Video codecs - Club CDFreaks

The_Judas · 12-03-2003

Which is the best video codec ?
DivX 5.02 , 5.03 , 3.11 etc...
Any other good codecs apart from DivX ?

My PC is a bit old : PIII 450 , Voodoo 3 , so i need a fast encoder without any quality compromises though.

PS : Currently i'm using DivX 5.02 and i'm mostly creating 1CD DivX movies.

**Seán** · 12-03-2003

There are several codecs out there appart from DivX. These are Xvid, VP3, WMV 9 and Real Video.

Xvid is gaining a lot of popularity on Afterdawn.com's wetsite for some reason. The quailty and encoding time is very like DivX 5. The only differences I can see are that it's free and can be used as a capture codec to TV cards.

VP3 is another open source codec, but is quite rare on the net. From my experience, it has better colour reproduction that Divx at low bitrates, but images don't tend to be as sharp. VP3 is half the speed encoding than Divx, so I wouldn't recommend encoding it on a PII

WMV 9 is Microsoft's video codec. From what I've heard, the quality is not as good as the others. The encoder is about the speed of Divx and playback is supported on all recent Windows platforms by default. I'd stay away from it as while it's easy to convert to WMV, getting out of it is very very difficult.

Real Video 9 has very good quality, probably better than Divx as well and is a very fast encoder what I've experienced. Several problems: You need to have that crappy spyware & adware Realone player to playback these files and send, like WMV, once you convert the Real Video, it's very difficult to convert to anything else.

Probably the best all rounders are Divx 5.03 and Xvid. My previous Pentium 2 400MHz was too slow to play encoded Divx 5.03 movies, but played Xvid perfectly. Encoding in both Divx 5.03 and Xvid went at about 2.5 frames per second on that machine!! If you wisht to encode Divx and want to be able to play it back smoothly on your machine, I would recommend sticking to Divx 4.01 or Divx 3.11. These are reasonable good quality and I had no problem playing back movies in these formats on a PII 400MHz PC.

*ExpertTech* · 13-03-2003

To my eyes, DivX 3.11 looks much better than DivX 5 or XVid. I use it especially for my TV Caps.

The_Judas · 13-03-2003

Is it possible to have both DivX 5.02 and 3.11 installed at the same PC with no problems ?

PS : I'm using Windows 98SE.

*Airhead* · 13-03-2003

Yes you can. You can have DivX3/4/5 and XviD and other codecs too on your machine simultaneously, they won't harm you.
I prefer DivX3 or Xvid over Divx4/5.

**ChickenMan** · 14-03-2003

You can have DivX3, DivX4 or DivX5 (not both as both have the same file names and overwrite each other) and Xvid. I have all 3 and all can be used independantly of one another and no clashes between them.

The_Judas · 14-03-2003

Before i installed DivX 3.11 EasyDivX_082 was giving me an option to choose between DivX 5.02 , DivX 5.02 Pro and DivX 3.11VKI (I only had DivX 5.02 installed).

Now it gives me an option to choose between DivX 3.11VKI , DivX Mpeg fast-motion constant bitrate and Mpeg fast-motion 2 pass.

Why is that ?

On the other hand when i open virtualdub it mentions the DivX codecs i have trully installed (DivX 5.02 , DivX Mpeg fast-motion and DivX Mpeg low-motion )

*SirDavidGuy* · 14-03-2003

Plain DivX 3 will be shit. To make it look good, you must use SBC via Nandub.

PS. If you don't already use Nandub, its not worth learning. It only rarely looks better than the other codecs most times not as good, and takes several encodes to get right.

12-03-2003	#1 (permalink)
The_Judas CD Freaks Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Somewhere in Greece Posts: 452	Video codecs <a href='http://adstats.cdfreaks.com/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a13febf7&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE' target='_blank'><img src='http://adstats.cdfreaks.com/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=30&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a13febf7' border='0' alt='' /></a> Which is the best video codec ? DivX 5.02 , 5.03 , 3.11 etc... Any other good codecs apart from DivX ? My PC is a bit old : PIII 450 , Voodoo 3 , so i need a fast encoder without any quality compromises though. PS : Currently i'm using DivX 5.02 and i'm mostly creating 1CD DivX movies.

