps at a bitrate of only 160Kb/sec (200Kb/sec with audio and overhead). This bitrate is plenty low enough for streaming to any one with any sort of broadband. For the purpose I think the quality is fine.

The newest codec is one based on the H.264 committee. It has been folded into the MPEG4 family of formats, and offers perhaps a 2x improvement over WMV. It needs a lot more horsepower to decode, however, and the codec is not yet in widespread use.

I don't know what would be needed to "stream" WMV; all I did was upload the HTML code to my SiteSpinner website, point it to the media file on a server, and it works.

GlennChan wrote on 8/14/2005, 10:20 AM

You don't really need special software to stream video.

WIndows Media will usually stream by itself. With quicktime, encode it with the default streaming option and it should stream (although it may not do it in the firefox browser).

I'd avoid Real, because Real Player tends to hijack people's systems.

Windows Media Streaming Server has some extra features that you don't need. You need to buy a server edition of windows to get it (like the web edition).
With QUicktime, you can get Darwin or Quicktime Broadcaster or what it's called.