Whats new in web compression?

Maxter wrote on 9/4/2004, 9:24 PM
I heard Steve Jobs saying something about amazing new delivery compression (mp4?) with the the upcoming releae of Tiger.

So what the latest greatest? I get so sick of having to destroy my work just so it can be streamed. Granted, I can stream alright at reduced sizes but it would be nice to hear of something new or better.

Comments

John_Cline wrote on 9/4/2004, 10:05 PM
In my opinion, there is nothing currently better than Windows Media 9. There are numerous "flavors" of MP4 at the moment and it will probably take a while for it all to shake out. At broadband Internet bitrates, WM9 looks very good.

John
p@mast3rs wrote on 9/4/2004, 10:16 PM
Its called H264 AVC (advanced video coding) and sadly, other companies are beating Jobs to the market. H264 wont be available in Quicktime until next year when they release the new MAC OS. Companies such as Sorenson, Ateme/Ahead Nero, etc... have products available now.

Its nice but far from perfect at the moment.
p@mast3rs wrote on 9/4/2004, 10:19 PM
John,

Just to clarify further, MP4 is a broad term. The current Mpeg-4 (i.e, Divx, XVID, 3ivx, etc...) is part 4 of the Mpeg implementation. H264 is part 7 or part 10 and is supposed to deliver far superior quality and performance compared to the current Mpeg-4 currently. MP$ is nothing more than a container format that contains the AAC audio format and the :flavor" of mpeg whether it be divx, etc... or H264 AVC.
JHendrix wrote on 9/7/2004, 6:27 PM
so what product can i buy now that gives me h264 and what will it output, QT, WM??
farss wrote on 9/7/2004, 7:32 PM
From the little that I know WM9 is pretty much the same as H264. Apple are sort of getting their toe in the water I think with some of the latest QT releases but WMP9 is available for Macs now so this may have an impact on the need for both QT and WM for streaming content.
But I have to agree WMP9 is an awesome format, watching 1080p playing off a red laser DVD at 6 Mbps is what convinced me BluRay just isn't going to happen as a delivery medium. Whether or not we'll see wmp9 HD DVDs or mpeg-4 or H264 is yet for the market to sort out but either way I can't see the need for the complexities of BluRay.

Ooops, kind of wandered off a bit there!

Bob.
p@mast3rs wrote on 9/7/2004, 7:45 PM
Well, I believe I saw last week that the Blu Ray forum has adopted and pproved the acceptance of WM9 and H264 for the Blu Ray format. Looks like neither side want to miss out.
smhontz wrote on 9/7/2004, 7:54 PM
Pick up the Oct 2004 issue of DV magazine. It has an article called "Choosing the best web codec" that covers all the latest info.
farss wrote on 9/7/2004, 8:04 PM
Actually I think that's the DVD Forum talking about the next standard for red laser DVDs. BluRay is a great idea and it's highly appropriate the way it's used on the XDCAM but as a delivery medium from what I can see it's just too expensive to duplicate and too fragile for the consummer market.

But I could be wrong, just my spin on things!

Bob.
Spot|DSE wrote on 9/7/2004, 8:58 PM
MP4, while a great format and delivery mechanism, but since it's not been accepted by the formats committee at NAB's conference this year, it's just been set back again, as a major delivery mechanism.
See Ben Waggoner's article this month in DV magazine for great comparisons.
Interestingly enough, the same guy who HATED windows media, now says it's the best there is overall.