(by Alicia Bell from Top Left Design)

It’s tough to figure out which video format works best and why. Which one is the most accessible, which one has the best picture and which one offers the best “streaming”?

(Web streaming can be defined as “a technique for transferring data such that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream”).

We’ve looked at some popular options; Flash, MPEG & AVI, and this is what we’ve found:

AVI files are limited to 320 x 240 resolution, and 30 frames per second. This means that it is not adequate for full screen or full motion video. However, video in windows doesn’t need special hardware, making AVI the easiest format to use (although the quality is much lower than other formats). This format is used mainly because it allows businesses to sell their products and reach the largest base of consumers. Although AVI is the most common format for on the PC, the Flash player is actually installed on a higher percentage of computers than any other video format.

This means that more consumer sites are moving towards the Flash video format – because it is more likely that your site visitor will have the correct player. Another advantage is that the flash video format works well across PCs, Macs & Linux.

The MPEG format is hardware-assisted. This means that you need a board to play MPEG files without dropping a lot of frames. There are software decoders available but they require a lot of processor power on your system and usually support MPEG video only (missing sound). The good thing about MPEG files is that they provide excellent picture quality. For these reasons it seems that the MPEG option is better for those that are very serious about digital video but not ideal for quick and easy web viewing.

Overall, Flash seems to be the best option for the web. Compared to other video formats, the flash format is small, fast and ideal for web streaming. It is popular (installed on more end user’s computers), uncomplicated and offers a consistent picture.

Sources:

http://www.videozilla.net/formatscomparison.html
http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2007/10/video-format-comparison-flash-wmv.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_container_formats
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/streaming.html
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/Video_for_Windows.html