Video File Formats

Now that I have captured my interview I feel that I should look into the video file formats that are available out there. These include ....

• AVCHD - A high-definition digital video format that can be record in 1080i and 720p, while still maintain a average small file size. AVCHD files are based on the codec from the MPEG4 format. AVCHD files is also a format that can be burned to Blu-ray Discs, and played in compatible devices, such as Blu-ray Disc players and the Sony PlayStation3.

• AVI (Audio/Video Interleaved) - A file format for storing and playing back movie clips with sound on Windows-based PCs. An AVI file is organized so that it alternates chunks of audio and video data. AVI is a container format, meaning that it specifies how the data will be arranged, but is not a form of audio or video compression. The way in which AVI is created is when DV clips are imported from a digital camcorder to a PC (These clips are often known as "DV-AVIs" because they contain full-quality digital video content.)

• DV (Digital Video) - is the format used by most digital camcorders, usually on Mini DV cassettes. When transfering from a cassette to a computer, a DV clip requires around 1 GB of storage per 5 minutes of video. When transfured to the computer clips are usually stored as QuickTime or AVI files. With the con that is file size there is pro about resolution. DV creates a clean image with up to and including 520 lines of resolution

• DivX - was developed by DivX, Inc. this format is used to compress large amounts of video content into small file size and still keep a good image quality when played back. DivX is based on MPEG4, and is a popular choice for sending video files over the Internet.

• MPEG - stands for Moving Picture Experts Group. This is a committee that sets international standards for the digital encoding of movies and sound. There is a number of audio/video formats which have this group's name. Also there is high popularity of there use on the Internet :

1. MPEG1 - This format is mostly used in digital cameras and camcorders to capture small video clips. This format is also the compression format used to create Video CDs,as well as commonly used for posting clips on the Internet. The MP3 audio format is part of the MPEG1 codec.
2. MPEG2 - Used with Commercially produced DVD movies, home-recorded DVD discs, and most digital satellite TV broadcasts to deliver their high-quality picture. The picture quality is a rival the DV format. Because MPEG2 removes a larger portion of the original video signal than DV it becomes more difficult to edit. The MPEG2 codec uses selected amounts of compression to be applied, this is how home DVD recorders and hard disk video recorders can have a wide range of recording speeds. MPEG2 is considered a container format.
3. MPEG4 - A flexible MPEG container format used for both streaming and downloadable Web content. Also in developing times it is becoming the video format employed by a growing number of camcorders and cameras.

• QuickTime - Is the file format for storing and playing back movies with sound. Though developed and supported by Apple, Inc. This is a flexible format that isn't limited to Macintosh operating systems — it's also used in Windows systems and other types of computing platforms. In Windows, QuickTime files have the ".MOV" filename extension.

• RealMedia - A very popular formats for streaming content on the Internet, RealMedia has the RealAudio codec for sound clips and RealVideo codec for movies. RealAudio and RealVideo files are given the common RealMedia ".RM" file extension. RealMedia is a container format that's then heavily compressed for streaming over dial-up Internet connections.
  

• WMV (Windows Media Video) - Windows Media Video is used for streaming and downloading content over the Internet. Microsoft's Windows Media Player, an application included with Windows Vista operating systems.

After finding this information out and knowing that we are using M4V format which is for ipods, if we were only to be broadcasting over the internet we could use several options like DivX, MPEG1, RealMedia and WMV. The problem with using a WMV is that say you had a user that had a Mac, they would then have to download further software to play the file.