comparison DOCS/xml/en/encoding-guide.xml @ 17249:4d4878a4c6e5

New section: choosing the video codec for your encode: what to consider before picking it.

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</para>
<para>
There have also been reports of A/V desync when encoding from stdin
with <application>MEncoder</application>.
Do not do this! Always use a file or CD/DVD/etc device as input.
</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="menc-feat-dvd-mpeg4-audio">
<title>Audio</title>

17249:4d4878a4c6e5

</para>
<para>
There have also been reports of A/V desync when encoding from stdin
with <application>MEncoder</application>.
Do not do this! Always use a file or CD/DVD/etc device as input.
</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="menc-feat-dvd-mpeg4-codec">
<title>Choosing the video codec</title>

<para>
  Choosing the video codec to use depends on several factors, some of
  which widely depend on personal taste and technical constraints.
</para>
<itemizedlist>
  <listitem><para>
  <emphasis role="bold">Compression efficiency</emphasis>:
  It's quite easy to understand that newer-generation codecs are made
  to yield better picture quality than previous generations.
  Therefore, you cannot be wrong
  <footnote id='fn-menc-feat-dvd-mpeg4-codec-cpu'>
  <para>Be careful, however: decoding DVD-resolution MPEG-4 AVC videos
  requires a fast machine (i.e. a Pentium 4 over 1.5Ghz or a Pentium M
  over 1Ghz).
  </para></footnote>
  by choosing MPEG-4 AVC codecs like
  <systemitem class="library">x264</systemitem> instead of MPEG-4 ASP codecs
  such as <systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem> MPEG-4 or
  <systemitem class="library">XviD</systemitem>.
  (To get a better grasp of what the fundamental differences between
  MPEG-4 ASP and MPEG-4 AVC are, you would be well advised to read the entry
  "<ulink url="http://guru.multimedia.cx/?p=10">15 reasons why MPEG4 sucks</ulink>"
  from Michael Niedermayer's blog.)
  Likewise, you should get better quality using MPEG-4 ASP instead
  of MPEG-2 codecs.
  </para>
  <para>
  However, newer codecs which are in heavy development can suffer from
  bugs which have not yet been noticed and which can ruin an encode.
  This is simply the tradeoff for using bleeding-edge technology.
  </para>
  <para>
  What's more, beginning to use a new codec requires that you spend some
  time becoming familiar with its available options, so that you know what
  to adjust to achieve a desired picture quality.
  </para></listitem>

  <listitem><para>
  <emphasis role="bold">Hardware compatibility</emphasis>:
  It usually takes a long time for standalone video players to begin to
  include support for the latest video codecs.
  As a result, most only support MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 ASP
  (beware: usually, not all MPEG-4 ASP features are supported).
  Please refer to the technical specs of your player (if they are available),
  or Google around for more information.
  </para></listitem>

  <listitem><para>
  <emphasis role="bold">Best quality per encoding time</emphasis>:
  Codecs that have been around for some time (such as
  <systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem> MPEG-4 and
  <systemitem class="library">XviD</systemitem>) are usually heavily
  optimized with all kinds of smart algorithms and SIMD assembly code.
  That's why they tend to yield the best quality per fps.
  However, they may have some very advanced options that, if enabled,
  will make the encode really slow for marginal gains.
  </para>
  <para>
  If you are after blazing speed you should stick around the default
  settings of the video codec (which doesn't mean you should not experiment
  with some of the options which are mentioned in other sections
  of this guide).
  </para>
  <para>
  You may also consider choosing a codec which can do multi-threaded
  processing.
  <systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem> MPEG-4 does
  allow that, resulting in small speed gains at the price of lower
  picture quality.
  <systemitem class="library">XviD</systemitem> has some experimental
  patches available to boost encoding speed, by about 40-60% in typical
  cases, with low picture degradation.
  <systemitem class="library">x264</systemitem> also allows multi-threaded
  encoding, which currently speeds-up encoding by 15-30% while lowering
  PSNR by about 0.05dB.
  </para></listitem>

  <listitem><para>
  <emphasis role="bold">Personal taste</emphasis>:
  This is where it gets almost irrational: For the same reason that some
  hung on to DivX&nbsp;3 for years when newer codecs were already doing wonders,
  some folks will prefer <systemitem class="library">XviD</systemitem>
  or <systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem> MPEG-4 over
  <systemitem class="library">x264</systemitem>.
  </para>
  <para>
  Make your own judgment, and don't always listen to what some people will
  tell you to do or think: The best codec is the one you master the best,
  and the one that looks best to your eyes on your display
  <footnote id='fn-menc-feat-dvd-mpeg4-codec-playback'>
  <para>The same encode may not look the same on someone else's monitor or
  when played back by a different decoder, so future-proof your encodes by
  playing them back on different setups.</para></footnote>!
  </para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
  Please refer to the section
  <link linkend="menc-feat-selecting-codec">selecting codecs and container formats</link>
  to get a list of supported codecs.
</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="menc-feat-dvd-mpeg4-audio">
<title>Audio</title>