Which video format do you prefer?

[TPOWIS Admin]

With so many to choose from, and many depending on what your playback device of choice is dictates your preference.

The site's preference has for a long time been Windows Media. These days there are many better options, but few that are more widely compatible with little to no fuss. But depending on these results, that preference could change.

Killatron

[Tronsgirl]

omg if anyone chooses Real Media I will punch them in the face XP

[superheroinelinks]

I MUST agree. Real Player is the WORST, followed by QuickTime, then YouTube

[thebossman]

I prefer, http://www.youtube.com

[TacoBellCharlie]

AVI container w/ DivX & MP3 is the most well supported on all operating systems. Windows Media is #2! How horrible !

thebossman>> youtube is easy for lazy people like you, but it reduces the quality & archivability of the video.

[TPOWIS Admin]

The thing about Windows Media is its just super easy for PC users to play. The quality is good, but easily third when stacked against DivX and H.264. The next batch of videos to the site will be again Windows Media, but after that, Ill decide based on this poll.

As for youtube, its shit quality, and a pain in the ass to save. I would consider adding my own flash video to the site, but if I were a viewer, Id still want a simple download. (though its easy enough to stream WMVs, just put the link in media player) Regardless, even the latest flash player cant compete with stand alone players.

Killatron

[Shiny McShine]

I vote for WMV if we're talking about Internet downloads. DivX gives a better quality but bigger files (if you want to increase bitrate to save the quality).
For hard disk storage I use MPEG2 encoded with Canopus ProCoder with maximum bitrate (9500). There's nothing better to keep the videos with minimum loss.

[Tronsgirl]

I guess someone wants me to punch them in the face XD

jk jk

[TacoBellCharlie]

I guess someone wants me to punch them in the face XD

jk jk

You never know, there is that Japenese fetish where the guys like to be kicked in the balls by a scantilly clad(or even fully clothed) female...

[OnePieceSwimsuit]

AVI was my fav for the longest time.
but now H.264 has shown me the way.
it demolishes all others >:D

You never know, there is that Japenese fetish where the guys like to be kicked in the balls by a scantilly clad(or even fully clothed) female...

its not limited to just japan...
...man, im just glad my fetish is swimsuits, and not something more fucked up like that...

[TPOWIS Admin]

Its crazy how close this race between Windows Media and DivX is. I guess Ill be sticking with Windows Media for the time being. I guess it ain't broke, so best not to fix it.

[davislove]

Nows is my turn to speak (i am last since i dont even browse or almost never post in this section HOWEVER being an 'anchor posting member' my words of wisdom carry some gravitas at tpowis):

what works best on my 9year old computer is real media, windows media player 7 and .flv player. Anything higher than wmp 7 (wont) work neither any of the more modern players like divx mpegs and shockwave ect...those things are a foreign language to my system

on a side note real media player because it has not had as many newer versions works 100% of the time...it keeps asking me do u want to update but no matter in which video it has been recorded it will always play; whereas most WMP is being recorded in the newer player therefore it wont work on mines and if it does play its chopped up and garbled the audio is fine...keeps asking for codec...again foreign language that my system cant understand... wmp9+ for get about it

(no) i did not vote...i know killatron will make special accomodations to my win98 system ]

[shnatto]

I wasn't even going to post about this, but I didn't see anybody mention what I'm about to type. I do tons of video editing/converting in my spare time and the biggest point for me is resolution. Even if nobody else thinks so, it just kills me when I see a clip that reminds me of being drunk. It's like I have to clean my glasses or something. Just really blurry.
With that said, if you have a bunch of avi files, you can burn a Data Disk DVD and play all of the files on your regular DVD player provided it plays divx files. I've fit entire seasons of tv shows on 1 disk this way. If I were to make a dvd with interactive menues I would need something like 4 disks to burn entire seasons.
I have no use for Real media or Quicktime files at all, but I have a Zune so I do also use wmv format for reduced resolution files. The screen is only so big and because it's a Microsoft devise you kinda should use their format for better compatability.

[TPOWIS Admin]

@shnatto, I totally agree. But there is only so much you can do when VHS is the source. Years ago, when I was on dial up with the majority of visitors, I was very concerned with file size. Bandwidth was also a major concern (and still is, one can imagine what a site like this uses.. Ill just say its a LOT). Also, ten years ago there was no DivX really. All video formats just sorta sucked and required huge files to get any level of quality. As you say, just take DivX vs MPEG2 used in DVDs. Its amazing what new codecs can do.

But a big factor today is seek time. Especially with what is essential porn, you want to be able to skip to and back again quickly. MPEG4 variants are not as good at this as some others out there. Using i-frames only helps, but the file sizes get ridiculous for this ability. I've tried to compensate by having slow mo cuts at the end of mix clips posted to the site.

@Davis, as we have just passed the launch of Windows 7, your OS is now over three generations behind. At this point, your lucky the site fits on 1024x768 monitors. Id like to know, on that nearly 10 year old PC, surely you have replaced the primary HDD? What about the power supply? In short, its amazing it still works at all. But seriously, I told you before, your missing a LOT of the internet in general. Its worth every penny to get yourself a new PC. Now is one of the best times to buy.

But I imagine nothing I've produced has been able to be played back on your system for the past three years at least. Without some votes to the lower end codecs, I don't see that changing. In fact, we are going forward. More Windows Media HD, H.264, and other high resolution formats. But don't worry those of you with say, systems that need and don't have video hardware with accelerated decoders. For a while, there will be releases of HD and SD versions of new content. But as we get more and more HD, it will be the standard. Thanks to Meroi and a few others, we may have actually exhausted the supply of American 80's VHS material. (a scary thought, but I wonder about this often.) I imagine there is still much untapped material from Europe and Asia.

[Lycrafan2004]

VLC Player is also for older Systems and it plays a lot formats.
Try it out Davis.

[kdeelight]

DivX or if not DivX, then DivX.
Whoever said that going with divx instead of WMV made for bigger files is either uninformed
or works for microsoft or something. Only reason that wmv would be a smaller file would be
because the quality setting was lower. Besides, about half the dvd players these days, are
divx compatible and for a good example, I can put anywhere from ten to twelve hours worth
of quality video on a dvd then watch on tv......so divx and what else?....no contest

[Jarcov]

Thanks for the info, I will consider at the moment to encode!!!