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gxsaurav
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Many of us are already familiar with 3gp files & mpeg-4 files, basically they are both same, however, mpeg4 is just a name & the real name of the codec is Mpeg4 Part 2 or H.263, which is made for Low bit rate usage for mobile phones, internet streaming etc, a Highest quality mpeg4 can’t be regarded as a alternative to DVD quality as it is not made for such purpose, but on the same code base of mpeg4, DivX is made which gives good quality although not as good as mpeg-2 but still good enough for backing DVD’s & a lot better then mpeg-1
Usually one mpeg-4 part 2 encoder is already there in Windows XP, knows as Microsoft MPEG-4 Encoder, v1 & v2, as usual v2 is better to use, however it is not the most compatible
To play mpeg-4 files & also 3gp files Apple QuickTime player which is free is the best option, & if U have a cell phone & want to convert your Videos to mpeg-4 U can do that too with QuickTime Pro or some other 3GP converters like Xilsoft 3gp converter or Nokia PC Suite
One thing to remember, that despite the fact that 3GP & mpeg-4 are almost the same & compatible, the main difference is that 3gp is more like mpeg-4 for Mobile phone, & MMS, because of which the max resolution a 3GP file can have is 176X144, or 128X96, much low compared to your usual VCD encoded at 320X288 or DVD, but since they are made for cell phones with small screens it doesn’t effect the quality there, the higher the bit rate the better the quality, although 3gp can go for a max bit rate 192 kbps for Video but at 176X144 it is the best quality
The good thing about mpeg-4 files is that they are made of 2 parts, the Audio part & the Video part; they can both be given separate file extensions, .m4a for Audio part & .m4v for video, or better simple, .mp4, which is the most compatible
Since mpeg-4 was made for low bit rate usage, instead of mp3, a low bit rate mpeg4 AAC file is recommended in a mobile phone for Music purpose, as the speaker of a mobile phone isn’t as power full as compared to a computer, U won’t need the extra quality, because of which even a 64 kbps encoded mp4 sounds better then a 160 kbps mp3 on a mobile
Now we have the new H.264 Codec also knows as mpeg-4 part 10, on the horizon with support from a lot of companies including but not limited to Apple, Sony, Toshiba, and IBM etc, H.264 is made for the place where H.263 doesn’t fit, which is the High bit rate High resolution, because of which the H.264/AVC is selected for the upcoming HD-DVD format, which is again backed by many companies, rite now the H.264 decoder & encoder are not officially available & they are completely un optimized for any CPU or GPU as they are still under development, Apple has stated that they will be supporting it with QuickTime 7, but Nero, their Nero Digital codec is already capable of decoding H.264, which is the best U can get rite now, but not forever, soon the H.264 specification will be released & by August 2005 we will be having official support for H.264 in many Media Players, & with Nero Showtime installed U can even watch it in Windows Media Player. Apple has stated that their upcoming operating system code name Tiger will support H.264 in the OS itself, in other words the Video chat or conferencing will be using H.264 for streaming over broadband internet.
U can see a comparison of mpeg-4 part to with mpeg-4 part 10 here, U will see that it takes a lot of time to encode files in H.264, & lot of CPU resources, & the minimum requirement for playback of H.264 content is still not officially declared
Envivio 4 Caster is a non real time h.264 encoder, which can be found here with specs for the resolution & CPU requirement, as U can see HD content encoding is really CPU Intensive
Another one is Mainconcept mpeg-4 part 10 encoder preview 2 which can be found here
For DV/DVD video conversion, Mainconcept AVC one click compressor is available from here
Apple Quicktime 7 sneak preview can be found here
Info about H.264 from Apple
Apple H.264 FAQs
One thing that many of us forget & try to convert VCD to DivX is that VCD are already low quality, u cannot get more quality even if U completely uncompress it to an AVI file, so no use of converting mpeg1/VCD files to DivX, stick with what U have
Usually one mpeg-4 part 2 encoder is already there in Windows XP, knows as Microsoft MPEG-4 Encoder, v1 & v2, as usual v2 is better to use, however it is not the most compatible
To play mpeg-4 files & also 3gp files Apple QuickTime player which is free is the best option, & if U have a cell phone & want to convert your Videos to mpeg-4 U can do that too with QuickTime Pro or some other 3GP converters like Xilsoft 3gp converter or Nokia PC Suite
One thing to remember, that despite the fact that 3GP & mpeg-4 are almost the same & compatible, the main difference is that 3gp is more like mpeg-4 for Mobile phone, & MMS, because of which the max resolution a 3GP file can have is 176X144, or 128X96, much low compared to your usual VCD encoded at 320X288 or DVD, but since they are made for cell phones with small screens it doesn’t effect the quality there, the higher the bit rate the better the quality, although 3gp can go for a max bit rate 192 kbps for Video but at 176X144 it is the best quality
The good thing about mpeg-4 files is that they are made of 2 parts, the Audio part & the Video part; they can both be given separate file extensions, .m4a for Audio part & .m4v for video, or better simple, .mp4, which is the most compatible
Since mpeg-4 was made for low bit rate usage, instead of mp3, a low bit rate mpeg4 AAC file is recommended in a mobile phone for Music purpose, as the speaker of a mobile phone isn’t as power full as compared to a computer, U won’t need the extra quality, because of which even a 64 kbps encoded mp4 sounds better then a 160 kbps mp3 on a mobile
Now we have the new H.264 Codec also knows as mpeg-4 part 10, on the horizon with support from a lot of companies including but not limited to Apple, Sony, Toshiba, and IBM etc, H.264 is made for the place where H.263 doesn’t fit, which is the High bit rate High resolution, because of which the H.264/AVC is selected for the upcoming HD-DVD format, which is again backed by many companies, rite now the H.264 decoder & encoder are not officially available & they are completely un optimized for any CPU or GPU as they are still under development, Apple has stated that they will be supporting it with QuickTime 7, but Nero, their Nero Digital codec is already capable of decoding H.264, which is the best U can get rite now, but not forever, soon the H.264 specification will be released & by August 2005 we will be having official support for H.264 in many Media Players, & with Nero Showtime installed U can even watch it in Windows Media Player. Apple has stated that their upcoming operating system code name Tiger will support H.264 in the OS itself, in other words the Video chat or conferencing will be using H.264 for streaming over broadband internet.
U can see a comparison of mpeg-4 part to with mpeg-4 part 10 here, U will see that it takes a lot of time to encode files in H.264, & lot of CPU resources, & the minimum requirement for playback of H.264 content is still not officially declared
Envivio 4 Caster is a non real time h.264 encoder, which can be found here with specs for the resolution & CPU requirement, as U can see HD content encoding is really CPU Intensive
Another one is Mainconcept mpeg-4 part 10 encoder preview 2 which can be found here
For DV/DVD video conversion, Mainconcept AVC one click compressor is available from here
Apple Quicktime 7 sneak preview can be found here
Info about H.264 from Apple
Apple H.264 FAQs
One thing that many of us forget & try to convert VCD to DivX is that VCD are already low quality, u cannot get more quality even if U completely uncompress it to an AVI file, so no use of converting mpeg1/VCD files to DivX, stick with what U have