13-03-2003	#3 (permalink)
ExpertTech CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,000	To my eyes, DivX 3.11 looks much better than DivX 5 or XVid. I use it especially for my TV Caps. __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.2 Ghz (400 x 8) Asus P5W Wifi Deluxe AP Asus Silent Square Cooler FSP Group FX 700 GLN 700W PSU 4 GB OCZ PC-6400 DDR2 SDRAM eVGA GeForce 7600 GS 256 MB PCI-e SLI 1 x WD Raptor 10K RPM SATA - 150 GB Other drives: Seagate 320/500/250 SATA 300, Samsung ext 120, Buffalo ext 500 BenQ 1640 BSRB - Shelved BenQ 1655 BCGB @ 1650 BCIC LG GSA H55N 1.00 ViewSonic 19'' widescreen 16:10 LCD For desis My lil blog!

13-03-2003	#5 (permalink)
Airhead Letiled Modelatol Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: La Suède Posts: 6,892	Yes you can. You can have DivX3/4/5 and XviD and other codecs too on your machine simultaneously, they won't harm you. I prefer DivX3 or Xvid over Divx4/5. __________________ This line is currently vacant. Or Is It??? You want fast answers? Use our search. <-- Or else! If you have not already, read our rules! <-- Or else again! bcn_246: "Wales are shitty animals to, all they do is swim around and make funny noises that people cant hear." You really should join us on IRC! IrcNet, #cdfreaks-int \| Or go here Fear my massive avatar history log! Not updated! "But do they keep increasing in size like mine?" - kwkard

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12-03-2003	#2 (permalink)
Seán News Coordinator, Reviewer & Senior Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Republic of Ireland (North West) Posts: 2,574	There are several codecs out there appart from DivX. These are Xvid, VP3, WMV 9 and Real Video. Xvid is gaining a lot of popularity on Afterdawn.com's wetsite for some reason. The quailty and encoding time is very like DivX 5. The only differences I can see are that it's free and can be used as a capture codec to TV cards. VP3 is another open source codec, but is quite rare on the net. From my experience, it has better colour reproduction that Divx at low bitrates, but images don't tend to be as sharp. VP3 is half the speed encoding than Divx, so I wouldn't recommend encoding it on a PII WMV 9 is Microsoft's video codec. From what I've heard, the quality is not as good as the others. The encoder is about the speed of Divx and playback is supported on all recent Windows platforms by default. I'd stay away from it as while it's easy to convert to WMV, getting out of it is very very difficult. Real Video 9 has very good quality, probably better than Divx as well and is a very fast encoder what I've experienced. Several problems: You need to have that crappy spyware & adware Realone player to playback these files and send, like WMV, once you convert the Real Video, it's very difficult to convert to anything else. Probably the best all rounders are Divx 5.03 and Xvid. My previous Pentium 2 400MHz was too slow to play encoded Divx 5.03 movies, but played Xvid perfectly. Encoding in both Divx 5.03 and Xvid went at about 2.5 frames per second on that machine!! If you wisht to encode Divx and want to be able to play it back smoothly on your machine, I would recommend sticking to Divx 4.01 or Divx 3.11. These are reasonable good quality and I had no problem playing back movies in these formats on a PII 400MHz PC.

13-03-2003	#4 (permalink)
The_Judas CD Freaks Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Somewhere in Greece Posts: 452	Is it possible to have both DivX 5.02 and 3.11 installed at the same PC with no problems ? PS : I'm using Windows 98SE.

14-03-2003	#6 (permalink)
ChickenMan Senior Moderator Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Oz Posts: 2,632	You can have DivX3, DivX4 or DivX5 (not both as both have the same file names and overwrite each other) and Xvid. I have all 3 and all can be used independantly of one another and no clashes between them.

14-03-2003	#7 (permalink)
The_Judas CD Freaks Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Somewhere in Greece Posts: 452	Before i installed DivX 3.11 EasyDivX_082 was giving me an option to choose between DivX 5.02 , DivX 5.02 Pro and DivX 3.11VKI (I only had DivX 5.02 installed). Now it gives me an option to choose between DivX 3.11VKI , DivX Mpeg fast-motion constant bitrate and Mpeg fast-motion 2 pass. Why is that ? On the other hand when i open virtualdub it mentions the DivX codecs i have trully installed (DivX 5.02 , DivX Mpeg fast-motion and DivX Mpeg low-motion )

14-03-2003	#8 (permalink)
SirDavidGuy CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 1,467	Plain DivX 3 will be shit. To make it look good, you must use SBC via Nandub. PS. If you don't already use Nandub, its not worth learning. It only rarely looks better than the other codecs most times not as good, and takes several encodes to get right.